Month: September 2021

CS-CR(*) and Reversing the Brainwash

Health Care, Media, Politics, Reason, Society & Culture

*CS stands for Conditioned Stimulus. CR stands for Conditioned Response. I learned in Pscyh 101 in college that it’s a lot easier to program human beings to respond to a stimulus than it is to reverse that response. The Left has programmed so many people with so much perverted stimulus that it’s going to take a LOT to deprogram them. In College I had the dubious privilege of listening to a guest lecture by the renowned psychologist B.F. Skinner. For those of you who took introductory Pscyh, you may recall Skinner was known for being the pre-eminent “behaviorist”, for the “Skinner Box” and “operant conditioning”. Skinner espoused the notion that free will is an illusion, and that all human behavior is the direct result of conditioning. To prove his point, he stood at the front of our class and began his lecture by explaining his theories about conditioning while holding a revolver in his hand.

Periodically, he would yell “CS” and fire the blank-loaded gun. Our guts would tighten instantly when we heard the loud report. He would then go on with his lecture, and every so often would repeat the “CS” – ‘BANG!” sequence. He did this three or four times and each time it predictably elicited the same visceral response among us, a pronounced tightening of the diaphragm.  

As he neared the end of his lecture, he once again yelled “CS”, only this time he did NOT pull the trigger.

We all nevertheless felt the contraction in our guts, expecting the loud bang.

“That,” explained Skinner with a wry smile, “is conditioned stimulus and conditioned response”. He explained that his cry of “CS” was the conditioned stimulus. The gut tightening was the involuntary conditioned response.

He went on with his lecture for another fifteen minutes or so, repeatedly yelling CS and NOT pulling the trigger. Our gut response continued, however.

During the question and answer period a timid student raised his hand and asked Skinner what it would take to deprogram us from the conditioned stimulus.

And this is where I was shocked to learn that while it took only a few instances of conditioned stimulus to produce the conditioned response of a gut twitch, IT WOULD TAKE AT LEAST TEN TIMES LONGER TO REVERSE THE PROGRAMMING!

Indeed, as we walked from class, all across the campus one would hear the cries of “CS” as we students tried to prompt the conditioned response. Because none of us had guns, the novelty and programming wore off after another class period or two and we went on our merry ways.

Think, however, what the never-ending Conditioned Stimulus of Leftist BS has done to the population! So programmed to respond to, for example, COVID fear-mongering, are grown adults that they cower before their conditioners and obediently comply with their demands, however unscientific, unsubstantiated, unproven or lacking in common sense!

(For a very recent summation, by the way, that dispels the COVID conditioning to which I’m referring, please see the wonderful piece in Off-Guardian.org here. Think you’ll find it a useful reference.)

So, to counter the Leftist drivel, now deeply ingrained in the weak-minded psyches of so many people, will take a WHOLE LOT OF TRUTH TELLING… many times greater than what the Left has conditioned us with.

I don’t point this out to be pessimistic of fatalistic. I do so because the war in which we find ourselves is a war of wits. The only way we are going to be able to reclaim our country and banish the evil among us is by changing hearts and minds…by deprogramming and reprogramming people.

We’ve started this process. The wealth of truth-telling in so-called “alternative” (alternative to the MSM) news sites and the willingness of the “un(brain)washed” to speak out and openly about the falsehoods, lies and deceit constantly emanating from the mouths of Leftist politicians, judicial activists, teachers and people who would otherwise know better but who have been unwittingly programmed, is bit by bit serving as an antidote.

We need to keep it up! It’s going to take a while!

Consolidate

America, Government, Headlines, Politics

Just a short note to comment that the reason the Left is so effective at pushing their agenda is that despite their differences, they have a binding precept around which they always coalesce: POWER. Like all collectivists and lemmings, they mass together in one body to vote, cheat, steal, report, bludgeon, infect everything they touch. They put on a good show about being “for the people” and wanting nothing more than to do what’s right for America, but anyone with half a brain, paying attention, knows their evil intent is political domination so they can impose their utopian nonsense on us all.

