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  • The Duckworth conundrum

    The Duckworth conundrum

    Over the weekend, Senator Tammy Duckworth; D-IL, was on CNN with Dana Bash. During the course of the appearance, Bash asked about the current trend of tearing down statues of those the left finds problematic. Duckworth voiced her support for that:

    President Trump gave a speech at Mount Rushmore Friday night. He talked about the importance of preserving historical monuments. Take a listen.(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

    TRUMP: Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children.

    (END VIDEO CLIP)

    BASH: Senator, I know that you support change in the name of military bases named after Confederate leaders. But there are leaders like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson who were slave owners, and some people are demanding that their monuments come down, too. So, in your view, where does it end? Should statues, for example, of George Washington come down?

    SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): Well, let me just say that we should start off by having a national dialogue on it at some point. But, right now, we’re in the middle of a global pandemic. And our — one of our ally — one of our — countries that are opposed to us, Russia, has put a bounty on American troops’ head. What really struck me about this speech that the president gave at Mount Rushmore was that he spent more time worried about honoring dead Confederates than he did talking about the lives of our American — 130,000 Americans who lost their lives to COVID-19, or by warning Russia off of the bounty they’re putting on Americans’ heads [09:45:03]

    I mean, his priorities are all wrong here. He should be talking about what we’re going to do to overcome this pandemic. What are we going to do to push Russia back? And, instead, he had no time for that. He spent all his time talking about dead traitors.

    BASH: So, that might be — be true, but George Washington, I don’t think anybody would call him a traitor. And there are…

    DUCKWORTH: No.

    BASH: … moves by some to remove statues of him. Is that a good idea?

    DUCKWORTH: I think we should listen to everybody. I think we should listen to the argument there. But remember that the president at Mount Rushmore was standing on ground that was stolen from Native Americans who had actually been given that land during a treaty.

    And, again, let’s talk about the greater context of where we are in our country right now. We should be talking about the fact that COVID- 19 is experiencing a resurgence, and both this president and the man he put in charge of the pandemic response team, the vice president, have both failed miserably at their jobs. I’m more worried about the 130,000 who have lost their lives recently and the thousands and thousands more Americans who are currently sick than I am about the — our historical past. We need to talk about what we’re doing now to bring this country off of the brink of chaos that it’s in.

    Watch:

    Ok, so she’s voicing her opinion, and that, while I strenuously disagree, is fine. What’s not fine is her reaction when Tucker Carlson called her out for being unpatriotic. She immediately hopped on Twitter with this gem:

    https://twitter.com/SenDuckworth/status/1280313123887603712?s=20

    Then Captain Duckworth lost both legs after getting her Blackhawk shot down by an RPG while in Iraq. She also suffered debilitating injuries to her right arm. She was awarded the I forgot to duck medal for her injuries and was promoted to major while in Walter Reed.

    The implications of that tweet are astonishing to me, as a combat vet and an American Patriot. The good senator seems to think that she’s above any criticism because of her injuries. That she can hold up her Purple Heart and combat service as a shield.

    See also: Tolerance is not a Christian virtue

    Tucker, and I by extension, aren’t questioning her service. What’s being questioned is her current state of mind and the lack of patriotism and historical perspective. Service, and honorable service especially, is not and never has been something to hide from criticism behind.

    As everyone who ever wore the uniform knows, the military is a microcosm of the United States. Admittedly, while there is a higher proportion of Patriots in the military than in the general population, my point still stands. You find all sorts in the military.

    Senator Duckworth, while she may not have started this way, is an unpatriotic, uneducated fool. I knew a couple of individuals like that during my term of service.

    That when given an opportunity to confront Tucker directly, he has a standing offer for her to appear on his show, she declined says a lot about her.

  • Destroy the ‘Public’ Education System

    Destroy the ‘Public’ Education System

    David Harsanyi for National Review

    July 7, 2020 6:30 AM

    It’s largely a left-wing propaganda machine that funds Democratic politicians and entrenches racial segregation.

    ‘Public” schools have been a catastrophe for the United States. This certainly isn’t an original assertion, but as we watch thousands of authoritarian brats tearing down the legacies of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, it’s more apparent than ever.

    State-run schools have undercut two fundamental conditions of a healthy tolerant society. First, they’ve created millions of civic illiterates who are disconnected from long-held communal values and national identity. Second, they’ve exacerbated the very inequalities that trigger the tearing apart of fissures.

    If you’re interested in ferreting out “systemic racism,” go to a big-city public-school system. No institution has fought harder to preserve segregated communities than the average teachers’ union. And I don’t mean only in the schools.

