There is no place for Socialism in America

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Armando Diana

If Bernie Sanders actually gets more delegates than Hillary Clinton would he be willing to give her half of them?

If he follows the policies he wants to inflict on America he should have no problem sharing his delegates.  Since he wants to take from those who have and give to those who have not, I find my suggestion appropriate.

The fact a self-professed Socialist is even being considered for the Democratic nominee is an abomination to America.  He captured 83 percent of the 18 to 29 vote in the New Hampshire primary and his appeal is growing among millennials.  That voting segment risks going 0 for three in presidential elections if he prevails among that block of voters.

When you peel this onion back it seems clear why he appeals to this voter sect. They do not yet comprehend the essence of what he intends.   I was speaking to a high school teacher who was flabbergasted that her students didn’t know about the income tax.  She said her students were surprised when she said those who had part time jobs had to file tax returns.

A friend’s millennial son was shocked to learn he had to pay for his medical plan as part of the deductions in his pay check.  Another friend told me her high school senior son was upset he had to pay for his tuxedo rentals once he agreed to escort five friends to their proms.  My friend explained the five rentals plus corsages and other expenses would amount to upwards of $1,000 and she didn’t have that much disposable income to pay for it all.

Her son could not comprehend why someone else could not pay for him.  In short, he wants the fun without the bill.  Sound familiar?

I get the sense the younger generation has no concept of money.  Most millennials have spent their lives with the Bank of Mom and Dad picking up the tab for everything so they naturally believe someone else will be responsible for their bills.

Is it any wonder they would support a lunatic who is offering to pay their bills with someone else’s money?  The dirty little secret is someone else’s money is really their money.  By the time they figure this out it will be too late for the country.   Reality will be a terrible thing when the weight of debt crashes their world.

It may be time for us to consider changing the voting laws and raise the age for voter eligibility to 21.  As a nation, if we do not trust 18 year olds to drink responsibly why do we trust them to vote responsibly?  Choosing a leader requires a depth of understanding of the issues that most people – let alone teenagers- do not comprehend.

I am not in favor of such a change unless you also change the Selective Service age.  If we are willing to have our 18 year olds killed in combat we should be willing to give them the ability to kill the country.

At the very least, parents need to explain the basic economics of working for a living.  We cannot rely on the schools to responsibly teach children basic economic principles.  Unfortunately, most schools are bastions of Liberalism more intent on indoctrinating than teaching.

It is a simple choice.  Do you think taking money from one group to give to another group works better than each person keeping the money they earned?  Taxes must be paid.  The government provides services and people need to pay for those services. But relying on one group to pay taxes for another group just does not work in the long run.

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The measure of a person lies in actions not words

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Armando Diana

It’s easy to be happy and peppy and bursting with love when things are going well but the measure of a person is always best determined by how they act when things are not going well. In this regard Cam Newton fails miserably.

Newton loves to showboat and “have fun” when the Carolina Panthers are winning.  But when things are not going well or the team is losing like in the Super Bowl, Newton sulks and becomes surly.  The entire team seems to revel in mocking their opponents by taking celebratory selfies before the game ends.  Their excessive and demonstrative behavior rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

Is it any wonder, a number of people are enjoying the humble pie Newton and the Panthers are now eating?   It’s reminiscent of the well-deserved crow Ronda Rousey ate.  Do you think anyone on the Panthers would have appreciated the Broncos taking selfies in the final minute of the Super Bowl?  I hope a lesson was learned.

I like watching athletes get excited when they score but there is a fine line between enjoying the moment and taunting.  Depending on your point of view determines how you feel about Newton’s Superman celebration after scoring a touchdown.

Instead of Superman, about 112 million viewers saw the Incredible Sulk during Newton’s 60 minute melt down.  He did more to tarnish is image in that hour than he can ever recover in years.  And it serves him right.  He earned it with his behavior.

His handlers and apologists are feverishly trying to explain his behavior.  But how can you defend his actions?  Most people now believe he is a spoiled sport because that’s what you are when you carry on when winning but hide when losing.  He acted like a petulant child.

