What an illuminating and educational, yet entertaining day! I am attending the Women for America First “A Very Merry MAGA Holiday” event in Washington, DC. Today was very busy with a morning session Womens’ Empowerment Bootcamp at the Willard Hotel, held by the Leadership Institute. Dena Espenscheid, Director of Grassroots Coalitions led the discussion. I felt like an imposter as most attendees seemed to be very active conservatives…some have run for office or managed campaigns, others make speeches around the country, write op-eds, participate in or host radio talk shows.

After a lunch break, at about 1:00 PM, we went the few short blocks from the Willard to the White House. As we were standing in line, a slovenly man on a bicycle started screaming at us through a megaphone his distaste for our President. We far outnumbered him so our chants of “USA”, “Trump”, or “Four More Years” made him slink off to accost another target. Made for an amusing interlude…

At two separate Secret Service kiosks, we were asked to present a picture ID as well as identifying numbers. Then, after passing a dog, we were then subjected to scanning machines and finally, entered the White House. All personal information had to have been submitted to the Secret Service a few days ahead of the visit. We were ushered into the White House Briefing Room and treated to several hours of conversation with Deputy Associate Director, EOP Office of Public Liaison at The White House Giovanna Coia; White House Deputy Director of Communications Jessica Ditto; White House Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director Jennifer Korn; Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Vice President: Sarah E. Makin-Acciani.

It was stunning as these extremely accomplished women answered questions on a wide range of subjects for hours. And, by the way, no one made me feel inferior as that was my own doing. It was amazing to be in the company of so many like-minded individuals.

Really?  Since President Trump took office, the left, including the mainstream media, has, in lock step, attacked him relentlessly.  Time and again, the media and many Democrats, together with many “anonymous” sources have claimed that our President is unhinged, reckless, ill-informed, deranged, and so on.  The left has even gathered psychiatrists (who have never even spoken to the President) to opine about his mental ability.  Books by left-leaning partisans, never-Trumpers, or disgruntled ex-employees tout the never-ending Democratic party line.  With sheeplike consistency, most on the left believe that by constantly stating that we must fear the Trump presidency, it will make it true.  But, it is not working.  We are much smarter than they are.  We know that the press is against our President, so we remain skeptical.

We supporters have not changed our opinion of our President despite the left’s unending rhetoric so, in my opinion, they came up with a new tactic.  Publish an ANONYMOUS op-ed in the leftist New York Times claiming to be authored by a senior official in the Trump administration.  In this ANONYMOUS op-ed, make enough salient points to make it SOUND like the writer is a true patriot protecting us from President Trump and all this mayhem.  By doing so, this op-ed should finally convince all of us deplorables to abandon him.

It isn’t working.  We are still smarter than you.  First off, why would someone who purportedly cares about our country publish an op-ed that is clearly intended to cause chaos?  Secondly, this may have been believable if the op-ed was published by the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times or perhaps the New York Post since those publications vet their sources or, even better, if the op-ed was signed.  Thirdly, if the situation is as dire as this ANONYMOUS writer claims, why have none of the senior Administration officials spoken up?  Have we heard about this from Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Pompeo, White House Chief of Staff Kelly, Secretary of Defense Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Coats, Attorney General Sessions… you get my drift. In fact, I believe that they, as well as many other senior Administration officials, have not only denied writing this op-ed but have also refuted the allegations.

Finally, President Trump is not in hiding and never has been.  He speaks to us on a regular basis, answers reporter’s questions “off the cuff” frequently, gives interviews, meets publicly with heads of state, and speaks at rallys. He tweets whatever he happens to be thinking.  I believe he is well aware of everything he is doing and saying.  While the press itself becomes unhinged, he is getting the job done. This has been the most transparent Presidency in my lifetime.

So, Democrats—I know it is hard for you to believe but you LOST the election!  Our country is much better off now than it was before Donald Trump took office.  For one thing, the economy is booming!  Why can’t you just relax…go shopping with the extra money in your paychecks or plan a vacation with your increased stock portfolio or look for a new and better job since the job market has exploded?  Isn’t it about time to get over it?

Why is it considered controversial for Tiger Woods to express respect for the President?  ESPN’s Max Kellerman and Stephen A. Smith had the audacity to lambaste Tiger on their show by questioning Tiger’s intelligence and blackness for making a nonpartisan statement that the office of the president deserves respect even if you don’t agree with everything the president does.  In addition to playing golf with Donald Trump, Tiger has played golf with George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.  Was he asked this question during any of those presidencies?

