No Silver Bullets, No Easy Answers

Since the election, through the Holidays, now well into the New Year, I’ve been thinking about the answer to the question, “What now?”.

Sorting through the “news” each day, I can’t help but see more and more confusion over what is true, what is falsehood, what is sensationalism, what is understatement. The one word to describe our state of affairs is: CHAOS.

I don’t see any cohesive strategy, any clear direction, any comprehensible plan to either ‘make our country great again’ or ‘take it back’ or ‘drain the swamp’ or ‘root out corruption’. I see little to no consequences for malfeasance, for lying, for theft, for waste, for self-abusive destruction of what has since its inception been the greatest country in the world.

‘Common sense’ is no longer common.

Demagoguery,, self-delusion, obsequiousness and self-centeredness are common.

Psychologists call it ‘other-directed’. Fewer and fewer people think critically much less skeptically. Individualism has given way to herd instinct. Emotions rule – no one spends the time to think rationally.

What was fringe is now mainstream. Pushbacks against what would in other time be considered lunacy are met with overwhelming, crushing condemnation. It’s as if the one reasonable person standing in the middle of a valley is being charged by thousands of buffalo. Just read the responses on Twitter or any other social medium to a ‘traditional’ statement or viewpoint.

I’ve long thought that the way to change the course of our national ship is with good leadership, with the development of new Hollywood heroes who successfully fight and win against the encroaching and increasingly pervasive evil infecting our society, with ‘reality’ hitting Gen X and Gen Z such that they awaken from their folly.

It ain’t happening! The megaphone afforded by the Internet puts power in the hands of the deleterious, the destructive, the Evil. On one hand it improves lives. On the other hand, it destroys them.

It’s not just artificial intelligence that has supplanted real intelligence. Social media and the ubiquitous handheld phone/tablet/computer combined is now an addiction.

Pew Research tells us:

  • 46% of teens say they use the internet “almost constantly”
  • 48% of teens say they go online several times a day
  • 48% of teenage girls say they’re online “almost constantly”
  • 43% of teenage boys say they’re online “almost constantly”

Look around you. It’s not just teenagers. So long as our society continues to descend into an artificial reality, fundamental human priorities will be back-burnered, what’s important neglected, what’s moral diminished, what’s good scoffed at.

No hero, no charismatic leader, no game of whack-a-mole is going to turn this around. Artificial reality has become Real Reality!

Thus I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that it will take some kind of cataclysmic event to wake up society and get people serious again. A Black Swan. Something that completely shatters what I will call Artificial Delusion and return us to basics.

It’s long past time to prepare for that Black Swan event.

So Scratch GETTR (and all the other social media platforms)!

It was brought to my attention today that GETTR is funded in part by Miles Guo, a Chinese dissident who, while having a legitimate beef with his overlords, is flooding GETTR with propaganda…with impunity. I was getting scores of self-professed patriots whose profiles were filled with kanji characters saying who knows what. So, I copied all my posts since March 2nd and will create a page here with an archive. Meanwhile, I’ll start to post the same kind of short, immediate reactions and thoughts as I had on GETTR here from now on. Hope my readers will be ok with this new format.

Thanks for your support,

Grumps

May 31, 2022

RE: Sussman acquittal. Expected or not, is there any doubt that the Left have taken over our institutions, including the judicial system? I guess pictures (i.e. emails) of perps holding smoking guns standing over corpses and eye-witness testimonies don’t seem to have the same weight these days as they used to. As I noted previously, we can only hope Durham knows what he’s doing and doesn’t quit. No question the trial was revealing in other ways…perhaps the positive result will be a greater recognition that the leftist cancer must be eradicated from every corner of our society.

It is axiomatic that people who make and/or have a lot of money/wealth or power believe they are smarter and superior to those who struggle “beneath” them. The rules don’t apply to them, their demagoguery doesn’t impact them, they compete on the basis of their wealth/power rank and how “philanthropic” they can be while paring their fingernails and pontificating on how they will save the world. Give me the ragtag woman who approached the altar with a couple of pennies to place in the offering plate any day over these self-absorbed hypocrites! I’d much rather associate with the poor kid who followed orders and charged the pillbox than the guy who invented the pet rock, hula hoop or today’s equivalent…an APP!

We all recall Biden screaming at the Detroit auto worker in 2020, “Do you need 100 rounds?” The answer is: “YES, especially if the guy shooting at me has 300 rounds!” Not only is Biden uneducated with respect to firearms, he’s belligerently and confrontationally stupid on the subject. He wouldn’t know the difference between a 9MM, .308, 5.56 weapon in ANY shape or form much less between a semi and an automatic, a consumer firearm and a real assault weapon! The Left’s despicable politicization and lying on virtually EVERY subject is disgusting, immoral and destructive. We simply MUST vote these idiots out in the coming elections.

Spent the weekend in DC. We have a beautiful capital marred by two things: homeless tent cities in many public parks and police presence as if we were about to be invaded by the Russian army. All federal buildings were surrounded, fences up, streets lined with snowplows (.sic) as if anticipating riots. What was REALLY happening was thousands of patriots paying their respects down the Mall at the WW2 and VN memorials. It was PEACEFUL, dignified, uplifting and GOOD people bumped fists, hugged, talked solemnly, shared memories, prayed. No doubt the MSM panted that the gathering was an “insurrection”. May God bless the souls of the fallen and their families.

May 27

Many questions re: Uvalde remain but here’s something to consider while everyone piles onto the police/law enforcement. If they were aware the perp was barricaded in the classroom, since the blinds were closed it would have been suicide to breach the classroom door WITHOUT a ballistic shield. If it HAD been breached, and the first officer had been shot, the perp would have access to the officer’s handgun, ammo and possibly his radio, giving the shooter immediate tactical superiority and the officer or officers would have given their lives in vain. The spokespeople for the authorities are not very good, but I give them the benefit of the doubt for the moment. In the meantime, may God bless those children, the teachers and their families.

May 26

Dear CONSERVATIVE pundits, journalists, commentators, etc. STOP CALLING semi-automatic rifles that RESEMBLE M16’s or AK47’s or like something out of Hollywood that looks scary ASSAULT RIFLES!!! By definition, an assault rifle must either be select or burst-fire capable. They are NOT readily available to the public. They are NOT what the Avalde shooter bought and used! The Left has hijacked the term to suit their agenda. We must NOT let them get away with this! The rifles in the public’s hands that the Left has taught everyone are scary assault rifles are semi-automatics, NOT select or burst fire! Call them a semi-automatic rifle but STOP calling them an ASSAULT RIFLE!