Late in the game he was scrambling in the end zone and took a hard hit as he released the ball.  He looked to the referee to call a penalty but no flag was thrown. Newton threw himself on the ground like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum.  Throughout the game, rather than cheering on his teammates, he sulked on the sideline. That’s not the actions of a leader.

To make matters worse, after the game the usually loquacious Newton after wins had very little to say during his postgame interview.  He abruptly left the press conference after seven questions that featured short, curt answers.  This immediately brought to mind his behavior earlier in the season when the Panthers lost to the Atlanta Falcons, Newton left the field without congratulating his opponents.  I’m sensing a pattern.

He is an extremely talented player but his behavior is concerning.  He’s a role model and has legions of young fans.  With that comes responsibility.  At this point, the only way I would use Newton as a role model is to instruct my children how not to act.

It appears Newton enjoys the spoils of his talents but not the subsequent responsibility it brings.  If he’s going to dance like a clown when things are going his way he better stand up and face the music when things are not going his way. There is more to being a professional athlete than what transpires between the lines.  It’s also called being a responsible adult.

The damage control narrative is that Newton wears his heart on his sleeve which is a legitimate point.  He should not change who he is or what makes him great.  Perhaps someone should tell him it’s also acceptable to comprehend there is more to his role than him.  He needs to be cognizant that his actions say more about who he is than anything he says…or doesn’t say.

It seems Newton found his Kryptonite and it’s himself.

 

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We have a choice to avoid the lesser of two evils

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Armando Diana

Political analysts and so-called experts are still trying to figure out what how Donald Trump is doing so well in the Republican primary. For the past year, they have predicted and are still waiting for him to implode.  The only thing imploding is their ego.

Most elitists have an inability to relate to the great unwashed because they think they are better than us.   Do you think it has ever occurred to the Washington Elites that perhaps they are the ones out of synch with Americans?

I’ll make it easy for them.  It’s really not Trump that people love.  It’s what he’s saying and the fact that he takes no you-know-what from the media, colleagues, or opponents.  Trump is saying what most Americans are thinking and is getting away with it.  Who wouldn’t love that?

Americans are fed up with both political parties.  We can no longer stand the political correctness, the inactivity, the grandstanding, or the one-upmanship that passes off as congressional business.  America is the Titanic and our political leaders are bailing with thimbles.

They just do not get it.  And, in a delicious ironic twist, they ripened the environment that Trump is now harvesting.

Think of it this way: Daddy Ball ruins the fabric of any youth sports team. What happens after a few seasons of dealing with Little Johnny’s reduced playing time because the coach’s son is on the field for every play?  They leave and start their own team.  Why would that be any different in the political arena?  It’s just takes longer to unfold.

When Ronald Reagan rose to prominence, Liberals were beside themselves and unable to deliver an antidote.  The tables were turn on Conservatives when Bill Clinton rose to White House fame.  Neither man started a new party but was able to coalesce the factions of their party for a common goal.  That doesn’t seem possible in today’s environment.

Trump is neither of those two men. But he is basking in the same cesspool that made it possible for both men to rise above the muck.  He is doing it his way (with apologies to Frank Sinatra) and not allowing himself to be defined by others.  A good example came in the most recent debates.  The media tried to portray him as an angry man and he accepted the mantle with pride and turned it around into a positive.   He’s mad as Hell that America is run so poorly.  Other than both political parties, who isn’t upset at what America is becoming?

Both political parties profit by keeping things status quo.  It’s like any other time you are faced with an arrogant ass.  You just want to stick it to him.  Along comes Trump and sticks it to the Washington Elites.

I think given a choice most Americans will say Trump is not their ideal person for the job.  He is too much of an egomaniac and narcissist to run a country.  But he has tapped into the anger towards the ruling class.  It’s time they go away.

