It's Because Facts are Stubborn Things

Dear America,

"Facts are stubborn things."

Ronald Reagan

so this is kinda amusing

...one of the things I gave my papa, for Christmas, was a little dish donning this Reagan moment.

But lo and behold, darned if this girl didn't do a double take when fanning through a brand spanking new book of quotes of our Founding Fathers, that she reads this:

"Facts are stubborn things; 

and whatever may be our wishes, 

our inclination, 

or the dictates of our passions, 

they cannot alter 

the state of facts and evidence." 

 -- John Adams

indeed.

but let's hold up for a moment, could it be that Plato prompted the phrase on the proverbial plate first?...oh the world may never know.

The thing is -- the fact of the matter is --  facts are stubborn things.

All the memos in the world will not detract from actual evidence, the trail of corruption, the crumbs left behind by Christopher Steele, Fusion GPS, Andrew McCabe, Rod Rosenstein...shall I go on?

Or how about this one -- how in the world can there be thirty pages on record of the now infamous meeting between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch...you know, the one supposedly discussing the grandchildren?  really?

thirty pages...buried deep in the catacombs of the FBI...until watchdog, Judicial Watch, sues for their release.  

...thank you, Ron-John, facts are stubborn things, and seems occasionally, they even like to play hide and seek.

And don't get me started on the stock market.

Fact is, the market would have to tank another 6,000 points to equal the last unofficial day on record of Obama's presidency, k.... see election day November 2016.

facts are stubborn things.

I love this quote from the Ronald, not the Donald -- 

"All great change in America 

begins at the dinner table."

indeed

of course, it's so tasty, the Donald should recite and repeat, in both speak and tweet; this very thing -- this simple thing of gathering around the table for dinner, as a family -- may well be the one cure all for so many of societal woes. But I digress...no wait, it's not a digression at all; it's more like a great hope of things to come, as in the making of a great American come-back...But now I digress ;)

and along those same lines, there is this from Thomas Jefferson:

"Adore God.  

Reverence and cherish your parents.  

Love your neighbor as yourself, 

and your country more than yourself.  

Be just.  Be true.  

Murmur not at the ways of Providence.  

So shall the life into which 

you have entered 

be the portal to one of eternal

 and ineffable bliss."

yes, please.

When papa was not at sea for months on end while in the Navy, our family of five sat around the dinner table every single night.  And while the stubborn facts may be escaping me in this moment -- given the decades later --  I don't remember either parent preaching the golden rules even when they had a chance; although, what does comes to mind, is how they lived.  They taught the Golden Rule by following the Golden Rule, and to this day, continue to guide me by not only their love, but their selfless devotion to being a good example.  It was never a case of "do as I say, not as I do," right....

facts are stubborn things

and about that....here in America:

every generation bears the responsibility of living by example, in order to protect, and secure, the next generation;

every generation bears the responsibility of assimilating to America's founding principles -- that which describes our rights and our duties --  to protect, and secure, the next generation;

 

every generation bears the responsibility of separating fact from fiction, to protect, and secure, the next generation...

it's just what we do in America;

and that is just a fact.

Our nation's foundation IS firm in fact, no matter what you've been told.

"We must reject the idea 

that every time a law's broken, 

society is guilty

 rather than the lawbreaker. 

It is time to restore the American precept 

that each individual

 is accountable for his actions."

Ronald Reagan

indeed

once you leave the dinner table, it is solely up to each individual to live a life fully accountable for our own actions...  TO love your neighbor as yourself; to be just; to be true; to be fair; to be good...to speak of facts -- in the pure protection and honor of the facts -- because in fact, facts are the stubborn things that make America great over and over and over again.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's Thinking with a Capital T Thing

Dear America,

making an honest assessment of things seems to be a good place to start on this typical, foggy morning in SO CAL

shedding some light on things, yeah yeah

opening the drapes, 

paving the way for the sunlight, now hidden to the far reaches of the horizon,  to ultimately become the fool rushing in to save the day...eventually

we need the fog sometimes

in order to quiet the mind long enough to think...to begin to understand the big picture alongside the minute nuances of truth or fiction, all of which eventually begin to take a certain shape of what's to come, outlining through the nooks and crannies what is real, what is imagined, what is truth, and what is false.  The seen and the unseen revel amongst themselves and almost magically, things come together

and this morning, let's just start with one thing Capital T said last night to Matt Lauer --

"I have a plan, but I want to be -- look, I have a very substantial chance of winning.  We're going to make America great again, I have a very substantial chance of winning.  If I win, I don't want to broadcast to the enemy what my plan is ...If I like maybe a combination of mine and the generals plan or the generals plan.  If I like their plan, Matt, I'm not going to call you up and say, 'Matt, we have a great plan.' This is what Obama does."