May 25

PARTIAL solution to mass murder: put trained and armed guards and teachers, install remote door locking systems and metal detectors in every school. Remove stupid “Gun Free Zone” signs. FULL solution: return this country to its traditional value system of Right and Wrong. Spend $40 Billion (.sic) on heartstring tugging and heart thumping entertainment that celebrates the triumph of Good over Evil. Recruit and promote heroes who make it cool to be GOOD and RIGHT again! Stop bowing to destructive, degenerate, deviant and diabolical Leftist demagogues and have zero tolerance for ANY and ALL crime! REFUND law enforcement and back them up! Charge those who would subvert law and order with treason or accessory. TEACH, PROMOTE AND CELEBRATE TRADITIONAL VALUES!

May 24

We lost the battle for election integrity when we fell for the COVID hysteria/lockdown/paranoia and allowed unsolicited ballot mailings, unverified (and unverifiable) mail-in ballots and extended pre and post election day voting. What do we do now? We overwhelm polling places with observers and watchers. We place people on duty at every single drop box recording every encounter with video. We demand that mail-in ballot openings be observed, signatures checked, discrepancies rejected and all be double verified. We demand that voting ends when the polls close and that no ballots received post closing be accepted. And if anyone deviates from these rules, we EN MASSE PROTEST, LOUDLY, FORCEFULLY BUT PEACEFULLY!

May 23

Monkeypox. The latest fear-mongering tactic to lay the groundwork for perpetual mail-in, fraud-inviting, extended voting shenanigans. With these distractions, diversions and sideshows the Left continues its full blown assault on election integrity and its push to institutionalize voting fraud. ONE CITIZEN, ONE VOTE. Presenting a driver’s license is insufficient. Signature verification is insufficient. The rolls are so egregiously erroneous we will never have a fair election until they are cleaned up. And until we insist on tamper-proof registration of CITIZENS (not just residents with drivers licenses), election day, in-person voting or VERIFIED and JUSTIFIED absentee ballot submission, the Left will traffic, harvest and cheat with impunity.

May 22

It continues to shock me how many smart, educated, thinking people believe the drivel peddled by the White House, MSM and Tech. The Chaos the Left has created has turned every institution into idiological, woke, mush. Academia, the judiciary, military, healthcare, and of course media, Hollywood and the government are so necrotized our nation is truly threatened from within. Alinsky is rolling with laughter and Beijing is smiling from ear to ear. The tsunami of bs filling the airwaves, the efficient production of ‘shiny objects’ by the Democrats are all obscuring reality, and way too many of our countrymen are falling for it! Slowly, more and more of America, however, seem to be waking up as the Left once again overplays its hand. Reality bites.

May 18

Of course the Dems cheated in 2020. No sane person believes Biden got 81 MM LEGITIMATE votes! The problem with all the evidence, e.g. 2000 mules, is that there is an alternative, implausible, unlikely and unbelievable explanation for it. This gives the Left license to call it “unproven”, “misinformation”, “unsubstantiated”, etc. The Dems knew that once they perpretrated their fraud it would be darn near impossible to PROVE it. Look what Durham has had to go through! Hillary isn’t stupid. Even if put on the stand she would have plausible deniability. Keep up the demand for truth and accountability, but the best thing we can do now is insist on in-person, verified, 1 person 1 vote on Election Day!

May 18

As Einstein pointed out, there are only three things that guide human behavior: fear, greed and stupidity. The Right fear God, are greedy for the blessings of trying to be good and are far from stupid. Guess what happens on the other side? The Left fear they will be exposed, lose control, lose power, lose the approbation of countless fawning sheep. They are greedy for what others have and what someone else will provide them without their having to work for it and for the luchre they derive from exploiting others (e.g. BLM). And, the Left are, in a word, STUPID! It is said that Democrats think Republicans are mean while Republicans think Democrats are dumb. Guess who’s RIGHT!

May 18

Dear Democrats (those who still care about our country, its values, its traditions, its people): Please do what Musk and other Democrats have done. Set aside your hatred of Trump, of Republicans and for love of country and for its sake cast your vote in November for GOP candidates. As imperfect as they/we all are, they will reverse the course we’re on and restore America to its pre-eminent position as the world’s only Superpower based on freedom and the principles of a democratic republic. The vast majority of our people will be better off, including YOU!

May 17

Latest Democrat shiny object: “Replacement Theory”. That the Democrats are deliberately letting in thousands of foreign nationals in hopes of turning them into voters or at least affecting the distribution of dollars via the census is a FACT! Of course they’ll try to pin some “racism” label to any objection to their strategy. Their cry of racism at every opportunity is, frankly, disgusting and depraved. I pray ALL Americans, irrespective of party, see through and past this demagoguery and the govt reins of power to the Right this November. While far from perfect, the Right is RIGHT and the Left always has been, and always will be WRONG for our country!

May 16

The headline reads: “The Swamp is deep, people… Very deep…” Indeed it is, but here’s the good news. The vast majority of swamp creatures are sheep who will follow whomever is in charge. Sad, but true. Most (not all!) put in their 8-4, working hard but producing little to nothing of value, then go home and kick back without a care. They mark the days till their 20th work anniversary so they can get their pensions, work in the private sector, double-dipping. Why good news? Because most of this protected class can’t do a lot of harm, and with a change in leadership, they will conform to the prevailing mood. Some may even be inspired to lift themselves out of the Swamp and join the productive private sector! ‘Govt isn’t the solution. It’s the problem!’

May 12

Hey RINO’s. I’ve got a serious suggestion for you. If you don’t have something positive to say about another Republican, just don’t say ANYTHING! Not privately, not in public, not in bits and bytes of any kind! We used to say, “Live as if every second of your life is being recorded and will be played back when you are judged.” Now we just say, “Once it’s out on the internet, it’s forever.” Oh, and by the way, you’ll be judged in this life whether you like it or not. Might as well stick to your principles, say what you mean, and mean what you say.

May 12

The GOP needs to flip the January 6th Committee’s contention that Trump engaged in criminal behavior on its head. What he was trying to do was PREVENT and HALT criminal behavior! Fighter that he is, he rallied his loyal supporters, urging them to protest. He never and would never have suggested they should ASSAULT the Capitol nor would he have condoned any forced entry or destruction of it. All the Democrats are trying to do now is take the focus off all the economic and social mayhem being sewn by THEM and continue to brainwash their sheep to cheat and vote in November. Longer term they want to prevent Trump from running in 2024. He is a winner. They are losers. The American public knows his policies are RIGHT and theirs are destructive. They will continue to lose..