I think we need an outsider to be president. Being an outsider may get you elected but will it help you get things done once elected?  Trump has proven he is an outsider but can he persuade 535 people to back his plans without the threat of imminent termination that he wields in Corporate America?  It takes finesse.  It takes relationships.  It takes persuasion.  Eventually his act will wear thin on the American public – maybe after he’s in office – but it will wear thin.  Then what?

I am hoping for an election where I do not have to pick the lesser of two evils…..again.  Anyone the Democrats nominate is automatically the first evil.  There is no question in my mind that another Democrat in the White House is a bad idea.  Trump will represent the lesser of two evils in that choice.

We can do better.  Senator Ted Cruz falls into the outsider category.  He is not well liked by both political parties so that automatically tells me he’s his own man.  He understands government and can navigate Congress and the Senate.  He may not be your cup of tea but what politician is?  The Republican Primary gives us an opportunity to find a leader. If you do not like Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio and Governor Chris Christie are also  better choices than Trump.

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Electoral College needs to adopt some new math

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Armando Diana

Did you know when you vote in a presidential election your vote does not count towards the person you choose?  Every vote actually does count but not for the person you are selecting as your next president. When you vote for your candidate you are actually voting for your candidate’s electors.

The Electoral College is how we elect our president. It is not a place of higher learning but a process.  The Electoral College was a compromise our Founding Fathers created as a compromise between choosing a President by a vote in Congress versus a popular vote of qualified citizens. If you want more info on it you can find it in our Constitution.

The Founding Fathers didn’t want the presidency to be a popularity contest nor did they want smaller states cut out of the process.  The Electoral College gives populous states their due by having more electors but it also allows smaller states to carry weight.

Each of our 435 congressional districts represents approximately 710,000 citizens.  Each district has an elector and the state gets an electoral vote for each of its state senators.  For example, New Jersey has 12 congressional districts with two senators so it accounts for 14 electoral votes.

In most states, the popular vote winner in a presidential election gets all of the state’s electoral votes.  The only two exceptions are Nebraska and Maine that apportion their Electoral College votes. In other words, an electoral vote goes to the candidate who gets the most votes in a particular congressional district.  The two senate electoral votes goes to the winner of the state’s popular vote.

I think that is a fairer way to cast votes than a winner take all approach.

By following the apportion method, each voter has more significance and each district would be fairly represented. If pockets of a state lean one way politically but the majority of the state leans the opposite way, why should the pocket districts be unheard? If each district’s electoral vote goes to the person favored by that district than the results will be an accurate representation of the electorate in whole.

If the 2012 election followed this approach than Mitt Romney, not President Obama, would have gained the required 270 electoral votes to be president.  President Obama won 26 states but Romney had a plurality of votes in 99 of the congressional districts.  In a sense, those 99 districts should not have even bothered to vote because their voices were unheard.  Likewise, in the 24 states Romney won, President Obama won 32 congressional districts.  The same holds true for those 32 districts.

That means 30 percent of the districts did not have their vote count.

If we followed the apportion method in 2000, Al Gore would have received 269 electoral votes, George W. Bush would have received 263 and Ralph Nader would have received six.  In this situation a vote of state delegations in the House of Representatives would have settled the issue.

Three times throughout history a person became president without winning the popular vote. In 1824 it was John Quincy Adams instead of Andrew Jackson. In 1876 it was Rutherford Hayes over Samuel Tilden and in 1888 Benjamin Harris got it over Grover Cleveland.  I’d be interested to see who would have won all past elections if we used the apportion method from the start.

Regardless, I think the best way to ensure that every vote matters is to switch to the apportion method.

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There are ramifications to technological advances that change the human condition

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Armando Diana

What was going through the person’s mind that first saw an egg drop out of a hen’s butt and decide to eat it? Likewise, who was the first person that decided to drink the liquid that came out of a cow’s utter?

Equally intriguing is how they were able to convince others to eat and drink things that appeared to come out of an animal’s genitalia.  That’s some good Marketing.  That or they were visionaries who looked for solutions and did not blindly follow ideology or conventional wisdom.