    Prosperous Americans already enjoy school choice — and not merely because they can afford private schools. Anyone who has ever tried to buy a suburban home in a major metro area can tell you how acutely school districts influence home prices. Many middle-class and working-class families are priced out of areas with good schools because of inflated home values and high property taxes. And families who might otherwise choose to live in more diverse areas are kept out because of failing schools.

    This entire dynamic is driven by the antiquated notion that the best way to educate kids is to throw them into the nearest government building. It’s the teachers’ unions that safeguard these fiefdoms through racketeering schemes: First they funnel taxpayer dollars to the political campaigns of allies who, when elected, return the favor by protecting union monopolies and supporting higher taxes that fund unions and ultimately political campaigns. So goes the cycle, decade after decade, one failed student after the next.

    Even in cities where limited choice exists, most poor parents, typically black or Hispanic, are compelled to send their kids to inferior schools, even if there are better-suited schools within walking distance. More than a decade ago, I sat in a Denver auditorium with a single Hispanic mom who was, quite literally, praying that her kid’s number would be picked in a charter-school lottery. The mother wept as her number was passed over, not because she was a partisan reactionary — she didn’t care about politics — but because she knew her son would now be forced to attend a subpar and unsafe high school rather than one specifically designed to help first-generation kids assimilate.

    It was a heartbreaking scene. And it’s only gotten worse. Colorado has since become a blue state, and Democrats have killed or obstructed numerous school-choice initiatives once supported by moderates in their party. In Denver, schools systems have helped solidify segregated communities, and the achievement gap between white and minority students is one of the worst in the country.

    Nevertheless, Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden says he’ll create not a child-oriented Department of Education but a “teacher-oriented Department of Education.” By teachers, Biden means unions. Teachers unions spent $30 million on federal elections alone in 2016 — virtually all of it on Democrats. It’s about more than the money they give, however. Unions organize, campaign, and march for liberal causes. As a Washington Post piece (“Teachers’ unions may not raise pay — but they do bolster the Democratic Party”) aptly put it not long ago:

    But teachers’ unions do accomplish something politically notable: They are a vital part of liberal coalitions and the Democratic Party. Teachers’ union organization and mobilization, like that of other government workers’ unions, have long compensated for the declining membership in traditional organized labor. What’s more, they’ve advanced the causes of women’s and LGBTQ rights — rights that are important to many or most of their members. They’ve done that by delivering money, mobilization and organization to both the Democratic Party and to feminist groups.

    It’s likely that left-wing ideologues run your school district. They decide what your children learn. They are the ones who decide that your kid can protest the Second Amendment of the Constitution, but never, not in a million years, march for any cause the Founders might have championed.

    Anecdotally speaking, I can confirm that the teaching of American history in at least one D.C. suburb — perhaps a better way to put it would be the un-teaching of American history — is detestable. Most events are couched in relativism; or, worse, the textbooks accentuate every sin and downplay every accomplishment. It would be one thing if this kind of ideological shading were relegated to history class, but it has infected plenty of other things.

    If you have no interest in funding campaigns for “women’s and LGBTQ rights” (euphemisms for pro-abortion and anti-religious-liberty causes), well, that’s too bad. If you can’t homeschool your kid or send her to a pricey private school, you lose.

    The embedded left-wing nature of big school districts is so normalized that parents rarely say a word. Mom and Dad can buy virtually anything from anywhere in the world, but they can’t use their tax dollars to buy Timmy an education that aligns with their values.

    It was one thing when these schools were producing mere Democrats, and it’s quite another now that they’re churning out hordes of chillingly ignorant voters.

    A recent study found that 60 percent of Americans couldn’t pass a U.S. Citizenship Test. It comes as no surprise that those 65 or older scored the best, with 74 percent correctly answering at least six out of ten questions. Of those 45 and younger, only 19 percentpassed the exam — and the younger the test-takers, the less likely they were to pass. Sixty percent of those tested didn’t know which countries their grandparents fought during World War II. And only 24 percent knew why Americans colonists had fought the British.

    Now, I’m under no illusion that higher education is the sole driver of common sense and patriotism — intellectuals are susceptible to some the dumbest ideas ever conceived–– but if state-run schools can’t even teach the Founding, how are we going to move forward as a nation?