May 12

To my fellow Americans on the Right. We may disagree on such contentious topics as Ukraine, COVID (remember COVID?) the Border, energy policy, Choice vs. Life, etc. but if we are to coalesce and crush the Left in November we must focus on that which unites us: Freedom, Self-determination, Meritocracy, Family, Church, Friends, Reading, Writing and ‘Rithmatic, The Golden Rule included. Once we unite and take back control of our country…once we purge the Swamp and restore sanity, we can hunker down and figure out the best path forward on the contentious stuff. But the first step is to WIN in November and to do so we must set aside our differences and reserve our vitriol for the destroyers on the Left. We musn’t turn every diasgreement into a roadside car wreck!

May 11

I forced myself to watch a couple of MSM channels earlier today. I can see how a constant diet of the leftist propaganda they spew, with appropriate visuals, background music and sound effects…in short, production values, could warp even a relatively objective person’s brain and keep the addled in line. There really isn’t any middle ground. Either you’re on the Left or you’re on the Right. As for me and my house, we shall remain steadfastly on the Right. Our country is more divided than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime although I still believe the MAJORITY of Americans are Right of center. Heaven help us to heal after we purge our country of the cancerous, leftist rot that threatens to envelope us. #leftist #msm #propaganda #healing

May 11

I asked a small business owner yesterday whether he’s ever met any of the 35% polled who allegedly support Biden’s administration. I certainly haven’t. He replied, “No, but that’s because we talk to people who work for a living.” Behind the media are so-called fact checkers and pollsters who gin up whatever results they think will advance their cause. Not until the public at large start to discriminate and reject both obvious and subtle BS will we stop the firehose of lies, distortions, and REAL disinformation spewing forth over the airwaves, cable and internet.

May 9

The headline says, “Biden admin reaches deal to provide ‘free’ internet plans for low-income households”. Since the Democrat string pullers aren’t all that stupid, they’re saying low income voters ARE, and that they can buy their votes. Either this shows how desperate they are, or the Dems believe that they’ve now got a huge swath of the people in their grasp…the same people who got Obama phones. I remain hopeful that low-income households are NOT just looking for handouts but for honest opportunity and jobs.


May 7

The crescendo of leftist idiocy and destructiveness, all part of Obama’s “fundamental transformation”, is due in part to the realization that the Left will never have another chance to succeed after November. It is going to be a chaotic summer with crisis after crisis all meant to convince us that the government is our only salvation. The divisiveness will get worse. We must be prepared to choose who is friend and eschew who is foe, where we will draw the line, how much we will tolerate, and march steadfastly and decisively to the polls to take back the power to arrest this metastatic cancer of leftist masochism. #fundamentaltransformation #november #evil #divisiveness #crisis #drawtheline #leftist

May 5

Every red-blooded American needs to read Kurt Schlichter’s piece in Town Hall this morning. He so artfully puts it the way so many of us would like to articulate our utter disgust at what the Left is doing to our country.

We Can’t Let Ourselves Be Oppressed by Weirdos, Losers, and Mutations

Have you noticed the absolute freakshow quality of the people who want to keep us in chains? Perhaps it’s one thing to be repressed by people who are at least

May 3

Life begins at conception PERIOD! In vitro fertilization is common today. In vitro gestation is doubtless on the horizon. Viability is heading towards 20 weeks gestation. In this day and age contraception is readily available thus the use of abortion in lieu of it is murder plain and simple. Oh, and what ever happened to continence? The only time termination of a pregnancy is warranted is in the case of incest, rape or to save the life of the mother (NOT BIRTHING PERSON!)

May 2

Sorry to hear people speak about evidence like that presented by Catherine Engelbrecht (2000 Mules) in uncertain, indefinite terms like: “LIKELY altering the outcome of the election”, “CONCERN about what was happening at the drop boxes, etc. While the Democrats consistently lie with great certainty about their evidence (e.g. Schiff), on the Right we still try to be gentlemanly and liberal (.sic) and almost self-deprecating. Those who have real evidence of Democrat fraud and shenanigans, please SPEAK LOUDLY AND BOLDLY! Exposing them here and there isn’t enough. To turn the tide back to truth and reality we need to condemn them and speak louder, with GREATER certainty, not milquetoast phrases!

May 2

The World Economic Forum (WEC), The World Health Organization (WHO) and countless other totalitarian, utopian-fantasizing, megalomaniacal organizations give whole new meaning to the term “hiding in plain sight”. The vast majority of the world’s population have no inkling as to their strategies, tactics and goals. We must listen/hear their WORDS and observe/watch their ACTIONS. I know it’s a distraction from all the other roadside accidents out there but people, add this to your radar screens!

May 1

I can’t decide whether the leftist legislators, media and compliant sheep are dumb or evil. It must be some of both.

May 1

The only people who think the economy is just peachy are those who have so much money they could care less what the price of gas or ground beef is or those who don’t pay for anything at all.

Apr 30

“Free speech is free speech. It has bowled over the — what? — maybe twenty-three percent of the country that considers free speech “a threat to democracy.” This is what comes of inverting and subverting language itself for the purpose of mind-raping the nation like Jeffrey Epstein on a 15-year-old. The Left has exercised a Macumba voodoo death grip on free speech for years now. The deeper the Left’s crimes against the constitution and common decency, the harder they strangled the flow of news, information, and opinion until the mental life of the USA turned into a gibber of shamefully obvious unreality. It’s one thing to lose your dignity as citizens, and another to just lose your country altogether.”

“This is This” | Kunstler

kunstler.com


Apr 28

Demanding Mayorkas resign makes for good theater, and it would be a welcome event, but it won’t do any good. Not until we change the entire administration and get rid of its deep state acolytes and minions will we be able to get control of our sovereign boundary. THEN, notwithstanding all the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, we need to DEPORT any and EVERY illegal alien. The pain that will be inflicted on them will be far less than the pain that has already been inflicted on and will in the future be inflicted on LEGITIMATE American citizens and legal immigrants! We’re sick of kowtowing to the tiny minority of faux as well as real victims. What about the honest and productive MAJORITY!

Apr 28

One of the first things we need to do after winning back control of our government is CHANGE THE VOCABULARY. The Democrats are masters at slogans, quips, and twisting words to accommodate addled minds, create memes and control the narrative. Terms like “Climate Change”, “Progressive”, “Socialism”, “Racism”, etc. have all been perverted and re-defined to suit the leftist agenda. We need to adopt a vocabulary, diction and tone that elevates the discussion. I’m thinking William F. Buckley instead of AOC.

