WHEN IN DOUBT,

RUN ABOUT, 

SCREAM AND SHOUT

By: Bill Schoettler

May 16, 2022

Now, what could possibly cause such a reaction? Well, let me think now. 

To begin with, we’re at war. Our country is at war with Russia. How do I know? Because our President has said so…that we’re in for the “long haul”. Our military is helping train Ukraine soldiers, our government is not only sending great gobs of money to Ukraine but is also sending sophisticated (and very expensive) equipment to shoot down helicopters and planes and blow up tanks. Then we are supplying satellite information to help them target Russian generals. Plus there are constant and increasing calls from members of Congress to “escalate”. “We are going to win.” says the Pres.

We have increasing inflation which is hitting everyone. Whether you have a private jet plane or a simple Prius gasoline (and jet fuel) prices are climbing. Food at the neighborhood market is costlier…and scarcer. Fertilizer, a byproduct of fossil fuels, is in short supply hurting food production, plus, of course, the increased transportation costs to get the food from the farmer to your dinner plate. Used car prices are up and house prices also climbing.

SCOTUS, one of the premier arms of our government, heretofore considered sacrosanct and virtually untouchable (except when a Justice retired or died and a replacement was needed) is constantly under assault. Age limits are being sought, more members are needed and instead of simply having litigants appear (through their attorneys), rioting, actual personal threats to individual Justices, mob chants and nationwide uprisings are being used to [threaten] “persuade” opinions to be tailored to suit the loudest voices.

Hallowed institutions of elected representatives are hearing challenges to historical procedures (filibuster), vituperative and insinuating accusations are thrown at candidates for Congress and Senate, and actual threats of physical violence are leveled against not just candidates but their families as well.

Our country at one time not so long ago had two political parties. Today there is only one party, the Democrats and the opposition to the Democrats and [their]elected representatives are nothing more than terrorists who represent the “greatest threat to democracy this country has ever faced since its very beginning”…according to the President. There is no discourse between opposite sides of any issue, there is only the strident scream of the insistent Left and the muted and censored and unacceptable absurdities of the terrorist Right.

In an obvious effort to maintain their control over the reins of power, to stifle dissent, restrict access to social media platforms and censor divergent opinions our benevolent government has instituted the department of “Acceptable-to-the-Administration-Speech” called the Department of Disinformation.  When directly questioned by Congress the Secretary of Homeland Security claimed the subject of “disinformation” was concerned with foreign government statements (i.e., information coming out of Russia and China and Iran and others) but in statements by our President the DoD (definitely NOT the Dept. of Defense) is to stop and squelch talk that disputes government directives and proposals and programs.

A classical example of how this DOD is to operate can be seen in the way the government and its various iterations squelched and punished contrary medical views concerning the handling of the Covid nightmare (such as punishing credentialed doctors for recommending inexpensive and well-proven drugs [such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine] or disputing the effectiveness of masking and social distancing).

The government wants to cancel more than a trillion dollars of student debt. While this may seem attractive to the student debtors it is not welcomed by:

·       previous students who have either paid off or been paying off their student loans, 

·       parents (and other relatives)  and students who have already paid for their college educations,

·       the rest of us taxpayers who will have to pay off those debts through higher taxes.

We have a porous southern border through and over which have passed many millions of foreigners who decided, for whatever reason to come to the USA to reap the benefits of a society that: 

·       is somehow better than whatever the society in which they were raised,

·       offers benefits such as free medical care, free housing, free education, free cell phones, and

·       permits them the maintenance of their own language and culture including ballots in their native language, plus

·       if they find discomfort in this “new country” they now occupy, they get to protest and riot and disregard the police and burn buildings if they don’t like the way their sensibilities demand.

Let us not forget that a whole new “science” is being presented which includes such different concepts as a re-defining and telling of history, gender, grammar, and the requirement that the sensibilities of everyone are sacrosanct (that is…one commits a mortal sin if by word or deed another is offended by your actions). Dissent is permissible only if it is directed at those who have been identified as being racist, misogynistic, homophobic, or white supremacists) All others at whom dissent is directed are protected.

Are we there yet? I mean, can we now run about, scream and shout? Not quite yet. We first have to consider from where some of this nonsense is coming and why.

The almost year-and-a-half of the current Administration’s efforts to re-imagine America have been, I suppose, successful. That is if you start with the premise that our Constitution is not to be considered sacrosanct, that the country was actually founded by racist, white supremacists, misogynists, and slave-owning antiquarians without adequate foresight to recognize the need for a flexible body of rules which can be altered at will to reflect the ever-changing needs of the ruling class (as opposed to the unlettered and uneducated and deplorable public). If one begins with this premise, then President Biden, his supportive Democrat Party, the socialist media, the strident and compliant RINOs, and the so-called Deep State have been, if not successful then certainly well on their way to accomplishing their goals. Those finding this acceptable may wish to leap about with joy in their hearts.

But, as we look about ourselves and carefully listen, not to the strident voices raised in protest to the [previously calm and reasonably focused] traditional beliefs of the citizenry but look at what that citizenry is saying among themselves; if we listen and observe we find quiet protests all around the country. Individuals are running for office in different cities and states, seeking to restore (or maintain) those fundamental principles with which I and many of us were raised. 

There are isolated voices raised in the media that remind us of our core values, that describe the disturbing conduct of those with loud voices, and point out the absurdities of a weak educational system, a dysfunctional national economy, a weakened military establishment, a failing national transportation system and an influx of unwelcome and unwanted strangers whose presence not merely dilutes our national investment but distorts and minimizes our nation itself. 

The party-in-power is not unintelligent and is beginning to recognize the hazard they face when the real voice of the people can be heard in the ballot box. In the coming November election, it is possible (or so we are encouraged to believe by the few voices of rational thought that only occasionally filter through the socialist-moderated media) that the deplorables, those undeserving and outmoded and conservative-thinking radicals who don’t want true democracy (at least as democracy is currently being defined by those in power) just might gain a greater measure of power in the operation of the government. 

“Quel dommage” (as the French might say, “What a shame! What a pity!”)

How can we prevent the destruction or perhaps divert the catastrophe? 

·       By involving the country in a war, 

·       by focusing the national psyche on some other kind of disaster that diverts attention from the newly-manufactured reality, 

·       by limiting the choices available to the public, and, perhaps most importantly, 

·       by shutting down and stamping down and absolutely closing any avenue of FREE SPEECH. 

Well, now we can understand the need for a Department of Disinformation!

So what to do? Well, for one thing, we have to carefully monitor the November elections. Anything that may have happened in 2020 to produce Biden’s win may be assumed to be duplicated in 2022. The deplorables must have poll monitors and attorneys standing by to bring injunctions and be prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure a careful and accurate counting of all ballots for all offices all over the country. 

Predictions of a “landslide” in favor of either side would be premature. If the forthcoming elections are to be legitimate and honest, then maybe, just maybe there may be a reason to run about, scream and shout…for joy.

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