Things That Should Be Driving You Crazy

[Yes, that's real JFK
button above it. ]

Long, long ago, in a lifetime far, far away, Ziggy and I were watching the Democratic National Convention on TV. The year was 2004 and some senate candidate from Illinois was talking about how he grew up and why we should all vote for Kerry. Neither of us was overly thrilled with Kerry as the candidate, but we were riveted by the guy from Illinois. When his speech ended, Ziggy turned to me and said, "That guy is gonna be the first Black president of the United States." Four years later, at the 2008 Minnesota State Fair, Ziggy did something I'd never seen him do before: he bought us a pair of presidential campaign buttons. My button is still on my bulletin board where it's been since the day after he won the election. In retrospect, I am glad Ziggy got to see Barack Obama's inaugural. He missed his friend Al finally confirmed as our Senator by almost exactly a month.

But here's the thing. I remember how truly impressed Ziggy was with Obama. I'd never seen him so engaged in the election process until 2008. He was like a kid in the candy store in Jordan. Between the speeches, the rallies, and the op ed stuff in the paper, he monitored everything that was happening. 

So, in honor of my birthday earlier in the month, I bought myself a little present because I think Ziggy woulda bought it for me. Well, there were a couple of reasons for it, mostly because it was a good excuse to make a donation. A political donation. For Congressman (not congressclown) Jeff Jackson of North Carolina.

I think Ziggy woulda liked this guy; His explanations of the machinations on the Hill are terrific. From all appearances and from what I've researched, this guy may actually be the real deal. Go watch some of his videos and you'll see what I mean. He's served in the military, he's an attorney, he's pretty much a centrist, and most of all, he's talking to his constituents in a respectfully blunt manner. He is totally telegenic, young, and good-looking to boot. In other words, he is electable. Watch for Jeff Jackson of North Carolina. I think he will be the candidate to beat in 2028...unless they grab him now. Which I hope they don't. 

When my grandkids are old enough to understand, I want to tell them Saba predicted Barak Obama would be president 4 years before he ran, and that Savta did the same for Jeff Jackson. 

Oh, and not to worry, I'm still supporting my local Congresswoman Angie Craig and the rest of the local candidates. I just wanted to support this guy, too. 

Meanwhile, back at the library.....

If you don't want your kids reading a certain book, tell them you don't want them taking it out from the library. Tell them they can't buy it or read it at their friend's house. Indoctrinate them at the dinner table to buy into whatever you're selling and discourage them from thinking...independently or otherwise. 

My mother banned three books when I was in junior high: CANDY by Terry Southern, PEYTON PLACE by Grace Metalious, and LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER by D.H. Lawrence. Trust me when I tell you I read all three before 8th grade started. Nothing gets kids to read like banning a book. Man, that screams mind control faster than the opening to THE OUTER LIMITS. Seriously, folks, we who have raised kids know about reverse psychology. Our parents may not have invented it, but they perfected it on a grand scale. 

What all these righteous individuals are doing is ensuring that their kids are gonna go right to the hard stuff as soon as they're out the door. Chastity until marriage? Know what the states with the highest out-of-wedlock birthrate are?  These are the top ten states with the highest out-of wedlock birthrate in 2021:

The states with the highest rates of divorce per 1000 marriages?

How about maternal mortality?

Please to be noting that the highest rates for these "anti-family situations" will be found in red states, the ones shoving their version of family values down the throats of the local populations.

Perhaps I'm jumping to conclusions here, but if you want dead moms, single moms, and lots of divorces, keep preventing your kids from learning about the real world. Stop them from reading about how other people live, love, and take care of their communities. 

What your kids will learn from banning books is the same thing Eve learned from the banned Etz ha'Dahat...the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil...that forbidden fruit just might be very, very tasty. But not without side effects. Keep them from learning about the sweetness of life and love so they can be so terrified of "the other" that they shoot to kill. Keep feeding them the putrid pablum you're dishing out now, but prepare yourselves for the price you're gonna pay. Ever hear of Cain and Abel?