I can make the case they were in tune with the order of nature and realized things most of us would view differently. Visionaries live among us today but they are definitely not politicians or any of our leaders.  We call them futurists.

Futurists talk about things like the driverless car, artificial intelligence, how technology will replace 50 percent of the jobs in the future, and genetic engineering.  If you want a sample of the future advances check out this site.  Each of these issues will have major ramifications to business and society but rather than address these issues our leaders are posturing for votes.

In listening and reading about the coming revolution of change I am struck by the one thing futurists do not talk about – God.  Of course, what should we expect from a society where the only god we talk about apparently only wants a homogenous people and to rid the world of all other religions?

And therein lies the rub.   As technological advances change our way of life the one thing we, as a people, need to be cognizant of is we are not God.  No one is and regardless of how hard the secular world tries to divorce God from itself, the fact remains we have a spiritual life.  There are moral ramifications in addition to the business and social ramifications of technological advances.

Genetic engineering is the most obvious example but most technological advances that change the human condition comes with moral questions.  To ignore those questions will only create more problems.

Do I believe there was a man named Adam and woman named Eve that started the reality of our existence? It’s a matter of faith that typically supersedes what we know to be logic.  I do know, logically, that any time a mortal person tries to rise above the realm of existence, bad things happen.  A brief review of history shows every time one person tried to rise above everyone else in godlike fashion it didn’t end well for him or her.

What if the Adam and Eve story is an omen?  As the story goes the two humans wanted to be like God by eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. They wanted to rise above their existence and thought they knew better than nature.  How is that any different than humans trying to clone, creating artificial intelligence, trying to reverse the aging process, or considering implanting technology into the body?

If the story is accurate, it did not end too well for Adam and Eve either.  What makes us think it will end any better for us?

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The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Armando Diana

He was running along the rooftops trying to avoid the bullets.  He serpentine and wove his way through the combat zone that used to resemble a street.  He showed some mad ninja skills but was unable to outrun all the bullets and fell to the ground dying.

Undeterred he pushed reset and began another game as his avatar alter ego. A false reality is born.  Life does not have a reset button.  Is it any wonder the millennials cannot cope when Life happens?

I can only imagine what Marcus Luttrell feels about the next generation that wants respect without the quaint notion of earning it.  We have seen the inability of millennials to spit out the pacifier up close on college campuses the past few months.

They are offended at what they think they should be offended by rather than actually having core beliefs to be offended.  They have their demonstrations but if they had core values they would leave the school if they were that offended.  Those who do have core beliefs understand the sacrifice of trying to maintain them in a world devoid of substance and make stands on principles, not social media.

Utopia does not exist on this side of eternity. We need to recognize that fact and stop trying to create a utopian society.  It starts by not lying to our children about false realities.  If you want fair, look in the dictionary because that is the only place you will find it.

Life is unfair.  I am a great singer….in my fantasy. But when reality hits the fan those sitting next to me in church on Sunday are none too happy.  I have four choices.  I can look to the government to create a program that gives me access to wave files of great singers so I can dub their voice.  I can continually lie to myself and wonder why I am sitting alone at mass.  I can accept the fact I’m a lousy singer and focus on some of my strengths. Or I can take action and either self-teach myself to be a better singer or take lessons.

It seems to me millennials take the first two options and people in the older generations will gravitate towards option three or four.  Of course, there are exceptions to every rule but the conventional wisdom is millennials are too soft to handle the reality of life.

If that is true, our country is headed for a fall.  A generation of whiners become followers.  And followers take the path of least resistance so the ruling class that promises the most goodies will win.

Somewhere down the line someone has to pay for the goodies and when we have more people with their hand out then people actually providing the money….well, you know what happens next.

I believe Shakespeare said it best in Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141) when Cassius says” “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”  In that scene, Cassius, a nobleman, is speaking with his friend, Brutus, and trying to convince him that Julius Caesar must be stopped in the best interests of the public.  Caesar wants to be the monarch of Rome and Cassius reminds Brutus that Caesar is not a god, but a man like everyone else.