Upon morning light, the Washington Examiner post of late last night, titled, "Trump vows to replace generals" from Al Weaver, is a masterpiece of a headline, but let's let the sun shine in, shall we?

Is that really what you get, Al?  Is that the summation of your observation from the 30 minute exchange last night?   Because, I, for one, five star girl can tell you, not sure it was a vow -- for that means he's committed to it -- and really now?  What, other than making America great again, is the Trumpster truly committed to? (It's a fair question.)

sure he did say....
"Well, there will probably be different generals, to be honest with you...

but then he went on to add:

"Well, the generals under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have not been successful," Trump said. "Under the leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the generals have been reduced to rubble. They have been reduced to a point where it's embarrassing for our country. You have a force of 30,000 or so people ... and I can just see the great Gen. George Patton spinning in his grave as ISIS we can't beat." 

"I have great faith in the military. I have great faith in certain of the commanders, but I have no faith in Hillary Clinton or the leadership," 

Truth is, there is a galaxy of possibilities waiting in the wings when you Think with a capital T...

Could not the generals transition into something different even without a replacement?  Indeed.  Perhaps through osmosis -- by the leadership of an entirely different Commander In Chief, we see a sea of change in the right direction?  Yeah yeah.  That's  a possibility.  

And yeah, Capital T may still need to change a few heads in the long run, with an overall strategy in mind, that is, but isn't that what being the leader and COMMANDER in CHIEF is all about?  Who do we recognize as COMMANDER of all things really, if it's not the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES?  

Surely, and generally speaking, Obama has made a few changes cough, cough, cough, cough.   [if you only read one of those links -- choose the last one about McChrystal]  What's with the selective outrage on Trump?  THIS administration has done general picking a plenty for pete's sake.

Thinking through the fog is what Capital T seems to do, and do seemingly quite well (unlike Hillary, right....ahhh ahhh little miss can't remember anything that came before the fall, as in concussion...)

Americans are so dialed into reality, and the things literally standing right before our eyes while changing every nanosecond -- that we overlook an advantage only achieved by taking a fine squint to things; taking the time to sit in the fog and contemplate things virtually unseen -- the possibilities are endless --  realities co-mingle with what might be, and after the clouds fall away and blue sky opens up to a brand new day, the light shows answers that to the naked eye could never be found.  And that especially goes if you're in a hurry. just sayin'

This process is sometimes referred to as thinking outside the box.  

Indeed.  It's not the Truman Show, it's the Trump show. So buckle up, buttercups. 

And speaking of a wall of fog --  the same idea holds true regarding building a wall without America actually paying for it, per say, and making Mexico "pay for it" through the assets of drug lords, maybe,  or through a tax upon Mexican businesses who wish to capitalize upon the insatiable appetite of the American consumer, or through any other creative resource within the realm called all things are possible. 

The thing is:   Does it really have to look like $1.7 billion in untraceable cash in the exchange between Mexico and the U.S.?  

 [Not to mention, how this administration thought it was proper business to pay Iran, chief financier and supplier of terrorism in all the world,  any interest is beyond me.  Where is the freaking mainstream media show on this one?  Under the cover of darkness, darkness played with a sinister regime, and finally a little daylight proves our worst fear of giving an enemy of the state enough funds to do great harm a billion times over and back again.  This is considered an intelligent thing to do?  Really?]

I like how Capital T was vague in his plans to Matt.

I like it a lot.

This girl has long held the opinion that the most essential military strategy is secrecy.  like, duh.

Be vague, T,  Be very very vague on this one and don't budge a muscle.

What I surely don't want more of is this....and it's plucked from the pages of my latest issue of Verdict, published by The Judicial Watch folks; it's an email exchange, February 22, 2009 between Clinton and Cheryl Mills (chief of staff at the time):

"I called ops and they gave me your 'secure' cells...but only got a high-pitched whining sound."  When Mills suggested that Clinton try the secure line again, the former secretary wrote back: "I give up.  Call me on my home #."

what a riot, huh.

And this is who half the country believes is ready to be Commander In Chief?  Seriously?

I'll take capital T for a hundred dollars, Pat.

ahhh and there's my sunshine, a blog from out of the fog arrives right on schedule.  tee hee

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a Day Angling to Tame a Tempestuous Summer Thing

Dear America,

dear dear america...

the summer recess, the tempest
...who knew?