We used to watch them at the podium self-righteously blather about how everything they do is intended to help the underdogs, the victims of white male racism and privilege, those who are so oppressed they can’t help themselves. Now they don’t even make a pretense of that. They just spit their disgusting Leftist bile out with impunity. They know the media will amplify their vitriol and demagoguery and suppress the truth or any view that departs from the orthodoxy.

These people on the Left are the worst kind of hypocrites, the worst kind of infection and pandemic that befalls mankind. Throughout history the losers and have-nots of the world, the indolent and feckless, the weak-minded and gullible, led by the arrogant and condescending, enticing and demagogic, have demanded to be taken care of, have screamed of their oppression, of inequality, of racism, despite constant opportunities to rise on hard work and merit.

And we on the Right continue to act like ladies and gentlemen, couching our rhetoric in diplomatic terms, in conciliatory tones, in compromising language. We always seek to take the high road because we’re told if we don’t “we’ll be just as bad as they are.”

We encourage and celebrate debate. We think differences of opinion among us are healthy. Both true, and both self-destructive. So long as we allow ourselves to be led by the ladies and gentlemen of the Right, we will see our country continue down the self-destructive path we are on.

The Left loves it. They are guerillas on one hand, and lemmings on the other. They burst out of the underbrush to hurl invectives and ad hominem attacks on the Right, and then when the times are ripe to push their ideology over the goal line, they coalesce and with one voice do the will of their pied piper leaders. So long as the money and ego-food keeps coming, they’re happy not to tug too hard on the strings manipulating them.

The Left is effective in exercising their power, as noted many times, because a complicit tech oligarchy and Leftist main stream media amplify their drivel.

The Right is attempting to counter the tech monopoly/oligarchy. BUT WE ARE FAILING BECAUSE WE’RE TOO FRAGMENTED. We have no unifying leader, no meme or quip or slogan that brings us all together like Newt did with the Contract With America in 1994 which swept the GOP into power for the first time in 40 years.

There are dozens if not hundreds of websites, organizations, movements and efforts dedicated to exposing the truth and the destructiveness of the Biden/Schumer/Pelosi administration. New “platforms” for free speech emerge almost weekly. There are a multitude of “voices” on alternative (i.e. non MSM) media that are heralding the mess we’re in and many offer solutions. The problem is, there are just too many! The conservative think tanks, the right-wing tabloids, the new social media platforms encouraging conservative thought and speech…they’re all great, but the messages that bind us are muddled, unclear, and lack the Hollywood production values the Left so effectively utilize.

Trump is a unifying force in one sense. What he showed America during his four years in office is just how masochistic and destructive the Obama/Leftist “fundamental transformation” movement really was. Inarticulate, self-aggrandizing, politically inept and boorish as he was, all he had to do was reverse the crap Obama laid on us to awaken the country and put us on the path to peace and prosperity. Frankly, anyone with traditional values, basic leadership and communications skills could have done that, but only bombastic Trump had the audacity and chutzpah to beat the Clinton/Leftist machine. And, “Make America Great Again” was the kind of slogan that rallied the Silent Majority to overcome the Leftist cheating/fraud in the 2016 election, much to the surprise and amazement of the American people, the world, and above all, the Clinton Left.

But like any reality tv series, Trump’s arc and the MAGA slogan is in decline. Yes, he still brings out tens of thousands at rallies and there are “just like the good ‘ole days” variations on the MAGA theme.

But only once we are able to rally behind a leader who has the principles of Trump, the stamina, durability and energy of Trump but the attractiveness, inspirational, universally persuasive… perhaps the best all-encompassing word is “righteous” attributes that Trump lacks will we be able to come together, vote and demand fairness, transparency and integrity in voting and politics, and beat back the Leftist cancer that is rapidly killing us.

I don’t see that leader among us. The firebrands and flamethrowers who make us stand up and cheer won’t play well. The erudite old hands will just bend over to be spanked and say “yes sir, may I have more?”. The “rising stars” aren’t going to last through the next disastrous three years.

