Dear reader, please note that I am a moderate. The last time I voted Republican was for Ronald Reagan, so I imagine Mr. Roberts would call me a woke. I believe all of the history of George Washington; I believe that his greatness is often understated. Washington and the Founding Fathers were not driven by a desire for more power or more money after defeating King George III of England. Now we have arrived at a situation where many on the right, many Fox News pundits, CPAC, President-elect Donald Trump and of course Project 2025 feel that the path of leadership in America should be along the lines of Viktor Orban or even Vladimir Putin.
I'm 87 years old, a grandfather, a writer by avocation and a retired small business owner. I served two years in the U.S. Army as a draftee in 1956 and 1957, serving in France and Germany. I have two older brothers buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Both saw combat and were wounded, earning them the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantry Badge.
I started my blog over a year ago. It is called ReturntotheBeginning.com. That title is because I saw civics as a historical teaching device for our children to learn more about our Founding Fathers and our U.S. Constitution. In my opinion our kids do not get enough education related to our country’s political beginning.
When I was in the eighth grade, I read the book Lincoln the Unknown and I memorized the Gettysburg Address. I really do believe in our need to revisit our history to secure a better political future. We cannot give up or give in to any possibilities of despotism, such as a dictatorship.
Project 2025 was conceived of by the Heritage Foundation, a tax exempt conservative "think tank" that has published the book, Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise with a foreword written by Kevin D. Roberts Ph.D. that he calls "A Promise to America". I think this undertaking in our political society shows very little respect for America's political past great triumphs. The fact that the free countries of the world envy our successes is downplayed or not even given a modicum of respect. The theme I saw throughout his foreword is a whining, constant need to show little honor or nobility to our government. On page 14 of his foreword, in the middle of the page, his words sum up the interpretation of how Mr. Roberts feels about the political situation we are in today. I am going to quote the entire five sentence paragraph:
“Left to our own devices, the American people rejected European monarchy and colonialism just as we rejected slavery, second class citizenship for women, mercantilism, socialism, Wilsonian globalism, fascism, communism, and (today) wokeism. To the Left, these assertions of patriotic self-assurance are just so many signs of our moral depravity and intellectual inferiority that, in fact, we need a ruling elite making decisions for us.”
Dear reader, do not believe the loyal opposition, wokes as it were, are disloyal or intellectually inferior. Perhaps Mr. Roberts should look in the mirror. Project 2025 is really the one guilty of painting by using an elite brush. Don't be fooled!
It is clear that Mr. Roberts feels the “loyal opposition” on his left is in fact a negative political force who has earned the name of “woke”. This is what they want you to believe. His problem with wokes is their creation of the so-called Administrative State, the “deep state” of America which has grown according to him, too large and plays too big a role in our lives. Their thesis is simple, replace it! Cut it in half. Get rid of regulations! Give more power to a Unitary leader who can enforce major changes. Get rid of 50% of the Federal bureaucracy and replace it with loyalists to that Unitary form of government. It suggests blowing up our government in order to replace it, to allow one to emerge down the line! This new one supposedly will be orderly and free of chaos because of mandatory laws and restrictions.
The problem came about because their enemy, the woke, allowed politics to make too many growth decisions, too many regulatory decisions, involved too much oversight and has squelched many businesses with too much regulation. Whew! It makes you wonder why so many immigrants like Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch, and John Theil can have so many billions of dollars despite all the restrictions. Those poor fellas are overburdened?
Dear reader, please note that I am a moderate. The last time I voted Republican was for Ronald Reagan, so I imagine Mr. Roberts would call me a woke. I believe all of the history of George Washington; I believe that his greatness is often understated. Washington and the Founding Fathers were not driven by a desire for more power or more money after defeating King George III of England. Now we have arrived at a situation where many on the right, many Fox News pundits, members of CPAC, President-elect Donald Trump and of course Project 2025 feel that the path of leadership in America should be along the lines of Viktor Orban or even Vladimir Putin. I don't know any woke that would agree with that interpretation. Our rule of law and U.S. Constitution should remain the “big dog” in the political environment. We must continue to follow Constitutional decisions that have attempted to give us a more just society.
Wokes in America created free breakfasts and free lunches for our schoolchildren. They have allowed black history classes. They still believe in the rule of law as our most important concept in the United States. They advocate keeping our U.S. military morale high and encourage respect be given to our Generals and Admirals, who have taken an oath to honor the U.S. Constitution and our flag while not being beholden to a person. The U.S. Military take a pledge and an oath to the country, the Constitution, the flag and never to an individual. (Dear reader, you should note carefully that when Adolf Hitler took power in Germany in 1933 he stated that all military personnel must take allegiance to him and not the country of Germany.) Wokes want to tax the rich while keeping American businesses regulated. Never forget it is a privilege, not a right, to do business in the United States of America. I always have thought it is peculiar how many of the 1000 billionaires in the United States show little gratitude for the business environment on Wall Street that has made it possible for them to garner so much wealth. So, if supervision and keeping the rule of law has made the Administrative State grow, so be it. Project 2025 wants to take back the EPA and many other enforcement departments, because they feel it is a bother to have the Federal Government used as an oversight device. Project 2025 has little desire to strengthen the power of the Internal Revenue Service to chase down wealthy Americans who are not paying their fair share of taxes.
