Greg Maresca | Remnant Columnist
Is testing every single American the way to go?
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There are many throughout government who believe that testing is the key in combating Covid-19. Provided employers test their workers for Covid, then why not test for the flu, HIV, strep throat, TB, or the common cold?
Such a proposal is unrealistic medically and financially and would infect many struggling businesses that are attempting to reestablish their footing with additional fiscal trials.
What an incredible opportunity to demonstrate to the world how the power of freedom, democracy, capitalism, and private ownership vs. communism, socialism, totalitarianism, and control of the many by the few is not lost.
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YOU DON’T MISS water until the well runs dry, the same can be said for penicillin. The last American company to produce penicillin closed up shop in 2004.
If Bloomberg still feels compelled to apologize, please let him do so for wasting so much money on such a futile attempt at presidential cred, and for squandering the nation’s time while doing it.
THE PUBLIC MEA CULPA has become a mainstay of today’s political landscape. Every perceived mistake, gaffe and slight results in demands for rebuke, reprimand and retribution.
The public apology has become that pound of flesh that activists demand as part of the leftist outrage cycle.
But to what end?
President Barack Obama began his first term with an unprecedented apology tour that still rings loudly today throughout Democrat politics.
On April 3, 2009, in Strasbourg, France, Obama told the French “celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times when America has shown arrogance and been dismissive – even derisive.”
Three days later, in a speech to the Turkish Parliament, Obama doubled down saying America was still “working through” some of our “darker periods. These would be just two of many apologies Obama would make for America.
Obama even wanted to apologize to Japan for the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the Japanese were having none of it. After all, it would also call to light how Japan never apologized for Pearl Harbor, or for their death march at Corregidor.
There exists a huge chasm between expressing regret and apologizing. One apologizes for something one did and takes responsibility. The Emperor Hirohito could plausibly apologize for Pearl Harbor, while the Japanese people could only express regret over Pearl Harbor.
The contemporary presidential debate cycle has devolved into a forum filled with gotcha questions, moral preening and virtue signaling.
But apologies?
It is over-the-top and pitiful to apologize, like Mike Bloomberg has done, for realizing the American dream while becoming a leading job creator. Bloomberg either could not help himself, or received some poor advice. when he went on apologizing for fighting crime by following the policies of Rudy Giuliani as mayor of New York City.
Under Giuliani, the city underwent a metamorphosis like never before. Times Square was cleaned up and crime throughout the five boroughs, including the city’s notorious murder rate, was noticeably reduced. No one would have predicted back in the wild days of the 70s and 80s (when the city was infamously called “ungovernable”) that New York would become the nation’s safest city.
Rather than taking some pride in how successfully the NYPD used “stop, question and frisk”, Bloomberg turned it into a point of contentious apology.
Bloomberg should have embraced his record, not run from it.
Bloomberg is just one insincere apology away from earning his master’s degree in Clintonology.
There is something profoundly wrong from sea to shining sea when any successful entrepreneur feels compelled to apologize for creating a billion dollar company that provides jobs for thousands of Americans.
The collective apologies, usually offered for historic offences, are either derided or caricatured. Should the Yankees apologize to major league baseball for having won by far the most World Series titles? Moreover, should we apologize to the rest of the world for calling it the World Series, when in fact, it is anything, but a world event?
Ben Franklin said, “Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”
The problem is all too often the apology is the excuse. Once the apology is made, I am no longer accountable and doing any kind of penance – forget it. Perhaps we should be apologizing for saying or writing too much, or for apologizing sooner, or apologizing for all the wrong reasons. After all, public apologies—from the secular confessionals of our talk show high priestesses like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres—are all the rage in 21st century America.
The plague of the Bloomberg campaign ads is now history as the former New York City mayor has conceded. The cost, according to the Wall Street Journal, was $620 million in a campaign that employed more than 2,400 people across the country, that blanketed the airwaves and digital spectrum, and that bought Bloomberg 53 delegates, which has to be some kind of dubious, all-time, primary record.