I think the only one who could fit the bill is a renovated, more polished and inspiring Trump. He still has time to develop a different kind of attractiveness to the full spectrum of our population. He can learn to string two sentences together without repeating himself five times. He can convey what he needs to convey with quips and quotes and barbs and jabs and encouragements that are less caustic to half the population.

In short, if he can reflect between golf greens on becoming a statesmen and leave behind his New York real estate thug past, and this time around be even more bold at fighting the swamp and the media but in more clever, perhaps more measured ways, we just might have in him that leader around which to consolidate our righteous indignation, our effort, our resources, our voice. Then, perhaps, for our children and grandchildren and perhaps a few more generations beyond them, we may be able to destroy the forces of evil embodied by today’s Left.

Perception, Reality and Alternative Reality

America, Media, Morality, Society & Culture, Values

I’m going to be uncharacteristically charitable and start with the premise that the Left (choak) and the Right truly believe in their positions, both ideological and political. Further, I’m going to argue that people’s behavior is a function of their perception, that perception is reality and perception derives from experience. In other words, I’m going to suggest that because of their life experience peoples’ reality is that everything that’s happening in our country is, in the case of the Left, just peachy keen and in the case of the Right, diabolical and destructive. And both honestly and sincerely believe their views of the world are correct.

Here’s the well-known exercise that demonstrates what I’m talking about with respect to perception. Look at the following picture:

You see a young woman.

Now look at this picture.

You see an old hag.

Now, the way this experiment actually works, an audience is divided in two and each half is shown ONLY one or the other picture. This is the EXPERIENCE.

The entire audience is then shown the following picture.

The argument that ensues is that one half of the audience can only see a young woman and the other an old hag in the composite picture.

I submit the Right has a life experience that is diametrically opposed to that of the Left. The Right has grown up and experienced the good in tradition, virtue, self-determination, self-reliance, hard work, meritocracy, limited government, strong national defense, preservation of life, and so on. The Left has grown up seeing big government, authority, the State, collectivism, globalism, atheism, self-indulgence, insolence, indolence, the means justify the ends, pleasure over pain, narcissism, and so on.

How do these experiences happen?

For some, it is actual, physical experience. The traditionalist/conservative who grew up in a happy home, was taught and earned the rewards of hard work, etc. inevitably sees the world one way. The Leftist who was raised in a broken home, or in a so-called ‘alternative lifestyle’, taught throughout his or her life that the world was an oppressive place filled with people out to get them, that they are entitled to the fruits of ALL labor, taught to follow their heart strings rather than their heads; they see the world the opposite way just as the two halves of the audience are certain they see either the young woman or the old hag in the third picture above.

Since the advent of the Internet, for many experience is vicarious. By that I mean that their lives have been impacted not by actual experience, but by what they’ve heard from people with loud and popular voices (actors, actresses, politicians, etc.), read in the paper, seen on television, heard on the radio, absorbed from clicking on social media. This “experience” is just as impactful as real experience. Witness, for example, the impact teachers preaching Critical Race Theory or pushing the LGBTQ deviance and similar ideologies is having on our children. The kids are repeating things at the dinner table that are revolting and abhorrent to traditional parents. But the kids’ “experience” is coloring what they see and believe, and day by day it is becoming reality to them. For example, see: https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/warner-media-cartoons-woke/2021/09/15/id/1036621/. For the record, I’m revolted and repulsed by this blatant indoctrination.

It’s dismissed as silly that “it’s the Media’s fault.” BUT in large part, IT IS! The ‘Media’ creates what I’ll call “substitute” experience for many people, perhaps even most people, and thus determines both perception and reality. Because the Media preys on the baser instincts of human nature such as approbation and validation, sex, peer pressure, gluttony, pleasure, leisure, the herd/lemming instinct, etc. and generates revenues and profits from it, it creates a reality that feeds on itself and grows. By feeding on itself I’m suggesting that those who control and direct the media are themselves, addicted to and invested in the memes and reality they’ve created. And like any addiction, the lives they concoct get more and more perverse and masochistic until the people who believe them to be reality blow up, for example, by suicide or drug overdose. Think about all the violence, destruction, homicides, suicides, that so many have actually or vicariously experienced and how it escalates. Think about teen character destruction and the pandemic of them taking their own lives, of anger stemming from depression and lack of self-worth resulting in gang violence, drug abuse, sex trafficking. All of this can be attributed to the perceptions created by the Media and those who control it. And so long as revenues and profits persist, so too will the junk reality being put out by the Media.