    Some pundits point out that elite private schools have even worse problems with progressivism than the average public schools. That’s probably true — and also largely irrelevant. But a voucher system creates opportunities for all kinds of students, not just wealthy ones. It stands to reason, when one considers virtually every other marketplace in existence, that competition in education would generate a diverse array of schools offering an array of teaching methods and cultures to meet the needs of consumers. It would also pressure traditional public schools to do a better job retaining students.

    There is no panacea. School choice won’t instantaneously fix our problems. Yet without closing the gap in educational achievement, it seems unlikely we’re going to fix inequality. Without fixing the corrosion of civic education, it’s unlikely that American liberalism is going to survive. We can’t fix either problem without smashing “public education” as it exists. It might already be too late.

    nationalreview.com: Destroy the Public Education System

    AuntiE Says: My feelings on public education are well known. I consider it child abuse and endangerment to send a child to ‘public school’.

  • QUIZ: Famous Military Leaders

    QUIZ: Famous Military Leaders

    Famous generals and commanders from ancient times to World War II

    Play the Quiz Here

    Click and Find Out if You are Smarter than a Military Historian!

    Source: funtrivia.com

    Look forward to seeing a new Quiz every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

    The topics will vary widely and randomly, so we will enjoy finding out what YOUR brain holds most dear in its banks of knowledge and trivia!

  • Tolerance is not a Christian virtue

    Tolerance is not a Christian virtue

    By now the whole damn planet knows I am the worst sort of Christian because I will NOT turn the other cheek

    Like a trampled spring and a polluted well is a righteous person who gives way before the wicked.”
    Proverbs 25:26

    Let me explain myself so there is no misunderstanding

    Leprousy is not just a physical disease in the Bible. It is a picture of man in his sinful condition. He is disfigured, in pain, and helpless to do anything to help himself. It is only God who can make a difference and free him from this prison. Love compelled Jesus to come into this world and actively do something about man’s helplessness. He could not just sit back and tolerate man until death finally came. He came to love. He came to save. Tolerance is antithetical to this mission.

    You are blessed to be living during one of the most critical times in our nation’s history. It is a time when enemies are being exposed, heroes are being raised up, allegiances are being revealed, battles are being waged, and the course of our nation is being decided.

    It is not a time for spectators.

    And yet, during this critical time, millions of Christians are just that: Spectators. Justifying their inaction with Scripture, they are opting to stay on the sidelines while our nation and its founding principles are under siege.  This is a grievous wrong.  It is unbiblical.

    It is also a slap in the face of our nation’s Founders.  One of the greatest ironies of our time is that we Christians, who claim to admire and appreciate the Founders of this nation, are giving up without a fight the very things they fought and died to obtain for us.  Our celebrations of their heroic efforts and sacrifice ring hollow when, in response to our nation being under siege, we do nothing.  Could there be a more telling contrast between the Founders and ourselves?  We cannot claim to truly appreciate them and the nation they secured for us while simultaneously refusing to do what it takes to keep and maintain this nation.

    That bears repeating: We cannot claim to truly appreciate the Founders and the nation they secured for us while simultaneously refusing to do what it takes to keep and maintain this nation.

    The Founders understood that there is a time to stand and fight.  They also understood that one of the most critical times to stand and fight is when truth, justice, and freedom are at stake.  They would be shocked to hear that Scripture is being used today to justify staying on the sidelines while these very principles are being destroyed.  They would be doubly shocked to learn that those taking this approach are the very people who profess to love truth, justice, and freedom.

    “God is in Control, So I Don’t Have to Do Anything” Does Not Apply Here

    Those who use God’s sovereignty to justify doing nothing while our nation is under siege are misusing Scripture. If God did not want us to have an active role in His plans, He would not have called us to action repeatedly throughout Scripture. Again and again, from Genesis to Revelation, He calls on His people to act, to stand against evil, and to stand up for the needy and vulnerable (Isaiah 6:8, Matthew 28:18-20, Ephesians 5:11, Proverbs 31:8-9). If we continue to sit on the sidelines while every good thing our nation stands for is destroyed, we will have violated far more Scripture than the handful of passages currently being misused to justify inaction

    “Turn the Other Cheek” Does Not Apply Here

    Those who use Jesus’ admonition to “turn the other cheek” to justify doing nothing while our nation is under siege are also misusing Scripture.  Turning the other cheek is about not taking every slight to heart, about not taking revenge, and about returning evil with good when appropriate (Matthew 5:39, Romans 12:19, 1 Thessalonians 5:15).  It has nothing to do with voluntarily turning our nation over to those who despise everything it stands for and are intent on replacing its righteous principles with unrighteous ones.  The Founders understood the difference, and so, when truth, justice, and freedom were at stake, they defended those righteous principles to the death.