Cassius says they were all born equally and no one should have to bow down to another man. You know how that story ends.  I am not suggesting that we should kill the ruling class.  No, I am suggesting that we need to remove them and vote in people who will come up with solutions and not look elsewhere for solutions

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There is no debate we need a leader but is there one available?

Posted on December 16, 2015 by Armando Diana

I am not a fan of watching political debates mostly because nothing is accomplished.  The moderators have an agenda to get the candidates to fight amongst themselves and the candidates are solely focused on delivering their practiced messages and one liners.

Watching the most recent debate that opinion has not changed.  However, I was impressed with Texas Senator Ted Cruz and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Governor Christie came off as the adult in the room.  He was measured in his responses and did a good job highlighting why a Governor makes a better choice for president than a senator or congressman.  After watching Senator Marco Rubio and Senator Cruz spar and posture instead of talking policy he said “If your eyes are glazed over like mine, this is what it’s like to be on the floor of the Senate.”

He has a point.  I think most Americans are tired of listening to rhetoric and long for someone who will do something.  He is growing on me but I am not sold on him yet.

Senator Cruz appears to have the right leadership qualities to be president.  The mainstream media labels him as “too conservative” but I make it a habit to draw my own conclusions. I never trust anything from the mainstream media because they all have an agenda.  If you read Senator Cruz’s position papers and see the legislation he has introduced you will get a better understanding of him.

Plus, the Republican Establishment hates him which is another reason to love him.  Whenever the mainstream media, and both established political parties don’t like someone – that’s reason enough to know that person has potential.

It seems the Republican Establishment’s new darling is Senator Marco Rubio now that it’s evident to everyone not named Bush that Governor Jeb Bush should go away.  Senator Rubio is a safe choice for the Republican Party because it believes he’s controllable where Senator Cruz is not.

Senator Rubio will have a hard time convincing conservative Republicans he’s one of them so faces a tough assignment to get through the Primaries. The conventional wisdom is play to the extremes in the primaries and to the center in the general election.

It appears Senator Rubio is too liberal to get through the primaries and Senator Cruz is too conservative for a general election.  A true leader would be able to straddle both worlds but most true leaders stay true to themselves and do not pander.  Let’s see which candidate stops pandering and starts leading.

It seemed to me that Donald Trump finally had a bad moment when he allowed a whiny Governor Bush to get under his skin at one point in the debate.  I think I actually saw him turning red with anger and his dismissive antics when other candidates are speaking will eventually wear thin on the American public.  Do we really want a president that will say “nah-nah-nana- nah” when a world leader is speaking?

America would be proud to have a class act like Dr. Ben Carson as president.  He is the polar opposite of President Obama and would instantly reverse the race relations damage he created.  However, his naiveté was painfully on display when speaking on foreign relations.  We cannot have another Novice in Chief.  The current one still hasn’t learned the ropes.

The other candidates need to accompany Governor Bush out the door.  Senator Rand Paul is a joke and makes a fool of himself every time he speaks.  In my opinion, Carly Fiorina came off as shrewish and had her worst showing in the debates and someone should tell Governor John Kasich to speak with his mouth not his hands.

The bottom line is Governor Christie, and senators Rubio and Cruz offer the best candidates to lead the nation.

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Is the media’s bias responsible for Trump’s rise?

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Armando Diana

Ever watch a sporting event with no rooting interest in any team but the behavior of players on one team aggravated you to the point where you started rooting for the other team?

The media is creating that same effect when it comes to political views.  A few blogs ago I talked about how non-offensive speech is offensive to some people.  I think this phenomenon is partly responsible for Donald Trump’s popularity.

Trump won’t go away and the political elite cannot figure out why.  Even more entertaining the tone deaf mainstream media is just as clueless.