Frankly, these book banning, body controlling ignoramuses are really too stupid to live in a country founded by thinking men. Yes, men. There were no female signers, which was unfortunate, but true. The Founding Fathers, I suspect, were more than heavily influenced by their wives, daughters, and other partners; I would bet they would all be horrified by what the Stepford people are doing to their precious democracy. I imagine Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Hamilton, and even Burr would be spinning so fast that they're puking up their guts. None of them would understand how there came to be a long-game preparation for the discrediting of the Constitution and the establishment of a dictatorship. 

But here's the thing: We, the People, just might elect our own demise. It's sure beginning to look that way. I bet there will be a sale on red robes and white bonnets at Wal-Mart.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Ziggy used to say, "You can't fix stupid." 

So don't be stupid and get your plan B in place.

Better to breathe a sigh of relief with your passport in hand

than to be caught without it should the worst come to pass. 

Right now, I'm going 50/50 on the odds.

NOTE: THIS IS THE LAST WP SPEAKS THAT WILL APPEAR ON 

THE PLATFORM FORMERLY KNOWN AS TWITTER. 

Things That Make Me Crazy

In this week's episode of Things That Make Me Crazy, the list has grown exponentially.

I am obsessed with watching my disaster fund take several huge hits in the space of a single week. This makes me a little squirrely because I am the daughter of a depression-mentality mother. Let's just say the lesson, always have something put aside for a disaster, stuck.

The fridge decided to have a cosmic event last week. It's 16 years old and showing its age. I explained to the fridge guy what was going on, and his response? The thing is 16 years old; this is a harbinger.  Harbinger? The guy said, harbinger???? Yeah...and then he suggested I look into replacing it now instead of when it's a catastrophic event. He also suggested that since the temperature controls were working to not do anything until I decide what I ultimately want to do. You don't wanna know what a new fridge that will fit into the space is gonna cost. It's ugly.

my roof-line

I may live in a townhouse, but we have a condo-type home-owner's-association and not only do they take a hefty monthly fee to keep the pool clean and the roads plowed (not in the same season, thank G-d) but the HOA insures our little house clusters. Or did. Mostly. Even though our shared home-owner's insurance policy has gone up like an express elevator and we don't even know what the final figure for this year is yet, it does not cover the roof. And guess what? We need a new roof because, as we just found out, our insurer is leaving the HOA business and no insurer will insure a roof over 20 years old. It hailed today big time down the road from us....but no hail here...which means we're paying $63K for the whole roof.] Thankfully, I'm only shelling out for the section over my unit. Had the hail hit us.....well, that would be a bucko of a different color. Or not

Let's not even talk about the deductible...or that we have no idea how much HOA insurance is gonna cost this year, even though we've been warned it will be a significant increase.  We'll all figure out how to pay for it; for some it will be easier than others. Somehow, we'll all figure it out. It's just stuff. Still, in the larger scheme of things, it's costly, but we still have a roof over our heads and that's saying something when tomorrow it's gonna be pushing 100°F. 

The next stuff is much bigger. 

Yossele Rosenblatt

Last week, a guy I didn't know died, but he was a high school classmate of several of my cousins, When his high school classmates learned of his death, and that his family could not afford a Jewish funeral... the kind with a plain wood box with no nails, or anything else. This is the great-grandson of the great Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt, a man thought by many to be the GOAT in the world of Hazzanut!  As a kid, I listened to Yossele Rosenblatt on scratchy 78 rpm records because my grandmother adored him. He was her hero. He was the voice of prayer in her head and mine. How could it be that this great-grandson would be unable to have a proper burial?

His classmatestook it upon themselves to use Go Fund Me to raise the money to bury him with dignity. Which also allowed for someone to take on the responsibility for kaddish and El Moleh Rachamim during shloshim...the 30 days following the funeral. The sages tell us caring for the dead is the greatest mitzvah because it can never be repaid. And it's what Jews do for each other. We take care of our own. 

That was the least crazy in my week.

On the other hand, if you've ever heard Jews talking about having a Plan B, know that it's the most serious conversation we Jews can have. The question shrouded in that expression is where will you go when the shit hits the fan? We are not like the Jews of Austria or Germany or even Poland. We're not going to wait for the roundups to begin. Most of my friends are renewing their passports, making sure their kids and grandkids...and great-grandkids have up to date documents. Some are checking on where they can get a sponsor if necessary, or where it's safe to go. Israel, at the moment, may not be that place. This is serious talk. 

And on so many levels it just sounds crazy....but it's not.