If Bloomberg still feels compelled to apologize, please let him do so for wasting so much money on such a futile attempt at presidential cred, and for squandering the nation’s time while doing it.
Now that would be one apology worth cashing in on.
Everyone knows an Amy Klobuchar. Perhaps she is your neighbor, cousin, sister, or pseudo Facebook bestie. You certainly are acquainted with a co-worker like her; the one who will praise you in public, but as soon as you leave the room, she flays you quicker than a freshly caught fish.
Recently, The Wall Street Journal featured a couple of editorials on this rising Democratic presidential contender. One of them juxtaposed her to the party’s last presidential standard bearer, Hillary Clinton. She is “Hillary Clinton without the snark and baggage” claiming that Klobuchar could very well headline the 2020 Democratic ticket, or at least round it out as the vice presidential nominee.
Prior to the New Hampshire primary, the seven Democratic candidates were thrown a surprisingly unorthodox question during the debate: “Is anyone on the stage concerned about having a democratic socialist on the top of ticket?” Sheepishly Klobuchar raised her hand, followed by of all people, Bernie Sanders. Perhaps this was Sander’s woeful attempt at humor.
Bernie and Amy at the Democratic primary
Sanders then pronounced all the delegates on stage were pro-abortion and no one disagreed. Klobuchar can say anything she wants, especially after the fact, but she does not stand for life. Moreover, she supports taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. It’s obvious she needs the votes but has no intention of respecting pro-life views.
Surely, Klobuchar saw it as her opportunity at establishing herself as a more moderate candidate, something that is sorely lacking within the present field. The Democratic power brokers know all too well that having a socialist like Bernie Sanders at the top of their ticket would be a 1972 rematch of George McGovern against Richard Nixon.
It was the first presidential election I can recall as it occurred the week of my 10th birthday. I remember having to poll people as part of a social studies class and no one that I spoke with supported McGovern in our working class New York neighborhood. Nixon would go on to a landslide victory winning 49 states.
Despite her attempt at moderation, the approval numbers tell another story: American Conservative Union – 5%; Americans for Prosperity – 5%; Club for Growth – 5%; Americans for Tax Reform – 0%; Americans for Democratic Action – 90%; N.O.W. – 100%; NARL – 100%; National Right to Life Committee – 0%; NRA – “F.”
Klobuchar’s reputation as another queen of mean is well documented. Her staff has the highest turnover rate on Capitol Hill. A “get off my White House lawn, you deplorable and take your little dog with you” disposition that is anything but forthcoming and certainly Clintonian.
Also like Clinton, any semblance of authenticity is lost on Klobuchar and remains something that can’t be underestimated, especially in politics. Say what you want about President Trump, but he possess that outer-boro New York City temperament that is real, straightforward and raw. I spent my formative years surrounded by such talent.
In the summer of 2018, Klobuchar pulled no punches in attacking Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh at his confirmation hearings all the while knowing that it was pure politics demonstrating a complete void of ethics. If that wasn’t enough, she also voted against Justice Gorsuch’s confirmation.
Klobuchar preaches an unrealistic and unsustainable socialist nirvana that includes unrestricted abortion, elimination of the Electoral College, limited energy production through the auspices of The Green New Deal, and increased taxation.
Moreover, she was an enthusiastic participant in the impeachment coup which attempted to overturn the will of 63 million voters without just cause. She would love to eviscerate the 2nd Amendment, while providing free health care for illegals.
Klobuchar has no executive experience all the while trying to pour herself into the liberal mold of her Minnesotan liberal predecessors: Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale. Both of whom never obtained the White House, but did serve as vice presidents.
No matter how the media wants spin it, Klobuchar is another lefty who is only interested in power, and not the rule of law. She would be a pawn in the hands of the D.C. bureaucratic swamp of lobbyists, lawyers and party advocates turning like a weather vane however the cash flow blows.
Klobuchar’s senate record is indistinguishable from Sanders’.
It’s not what you say; it’s what you do.