This shouldn’t even have been news but, even today, listening to some pundits talking about this “issue”, it was said that Tiger Woods dodged the question.  So is this news?  It is the fundamental right of every American to have their own opinions and to make decisions as to whether or not to express them publicly.  Besides that, for these sports commentators to suggest that there are right and wrong opinions for a person based upon their race is in itself racist.  Why do they not see this?  The liberal media cannot stand it when someone disagrees with them.

If anyone is dividing this country, it is the mainstream media with their extreme liberal bias—refusing to report on any of the good that has come from this administration in less than two years.  Instead, they concentrate on political conspiracies that didn’t even happen on the right (two years of investigations and still, no collusion) while failing to report on the actual conspiracy that happened on the left (FISA warrants obtained to spy on a political opponent based upon an unverified Democratic-paid dossier compiled by foreign agents).   Every single day they seem to scream with outrage at something that just a couple of days later turns out to be nothing.  Whatever happened to just reporting the news?

In its annual confidence poll, Gallup found that “Americans’ trust in the mass media “to report the news fully, accurately and fairly” reached its lowest level in polling history, with only 32 percent saying they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media.”  And, this has been a steady decline over the past twenty years.

By the way, those cartoons were created by Glenn McCoy, a conservative cartoonist.

The rhetoric on the left is dangerous.  They are demonizing conservatives, harassing and cursing Republican leaders, threatening women and children of conservative leaders, protesting and screaming at their homes, and shouting down conservative speakers.  Some have called those of us who voted for President Trump NAZIS!  Now, they are brazenly inciting violence against rank and file employees of ICE and Homeland Security!  Some Democrat leaders have actually called upon their followers to act this way.

The Democratic Party may claim they are the party of inclusiveness, yet they are the most intolerant people in the United States and now they are inciting violence.  Most of this despicable conduct has, strangely enough, been against Republican women and their children and they call us deplorable.  To make things even worse, the mainstream media is unabashedly cheering on all of this reprehensible behavior.

Frequently, we hear the left using the word “fascist” when screaming.  According to vocabulary.com, “A fascist is a follower of a political philosophy characterized by authoritarian views and a strong central government — and no tolerance for opposing opinions.”

So, isn’t it the left who shouts down conservative speakers and is not tolerant of opposing opinions?

We can disagree on policy and having spirited debates is a foundation of our democracy.  Peaceful protests make your point but screaming at people shuts down discussion.  Most conservatives did not agree with many of Obama’s policies, yet Republicans didn’t throw people in his administration out of restaurants or shout down liberal speakers.  We voted for someone new.  That is the American way.

So I say to you hateful, narrow-minded, bullying people–Shame on You!  Continuing on this path is very dangerous for our country.  Someone will be hurt.

Why is it fair to allow illegal aliens to enter our country and stay without any sort of penalty?  Mainstream media and the left scream about a temporary separation of children from families as if this has never been done before yet it has been a practice for many years.  No one seemed to care under Obama or under Bush so why now is it a problem?

The Democrats are such incredible hypocrites using this plight to further their ultimate agenda which is to open our borders to any and all comers.  American citizens who are arrested and jailed are regularly separated from their children, frequently for years.  How about our military personnel who are separated from their children for months at a time?  And then, what about the American citizens who are killed by illegal aliens and thus are permanently separated from their families?

Whose responsibility is this?  What about the migrant parents who choose to allow their children to be separated so they can illegally enter our country?  Families who enter legally are NOT separated.  Yes, it is sad to hear the crying of children but why doesn’t the illegally-entering mother or father turn around and try to seek asylum legally?

It is unknown how many illegal aliens presently live in this country, but it has been estimated to be in the neighborhood of 12.5 million!  If we continue to allow them to enter through our porous southern border, this number will continue to rise.  The Federation for American Immigration Reform released a fascinating study in 2017, “The Fiscal Burden of Illegal Immigration”.  They concluded that it costs U.S. taxpayers over $115 Billion for the education, medical costs, justice enforcement, and welfare payments for illegal aliens and their children.  WOW!  This is AFTER taking into account any federal or state taxes paid by these individuals.  If that is true, that means the cost to us tax-paying Americans is more than $800 apiece.