Most in the media attribute Trump’s success to “personality over substance” as the New York Times insists.  I guess the New York Times knows a thing or two about not having any substance.  Anyway, at first they believed his showmanship was a passing fancy.  But it didn’t pass.  The next iteration was he stoked the fires of nationalism or isolationism with his rhetoric and eventually cooler heads will prevail.  His poll numbers indicate the heads have not yet cooled.

In an environment where political correctness is used as a club to silence the masses, Trump is outspoken and disdains political correctness.  Most of us – except super Liberals – are fed up with political correctness, partisan rancor, and the complete ineffectiveness of our non-leaders in Washington, DC.

Enter Trump. He is brash, direct, takes no you-know-what and has a reputation for getting things done.  In short, he is the antithesis of both political parties. But there is more to it than that.  I think Trump’s views span both political parties and his ability to articulate his message is resonating with the masses.

You may not like his style but I bet most Republican primary voters wading through a crowded field of job applicants are happy that someone isn’t afraid to say what’s on his mind.  He has lasted far longer than I thought he would but I do not think he will sustain his lead once the field narrows.  I’ll get to that in bit but first a little history.

In 1976 Donald Warren, a sociologist from Oakland University, coined the phrase MARS which stands for Middle American Radicals.

“MARS are distinct in the depth of their feeling that the middle class has been seriously neglected,” Warren wrote.  He went on to say that MARS believe the federal government focuses on the poor and the wealthy but not the middle class.  Further, most MARS have a huge distrust of the federal government and big business.  I would add to that definition to include a huge mistrust of the media.

George Wallace tapped this group in his independent run in 1968 as did Ross Perot in 1992.  Trump pulls from the platforms of both Wallace and Perot, and there’s a sizable audience for this approach.

Trump’s stance on illegal immigration has struck a chord with the middle class mostly because the media force feeds us the narrative of noble immigrants trying to support a family.  Trump has promised to renegotiate NAFTA and institute punitive taxes on Chinese imports to “bring our jobs back from China, Mexico and Japan”.

He also proposed a 20 percent tax on businesses that outsource jobs to other countries.  And, he supports repealing Obamacare and has a hawkish position on terrorists.

The middle class has a growing antipathy for each of those issues partly fueled by the media’s love affair with championing them.  In short, we are sick and tired of the media doing President Obama’s bidding and Trump is our antidote.

Now, when he is competing against 10 other candidates his message resonates with the MARS.  However, most estimates have MARS at about 20 percent of the population.  In a general election that is not enough to win.  It’s not even enough to win a primary with two or three other competitors.  Once the choices are narrowed, some of Trump’s negatives will overshadow his positives.

Why?  Americans can forgive almost any indiscretion except arrogance.  And Trump’s arrogance will wear thin when options are limited.  For him to succeed, he needs to expand his base.  But in order to expand his base, he’ll have to be less rigid in his ideology and, if he does that, he’ll risk losing the MARS voters.

Of course, there is always the possibility the MARS voters comprise a far larger voting block than 20 percent.  If that is true, the political ruling class and media better get used to saying President Trump for four years.  And they’ll have no one to blame but themselves for creating the political environment that created the scenario that allowed Trump to win.

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Illegal Immigrants have no right to driver’s license

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Armando Diana

Did you know Oregon is being sued by five illegal immigrants to overturn a voter-approved initiative to deny drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants?  Read that question again just to make sure you capture the absurdity we are embarking upon.

A two thirds majority of Oregon voters said no to the proposition.  Every congressional district voted against the measure as did 35 of the 36 counties in the state.  But since when did a majority ever matter in Obamaland?  By the way, most of the districts in the state are represented by Democrats.

The lawsuit claims the proposition is unconstitutional because it “arbitrarily” denies driving privileges based on membership in a “disfavored minority group.”  I wonder if they see the irony in illegal immigrants seeking lawful intervention to what they claim is an illegal law.

That’s rich. Is it any wonder why people despise lawyers so much?

I have an idea.  When these five brilliant scholars appear in court why not arrest them and deport them back to their homeland?  Their lawsuit alleges “Oregon voters were motivated by animus toward persons from Mexico and Central America.”