Apr 28

I don’t trust Musk – while many positive things can be said about his vision, innovativeness, drive, showmanship, ability to hornswoggle investors and the government cash-register, he is not grounded in traditional much less conservative values. Everyone needs to see what he DOES with Twitter instead of prematurely celebrating the end of woke-ism, which is a long way from being eradicated.

Apr 28

We should immediately tell our allies in Europe that WE will supply them with the energy they need so they can’t be blackmailed by Russia. Of course, that won’t happen because the idiots in charge won’t turn on the spigots here in the U.S. to allow this to happen. What is wrong with these enviro-fascists that they would let the western world go to hell in a handbasket for fear they might raise the temperature of the oceans by 1/2 degree over the next umpteen years? Answer: Power hungriness, self adulation, infantile egos that must be stroked by a fawning, similarly ego-deprived mass of “have-not” losers. Or maybe they really are just knowingly or unknowingly evil.

Apr 28

It is said that in politics “loyalty” is prized and respected above everything else. How else can one account for the drivel that comes out of the mouths of people like Psaki, Mayorkas, etc. ? These otherwise sentient human beings spew forth falsehoods and nonsense out of loyalty, not necessarily out of conviction. What SHOULD be prized above all else is INTEGRITY. Politics has too little of THAT!

Apr 27

Overwhelm every aspect of “the system”. Lie, cheat, steal… the ends justify the means. Create chaos. Make left, right. Make up, down. Make truth, lies. Make lies truth. If challenged, deny, deflect, dissemble, deceive, dismiss, decry, divert, distract. Couch everything in “save the children”, “save the planet”, “save the victim” terms. Whine, cry and stamp your feet so vociferously you drown out all reason, all debate, any sense of rational thought or consideration. THIS is the Democrat/Leftist way. This treason, the dismembering of our good nation, must be defeated once and forever and consigned to the hell from which it sprang.

Apr 21

The Alinsky, Cloward-Piven strategy of “overwhelming the system” until collapse applies to the judicial system as well. The violations of the law perpetrated by the Left minute by minute have so overwhelmed the courts it’s impossible for justice to be served except sporadically and then only on an untimely basis. The reason the Left cheats, lies, censors, steals…breaks the law continuously is that they know there will be no consequences. Their perfidy is thus unrestrained and we are left with this chaos that envelopes our entire country.

Apr 21

I’m sorry Mayor Giuliani, but your very appearance on the Masked Singer has destroyed any remaining confidence and esteem I had in/for you. Thank you for your previous leadership and stewardship over the city of New York and public service but I now urge you to retire from the limelight. I’ll chalk this peccadillo up to aging.

Apr 21

Of course we don’t want Americans to die in Ukraine or anywhere else! But either we’re going to fight for our values and act like the superpower we are, or we’re just going to sit back and let the world go to hell while we’re checked out eating ice cream. It’s long past time for America to lead NATO in arresting this scourge/invasion by Russia. The Biden regime, however, has already lost the battle. It will take a new congress and a new administration to do something about this mess his weakness and fecklessness has gotten us into. Or, some other nation will step up and displace us as the leader of the free world. China, Iran, Venezuela and all the other bad guys are watching. Under this administration, we’ve abrogated our position and responsibility. I miss Reagan.

Apr 11

Is the following realistic? (I certainly hope not!) 1. The Dems remove Harris (one can conjure up innumerable ways this could be done) 2. Obama is appointed VP (22nd Amend. only says he can’t be ELECTED more than twice, thus a loophole!) 3. Biden resigns or 25th is invoked. 4. The “savior” returns for a third term. It’s clear the Dems will do ANYTHING to hold on to power and it’s clear Obama (a “quiet” narcissist) would like nothing more than to advance his “fundamental transformation” ideology. This, again, has to happen before the November election as he would have to be confirmed by both houses. Scary huh?

Apr 10

Whatever you believe about the efficacy or harm caused by the COVID jabs, Trump’s REAL accomplishment was eliminating bureaucratic and regulatory impediments to bring them to market within months rather than years. It’s that kind of bulldozing that Washington needed then, needs now and will need in the future.

Apr 10

Finally, it’s being acknowledged that the way the Clintons and Bidens and other corrupt politicians benefit is by contributions or payments to “foundations” and family members which in turn pay their lifestyle expenditures. The hundreds of millions donated to the Clinton Global Initiative and the millions paid to Hunter may have been legal, but they stink to high heaven. Influence-buying and selling is a tricky game using “plausible deniability” and other subterfuges to tiptoe along the legal/illegal line.

Apr 7

Keep your seat belts fastened. The Dems’ power to install a new VP will expire after the 2022 election. Biden will thus be gone by November, Harris becomes President and nominates ??? for VP? The House and Senate must confirm with a simple majority which they must exploit until they lose it. In a 50-50 Senate presumably Leahy as Pro Tempore breaks the tie. Between now and November it’s going to be, shall we say, turbulent?

Apr 1

Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Schumer and the rest of the Democrat/Leftist Cabal…. TODAY IS THEIR DAY!

Mar 31

One of the Left’s (and Tech’s) divisive tactics is to create “communities”: The Black Community, The LGBTQ Community, The Gay Community, etc. They do this because “community” is supposed to represent what’s “good” about society. (Remember “It takes a village”?) “COMMUNITY” is a euphemism for “COLLECTIVISM”!!! And Collectivism is in the same category as socialism and communism, Marxism, globalism and New World Order. It’s INDIVIDUALS who make decisions, who take actions, who subscribe to an ideology or life-path. Stop sorting individuals into corrals! Stop talking as if you represent a Community! What shrill Leftist demagogues represent is a minority of obnoxiously militant sheep, head-nodders and lazy INDIVIDUALS who can’t or won’t think or act for themselves!


Mar 28

It’s clear to anyone watching or reading anything but the mainstream media that Joe Biden was a plant installed by the Left so they can wield power and “fundamentally transform” our country into the ridiculous “can’t we all get along”, utopian fantasy. So, who ARE the people pulling the marionette strings? There is a bile-inducing array of Clinton-Obama retreads and affirmative action picks straight from central casting. Look at any list and you’ll note that every other bio celebrates the individual is “the first…” of some kind. Why aren’t officials picked on the basis of love-of-country, down-to-earth-in-touch-with-the-people-and-reality qualifications? No surprise Biden’s picks reek of favoritism and political correctness!