President Trump recently suggested cutting foreign aid to Central American countries to perhaps incentivize them to keep their citizens so, just out of curiosity, I decided to see how much foreign aid we give to central American countries; the most recently published year is 2016 and totaled a mere $665 million and change—a drop in the bucket against the cost to keep these people (and I even included Belize and Panama who I do not believe are illegally sending people through our borders).

We need Congress to get together to build our wall.  This is NOT a political issue.  It is a practical one.  If the left-leaning liberals truly believe we should allow these people into our country, I do have a suggestion.  We can keep the families together.  You come forward and volunteer to sponsor and take in an illegal immigrant family into your home.  Then, you put up a bond to ensure their appearance when their court dates finally come up.  Maybe this would work.  Put up or shut up.

It is amazing to me how busy I manage to stay even though I am supposedly retired.  I do maintain a small CPA practice and I work part-time during tax season for the best self-prepared tax software company in the United States.  But, the 2018 tax season is over, and I find my days still seem rather hectic.  So, as a result, I haven’t been blogging.  Today, however, I have been glued to my television watching this historic summit taking place.  Both our President and Kim Jong Un have just met at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore.

I never thought about Singapore as a travel destination but watching today I have learned so much about this sovereign city-state and island country in Southeast Asia.  It lies one degree north of the equator, at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula.  Singapore ranks seventh in the world for GDP per capita (the US is ranked 20^th).  In 2017, they were ranked second on the world’s safest cities list, coming in just behind Tokyo.  Singapore has a land area of just 250 square miles which makes it bigger than Manhattan but smaller than the five boroughs of New York City.  There are five official languages, and the dominant one is English!  Besides that, the pictures being shown on television show Singapore as a modern, beautiful city.

Several years ago, I traveled to Korea and, while there, did go to the DMZ.  I walked through a tunnel (up to the barrier that was North Korea), saw guards armed with machine guns and the razor wire separating the north from the south.

So, back to the summit, with such a noble goal of completely denuclearizing North Korea, at least North Korea has shown some good will by releasing some hostages, stopping its nuclear tests, and it appears they have destroyed the tunnels as well as some of the buildings at one of its nuclear test sites.  So far, the United States hasn’t given up anything.  Whatever happens, I trust that President Trump will know if he needs to walk away or whether talks will continue.

The sad thing is seeing some of the mainstream media and liberal elites rooting for this summit to be a failure.  Bill Maher, who fancies himself a comedian, said the other day “I hope there’s another recession, so we can get rid of Trump.”  What kind of American advocates for failure?  Why would anyone be against the possibility of peace?

I, like most people, am sure that the United States will not be getting everything we want today, and we may never get everything we want but I also realize this is a process and an important conversation has begun.  The whole world should be applauding the effort and rooting for success.

Today Roger Goodell announced a new, revised policy mandating that players and team personnel present on the sidelines “shall stand and show respect for the flag and the National Anthem.”  Players who don’t wish to stand can remain in the locker room until the anthem is over.  Further, the league can fine a franchise having representatives who do not stand or show respect.

How embarrassing it was for us, as a country, to see, while playing a game in London, some of the New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphin players kneel during the playing of “The Star Spangled Banner” yet stand for “God Save the Queen.”  Embarrassment aside, I’m sure this came about because of declining attendance and television ratings.

The fact is that most people, besides the fact that they don’t earn millions of dollars for playing a game, are subject to rules of behavior imposed by said employers.  Employees do NOT have a Constitutional right to free speech or freedom of expression while at their place of employment, so employers are free to restrict employee speech while at work.

Of course, many NFL players disagree with this decision.  Malcolm Jenkins of the Eagles tweeted “What NFL owners did today was thwart the players’ constitutional rights…”  Why do these over-privileged football players think they should have more rights than the vast majority of us who are also employees?  Some employees have even been fired for social media postings!  So, the players can scream and shout about their first amendment rights all they want but team owners do have the right to impose rules.

I am glad that many professional football players care about social issues and I applaud them for using their time and money to further their causes.  But, I don’t feel the least bit sorry for them and I don’t feel that they need to use the football arena to express their views.  Professional football players have access to platforms that most of us cannot even aspire to, such as being guests on talk shows or as speakers at events.

For most of us, professional football is entertainment.  We view these games and root for our teams as a form of relief and relaxation from our own work; we need a respite from the stresses of day to day life as well as from politics.  The football field is not the appropriate venue so this year, guys, please just play football.