We can no longer afford to live in our bubble. While OPPENHEIMER and BARBIE have captured the weekend's box office, another film is out there picking up steam. THE SOUND OF FREEDOM has captured significant box office attention since it opened July 4th weekend, but for an entirely different reason. The film, starring Jim Caviezel is being hailed as great stuff by conspiracy theorists everywhere, including QAnon. The film, actually made before COVID in 2018, is chock full of antisemitic tropes, including blood libel. Shira Li Bartov of The Times of Israel wrote:

Caviezel attended a QAnon-affiliated conference in 2021. During the event, he said that Ballard could not join because he was “saving children as we speak, because they’re pulling kids out of the darkest recesses of hell right now, in dumps and all kinds of places. The adrenochrome-ing of children.” 

The adrenochrome theory has roots in a blood libel canard leveled at Jews since the Middle Ages, said Rothschild. The myth that Jews use the blood of Christian children in rituals was used to justify the torture, imprisonment and murder of Jews for centuries, even taking a role in Nazi propaganda, before it was adopted by QAnon.

So, keeping on with the crazies, today, Elon Musk has renamed Twitter and replaced the bird with an X. To a whole lotta people this was a total dog-whistle. 

[Side Bar so you understand the X part: Do you know where the pejorative term kike originated? I didn't know until today. It probably comes from Ellis Island. In The Encyclopedia of Swearing, Leo Rosten posits:

The word kike was born on Ellis Island when there were Jewish migrants who were also illiterate (or could not use Latin alphabet letters). When asked to sign the entry-forms with the customary "X", the Jewish immigrants would refuse, because they associated an X with the cross of Christianity. Instead, they drew a circle as the signature on the entry-forms. The Yiddish word for "circle" is kikel (pronounced KY - kel), and for "little circle", kikeleh. Before long the immigration inspectors were calling anyone who signed with an 'O' instead of an 'X' a kikel or kikeleh or kikee or, finally and succinctly, kike." ]

In recent months, Twitter has become increasingly open to antisemitic posts and slurs, many of which are barely masked as such. One cross-post, Hannah Pearl Davis posted her Anti Jew Song dedicated to white supremacist leader Nick Fuentes. I won't post the link to the song, but you can read about it in the Jerusalem Post. Hannah Pearl Davis is an "influencer" who is anti-feminist, anti-equality, and supports Fuentes as well as the controversial kick-boxer Andrew Tate. She may sound like a moron, but she has close to 2 million followers on social media. 

Ah, social media....the new world war platform. I'm not telling you anything you didn't know, but if you want to spread malicious misinformation faster than the speed of light? Well, you know how to post, don't you? Just put your fingertips on the keyboard....and lie.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm still researching left/right violence,  but I'm also debating whether or not to see OPPENHEIMER. My dad once told me Oppenheimer was a disgrace to Jews everywhere."Because of the bomb?" I asked. "No," he answered, "because he turned his back on being a Jew."

It wasn't about being Jew-ish. It was about being counted as a Jew. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

I have an up-to-date passport and now I have

a Known Traveler Number.

I am all set to go.

What about you?

Welcome, Dear Comrades!

Before I update you on the progress of the crowd-sourced research, I would like everyone to take a moment to listen to Congressman Jeff Jackson (D-NC). I've mentioned him before because this guy is a voice of sanity in the whirlwind. 

"A Senator from Alabama is blocking the nomination of all generals and admirals in the military in protest of the military’s travel policy regarding abortion. Here’s the situation:  [do yourself a favor - take a listen.]

I've posted his videos before because he's a plain spoken reasonable human being who's really good at explaining what's happening in Congress. He's very personable, but he comes to government with credentials.He enlisted after 9/11, currently serves in the Army National Guard as a major. An attorney, he is currently assigned to the Judge Advocate General's Corps. His committees are House Armed Services and Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. In other words, the guy is not a lightweight. 

When I saw today's video, I stopped what I was originally writing about to start researching this. He's spot on. The inability to promote officers will cripple the armed forces sooner or later. The Joint Chiefs of Staff have several retirements in the wings and no way to fill those vacancies until this senator buffoon stands down. Seriously.

GOP congressclown, Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL,) does not approve of the armed forces providing access to reproductive care for all troops. This includes but is not limited to abortion services. Despite pushback from his own party, this jackass persists. 