Mar 7

Chaos is, well, chaotic. Let’s face it, the Left has succeeded in screwing things up so royally that their strategy of creating chaos so as to make the most people dependent on them as possible is working. While some are just getting back to some sense of normalcy after the “pandemic”, getting used to responding to an alarm clock and heading back to on-site work, others are still cowering in kitchens and walking around in masks. There are still virtue signaling “Hate hath no home here” and “We Believe” signs on some lawns but they’re now cockeyed (Occasionally I see a Biden-Harris sticker although it’s usually on a Prius driven by a recycled hippie.) For the moment, gas is available though getting more and more expensive by the day (cont.)

Mar 7

The truck convoy has been moved to the back pages of the media, and cat food is still hard to come by in the stores. Few at this moment are dutifully counting the number of illegal aliens slipping across our southern border. News channels compete for how “breaking”, how bloody their coverage is. Never has the slogan, “follow the money” been more apt. Even philanthropies are trying to exploit the chaos by flooding us with an unprecedented number of phone calls, text messages, snail and email. Selfishness and self-centeredness, “looking out for number one” have taken over. It’s a mess.

Mar 4

The current administration doesn’t lead from behind. They lead WITH their behind. They have so fouled up both foreign and domestic policy they can’t get out of their own way. They are a rudderless ship. Incompetence, ineptitude, and stupidity are their hallmarks. As Casey Stengel put it: “Some people make things happen, some people watch things happen, and some ask what happened.” Biden & Co. fall into the latter two categories.

Mar 2

I believe in…(cont.) I believe that we DO have a responsibility as the greatest nation the world has ever known to set an example and export democracy and our values to the rest of the world; and, I believe that truth is not relative but immutable and exists whether or not one person or the entirety of mankind believes it or not, and that we should be determined to seek it.

Mar 2

I believe in…(cont.) I believe in traditional marriage between one man and one woman; I believe the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms is a bulwark against tyranny and oppression, and must be defended; I believe parents, not bureaucrats and not public sector unions, should control education; I believe current immigration laws should be enforced; I believe in God and in freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion; I believe in the Golden Rule; I believe in private medical care, not government-provided, universal care; I believe “It Takes a Family”, not a “Village”; I believe in a strong National Defense, that we should talk softly and revert to war as a last resort but carry a BIG STICK… (cont.)

Mar 2

People ask me what I believe in and stand for: I believe in personal responsibility, self-reliance, hard work, and meritocracy; I believe in free markets and capitalism, but not “crony capitalism”, and that socialism has always been and always will be a scourge on mankind; I believe government is not the solution, but the problem; I believe the U.S. Constitution is not a “living document” but an inspired charter that was meant not just for the 18th Century but the 21st as well; I believe there are fundamental differences between men and women and boys and girls that must be respected; Without condoning behavior I deem offensive, I believe in treating everyone with respect, tolerance and courtesy irrespective of their creed, faith, gender, age or race…(cont.)

Mar 2

I’m not new to Gettr; I’ve just created a new account under my pen name “Grumps”. I’m consolidating all my social media involvement under the Grumps and GrumpsReport monikers. My views over the last several years are archived best on the GrumpsReport.com website. In short, however, I am an unabashed Traditionalist (.sic) dedicated to promoting, preserving, defending and passing on the ideals, values and mores we were raised on by The Greatest Generation. In these posts I hope to in some small way add my voice to those who love our country as it once was, and can be again, not as it is becoming.

GrumpsReport Now On GETTR

Dear Readers. Things are moving so fast (still downhill I’m afraid) that to comment and remain current on breaking news and the vast array of insanity infecting society, we have elected to (gulp) dip our toe into the mayhem of social media by establishing an account and presence on the relatively new platform called GETTR. (https://gettr.com/). Enroll and look up Grumps and/or @GrumpsActual. There you’ll see all our commentary.

As our blood pressure rises and corpuscles boil, we’re able to respond/comment/rail quickly using this medium. The jury is still out as to whether we’ll stay on this platform, or any of the others for that matter: GAB, TruthSocial, Rumble, Parler, etc. but we’ll give it a try for a while.

Let us know what you think!

And hang in there!

Grumps

A Profound Essay on Post Truth

I find it’s increasingly difficult to have a rational conversation with ANYONE! There is so much falsehood, so much unbridled emotion and so much bitterness in communication today that it’s even hard to have a civil chat with members of my own family. While there are many topics on which we agree, there are many on which we disagree depending on what media we’ve consumed or exposure we’ve had to flak in the air! Now I’ve come across someone who has articulated the reasons for the conflict. Donald Williams, PhD is a Professor Emeritus of Toccoa Falls College and I think he nails it:

I frequently encounter people who do not seem to understand the difference between a fact and an assertion. To them, a “fact” is simply an assertion with which they agree. A “false fact” is an assertion with which they disagree. And “evidence” or “argument” mean repeating the assertion more loudly, more passionately, and/or with fancier rhetoric. These people appear on both sides of the political divide.

This kind of inability to participate in valid forensic reasoning has always been with us, of course. But I think at least two current influences are making it worse.

First, social media amplifies the idiocy. There used to be gatekeepers you had to get past to inundate the masses with your message. In so far as social media makes it easier (until it gets “community standards”) to make an end-run around the censors, it is a good thing. But the multiplication of mindlessness in public discourse is a huge downside. The old gatekeepers were not perfect, but they did as much good as harm. At their best, they did more good than harm. They helped to keep the grosser forms of illogic in public discourse to a minimum.

Second, the dominance of Post-Modern “theories” of various kinds in the academy has been an environmental factor that has caused this malady to mutate into even more virulent strains. Like social media but in a different way, this has neutralized some of the natural predators that used to keep it in check. Today’s students are constantly taught that objectivity is so impossible of attainment that it is dishonest to have it as a goal or even an aspiration. It is endlessly drummed into them that no one can escape the deterministic perspectivalism supposedly created by race, class, and gender.

Truth claims are automatically reduced in knee-jerk fashion to mere cynical attempts to assert power. It is not surprising that people come away believing that we really do live in a “post-truth” world. It should not be shocking that they will eventually act on that belief. Thus education, which used to inhibit the kind of thoughtlessness I am describing, now not only encourages it but actively foments it.

THAT is why rational conversations are no longer possible. Call it brainwashing, call it attention deficit, call it lack of emotional energy…the madness continues.