    “Submit to the Authorities” Does Not Apply Here

    Those who use Scripture’s admonition to “submit to the authorities” to justify doing nothing while our nation is under siege are also misusing Scripture.  Passages such as 1 Peter 2:13-17 (c.f. Romans 13:1-7) are not a blanket command to always submit to authorities in every situation.  Rather, they are a general admonition to be applied under certain conditions.  Note that Peter clearly states in verse 14 that the authorities in question recognize the difference between good and evil, and commend good (c.f. Romans 13:3).  This is not the case today.  Congressmembers, judges, governors, mayors, and local authorities are openly fomenting and funding lawlessness.  They celebrate those who break our laws while vilifying those who uphold them.  They clearly do not stand for, nor commend, good.

    There is another important implication of both this passage and the Romans 13 passage that is often overlooked: Through the act of obeying the authorities, believers help maintain their freedom to do good (1 Peter 2:14, Romans 13:3-4).  This is also not the case today.  Rather than maintaining it, our obedience — played out in silence and inaction — is costing us our freedom to do good.  We are being vilified for our beliefs, silenced in the public square, and forced out of and denied jobs.  If we believers do not stand now against the lawlessness overtaking our land, we will lose our freedom to do good for good.  It is only a matter of time.

    It is not surprising then that we see Peter, who penned 1 Peter 2:13-17, defying the authorities in Acts 4 and 5 when those authorities command him to stop preaching the gospel.  Peter’s response?  An emphatic, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).  Peter knew when to obey the authorities and when to disobey them.  Clearly, that inflection point occurred for him and John where the command of human authorities was in direct contradiction to a command of God, i.e. when human authorities were not commending good and were instead commanding against it.  Put another way, that inflection point occurred where obedience to human authorities robbed the governed of their freedom to follow and obey God.

    A Moment of Decision

    We stand at this same inflection point today.  Our freedom to follow and obey God is actively being undermined and eroded before our eyes by the very authorities established to protect it.  The freedom to speak the truth, preach the word of God, follow our convictions, and evangelize the lost is being aggressively challenged in the courts, in the public square, by the education system, and by the media. Yet, alarmingly, the governing authorities established to uphold our God-given rights enshrined in the Constitution — and act as a bulwark between such an onslaught and our freedom — can no longer be trusted to do so.

    Thus, we have a decision to make.  Will we remain spectators while our nation is under siege?  Know this: If we choose to remain spectators, the United States of America — and the great principles she was founded on — will fall.  This would be a terrible travesty not only for Americans, but for the world.  Since its founding, the United States has been a beacon of hope and help to the lost and vulnerable around the globe.  Through evangelism, aid, and protection, we have helped lift whole nations out of poverty, injustice, and tyranny.  This ability to help other nations is dependent on our nation remaining free and true to its founding principles.  If America falls, our freedom and ability to preach the gospel to the nations falls with her.  If America falls, our freedom and ability to provide aid to those in need falls with her.  If America falls, our freedom and ability to provide protection to those who need it falls with her.

    Or, will we join our nation’s Founders and make the sacrifices necessary to keep and maintain the nation they secured for us?  For, when great principles are at stake, great sacrifice is required.  The Founders understood this and made that sacrifice.  It is not right for us to celebrate their sacrifice and not be willing to make the same sacrifice when what they fought for is at risk of being destroyed.  Know that whatever it is you are clinging to, whatever it is that keeps you from standing, will be lost in the end if you do not stand now.  It is only a matter of time.  You have a choice: Sacrifice it yourself willingly now for the sake of your country, or lose it in the not-too-distant-future by force.

    I apologize up front for being long in tooth, it needed to be said

    While sharing all that, I was thinking of my friend Wilie

    he died of stomach cancer

    2 weeks before he died him an I were out goose hunting

    Geese need the wind for uplift so we crawled on our bellies around a field to get behind them

    geese can see a long ways away an they post sentries to protect the flock

    I was in the room when Willie left us there was 5 in that room

    Willie open his eyes about a minute later and said

    get right with God

    then he left again never to return

    Lillies have such a light scent about them

    I didn’t see any lillies in that room

  • Welcome to Wednesday Conversation

    Welcome to Wednesday Conversation

    Hopefully our personal unicorn is not making these grievous errors.🤔😳😲

    Speaking of our WhiteUnicorn, you all have an assignment from Thursday through Sunday. You must direct target accuracy karma toward New Jersey, where she will be killing clay. If she does not do well, each of you will be held accountable.