The antidote?

Change perception and we change reality. We can’t just eliminate or eradicate evil from our lives. It has to be replaced by stuff that appeals to those baser instincts of human nature in a productive, positive way. An extremely tall order. Many conservative/traditionalist media outfits have tried and God bless ’em, continue to try. There seems to be some evidence that the tide is turning, but we have a long way to go!

The assault by the predominantly Leftist Media and the grip Leftist politicians now have on the minds and hearts of approximately half of our population is so strong that it can’t be broken by fiat or legislation. Overturning Roe v. Wade, for example, will not end abortion. It will just drive it underground. Counter the “my body my decision” position with enough “life begins at conception and is precious” using the same techniques and production values that the Left uses to push its agenda and we might have a chance of changing reality for so many who have been indoctrinated and brainwashed by the Left that abortion is just a procedure used in lieu of contraception or continence.  

As I’ve noted many times before, we need new heroes. We need attractive, articulate, persuasive, actors, actresses, politicians, leaders who can inspire and persuade those who believe their Leftist reality is ok that there is a better, happier and more satisfying reality than what they’re experiencing.

Many on the Left are seeing where things are heading and at least starting to scratch their heads. Unfortunately, the tsunami of Leftist reality is so strong and so pervasive in our society today, the peer pressure so great, that it’s a tough war. Many of my generation are giving up and suggesting that “it’s their world now.” I, however, feel it a responsibility and duty to try to move the two generations behind me to a course that thousands of years of history and REAL experience has taught is better than the one society is currently following.

We’ll never reverse the decline to destruction of our civilization unless we can change hearts and minds. For whatever time I have left on this planet, I will keep trying.

Newsome Will Not Be Recalled

Government, Politics

On Tuesday California Governor Newsome will face his recall election. I, like many other observers, predict that while Newsome will have been legitimately defeated, i.e. recalled, and Larry Elder should be the next governor of California, in fact, he will NOT be recalled. This is not because the legitimate voters of California will have not voted to recall him. Rather, it is because the Democrats will have once again rigged the election to cheat and fraudulent attribute more ballots to Newsome than he legitimately won.

The reason I’m confident in this prediction (and I truly hope it’s wrong!) is that there is no way Biden and Harris would have stuck their necks out for Newsome if it weren’t for assurances from the California Democrat machine that the votes will tip in Newsome’s favor. If the signs were otherwise, as they were in NY with Cuomo, they would not have shown up to campaign for him.

Perhaps more importantly, and frightening as a harbinger of Democrat shenanigans all over America, is that California has with their program of allowing illegal aliens to obtain drivers licenses with automatic voter registration ensured that hundreds of thousands of votes will be cast for Newsome that are prima facie fradulent – one must be a CITIZEN to vote. But that’s never stopped Democrats before. And of course, the illegal aliens will vote to support any demagogue who will promise not to deport them and will give them free everything.

Newsome, along with all the other woke and pandering Democrats have presided over the imolation (.sic) of one of the most beautiful and rich states in our Union. It’s as if God picked up America by the East Coast and shook it, with all the loose nuts and bolts falling out onto the West Coast. These are the Democrats’ perfect constituents: limited intelligence wokies, illegal aliens, and highly intelligent cognoscenti to whom the rules don’t apply. What they’ve done to California is a disaster and if the San Andreas Fault were to break it off and slide it into the sea, they’d deserve it.

I’m thinking buy some sagebrush land in western Nevada?