For my part, I have buried myself in history books. I’m rereading the texts on world history I didn’t pay much attention to when in grade, high school and college. Having traveled to many places described in those texts, I’m reading them with a renewed interest and comprehension. Moreover, it’s giving me perspective. Great civilizations have been down the road we’re traveling before. All were eventually purged of evil and in context, what we’re experiencing now in 2022 is but a blip in history. The great journey of our own civilization – call it The Western World or America, its archetype, is following the course of all great civilizations: struggle to prosperity to a breakdown of traditional values to indolence to jealousy to war to chaos to demise.

We’re in the chaos stage. In the future as we look back on the turning point and what happened, I predict we’ll say that the post-World War II period of relative calm and “normalcy” gave rise to a “fat and happy” indolence which gave rise to the 60’s breakdown in traditional values which gave rise to the Korean and Vietnam wars as well as the more recent hegemonic quests to the chaos we’re now experiencing as the deterioration of values and moral relativism reach their peak and chaos prevails.

What do we have to look forward to? If we don’t learn from history and not just arrest this slide down the slippery slope but return to virtue, eternal truth and traditional values, we will see America continue its decline and eventually either be surpassed and taken over by an ascendant China, a militant Russia, or Armageddon will occur.

On the other hand, if we can wake up, grow up and pay attention to what I will for lack of a better term call “real reality” vs. “manufactured reality”, we can turn the chaos back into a better world for all.

Alas, I’m not very hopeful. I fail to see the leader or leaders who can inspire us sufficiently to turn the corner. I hope I’m wrong, for my children’s and my children’s children’s sake.

The Real Existential Threat

HR1 is every bit as bad as we predicted it would be. Same goes for the other bills the Leftist mob is trying to ram down our throats. There are not enough pejorative adjectives and adverbs to describe the depth of the depravity, their willingness to do anything, say anything to garner power and lord over us.

What is so galling to so many Americans is that the Democrats/Leftists were allowed to not just fraudulently steal the 2020 election, but the two Senate seats in Georgia as well. The GOP were truly deer-in-the-headlights after November 3rd. Had we one even ONE of the seats we would have maintained the Senate majority and had a shot at stopping the onslaught in its tracks. So conniving, so dishonest, so evil is the Cabal’s machine that the honest voters in America never had a chance! Our election officials failed us. Our legislators failed us. Our governors failed us. Even our judiciary at the local, state and federal level, all the way up to the Supreme Court failed us. And the military, whom we hoped would step in, failed us as well. We have only ourselves to blame for this abrogation of adult responsibility!

Obviously the Fourth Estate and Big Tech’s control of social media had a lot to do with this takeover by the Left. As I consciously didn’t watch, listen or read any of the Leftist propaganda during the election cycle I was only in passing aware of how destructive the misinformation and resultant brainwashing was. While the notion that Biden got 80 million + legitimate votes is unadulterated nonsense, that he would get even 50% of that number speaks to how good a job the Cabal did at not just obscuring perception but altering it completely for millions upon millions of gullible, non-thinking voters. And as we all know, perception IS reality. Thus, even committed, traditionalist voters were swayed to vote either for the Democrat ticket, or against Trump. And now look what we’ve got!

We frequently hear the phrase from the oath of office, “…support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic.” Who domestic enemies are is defined in Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Essentially, it is those who “have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same (the United States) or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

With that background, have the Democrats given aid to enemies of the United States? Are not members of the Obama administration and now the Biden administration doing exactly that by joining or now rejoining the so-called “Iran Nuclear Deal?” Or the Paris Climate Accord? Doesn’t the imposition of draconian lockdowns that damage our industry and commerce weaken us and therefore put us at a disadvantage against our economic and military adversaries? Doesn’t turning our armed forces and intelligence agencies into social engineering experiments similarly weaken us against our enemies? Does the incurring of debt obligations so great that they make us incredibly vulnerable to debt holders who could simply refuse to buy our debt, thus sending interest rates skyrocketing with devastating effect on our economy not qualify as aiding our enemies? Doesn’t creating mass chaos at our Southern Border with all its consequences also aid them?

The conclusion is obvious. It is precisely the Democrat Party and its megalomaniacal leaders who are domestic enemies. They of course continuously and egregiously guilty of projection and claim the opposite – that Republicans, Conservatives, even non-partisans who don’t fall in line behind their woke, socialist, some would say communist, agenda are the domestic enemies. Saul Alinsky is jumping up and down for joy in his grave!

But it is the Democrats altogether, not just the lunatic fringe of the “Squad” and other wackos who are destroying our country right before our eyes. It’s been happening for years…death by a thousand cuts, but in 2020 the leftist Cabal finally achieved what they weren’t able to achieve since Obama’s first term…total control over our politics. Then there was still some lip service paid to written and unwritten rules of political and ethical conduct. Now the Democrats don’t even bother trying to maintain some semblance of patriotism or normalcy. They are completely, radically, unhinged!

With the help of the wokies in the media, who are also domestic enemies, we’ve entered Bizarro-World where lies are truth and truths are lies, good is evil and evil is good, where up is down and down is up…a state fomented by the Democrats all consciously and deliberately intended to ride roughshod over their political opposition, the welfare of our country and its people be damned!

Bottom line is, these Leftist politicians and media types are by their completely visible and transparent actions domestic enemies and by extension represent an existential threat to our republic. Is it any wonder that there is talk of secession and armed rebellion? Until these enemies begin to face consequences for what they’re doing they will continue pushing their idiocy.

The understatement of the moment is, “It’s getting rather sporty out there.” Someone the other day said, “If I hear one more person say, ‘hang in there’, I think I’ll deck him!” We’re way past that. The cavalry (.sic) isn’t coming and we’re going to have to think and act every day like our families’ futures hang in the balance.

They do.

I’ve started using my coffee cup with the slogan “No More Mister Nice Guy” on it. I’m writing checks to every cause supporting freedom and our constitution that I come across. I’m not lowering my voice in restaurants when I speak of the damage the Democrats are doing. I don’t keep my mouth shut anymore when I hear drivel or nonsense come out of the mouth of a wokie. If someone condescendingly tells me to put on my mask I reply, “You’re wearing yours, so you’re protected. I’m protected by common sense and REAL Science! I try to remain civil, but “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore.”

What Now

“It ain’t over till it’s over”. The fireworks and dancing on stage in front of a handful of people after Biden was “projected” to have won the election was meant to create the perception that it’s a fait accompli. The grossly premature announcements by the Biden camp of how he will assemble a COVID task force on Monday, in other words, “get right to work” to be the President of All America is meant to serve the same purpose. Virtually everything saturating the air is just another ploy to demoralize, beat and steamroll us into submission. Difficult as it may be, ignore it!