  • A Fish Tale

    A Fish Tale

    A group of fishermen in Florida got a wet surprise recently.

    While fishing off of Coral Gables, a trio of anglers, fishing with Chew On This charters hooked into a massive Goliath grouper. The 450 pound fish then proceeded to pull not one, but two of the group overboard.

    Watch:

    Got any fish stories? A big catch to brag about? A favorite fish to target? Let us know in the comments below.

    See our related post here –> New Record Paddlefish Caught

  • US officially cuts ties with WHO

    US officially cuts ties with WHO

    The Trump administration announced today that the US was cutting ties with the World Health Organization. The administration submitted a notice of withdrawal from the World Health Organization to the United Nations secretary-general, according to an official source. The White House also notified congressional lawmakers Tuesday of the official removal, effective July 2021.

    President Trump previously announced in May that the United States would be taking steps to “terminate” our relationship with the WHO.

    See also: Hello World. . .

    The U.S. repeatedly raised concerns about WHO officials’  praise of Chinese “transparency,”  its ignoring of warnings about the virus from Taiwan, and its repetition of Chinese claims that COVID-19 could not be spread from person-to-person. Trump has also pointed to opposition from WHO officials to his decision to place a travel ban on China in the initial days of the crisis.

  • BREAKING: ACTIVE SHOOTER AT 29 PALMS UPDATED

    BREAKING: ACTIVE SHOOTER AT 29 PALMS UPDATED

    Military police are responding to an active shooter situation at a Marine Corps base in southern California.

    Military Police responded to shots fired at 6:30 a.m. PT at the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base, according to Captain Nicole Plymale, Public Affairs Officer for Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base.

    There have been no reports of injuries at this time, Plymale said. Military Police have the suspect cordoned off and are in contact with him. There is a shelter in place order in effect.

    This is a Breaking Story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

    1400 Update:

    “The shelter-in-place order for the installation has been lifted,” U.S. Marines said in a statement, “An individual sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound at approximately 8:30 a.m. The individual is currently being treated and will be transported to a medical facility.”

    “There are no other injuries reported at this time. This incident is under investigation,” the statement added.

  • You Know What’s The Ultimate ‘Place Of Privilege’?…

    You Know What’s The Ultimate ‘Place Of Privilege’?…

    You Know What’s The Ultimate ‘Place Of Privilege’? Living In The USA

    People who come to this country don’t throw around that ‘privilege’ word as if to highlight some victimhood. They know America is still the shining beacon of hope for all mankind.

    By J. Motos Gordon For The Federalist 

    From the moment I first saw a helicopter land in the rice fields of my small town in the Philippines when I was a kid, I was captivated. I wanted to fly. I never thought I’d ever get to fly anything but the homemade kites we used to make out of cement bags and bamboo sticks.

    Then I got an amazing, life-changing gift: opportunity.

    America, the Land of Opportunity

    When I was about 10 years old, my mom brought me to the United States. She had come to the U.S. many years before with only about $200 in her pocket when she stepped off the plane. She made a life for herself, and when she was finally able, she brought me. She eventually met my dad, and he later adopted me. It was one of the happiest days of my life.

    My mom and dad are amazing people — caring, salt of the earth, hard-working people. Thrift shops and Goodwill stores were our malls when I was younger, and to this day I feel a sense of excitement when I enter one. My parents gardened in the backyard, spent their money frugally, and continued to save for part of that American Dream: their own house.

    I hated when my mom forced me to do my English and math with chalk and a chalkboard in our small hallway. With that tough love, she would always say, “When your grandfather was a young man in the Philippines, he helped take care of a farm. Then one day, they took it away. And so, he told me, ‘Go to school. People can take away your clothes and your house and your farm, but they can’t take away your education.’”

    Although I never did become a pilot, I did get to fly in some of those planes I dreamed of flying. As the saying goes, sometimes we create our own opportunities. And sometimes, some of us don’t work hard enough to make our dreams a reality, but that’s on me, not the system. Nothing, not opportunity nor education, is ever guaranteed without sacrifice or hard work.

    My experience isn’t special. I’m just a kid from a rice-farming town. Given the same opportunity, any of my relatives in the Philippines right now would love to come here to pursue the American Dream, and I have no doubt they would achieve it — irrespective of their background, skin color, accent, or any other perceived racial or economic disadvantage. Some of them are pursuing it right now.