9-11/911

America, Economy, Education, Emergency Preparedness, Government, Headlines, Media, Society & Culture, Uncategorized, World Affairs

There is so much to write about and comment on that I’m not sure where to begin. Rather than reflect back on that otherwise beautiful autumn day in 2001 as so many others are doing today (I was in midtown, Manhattan. My oldest son was at the Court House in Lower Manhattan. My wife was covered in ash and walked the length of Manhattan from her job in lower Manhattan. We all were unharmed but witnessed the horror first hand), I thought I’d reflect today on what I’ve come to call the “Daily Atrocities”. I thought I’d gather some thoughts of possible future outcomes from them. But first, let’s enumerate just some of the problems brought on or exacerbated by the Leftists in the current administration:

  • The “Fundamental Transformation” of America – the necrotic, cancerous, Obama theme on steroids;
  • Biden criminality, dementia, puppet, treasonous actions;
  • Pelosi criminality, dementia, megalomania, hypocrisy;
  • COVID: Lies, Distrust, Masks, Vax, Passports, Mandates, etc.;
  • Military & Alphabet Agencies (FBI, CIA, NSA, etc.): Wokeness, Disregard for primary missions
  • Police: Resignations, Defunding, Disrespect
  • Assault on the Second Amendment as well as other Rights
  • Schools – Indoctrination, Lincoln, 1619, CRT, LGBTQ propaganda
  • Sheep – Adult indoctrination of dumbed down, compliant or gullible population
  • Open Borders – unequal treatment of illegal aliens vs. US citizens, drive to change the demographic
  • Energy Independence to Dependence
  • SCOTUS/Judicial impotence/decriminalization of crime
  • Elections: HR1, etc. – drive by Democrats for permanent power
  • Abuse of Power/Treason/Totalitarianism/Tyranny – examples too numerous to list
  • Radical Environmentalism, Feminism – Mars vs. Venus getting very ugly
  • Leftist Racism – the Left are the true racists, not the Right
  • China/Russia/Iran/NORKO – hegemony – growing perception of U.S. weakness, increasing vulnerability
  • Anti-Semitism/Anti-Religion/Anti-America – Evil at every level
  • Corrupt Professional Politicians/Groupthink
  • Declining Work Ethic/Snowflakes
  • Government Dependency
  • Reckless Fiscal & Monetary Policies/INFLATION/ Tax and Spend $3.5 TRILLION bill
  • Protests/Riots/Lawlessness Spreading
  • Hollywood Brainwashing/ Leftist Production Values high and preying on a weak-minded population
  • Tech:Censorship/Privacy/Social Media/Addiction
  • Cyber threats, Grid Threats, Biological, nuclear
  • Corporate/Professional Sports submission, compliance with wokeness
  • Government unions – scourge that allows workers to negotiate with themselves for salaries and benefits
  • World Affairs – American Decline.

So, where’s all this going? Here are some possible scenarios/outcomes as I see them:

1.            Status quo. God forbid the Right is unable to marshal the will or resolve to lay nail strips in front of the Leftist agenda and we succumb to this fundamental transformation. If that happens, we the frogs sitting in water that is starting to boil are either going to die or jump out of the pot. Allowing this current leviathan of Leftist idiocy could very well result in the destruction of America, but if this keeps up, it could happen.

2.            The GOP gets a spine. We’re already starting to see some courageous Republicans throwing the bulls#$t flag and attempting to throw wrenches into the Democrat works. One possible scenario is the Red States are able to not just lay out the evidence of the 2020 election fraud, but PROVE it in court. I don’t hold out a lot of hope on this because the judiciary is so hopelessly corrupt and Left-infected that the Democrats will be able to draw out the process indefinitely. We can only hope that the PROOF (not just the evidence) is so unequivocal, so clear and so damning that a constitutional crisis at the SCOTUS level ensues forcing either a forced resignation of Biden’s entire administration, a re-election or NEW election occurs, or somehow Trump is instated as the true winner of 2020.

3.            2022. Or, the evidence of fraud in our elections is sufficiently exposed that election fraud is rooted out of the system and the Democrats are prevented from utilizing their fraudulent tactics to steal another election. In 2022 the GOP takes over the House and perhaps the Senate and drives a spike into the Democrat agenda. Of course, a LOT of damage can still be done before January 2023, but a combination of some GOP backbone to stall their onslaught plus a fair election in 2022 could turn the tide.