Tommy-the-former football-coach is well qualified to be on the Hill directing policy for the armed forces. Yup. He coached high school football. Then at Ol' Miss, Texas Tech, Auburn and a bunch of other big time football schools. Oh, yeah, he was involved with a finance fraud scheme at Auburn....just for the record. That has nothing to do with congress, right?

But wait...there's more. He started a foundation to help veterans. According to an article in the New York Times, during his senate campaign in 2020 the foundation 

 

...produced internal records for 2018 that showed nearly $20,000 was raised for a temporary project to provide a retreat for veterans. But the records raised bookkeeping questions, since they showed more than $61,000 of 2018 revenue, roughly twice what the charity reported to the I.R.S. that year."

Read the article. You'll just wanna run right out and vote for Tommy the Tube for President. I mean, he's even less qualified to run a gas station restroom than the leader of his cabal.

Here's what a large swath of voters is missing: access to reproductive services is not about getting abortions for soldiers; it's about the Armed Forces ability to recruit new troops. Congressman Jackson explains that quite well in the video, and he is spot on. We have an all volunteer military; should we be discouraging those who want to enlist? Of course, I'm certain Viagra is readily available. Condoms, maybe not. So let's call it what it is: misogynistic bullshit designed to discourage the enlistment and promotion of females in the military. 

According to the AP:

Already, the U.S. Marine Corps is without a confirmed leader for the first time in a century. And by law, the current Joint Chiefs chairman, Army Gen. Mark Milley, will step down at the end of September, and the current Army chief will leave his post in early August. The nominees to succeed them have had hearings, but no votes....

...The Pentagon and lawmakers opposed to Tuberville’s actions say the holds create a trickle-down effect that is hurting military readiness, preventing scores of officers from moving to new jobs, either as nominees or staff members. They argue that less experienced leaders are being forced to step in.

I guess that's okay with all you Republicans out there. Not having a Marine Corps commandant in place? Not having generals or a Chairperson of Joint Chiefs of Staff? How about the other officers like majors and colonels...those are all stopped, too. Whose leading if the leaders are retiring? Is not having a qualified military ready for action a desirable thing? How about we just bar women from the military altogether? Wouldn't that solve the coach's problem?

Unless.....

Maybe Coach Tube is trying to blink a message to his handlers in Russia or China? 

"Welcome, Dear Comrades! 

Intentionally exploiting a technicality that can severely weaken our civil preparedness could be considered treason, ergo one who works to undermine the defense of this nation should be considered a traitor ...and treated as such. At what point does the GOP part of the population rise up to say, "Wait a gosh darn minute? We don't have a functional military and Tommy did it?" 

Or no, so long as it furthers the Christo-fascist agenda the right is pushing. Then IOKIYAR.

And speaking of the Christo-fascist agenda, I tripped across Jamelle Bouie's op-ed in the New York Times . He suggests that the actual GOP goal is rather for the establishment of a more intrusive government.

Of course, the crown jewel of the Republican effort to build a more intrusive, domineering government is the set of laws passed to ban or sharply limit abortion, regulate gender expression and otherwise restrict bodily autonomy. These laws, by their very nature, create a web of state surveillance that brings the government into the most private reaches of an adult’s life, or a child’s.

And the GOP says it wants small government? Uh, I don't think so.

Let me update you on my search for left and right violence. 

If you followed the page, you saw the comment that a serious far left issue is Israel and  attempts to silence all supporters of the only democratic state in the Middle East. I admit, that wasn't what I was thinking about and yes, it is extreme left wing action. But to date, it's not been violent. The protests have largely been shouting matches and letter writing campaigns, things almost to be expected in the free-speech arena. Inciting violence would be included in my research, but to date, I'm not finding sustainable examples. 

Someone wrote to me about SDS and the other Vietnam War era demonstrations that turned to violence and rioting. The George Floyd riots were also mentioned. Yes, SDS et al were left wing and violent, but that was then. I'm not sure the anger that we had in the late 60s and 70s toward the government would be reproduced now. It was a different time. 

As for the George Floyd riots, there's a lot of weird information out there. 