    This is America, after all, with better opportunities and freedoms than the place they would leave behind. They are proud, smart, hard-working, and family-loving people. The only difference between them and all Americans is that we are here in the land of opportunity, a land where your success is directly proportional to your effort. A land where freedoms and liberties are enshrined on old parchment papers, and bled for by young men and women.

    If You Don’t Want to Be Here, Leave

    I can’t help but wonder why statues of the Founding Fathers are being toppled and why people are calling to defund police. I can’t help but wonder why the push for racial parity is being hijacked by some to a dangerous phase where the worth of one race is extolled above others to the point that saying “all lives matter” is now deemed racist.

    To those who hate this country, look at all the people who want to come here and become U.S. citizens. This nation is imperfect, but it is still a great country — many would contend it’s the greatest. If America is not a good fit for anyone because it is so horrible, they can leave it and go to another country. No one is stopping them from renouncing their U.S. citizenship and making room for somebody who wants to be here.

    If people choose to stay, however, to make America a better place together, let’s exercise “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances,” enumerated in the Constitution. Let us not put each other down with name-calling, not topple statues, not set fire to neighborhood businesses, not riot and throw frozen water bottles, not loot stores for electronics, and certainly not kill others.

    Being an American Is a Privilege

    I recently had a discussion with someone who was born in the United States. Our viewpoints differed, and he hinted it may have something to do with my privilege. Excuse me? Let me hint at something.

    If you grew up with lights and electricity in your house instead of kerosene lamps and candles just so you could read at night or feel safe, you have privilege.

    If you have indoor plumbing instead of having to go outside and hand-pump your water out of the ground, you have privilege.

    If you can sit on a porcelain toilet instead of between two bamboo trunks to go to the bathroom, you have privilege.

    If you have shoes under your feet instead of flip-flops cobbled together with safety pins because you can’t afford new ones, you have privilege.

    If you have more than two or three outfits instead of using the same ones over and over because you can’t afford more, you have privilege.

    If you can throw your clothes in a washing machine instead of having to go to the river to hand-wash them, you have privilege.

    If you feel safe during storms instead of having to worry about whether your thatched roof will leak again or if the typhoon will sweep away your house and family, you have privilege.

    If you can reach into your cupboard for your box of Uncle Ben’s instant rice instead of having to harvest the rice fields, lay out the rice onto the street to dry it under the sun, use the wind to separate the husks from the rice, bag it, and then store it in a warehouse and hope the rats don’t eat it, you have privilege.

    If you have a car to get where you need to go instead of having to pack yourself like sardines into an old Jeep with questionable safety, you have privilege.

    If you can microwave food or grab Pop Tarts from your kitchen instead of having to dig up potatoes in your yard or steal guava fruits from your neighbor, you have privilege.

    If you had an Atari, Nintendo, or Xbox instead of having to carve your own toys from a tree branch or use a Campbell’s soup can to make your own toy car or scrounge for coconut husks around town just so you can play a game, you have privilege.

    If you live under an economic system that allows you to work hard, persevere, and be creative to pull yourself out of poverty and rise into your own definition of success instead of toiling with the same amount of blood, sweat, and tears only to be limited by a government filled with corruption and nepotism, you have privilege.

    If you live in country where fundamental human rights and liberties are protected by a Constitution with its ingenious system of checks and balances instead of a country where your rights depend on who is in power, you have privilege.

    If you live in the United States of America instead of a Third World country, you have privilege.

    Make America Better Together

    The difference is that people who come to this country don’t throw around that “privilege” word as if to highlight some victimhood. They keep to themselves, work hard and smart, realize how special this country is, believe in the American Dream, and go after it. They’re just happy to be here.

    This country has disparities that still need to be addressed, but they are complex, just as complex as the history behind it all. A real, meaningful solution will be equally complex.

    We must work together, not by marginalizing or denigrating those with a different point of view. In putting down and belittling the voices of other people, we miss out on the opportunity to talk to one another — and we may very well inadvertently silence those who would have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us to effect change.

    In the end, this is still our country. Despite all its imperfections, America is still the shining beacon of hope for all mankind. Just ask anyone who wants to come here.

    We can make it better — not through name-calling, not through riots, not through violence, not through erasing history. But together.

    thefederalist.com: You Know What’s The Ultimate ‘Place Of Privilege’? Living In The USA

    AuntiE’s take:

    Maybe we should encourage those so dissatisfied with our country to leave. We could replace them with people who value America, even with faults.

  • Welcome to Tuesday Conversation

    Welcome to Tuesday Conversation

    If the above is a repeat, my apologies. It just gives me a big grin.