4.            Newsom Recall. I’m skeptical that the California governor will be taken down. The Dems will use every tool at their disposal to cheat to keep him in office and I’m not sure public opinion against Newsom will suffice to push him out. (Who know… I never would have thought Cuomo would get taken down in New York.) But if he does get booted and a Republican governor is elected, it’ll be a start. Now, if Diane Feinstein keels over shortly thereafter, Larry Elder or some other GOP governor will appoint a Republican Senator and the Senate control could revert back to the GOP even before 2022 and the Leftist tsunami could be halted that way.

5.            Secession. There’s a lot of talk about Red State Secession. It’s possible, but not likely, at least not in this generation. The complexity of extricating themselves from the Federal clutches is probably too great, but I’m in favor of the idea if by 2023 we’re unable to neutralize the Democrats’ power.

6.            Civil Disobedience/REAL Insurrection. There is also a lot of discussion about armed rebellion, perhaps even a revolt against the Federal Government. As crazy as that sounds, the anger and actions of so many traditionalist patriots is growing to the point where this is no longer out of the question. When and how such a rebellion/revolt would start is anybody’s guess, but if 50,000 armed citizens were to descend on Washington and demand the resignations of all the Leftists, that would most certainly ignite the tinder. Armed squads that take it upon themselves to assassinate Leftist leaders in guerilla fashion is also not out of the question. Scary, yes, but not out of the question. This too would light the tinder.

7.            Shadow Government. It’s clear that Trump’s team are still largely intact and are no doubt watching and waiting and biding their time. The “enemy” is clearly destroying itself from within so there is no reason to stand in their way. If, however, a revolution begins or there is sufficient popular/populist support for a removal of the current administration in one way or another, Trump could position himself as the legitimate President, set up a government in a Red State, and potentially challenge the status quo with a non-lethal rebellion.

8.            Biden Resignation or Invocation of the 25th. I think there’s a real chance that the Democrats will try to figure out a way to get rid of Biden. However, installing Harris as President, no matter how delightful the Leftist news headlines might be, could be even more problematic than leaving the puppet in place. Nancy is next in line, and if they figure out how to get rid of her as well, which I would think they would have to do (if Biden is thrown out, Pelosi has to be as well – she’s too much of a nut-job), Patrick Leahy as President Pro Tempore of the Senate is next in line, and he looks like a saint compared to the other wackos and could very well be accepted by the nation as President. It’s a complex, three-dimensional chess game, but not out of the realm of possibility.

9.            Military Takeover. I don’t have any inside information as to just how many officers have resigned from the military either on ideological grounds on vaccine mandate grounds, but there is NO DOUBT that there are a hell of a lot of Colonel-on-down as well as some of former and current general staff who are talking among themselves about who they can count on to join them if the Joint Chiefs and current command structure had to be removed. The number of military who are on the Right far outweigh those on the Left, and while a military coup is inconceivable in America, the Democrats are already governing as if we’re a banana republic so again, such a coup in not out of the question.

10.          Foreign Attack. Most likely our weakness will give Russia and China carte blanche to invade Ukraine and Taiwan, respectively. It has already allowed the Iranians to ramp up their nuclear program to the point where they can deploy dirty bombs just about anywhere in the world. The NORK’s are watching with glee and even Kim Jung Mentally Ill has lost weight and is preparing to set foot on the world stage. The panoply of jihadists are undefeatable in a classic sense…it’s a game of whack-a-mole with them and no conventional military force will prevail. And while we may not like it, the only way, in my opinion, we’re going to be able to secure our nation is to place troops in strategic locations around the globe, harden our infrastructure, and restore our rightful place as the world’s sole, benevolent but self-interested superpower. If we are attacked, which is unlikely because our adversaries know that will galvanize us as a nation and then don’t want to awaken a sleeping or wounded tiger, we will coalesce and mount a counterattack that truly could bring on Armageddon. Biden and his puppet masters have destabilized the world and the threats to peace are greater now than they have ever been.