Was it wrong for wokes to create a Social Security and Medicare bureaucracy? Dear reader, remember Social Security benefits are the only financial income for 50% of our elderly citizens, and it is their money that they are getting back. It is anticipated that a new department being set up to reduce the size of government will be shrinking Social Security and Medicare benefits, despite the promises from the Trump campaign saying this would never happen.
Wokes believe the women in America have the right to choice, that a woman's body should not be controlled by the Federal government. Wokes believe that all established religions should have full rights granted by the U.S. Constitution.
Wokes believe climate change is real and substantiated by the scientific community. It is very peculiar that the brilliant engineer Elon Musk, the richest man in the United States and the inventor of an electric car, and has many other contracts doing business with the U.S. Government. Dear reader, this election cycle Mr. Musk has remained totally silent over the threat that climate change represents. If you think this is peculiar for a brilliant engineer who masterminded Tesla, you are not alone! It makes one wonder that if Elon Musk was giving $250 million to the Trump campaign, has that also made him go along with the climate change hoax? Also Mr. Musk masterminded many of the campaign strategies to win the election for President-elect Trump. He is already involving himself in many official government positions even though President Joe Biden is in power until January 2025. Mr. Musk has criticized Colonel Alexander Vindman, who testified at Trump's impeachment trial on the Ukraine matter, and now Mr. Musk accuses him of treason. Meanwhile, Mr. Musk himself seems to have a warm relationship with Vladimir Putin. Like many of the billionaires that are being appointed as department heads to govern the new Administration, I have noticed that few of them have any concern about their legacy, history's judgment, or the judgment of a just and all knowing God. The readers should know this is unlike our original Founding Fathers who had a great desire to withstand historical scrutiny. Don't forget they had all the power they could get after defeating George III, but rejected power and money for themselves and wanted the people to direct the government. Is Elon Musk an honest bureaucrat? The European Union has rejected X because it is a "... social media platform that promotes disinformation." Mr. Musk has sued American pundits about comments they made about his business operations. Finally Mr. Musk admits his involvement in shrinking the Administrative State of the U.S. Government by as much as $2 trillion. Will this hurt the average American citizen? He admits it will, but only in the "short term". Meanwhile dear reader, the massive tax breaks that were given seven years ago for the rich will be reinstated next summer.
All of the above reminds me of a serious question found in the Bible: "what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but looses his soul?"
Wokes use “truth” as a weapon against the gross exaggerations and lies often told by the far right in America. Many American politicians have forgotten that the truth will set them free in the political arena.
Wokes believe assault weapons are not a part of the Second Amendment's gun protections and now desire that the 10-year ban from 1993 to 2003 be reinstated. It is a terrible thing to witness so many mass shooting, most of which are committed using assault weapons. Many schools that are victimized by mass shootings must suffer through armed guards in the corridors and all doors being locked in the school. This is an ignorant situation and way too expensive.
In the spirit of the forthcoming holiday of Christmas, I would recommend the following three parables from the Bible. The reason I’m doing this is because JD Vance, who participated in the Project 2025 book, Kevin Roberts, and speaker of the house Michael Johnson have all boasted of their religious background. So, I would like to offer three Parables from the Bible that should be read by every American on Christmas Day no matter what their religious background, or even those who have no religion.
#1 The Beatitudes, under Matthew chapter 5. #2 The rich man and Lazarus, under Luke chapter 16 . #3 The Sheep and the Goats under Matthew chapter 25.
Remember, wokes have often used these three examples from the Bible to be used philosophically, religiously, and politically to improve the lives of our citizens. Saint Peter said, “honor your government, pay your taxes and pray for those in authority.”
Americans need a Merry Christmas, one that believes we can keep our children and grandchildren happy by avoiding mayhem and chaos in the political arena going forward.
Let's all resolve to protect the rule of law, our flag and the U.S. Constitution. Jesus Christ said, “love one another as I have loved you”. I believe all religion or those with no religion would benefit from His request.
Let us all pray over the plight of immigrants in America as we expect Project 2025 to have a very negative impact on their status in the United States. Also let us pray for the country of Ukraine because the Speaker of the House, Michael Johnson suggested they may not be getting any more military assistance from the United States.
Merry Christmas America. We must all resolve to keep our children and grandchildren safe from much of the projected mayhem and chaos that may be emerging in the political future of the United States.
Opening Image: Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights lawyerscommittee.org, Kent Nishimura/LA Times, Project2025.org, Popular Science/Sophie Bushwick, Fox News/Andrew Harrick/Getty, iStock/Getty/Marcel Braendli