Like I said, I’m not conceding anything until Trump does. While I am sick to my stomach about how the media, including Fox, are behaving as if this is a fait accompli, I try not to pay attention to them and continue to pray, hope and argue that ultimately the Supreme Court will be called upon to settle the matter, or the House, using the rule one-state-one-vote. If the former, I’ll accept what a conservative majority Court decides. If the latter, Trump will win because red states outnumber blue states.

In my opinion, the only thing the Trump campaign is doing wrong is putting Giuliani and some of these other known commodities out front on this. We need a new spokesman, one respected (at least nominally) by both sides, one who is beyond reproach. Maybe a Jonathan Turley? David Boise also comes to mind. There may be someone better but whomever they pick, part of the strategy needs to be winning the public relations battle, and we need a fresh face to expose the fraud, conduct the recounts and audits and/or lead the petition for a redo of the election. It ain’t over yet, but the Left, including all of its components, are trying to ram this thing down our throats, and I and I’m sure countless others are not buying what they’re selling. I hope the Trump team isn’t either and in addition to the legal efforts, start to counter with statements like the one yesterday:

“We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed. The simple fact is this election is far from over. Joe Biden has not been certified as the winner of any states, let alone any of the highly contested states headed for mandatory recounts, or states where our campaign has valid and legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor. In Pennsylvania, for example, our legal observers were not permitted meaningful access to watch the counting process.  Legal votes decide who is president, not the news media.

“Beginning Monday, our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated. The American People are entitled to an honest election: that means counting all legal ballots, and not counting any illegal ballots. This is the only way to ensure the public has full confidence in our election. It remains shocking that the Biden campaign refuses to agree with this basic principle and wants ballots counted even if they are fraudulent, manufactured, or cast by ineligible or deceased voters. Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the count room – and then fight in court to block their access. 

“So what is Biden hiding? I will not rest until the American People have the honest vote count they deserve and that Democracy demands.”

– President Donald J. Trump”

If we can put forth such a spokesman and Trump can stay disciplined long enough to listen to his advisors and not step on his own tongue, letting the legal beagles do their thing, there’s a strong possibility the truth will come out and if, as I believe and 70 million of our fellow citizens also believe, that when all the legal ballots are counted and the illegal ones rejected Trump won, we’ll have our answer. If after exhausting all remedies Trump has lost, he’ll concede, as graciously as Trump can, as will I, and we’ll move to our own honest (not manifestly dishonest) “resistance” against the new administration.

In either case, I from this day forth will be trying hard to figure out how to hold the media and their institutional accomplices accountable for their supreme dishonesty and lack of integrity. For starters, I personally already left social media (except for Parler) long ago, including: Facebook, Twitter and Linked In, have changed my browser to Firefox and my default search engine to BING from Google. In the coming days I will be doing everything I can to wean off Gmail. Microsoft, while still Left biased, for the moment still seems to be less so than Google. I will also be exploring ways to reduce my reliance on the internet and cable tv for information. For the moment, I still monitor Twitter using the ‘handle’ @GrumpsReport and occasionally “tweet” but I can only take it in very small doses.

I have also started to study the laws surrounding elections in general: local, state and federal to see what can be done with fighting on in THIS election, as well as joining the groundswell of those who will demand our election process be reformed. For starters, I recommend perusing the website: https://ballotpedia.org. It seems to have the least biased reporting on the election and sections on what happens in the future depending on how each domino falls. It also discusses how a REDO petition could be mounted.

Finally, I will continue to speak out on GrumpsReport. Since starting the blog last year, the number of visitors and readership has grown steadily, without any promotion. Judging from the feedback I’ve received, I hope it continues to have a positive impact and contributes something useful to the discourse.

As I’ve been saying for months, barring fraud, Trump would win in a landslide. I stand by that statement. I have to. That half of our voting public could either: a) support Biden and all that his candidacy represented or b) hate Trump so much, is distressing and saddening. If he wins, it will be because the American people will have successfully pushed back an unprecedented onslaught from the Leftist foes and addled, somnolent or deluded lemmings arrayed against us.  If he loses, I for one will ache for what could have been, Trump will have helped stall and reverse our descent down the slippery slope and the America First movement will continue, perhaps more galvanized than ever.

This country was built on traditional values of right and wrong and above-all, freedom. Occasionally, over the years, through self-examination, we corrected wrongs, injustices and mistakes, but it has still done more to lift more people up throughout the world than any other nation in history. It has been grievously wounded by all that has occurred in recent decades, including this disgrace of an election, but it will heal again.

As We Start a New Decade

Where to begin? The last couple of months has been marked by a series of headlines that even Hollywood couldn’t invent. You’d have to be living under a rock not to see or hear what’s been happening in the economy, politics, society, media, technology, defense, even the environment.

In the economy. Forget the statistics – they’re useless in depicting what’s really going on in your wallet. The old adage “Figures lie and liars figure” has never been more true. Depending on how the pundits and so-called “experts” spin them, the only thing that really matters is how we and our families are doing. It’s a good time to ask the question, “Are you better off now than you were three years ago?”

For the vast majority of Americans, the answer is an unequivocal “Yes.” Rising wages, low inflation, increasing productivity, greater convenience and utility provided in part by technology, in part by innovation, systems and processes…all have improved our lives. The stock market at all time highs doesn’t just impact the wealthy. It impacts everyone. Whether or not you have an investment portfolio, economic GROWTH, which the stock market reflects, increases demand for goods and services, including the things made by the companies we work for and the services WE render. That all translates to improvements in our lifestyle.

In politics. The cataclysmic impact of the 2016 election on the status quo, what some call the “Deep State” or the legions of government minions many of whom work hard but produce little of value, has slowed the slide down the slippery slope the Left has had us on for so long. It is a long slog back up, but the shrill, childish and petulant voice and actions of the so-called but misnamed “progressives” have been fully exposed. The cancer has been identified and bit by bit it is being eradicated such that the greatness and “can do” spirit of America has begun to re-emerge.

In society. Some are content to let the next couple of generations have the world they’re making. I am not. I believe it is still my duty as a parent and as a concerned citizen to impart traditional values and traditional norms to my children and grandchildren. Basics like manners, virtues such as thrift and hard work, meritocracy, courage, self-reliance, communication and interpersonal relation skills in the face of technological isolation (a subject for another time), the importance of family, charity, trustworthiness, and on and on. These are things that I’m afraid the next two generations don’t fully understand, appreciate or possess as much as they should.