In a Washington Post article about the riots, Seth G. Jones, director of the transnational threats project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies is quoted as saying White Nationalists were present at Black Live Matter rallies, but went on to say most of the violence was incited by some gangs and "hooligans," and other locals looking for an opportunity to loot. "There were reports of some antifa at different protests, but they stood back, did not engage, certainly not in a violent way.”

To date, no one has provided verifiable information about domestic terrorist acts of violence coming from the left in conjunction with school boards meetings, book banning meetings, or other local government events. Nor are leftists driving into crowds, shooting up schools, banks, or military bases. I will continue to search for verifiable examples. IF you have one, or even think you might, please send it along. I will research. 

If violence is coming from the left as well as the right, that needs to be examined, I have, as I mentioned been concentrating on domestic issues, but I'll absolutely track down one for foreign policy as well if it's a left/right confrontation. 

The search continues.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If informed that a person prefers 

not to be a him or a her, a ma'am or a sir,

it has nothing to do with you. 

It's what that person wants. 

Be kind. 

Just say "thanks," and omit the pronoun.

Believe It Or Not...There's Stuff I Don't Know

Sunday was just what the doctor ordered to cap the very busy last few weeks...what with Senior Son in residence, followed by the family reunion in Connecticut, followed by houseguests from Israel who were with me over the 4th. After more than a month of total excitement, this  weekend was the perfect cap.

Sunday morning, my friend Elaine and I took a shpatzir  down to Stockholm, Wisconsin  to pick up fresh, whole, kosher chickens from Avodah Farm. Getting a decent-sized whole chicken is hard when you don't have a real kosher butcher in Minnesota, so Martha became a certified shochet and now provides us with wonderful chickens. The farm is in Stockholm which is a beautiful day-trip kinda drive. 

We started with vegetarian lunch at Harbor View Cafe in Pepin, then wandered around Stockholm's little shops, and finished with a visit to Stockholm Pie where all pies are made with Crisco, no lard anywhere to be found... and the owner, Steve, when I told him the pie I ordered was destined for my machetunim, demanded to know why I didn't bring buns! Long time friends with my machetunim, Steve was well acquainted with the excellent buns produced in their kitchen. Next time, I promised...and my machutin agreed. Next time I will definitely bring buns.

And today, Monday, back to reality. I had a TSA Pre-✓ appointment this afternoon. I figured I'm flying enough these days to just do it. No global entry yet....we'll start small. It took all of 5 minutes, no waiting. Why didn't I do this sooner?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....

Two conversations of note with two different people took place over the weekend. The first was why I haven't been writing more about what's going on in Israel and the second was about left-wing extremism in these here United States. Both are obviously hot-button issues and, truth be told, I only get to have a public opinion on one of them. 

Let's start with Israel. 

I am a Zionist. A proud, unapologetic Zionist.

I believe We, the Jewish People, have a right to live in the land from whence we came. Since most of the world agrees the first Temple stood in Jerusalem at least until Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it in the 6th century BCE, it's pretty safe to say Jews were the ruling party there at that time. The second Temple was built sometime around 516 BCE, and destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Documentation on this period is pretty good. So again, we can all agree Jews were the ruling party in Jerusalem until the Roman conquest. Documentation also indicates that conquest was the end of that area's independent state status until the modern State of Israel's declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948. Between 70 CE and 1948 CE, Israel was a territory, protectorate, or vassal of another country/Empire. This part is kinda not debatable because contemporary historical accounts line up pretty much. 

Do I support a two-state solution to the modern dilemma? Possibly. The caveat there is that the other state has to accept the existence of the State of Israel. To have peace, you have to have a good faith partner. That isn't always the case...on either side.

Do I have problems with the actions of the current Israeli government? You betcha. I don't like Netanyahu, and I don't like the haredi coalition, aka the rabbanut, controlling all religious aspects of Israel. Their actions impact the diaspora, often relegating non-orthodox Jews to second class status. That puts my children and grandchildren in participatory limbo because one of their parents is a Jew-by-choice. The refusal of the rabbanut to accept other streams of Judaism as authentic and valid is discriminatory and damaging to the heart of Klal Yisrael... the Jewish community as a whole....not a collection of splintered parts. 

But something strange happened this weekend. 