No. Most Americans have animus towards people who break our laws.

The counter argument you hear from illegal immigrants is having a driver’s license would make their lives easier and give them more opportunities to find a job.  How ridiculous.  I must have missed the memo stating all law-abiding citizens must help make the lives of criminals better by making it easier for them to break laws.

That is like a burglar suing a homeowner for locking the doors to the house.  What kind of logic is that?!

I think New Jersey needs to pay heed.  The NJ State Assembly may soon consider a bill (A3286) that would give one-year driving privilege cards to illegal aliens.  The bill is sponsored by Democratic state senator Joe Vitale and would require the state Motor Vehicle Commission to issue licenses to anyone who qualifies for a license under current state law, regardless of whether they can “prove lawful presence in the United States.”

If it passes, can the state police arrest all those voting in favor it with aiding abetting?

This is a burgeoning enterprise as 12 states currently allow driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.  I suggest avoiding states that encourage illegal activity, mainly: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, DC.

I don’t blame illegal immigrants for coming into America unabated.  They are taking advantage of an opportunity that most of us would exploit.  They want a better life and who can blame them?  However, there are real issues created by illegal immigration and our elected leaders are in place to manage the issues not pander for votes.

The bottom line is the United States has a process and procedure for immigration.  We need to do nothing more than enforce it.  That will not happen because both parties have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.

At what point do legal immigrants, US citizens, and illegal immigrants realize we are pawns in a political reality series called “Get the Vote?” And, more importantly, at what point do we decide to do something about it?

We have all heard of Donald Trump’s idea for building a wall along the border.  I have a better and far less expensive idea.  I suggest we have Catholic priests stationed at the border baptizing all those who enter illegally.  That would ensure the Obama Administration would kick them out.

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Non-offensive speak is offensive

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Armando Diana

Come on.  Admit it.  You roll your eyes every time you hear something like “He’s esthetically challenged” when you are really thinking “Whoa that guy is ugly!”  Or, you wince when you hear “she’s handicapable” when you are really thinking “she’s crippled.”

Now why did you laugh at my first sentence but feel uncomfortable with my second sentence?  Before you call the Thought Police Hotline on me, hear me out.

Do we really think we are fooling anyone with such garbage speak?  Any parent who has ever endured endless participation trophy ceremonies after a youth sporting event knows eventually the child realize the sentiment is cheaper than the piece of plastic used for the trophy.

Don’t believe me?  How many participation trophies are on display in your child’s room?  How many trophies that were actually earned are on display?

People inherently know when self-esteem protecting rituals turn into condescension.  That is why we roll our eyes at well-intentioned people intent on delivering non-offensive language.  They must think we are cerebrally challenged.

The only thing these people accomplish is a loss of credibility.  When someone refers to a bald man as follicly challenged does he really feel better about himself? I submit he feels worse because he knows he is either being patronized or being treated as a mentally challenged person.

The real message being delivered by euphemistic speak is the belief that you are so fragile that you cannot handle reality.  Is that reality?  I do not think it is and I believe most people – except ultra-Liberals – would prefer straight talk.

We are all big boys and girls and should be able to handle such harsh language.  I told my parentally challenged, under privileged, differently abled, undocumented immigrant that he was a person of size. In short I told my poor, illegal alien handicapped foster child that he was fat.  He appreciated my candor.

Personally, I think we are reality challenged if we think calling a hooker a sex worker will make her feel better about herself.  Or, if we attend a wake and offer condolences to the survivors of the living impaired.

What scares me is all these phrases actually exist and someone uses them thinking they are doing something good.  That is one of the differences between those of us that are not mentally abled and idiots.

The refrain of a song called Before the Hyphens Came by Madison Rising sums it up best:

They tell us that they really care but to them it’s just a game

‘Cause we were all Americans before the hyphens came

When people cared ‘bout who you were and less about your name

‘Cause we were all Americans before the hyphens came

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