11.          Another 9-11. I often say, “The further away we get from 9-11, the closer we get to the next one.” I’m writing this on the eve of the twentieth anniversary of the horrendous event. Since that time our enemies have learned the lessons of what is called Fourth Generational Warfare. Without going into what that is in great detail, suffice it say that 4GW is a fight of small, agile and maniacal guerilla “cells” against a superpower like ours. It took only a couple dozen terrorists and about $500,000 to pull off 9-11. A successful cyber attack or even a conventional small-arms attack on our electrical grid could push America into the Stone Age in short order. Given our wokeness/weakness, this is not out of the question either, and the effects could be more permanent than what 9-11 did to us.

Pretty gloomy stuff, I know, but this is where we are today. If your head is in the sand, please get it out. Start to prepare for what could happen out there and hope and pray that we’re able to ride out this storm. Remember, once it happens, whatever “it” is, it will be too late to prepare.

May God bless us and may God bless America. It’s no longer morning Maya Angelou, it’s twilight heading into night.

Real Heroes

America, Morality, World Affairs

Let’s face it, calling every member of the military or the Intelligence Community or teachers or first responders or medical providers HEROES cheapens the contribution and sacrifice of REAL heroes. The term “garbage marine” is one my own marine sergeant nephew attaches to some with whom he served. The term has been so overused it can be said that a hero “is in the eye of the beholder”. I’m going to state categorically that while there are many who serve, who have served or who will yet serve out country and its citizens, or our allies and their citizens (or subjects as the case may be), worthy, honorable, helpful and achieving though they may be, not all are heroes.

So who’s a hero? Perhaps it’s best to first describe who is NOT a hero.

An idol is NOT a hero. There are innumerable Hollywood celebrities who are idolized because they use that celebrity to “speak out”.  One of the biggest problems of Gen Z is sycophantically following the lead of some moron actor or actress that has no connection with the real world, believe their notoriety gives them credibility, and preys on weak minds like demagogues primarily to increase their celebrity. Just because someone is held in high esteem doesn’t make him or her a hero. Is the current president (uncapitalized deliberately) a hero because there are millions of Americans who look up to him (excuse me while I force down some bile)? The last thing I’d call the president and all who control or follow him heroes!

Someone just doing their job is NOT a hero. Serving others is not necessarily heroic. The majority of service jobs are just that: jobs. That they do jobs others won’t or can’t do doesn’t make them heroic. They may do work that requires courage, but that still doesn’t make them a hero.

So, who IS a hero?

A hero is someone who does something to serve one or more fellow human beings that requires tremendous courage or sacrifice. I’m not talking about the courage to do slightly above ordinary things. I’m talking about adrenalin flowing, internal shaking with fear courage. A hero is also someone who sets aside his or her own safety and welfare and consciously chooses to take on something that serves others because of a cause they believe in.

One caveat.

There are many fools and idiots who fall into the above categories who are NOT heroes. How? Because what they’re doing is fundamentally wrong. Many members of ANTIFA or BLM may be heroes to one another, but their cause is evil. Yes it’s a value judgment, but in my opinion, anyone who ‘heroically’ supports or advances EVIL is not a hero but a villain.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Nathanael Greene, Paul Revere, John Paul Jones, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Alan Shepard, Chuck Yeager, Rosa Parks, Theodore Roosvelt, Martin Luther King,  Oskar Schindler, Neil Armstrong, Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, and on and on…THESE were heroes. All overcame tremendous adversity, scorn, ridicule, fear, doubt, trauma, withering criticism, isolation or a host of other impediments to achieve greatness, not for themselves, but for their fellow human beings.

Thus, the men and women who have organized quietly and acted with alacrity to effect the Pineapple Express rescue operation in Afghanistan are heroes. Others, unheralded, unknown to the public, unsung, are also risking their lives to save fellow citizens and allies from the grips of terrorists.

May they be blessed, guided, protected and successful.

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