Most people don't know that Israel never ratified their constitution. It was a hastily built convenience to satisfy the UN, but it was never ratified. This needs to be corrected and corrected in a way that counts all Jews.....haredi, orthodox, conservative, reform, reconstructionist, or whatever, as Jews. Much of the current civil unrest circles back to the issue of a lack of a constitution. 

In his own blog, Inside Israel, Daniel Gordis navigated some of what is happening in Israel at the moment. His analysis is worth reading.  He extensively reports on a group of seven Israelis who are coming forward to propose a new Constituent Assembly. This is an important opening from a mixed group. He reports that Nadav Eyal, a major journalist in Israel, had a conversation with Rabbi Yosef Kaminer, a haredi member of a group. Rabbi Kaminer told Eyal.

As Haredi Jews, we have a long historical memory. If we do not act to lower the flames and to come to some basic agreements, there will be no state to fight over. We Haredim understand that having a state is nothing to take for granted; every day, it is a miracle all over again. In order that the state survive, we prefer to reach compromise with our Tel Aviv brothers and to live in this Holy Land under Israeli rule in a thriving country and economy, rather than being “right” and being the lone heirs to this land, by causing the country to collapse and to live under the rule of Hamas [or] in a country that is dictatorial and weakened.

We are pragmatists: we know that if they do not have Tel Aviv and their liberalism, we will not have Yavne and its sages.

I have no idea if this will go anywhere or bear even the smallest, tiniest bit of fruit. That it even happened makes me slide at least one eyebrow partially up. After all, that national anthem is HaTikvah...The Hope

As long as in the heart, within,

The soul of a Jew still yearns,

And onward, towards the ends of the east,

an eye still gazes toward Zion;

 

Our hope is not yet lost,

The hope of two thousand years,

To be a free nation in our land,

The land of Zion and Jerusalem. 

Look, I get that for a lot of my readers, this is unimportant minutia, but for a lot of us, it is not. Even if one does not plan on making aliyah...relocating to Israel...what happens there matters to us. And while I understand I do not get an official opinion on their politics, I cannot help but feel the impact of that state's actions. 

Now, on to the other item on my agenda. 

In a conversation, a person whose opinion I greatly value and respect, said that in any conversation about the state of US politics, one had to recognize that far-left extremist were also responsible for verbal threats, anti-right violence, and implied domestic terrorism. I was taken aback by the statement, and asked for some examples I could research. This is the kind of thing I want to know about...I want my readers to know about. Almost everything I've read about violence and attacks comes from the right; it's rare to see leftist violence or terrorism in America. Which made me wonder about bias in reporting, and whether or not I'm missing something so blatant. 

Yes, I know about confrontations and counter-demonstrations, insult hurling, name calling, and stuff like that. Sticks-and-stones kinda schoolyard bully behavior. But are leftists infiltrating school board meetings to threaten violence? Death-threats to right wing parents or board members? That's news I've not seen. I promised I was going to research this, even if it meant going outside my usual centrist news sites to look at stuff from Fox, Newsmax, The Washington Examiner, and others. Whatever I find, it's gonna be thoroughly vetted and verified with multiple reports from a variety of sources.

I've spent much of the last 24-hours reading articles from the Brookings Institute, PNAS, and the ADL in hopes there would be something to grab onto here, but alas, there is little violence coming from the left that is reported. The consistent response is that while the left might be vocal in counter-demonstrations, they do not instigate or seem to resort to physical violence. 

Is that behavior under or unreported? I don't know. I need to know.

While Antifa is often cited, I cannot find verifiable references to violence or acts of domestic terrorism originating in the left. This may be because Antifa is a catch phrase and not a real organized group like Proud Boys. I find lots of innuendo, lots of he-said-she-said, and plenty of Marjorie Taylor Green rants, but no substantive documentation detailing actual, verifiable actions.

So here's the thing: I'm not finding clear examples of recent leftist political extremist public action in the US. I need you, my readers on both sides, to contribute any links, examples, rumors, whatever in support of my friend's concerns. I will continue to do my due diligence, but crowd-sourced assistance would be terrific. If attacks, threats, or violence are coming from the left, I want to know. 

Please help me out, folks!  It's easy enough to do; just use the comment space below or email me at thewifelyperson@gmail.com.

Thanks!

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Just because you don't know something happened...

it doesn't mean it didn't.

In my world, it means I hafta find out.