FOR ANY PROBLEM within the American political landscape, Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has a solution – albeit a costly one. Warren’s plan to eliminate student loan debt, while liquidating the middle class was certainly foremost when she was recently questioned by a dad who bankrolled his daughter’s college education.
Like Obama’s interlude with Joe “The plumber” Wurzelbacher, during his first run for the White House in 2008, his “spread the wealth” comment that quickly went viral revealing what he was really thinking, was off script. Given the ubiquity of electronic recording devices, the Warren campaign had to know that a similar occasion was bound to occur.
Within less than a week, America endured for only the third time in our storied history, the impeachment and acquittal of a president while witnessing for the first time a senator from the president’s own political party voting to convict him.
During the same week, the Democratic Iowa Caucus results were delayed due a faulty app that failed to record the tallies begging the question: Where are the Russians when you need them?
As the days shorten and 2019 draws to a close bringing with it another decade, the time for the annual Rearview Awards is upon us.
Statistic of the year: According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the American birthrate is below replacement and for the first time ever, the number of dogs surpassed the number of children under eighteen. The U.S. has 90 million dogs and 73 million children.
2020’s Wakeup call: Social Security’s yearly expenses are expected to exceed its income in 2020, which will force the program to begin drawing down its trust funds.
School may be out for the summer, but the lingering pall of the standardized test hangs over playgrounds, summer camps and amusement parks like a rainy day at a picnic.
Recently, celebrities were caught bribing and swindling the college admissions system to get their prodigy accepted into top universities. Since then an illuminating light has been focused upon the collegiate admissions process and in this particular case, the illustrious SAT exam.
With his ominous looking goatee, shaved head, forearm tattoos and 6’8” frame, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman looks like he belongs at the end of the Philadelphia 76ers’ bench.
However, basketball isn’t his game.
Rather, Fetterman has been doing a lot of tacit dribbling throughout the Commonwealth on what he calls “a listening tour” on the legalization of “recreational” marijuana. The town-hall type meetings have been proceeding non-stop since February with its goal of visiting all of the state’s 67 counties by mid-June.
Last Wednesday evening, that tour brought Fetterman to the 2nd Street Community Center in Northumberland. In reality, this “listening tour” was over before it began and is simply a campaign for the impending legalization of marijuana.
Anyone familiar with the issue will tell you that when Gov. Tom Wolfe signed legislation legalizing medical marijuana back in April 2016, it was just a matter of time before Pennsylvania joined the other 10 states that have legalized both medicinal and recreational usage.
The only surprise is that it took this long to get the pot train moving along its well-greased tracks.
Fetterman claims he is unbiased and has no “pre-arrived-at conclusions,” but a striking one-minute video complied by the Pennsylvania Family Council proves otherwise, highlighting statements that he is steadfast about legalization: https://pafamily.org/2019/04/fettermanconclusion/. Fetterman is as raw as he is tall. He insists, “My expression is let’s go full-on Colorado in Pennsylvania. We’re arguing about @#$&ing marijuana.”
Fetterman, endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Equality PA
Facts are certainly stubborn things and according to the Denver Post and the Institute for Families, going “full-on Colorado” produces a plethora of problems. Since legalization, the crime rate in Colorado has increased 11 times faster than the rest of the nation. Colorado’s Bureau of Investigation reports an 8.3 percent increase in property crimes and 18.6 percent increase in violent crimes, while traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for marijuana more than doubled.
A study by the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice found of the 4,000 drivers tested for marijuana in 2016, 73 percent were found to have the drug in their system. Presently, Colorado holds the top spot for first-time marijuana use among youth in the country with more retail marijuana stores than Starbucks and McDonalds combined.
State Rep. Cris Dush, a Republican from Jefferson County and Pennsylvania Family Institute President Michael Geer insinuated Fetterman’s events are weighted in favor of legalization supporters. Fetterman disagrees, but claims there’s near-unanimous support for legalization.