In media. As I have stated often, the impact of the “one-to-many” amplification provided by the Internet has allowed the most fringe-lunatic, caustic voices to reach and influence many. We used to say that PowerPoint made everyone a graphic artist. Similarly, Social Media has made everyone and anyone a journalist or pundit (present company included). The firehose of data not all of which is actual information but all of which is biased and deceptive in one form or another has created a distorted reality…in fact, it has changed reality and societal norms, not always for the better. Character assassination, taunting and hazing, for example, are facilitated and empowered with the new media. And like the accident by the side of the road, it is the macabre, shocking and emotion and nerve-tingling input we receive that we pay the most attention to and are most influenced by. Never has the need for critical thinking been greater. And never has it been found more wanting.

In technology. Rapid advances in technology are proving to be be both good and bad. This is a subject which we’ll touch on more and more as robotics, artificial intelligence and quantum computing impact our society and livelihood more and more, and at an accelerating rate. My wife received an umbrella from the firm she works for recently. Nice umbrella, but would you believe it came with an APP!!!! Yes, an umbrella with an App! For those of you who are blissfully unaware of what an APP is…it’s just a software program dedicated to doing a limited set of tasks on your desktop, laptop, tablet or phone like report the weather or control your whole house! I mean really…an umbrella with an APP???!!!!

In defense. Envy is one of the seven deadly sins for a reason. It spawns evil leaders and causes even whole nations (or quasi-nations) to seek power and dominance at the expense of others. Rodney King had it right when he said, “Can we all get along?” The answer is “no”, not until a perfect, benevolent leader (e.g. Jesus Christ) comes along who can inspire men with free will to follow Him so as to eschew and eliminate evil. In the meantime, the United States, despite all its imperfections, is still the best surrogate or substitute because our form of government vests power (nominally) in the people, i.e. spread across everyone rather than a single benevolent, charismatic leader. Our constitutional republic or representative democracy has been the greatest catalyst to human advancement in the history of the world, despite its faults. It is not just worth defending…it MUST be defended against those who seek to destroy it out of envy and a thirst for power. Wilsonian appeasement of evil cannot and must not be tolerated. Might doesn’t make Right, but adults (the U.S. at its best) must stop and modify the aberrant behavior of petulant and in some cases violently misbehaving children (Iran, NOKO, Venezuela, Russia, China). As arrogant as that sounds, it is, in my opinion, an apt characterization of the current world stage and depiction of our responsibility as a nation.

In the environment. I’m not running for office so I’ll state it plainly. Climate change is real – it changes all the time. And man has little to nothing to do with it. The famous George Carlin routine says it best where he humorously but acerbically rants at environmentalists while pointing out how insignificant mankind is when compared to the history of the earth and concludes, “The planet is fine. The people are f****d!” The wildfires in Australia? No, not global warming…man-kindled by a bunch of malcontent Leftists as it turns out. Bears floating on minuscule ice packs? Nonsense…they swam several miles out there to hang out and fish! Follow the money! If there’s a tree-hugging environmentalist/alarmist out there, there are grant dollars nearby. “Please pass the offering plate…”

Are there Rightist sins? Of course! But in the grand scheme of things, the principles of the Right are, in fact, RIGHT! Evil exists over here as well – crony capitalism comes to mind. But for my money, Winston Churchill was also right (.sic): “Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms which have been tried…” and by extension…conservative/Right principles are the worst form of societal norms except for all those other forms (socialism, communism, democratic socialism, etc.) that have been tried.

And America still stands as the light shining on the hill. God Bless Her! Happy New Year and Happy New Decade.

The Mall Rat Syndrome

We’ve all seen them, a group of fluorescent-haired, usually disheveled, radio-antenna-adorned teenagers standing around the entrance to a shopping mall, sometimes huddled and quietly mumbling to each other, sometimes overtly eyeing and loudly denigrating the more normal looking patrons going in and out of the wide doors.

But that was then. This is now.

There’s a more contemporary version of this gathering of “mall-rats”, these to-be-pitied, “other-directed” underachievers desperate for attention and each others’ approval because they can’t get it from individual accomplishments. It exists online, in social media.

Misery does indeed love company. Here, behind a wall of anonymity, the same teenagers band together to cast aspersions on, or worse, mount character assassination campaigns against others whom they secretly envy, or abhor, usually due to the praise heaped upon them for their successes or simply because, they’re what we’d call “normal”.

And here, in social media, the mall rats are joined by supposed adults, who carry on in the same way.

Except they’re not adults. Regrettably, our society is filled with people who chronologically should be adults, but who exhibit all the dysfunctional behavior, or worse, of the mall rats. Raised in an “everyone gets a trophy for showing up” society, where “just do it” (with impunity) is the norm, far too many adults today behave like children. Somewhat surprisingly, there’s evidence that there are some children today who, frankly, behave increasingly like adults, but that phenomenon is still rare and not always healthy. That’s a topic for a different discussion.

Social media was supposed to increase social adhesion, broaden relationships, improve community. Instead, it’s brought isolation, depression, social paraplegia and a veritable explosion of mall rats fearful of missing out (FOMO), all seeking attention and sharing their misery. It’s given a megaphone to those who in other times might have been more sheepish but who can now lash out and shout their frustrations with impunity. And it has amplified the lemming effect as demagogues, both adolescent and adult, lead their followers over the edge of the cliff.

One of my sons, who frequently exhibits far more wisdom at his age than I certainly ever did, recently stated what’s going on quite succinctly: “We have rewired the human condition to subsist on personal validation through social media channels.”

And that has given the mall rats undue power and influence.

To be fair, not all of our generation’s behavior is as bad as that of mall rats. But in small ways the diminution of standards and morals continues to eat away at our societal fabric. For example, I sat at a restaurant just last night and couldn’t help but overhear the conversation between two parents and their college-age son. The topic was adult enough…the son was describing the content of the exams he had recently completed. But the number of “likes” that punctuated each sentence, or more like half-sentences, was nauseating. The parents were, appallingly, every bit as inarticulate as the son, despite between fashionably dressed and ostensibly well-educated and well-to-do.

How are we ever going to remain a light shining on a hill if our people can’t string two grammatically correct sentences together? Yes, yes, I know. This problem exists at the highest levels of our culture and society and in our most visible politics.

But it’s Leftist progressivism, infecting as it has our discourse and society like some noxious gas or metastasized cancer that has given license to adult mall-rat behavior. It’s way past time for adults to start behaving like adults and stop acting like mall rats, or tolerating mall rats for that matter. It’s way past time for parents to start acting like parents, instead of trying to be their children’s best friends. We certainly know better. We just need to grow up.