With Apologies to Moore and Longfellow: 'Twas the eve of the 4th....

 

 

'Tis the eve of the 4th and all through the House,

Congress-clowns abandon their desks, they behave like a mouse.

They've fled to their districts to march in parades,

waving and grinning as they play their charades.

SCOTUS is nestled all snug in their robes,

Conservatives trusting support from their  -phobes.

Judeo-, or Islamo- , homo-, or xeno-,  it matters not which

so long as plebeians ne'er rise from their niche.

But all 'round the nation, a clatter arises;

incendiary rhetoric with no real surprises.

Bombastic behavior with lies over lies,

shrill voices raised loud to legitimize 

a coup, a fraud, and gender persecution

chipping the basis of our own Constitution.

We can just close our drapes and ignore what we know...                      

or we can rise up from our slumber, to be counted, and show... 

 

Just as through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night goes out cry of alarm
We can reach every city, each village, and farm,—
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice to bring daylight, just open the door,
Defend civil rights! shall echo evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
We stand together, pledged and steadfast,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
We all will awaken and listen to hear
The echos of hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Sincerest apologies to Clement Clarke Moore and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Just in case you think I'm losing it, last week you would've been closer to right. Recent decisions by SCOTUS made me wonder in what century we're living. There were moments when I expected Coney-Barrett to show up in a red robe and white cap.

I really want to believe this is going to pass, and America will return to its roots with leaves that embrace all. I want to believe as the younger generation begins serious voting, they will not walk away, but will actively advocate for civil rights, health care, reproductive rights, and an economy with opportunity for all. I can't imagine that the generation coming up is willing to settle for a country that leaves them under-insured and on the edge of bankruptcy.

The bizarre right-wing cabal called The Freedom Caucus, is cause for serious alarm. They do not even closely represent the majority of Americans, yet they manipulate Congress as though they have some sort of secret mandate. The election of McCarthy as Speaker of the House, the control they exercise over him, and the debacle of the debt ceiling should make every American sit up and take notice. 

I am seriously concerned about the outcome of the next general election. If a right wing conservative is not elected president, I am pretty sure the cabal will attempt another coup, and this time, they'll have a better sense of how to do it. A civil war could easily begin. 

With or without the civil war, I suspect that unless there is a radical shift in securing Congress and the White House against the radical right, this will be our last election as we know it. I don't know what it would be replaced with....perhaps a single party...perhaps martial law and no election at all, but it terrifies me all the same. 

I'm not advocating for an all-Democrat government; I want to see moderate and centrists Republicans....like my dad....return to navigating the party. 

As a woman who happens to be a Jew, I don't want people who want to control my bodily functions in charge of this country. I don't want Christo-fascists deciding what is taught in schools or put on the shelves of libraries. I don't want them banning anyone's right to free expression, including performers who appear in drag shows. 

And yes, that does include the lady with the hypothetical gay customer for the wedding website design business. She has the right not to serve people she doesn't want to serve, but that has to come with some constraints as to whether or not such advertisements can be in the public forum. Would the court be okay if she said, "No Christians are welcome," or "No African style wedding sites will be designed?" Is that okay with the court, or would that ruling have been different? As soon as you say it's okay to turn away customers on the basis of gender-orientation, how far is SCOTUS from saying race and creed fall into the same category? 

If she wants to advertise, let her display her wares in church bulletins and like-minded publications. But she cannot say she's open to all business when she, in fact, is not. There has to be some up-front recognition that her business is not open to the public, a prominent notification that she does, indeed, practice discrimination. That's free expression. Caveat emptor: let the buyer beware. 

This is a house of cards. The far right has created an opening in a Supreme Court that no longer views US citizenship as a guarantor of civil rights within our borders, nor believes women are sentient beings, nor supports the sanctity of life once outside the womb, and does not believe in either science or settled law. SCOTUS, instead of championing the rights of We, the People, squeezes the life out of the very foundation of our democracy: checks and balances. I am absolutely certain that the Founding Fathers never anticipated the overturning of the Constitution by the very body created to defend and protect it. After all, we broke away from England because...

...We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.                       

The Declaration of Independence ~ unanimously adopted  ~ July 4th, 1776 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Day

Wishing you all, wherever you are, 

in whatever place you call home, 

a happy, safe, and refreshing 

Independence Day