Maybe There's "The Rest of the Story"

 A Plea to Calm Down

Lots of sturm und drang about Donald Trump's recent appearance at Arlington Cemetery. 

I've seen memes, posted even by friends I know (or thought I knew), actually wishing for Trump to die a horrible death because of this supposed faux pas. To say I'm disappointed in my friends might be an understatement. 

 If I'm understanding the situation correctly, it's not Trump's behavior that should be questioned here, but that of President Biden and Vice President Harris, as well. Apparently, all three of these officials were invited by members of the Gold Star families who lost loved ones at Abbey Gate, yet neither Biden nor Harris even accepted the invitation (see article, below). Needless to say, some of these families are furious at the president and vice president. 

This is less a rant than a plea to friends and acquaintances. 

Maybe wait for all the facts to come in before reacting to the latest news. 

Consider accepting the possibility that maybe there's "the rest of the story." 

Maybe take a moment to re-read "Desiderata," still lovely after all these years. Published in 1927, the poet encouraged us to "go placidly amid the noise and haste" and to "keep peace in your soul." 

He reminded us that, "With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world." 

Maybe try to remember, too, the words of our mothers--the wise ones, anyway--"This, too, shall pass." 

I will try to do the same.

**** 

Could This Get Any More Patronizing?

 End in Sight

President Biden, in an address given March 11, 2021, said that if we "do our part" (wash our hands, stay 6 feet apart, and wear our masks), there's a "good chance" we'll be able to get together with friends and family in small gatherings to celebrate Independence Day on July 4th. 

On my Facebook page, I asked: Could this get any more patronizing? 

Some of my friends, newly liberated from their four-year nightmare and still experiencing the afterglow of Biden's America, were not pleased. A few chided me. One thought me thin-skinned. Another said I was grandstanding and saw only good will in "our president's" encouragement to remain cautious. I wanted to ask this friend if he ever referred to Donald Trump as "our president," but I already knew the answer.

My Thoughts

I do not want my president telling me I might be allowed to visit with a few—but only a few—people—maybe—after I’ve been vaccinated. It feels very condescending. Some people apparently like this. Some people want their president to be a sort of daddy-figure. I do not. I find this deeply and truly insulting. I am an adult. I am able to determine what is right and safe for me and for my loved ones. 

A Friend's Response

One friend on Facebook pushed back when I said this. What about those that number many in our society that don’t act as adults? Those that still doubt the seriousness of the virus or that it really exists? Those who refuse to wear masks? Those who refuse to get vaccinated? Or the careless college students gathering during spring break? Perhaps his message is directed more toward them as opposed to a mature adult such as yourself? 

My Response

I guess that's the challenge, isn't it? We live in a free society. The government has its role, and it's been doing it, both in the previous and current administrations. I'm grateful for the rapidity of the vaccinations, thanks to Operation Warp Speed. I'm grateful for vaccines that have been made available by the current administration. However, I think the messaging has not been very good, particularly from the spokesman, Dr. Fauci, who has been inconsistent, and now, from Mr. Biden, regarding the efficacy of the vaccines. By saying, on the one hand, that vaccines are the answer, but on the other hand, don't change your behavior, people stop believing the message.

I think the American people have been extremely cooperative over the past year, and probably would have taken precautions regardless of what the government told them to do (I heard people had already stopped going to restaurants, etc. even before the official lockdowns began). Most of us are smart and will act in the best interests of themselves and their loved ones, indeed, towards their neighbors. That there may be some people who don’t act responsibly is simply a fact of life. And at a certain point, after it's done all that it can do, all the government can do is give guidance and then allow us to carry on. It can’t micromanage, it can’t tell us how to live our lives. It can’t “make” someone get a vaccine. It can’t “make” me wear a mask.

This may make some people nervous, but frankly, it makes me glad to be living in a free society. Free because I have choices. Free, even, to be irresponsible, or independent, or to make choices that I wouldn't make. Personally, I have chosen to get the vaccine. And I have cooperated with mask wearing out of respect for my neighbor, not because I was "told" I must (I suspect, if the government mandated mask wearing under penalty of arrest, I would violate the law). Mr. Biden has said that all adults will be “allowed” to get the vaccine by May.

That's good news. I see light at the end of the tunnel. Come May, and factoring in the weeks needed for the vaccine to be effective, I will live my life assuming that the people I’m around will have made their choice. Those that chose not to be vaccinated have chosen to take a risk of exposure. But their choice is their choice. I won’t wear a mask to protect them. The onus will be on them to protect themselves.

In time, I hope and trust we can go back to living normal lives, free of fear. The virus will still be out there, in the same way the flu is still out there. But fortunately, its impact on those who have been vaccinated will be minimal. It will have lost its power to terrorize us.

Stop Rewriting History, Democrats

Iraq is back in the news, and not surprisingly, so is George W. Bush. Anything happening in the Middle East today is Bush's fault. 

Frankly, I'm weary of the way the Dems try to re-write history. 

In case they've forgotten that many of their key players were worried about Saddam Hussein back in the late 90's and supported George Bush's attempts to topple him in the early 2000's, here's a small refresher.




Oh, and while we're on the subject, let's not forget that as recently as 2010, the Obama administration was quite pleased with the way things were going in Iraq. Mr. Biden again: 





Peter Wehner, writing in Commentary Magazine, says the following: 

A fair-minded reading of the facts, I think, shows that when Mr. Obama was sworn in, the Iraq war had more or less been won. Things were fragile to be sure. But the errors that were made during the occupation of Iraq following the fall of Saddam, which were extremely costly, were corrected in 2007. That was when President Bush made what is in my estimation his most impressive decision. In the face of enormous political opposition, with the nation weary of the war, Mr. Bush implemented a new counterinsurgency strategy, dubbed the “surge” and led by the estimable General David Petraeus. It resulted in startling gains.  

By the time the surge ended in 2008, violence in Iraq had dropped to the lowest level since the first year of the war. Sectarian killings had dropped by 95 percent. By 2009, U.S. combat deaths were extremely rare. (In December of that year there were no American combat deaths in Iraq.) Iraq was on the mend. Even Barack Obama, who opposed the surge every step of the way, conceded in September 2008 that it had succeeded in reducing violence “beyond our wildest dreams.”

"What Kind of Iraq Did Obama Inherit?" (Peter Wehner, Commentary Magazine, June 19, 2014). 

Enough, Democrats. Enough of the lying, enough of the blaming, enough of the dissembling, enough of the petty politics, enough of the demonizing. Your party and your leader are taking America down a terrible path. If George W. Bush made mistakes in his attempts to deal with unspeakable evil, at least he was man enough to face them and courageous enough to correct them. 

Now it's your turn. Man up, Mr. Obama. If necessary, ask the good people of the other party to help you and advise you. The time to stop playing politics is now because the evil menacing us today eclipses the evil Mr. Bush faced back then. It's time to set aside your ego and your narcissism and your arrogance. The future of our country, and perhaps even the world, are at stake.