Many have been talking about an incident that occurred last week.  A young woman from Utah, shopping for her prom dress, found a beautiful qipao¹ in a vintage dress shop.   After posting pictures of herself wearing the dress, many on the left expressed outrage at her “cultural appropriation” which, of course, sparked a major frenzy.  It is a wonder to me how these people can maintain this posture on such a consistent basis.  It is as if they look for perceived slights to engender their already delicate, and now hurt, feelings.  It is a dress!

The irony here is that, according to many liberal news sources, the Chinese are not upset by this.  Amy Qin wrote in The New York Times, “When the furor reached Asia, though, many seemed to be scratching their heads. Far from being critical of Ms. Daum, who is not Chinese, many people in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan proclaimed her choice of the traditional high-necked dress as a victory for Chinese culture.”

Last year, in Portland, Oregon, two enterprising women owned and operated a food cart specializing in tortillas.  The popularity of this cart came to the attention of a Portland-based magazine which then published an article about these entrepreneurs.  The resulting overwhelming backlash against their “culturally appropriating” Mexican cuisine eventually caused them to close.

Outrage is, of course, appropriate when “cultural appropriation” is used to denigrate or show bad taste but there is no reason to act so appalled and indignant over a white woman wearing a Chinese-inspired dress or over tortillas being prepared and sold by two white ladies.

I was curious as to how “cultural appropriation” became such a hot topic and did some research.  While I didn’t exactly find out why, other than it appears to be part of the whole political correctness movement, I did read quite a few interesting comments…

On Quora.com, the question “What is Cultural Appropriation?” was posted and, while there were many thoughtful and interesting answers, Clarence Sherrick wrote “Cultural appropriation or ‘fusion’ is the most common and often flattering way of human imitation. Everyone imitates others that they admire, wish to be like or would want to join with.”

Another insightful response was written by Carlo Loreto.  “Appropriation cannot exist without ownership. No one owns culture. It’s a shared resource.

It’s rude to denigrate culture. There’s nothing wrong with admiring, emulating, using, or adding to existing culture. That’s what it’s there for. One person’s use of a cultural element doesn’t make less of it available for someone else.

When it comes to culture, if you didn’t invent it (and you didn’t), and you didn’t buy it from its previous rightful owner (and again, you didn’t), what business is it of yours what someone else does with it? Mind your own business. You don’t own culture.”

They make a good point.

¹Qipao is a body-hugging one-piece Chinese dress for women.  The stylish and often tight-fitting cheongsam or qipao (chipao) that is best known today was created in the 1920s in Shanghai and made fashionable by socialites and upper class women.

It is out of control and may be getting worse.  Ze, ve, xe, ne, hir, ey eirs, xyr are just a few of the made-up pronouns making the rounds of the politically correct police in their quest to eliminate gender specificity.  Terrorists are called rebels or insurgents yet patriots are labelled troublemakers or agitators.  Cardiff University in the UK has banned words such as housewife, mankind, and sportsmanship in an effort to “promote fairness and equality through raising awareness about potentially discriminatory vocabulary.” Many US universities have also issued guidelines about potentially offensive words or phrases.  Why don’t these institutions of higher learning concentrate on educating our youth instead of indoctrinating them to “politically correct” speech?

It seems that every day there is another story about someone claiming to be “offended” by someone’s speech but notice that it usually seems to be those on the left who demand that we on the right change our speech.  They want “God” removed from our slogan and some claim our national anthem is racist.

These are troubling times, somewhat reminiscent of Newspeak.  George Orwell writes in his essay, “Politics and the English Language,” “If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” Here is the very concept behind the invention of Newspeak. The idea is that, as language must become less expressive, the mind is more easily controlled. Through his creation and explanation of Newspeak, Orwell warns the reader that if a government creates the language and mandates how it is used, they can control the minds of its citizens.  For example, without a word for freedom, the concept of freedom cannot exist.

I am not the first to equate this PC movement with Newspeak,   Further, in 1984, thoughtcrime is the name given to negative or unorthodox thoughts about the Party.  First restrict speech, then restrict and criminalize thoughts.

Look at Mueller’s list of questions for President Trump.  Many of them begin with “What did you think…”  Scary.

Orwell, George.  1984.  London:Secker and Warburg, 1949.