In the DuBois Courier-Express, Dush said he did his own “16-year listening tour,” while working for the Department of Corrections as a correctional officer. Dush called marijuana “a stepping-stone drug and possible cause of mental health issues.” Northumberland County Rep. Kurt Masser had no comment and State Senator John Gordner did not respond to my inquiry. Here’s hoping that these two consistent conservatives are not sliding down that weed-filled rabbit hole.
All the drug and alcohol and law enforcement professionals I know agree with Dush and if that in itself isn’t a full-staffed red flag, what is?
Not only are marijuana users more likely to start using opiates, but the National Academy of Medicine reports that using “is likely to increase the risk of schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use, the greater the risk.” Between 2006 and 2014, emergency room visits for marijuana-induced psychosis tripled to 90,000.
It is stone-cold crazy that legalized marijuana is becoming a reality. Led by organizations like the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), pot propagandists have been operating for over a half century to convince anyone who would listen that marijuana is harmless and healthy. Nationwide, folks like Fetterman and their political allies are doing everything they can to paint lipstick on the pig of drug addiction, while selling out for another revenue stream for state governments.
According to the Taxfoundation.org, the state of Washington levies a 37 percent sales tax. Leave it to politicians to be greedier than dope dealers. The growers, distributors and smokers have no say, which is clearly a case of taxation without inhalation.
Bill Clinton anyone?
There are plenty of folks who would have you believe that marijuana is not an addictive drug. However, the politicians that are hooked on the tax dollars it brings to their state coffers, tells a far different story.
Legalization, they claim, would end the illegal marijuana trade, but because of state taxes, adding to the cost, the illegal drug industry will endure and continue to profit as they will be able to undersell the competition while remaining tax free. The only difference between those lawmakers like Fetterman, who support its legalization and the dealers on the street, is that the dealers don’t need to lie about the poison they peddle.
If you are still unconvinced there’s Alex Berenson’s, “Marijuana, Mental illness, and Violence” in the January 2019 issue of ‘Imprimis’ – an exceptional publication produced by Hillsdale College that is available free online – https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/marijuana-mental-illness-violence. Berenson’s essay is sobering, and he pulls no punches on why this nationwide campaign for legalization is a debacle of the first-order and is perilous to those who use and debasing to the nation. Berenson explains that “in the 1970s and 1980s, marijuana generally contained less than 5 percent THC. Today, the marijuana sold at legal dispensaries often contains 25 percent.”
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The marijuana lobby has been blowing smoke for years about the drug’s safety. Advocates say marijuana is a medicine, not an intoxicant, and that legalization can slow the opioid epidemic. Not true, Berenson argues, pointing to an American Journal of Psychiatry study that shows “that people who use cannabis are more likely to start using opioids later.”
Even the house organ of Liberaldom, the New York Times, in an op/ed said: “the legalization of marijuana is a serious and growing threat to public health and public safety.”
We have gone past permitting, and now endorse debauched societal behavior.
The growing political train of legalizing marijuana, will continue as the tax windfall will be too much to pass up, while states ignore its established social and health problems.
Marijuana use will find its place as another risk-free exercise under the ideological eccentricities of the ever-emerging Nanny States of America. The counterculture has become the culture and the Left isn’t going to let the facts, science or common sense inhibit its onslaught.
American society has smoked the peace pipe with marijuana, while making war on tobacco and it’s only a matter of time before you reap what we sow.
We need to stop pretending marijuana is a benign and innocuous drug.
If you can’t catch up with Fetterman’s tour, you can voice your concerns online: https://governor.pa.gov/recreational-marijuana-feedback. Moreover, you can also contact your State Senator and State Representative.
Fetterman has aspirations to run once again for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, but would be a slam-dunk as an advocate for NORML.
There is nothing more abnormal than NORML.
As Catholics celebrate Easter, I couldn’t help but regard the burning of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral—on the Monday of Holy Week, no less—as an ugly metaphor for the tribulations that our faith is suffering throughout the European continent and the whole of Western civilization.
We live in a nation where Christianity’s historic and longstanding influence continues to wither on the vine. Much of it is a self-inflicted pruning of grand proportions that continues to be well-documented and very accommodating to the prevailing zeitgeist.