Over the last few months -- beginning at the barbecue and ending with the first day of school (today! YAY!)  -- we've had a ruckus, riotous republican debate, a tenacious Trump Takeover of the conversation (all of them), a thoroughly corrupted, and catastrophically crumbling,  of the Clinton campaign -- complete with viable contenders just waiting for the nod (Biden/Warren), and now a stock market -- in free fall.

good times, eh?

Personally, my summer was all over the place.

My days were a lost cause and perpetually one glass of one from telling everyone what I really think ----- given up to a heavier work schedule, my girl home and never home all at the same time (ugh yeah, you figure it out...so tired), with no time to write, no time to myself, no space to percolate and opine on the thoughts of the day, all I could do was listen to my mind rattle, non-stop.  And boy, it was noisy.

Having said that, little old gthang was lucky enough to get a mini-vacation in Disneyland.  Truth be told, it was awfully hard to return.   I wanted to stay.  Perhaps forever.   Perhaps hiding out on Tom Sawyer's island, or better still, the Swiss Family Robinson tree house!  Frontier land take me away!  

Which reminds me --

One of my favorite childhood memories was an evening in the Going Family station-wagon (circa 1972), overflowing with popcorn and giggles at the drive-in, and falling in love with the big screen while cultivating the itty bitty imagination just under the surface, and just beginning to settle in under the blankets and starlight, leaving imprints large and small for a lifetime of inspiration and budding ambitions.   Easily, my dream of living in a tree house was doable --  and upon my own private island even better; the family Swiss told me so and in no uncertain terms. 

Wait a minute...

perhaps we need a refresher of some thoughts long, long ago.

THE GIVING TREE day, one of my best days, if I don't say so myself.  (And I did.)

America, the ever evocative Giving Tree -- inspires dreams far and wide.

And speaking of immigration --   Constitution, be damned; is that our final answer?  No.

How ironic -- this thing called a border -- but otherwise fully recognized, in a slimy, suspect, politically correct, raising baby-leftists kind of way, a sordid port of entry, come one, come all.   This border -- unnaturally becoming world renowned as a porous, lawless, senseless 2000 miles of imaginary lines, thereby allowing for unconscionable acts against the sovereignty of a nation that once prided itself upon the Rule of Law in which it supposedly stands.

Hold UP
Here's some BREAKING NEWS FROM THE BORDER (and considering my homestead being only a cool 45 minute coastal drive south to Mexico -- the San Ysidro border town is local news to me):

Courtesy of NPR, just August 20, 2015:

As of Wednesday, foreign pedestrians crossing into Mexico between San Diego and Tijuana are required to present a passport, fill out paperwork and, if they are staying for longer than one week, pay a 330-peso fee (about $20).

Oh really?

Hilarious, isn't it?

Carlos de la Fuente is quoted as saying:

"The way that people enter Mexico has been growing very disorganized, and now we are making it organized, that's the big difference."

Are we laughing, or what?

And yet, here's some fine print for you --    although this new law is great and is designed to coincide with the Mexican Law, it has it's limitations; it only applies to pedestrians; if you drive across the border, no questions, no paperwork, no fuss.

But let's not get lost in the details, shall we...

The thing is, how difficult would it be just to duplicate Mexican Law at this point?   What difference at this point does it make?  Whether following our own Immigration law, our Constitution, or Mexican Law --- let's just ask for all people crossing the border into America to physically stand in line and show a passport like everybody else.  The wait alone should curb many from even trying.

Oh wait.  Right.  We have a line.

Lines, spines, America has keines...none, zilch, nada, nil... (Und das ist alles nicht gut.   Exactly;  and what else would you expect from just a girl, her name is Gretchen?)


"[G]rowing very disorganized" he says.

Would just love to hear how would he characterize the free style border crossing going the other way? A Godsend?  perhaps...

Perhaps this is the money tree for which they come?   (Thank you Judicial Watch, data circa 2011)


Now, realizing I am swinging from branch to branch without the full capacity or energy to detail all that needs to be said (after all it is my first day back...), allow me to tie in just one more thing before I go;  let me just add this -- The Donald is growing on me.

So for your final read today,  here's a great article that might come close to explaining the phenomenon that is the tempest-in-campaign-mode who might just be the next American president...From WND, Kent G. Bailey Ph.D.:

Donald Trump is the prototypical, archetypal and testosterone-driven alpha male who rules by the sheer force of his personality, imposing physique, quick wit, mastery of repartee and almost hypnotic control over his gathering masses of adoring followers. He is Attila to the Huns, Henry V to the outnumbered English army, Winston Churchill to desperate allied forces, and now our fearless leader against the pagan forces of progressivism and political correctness. He is the unapologetic, quintessential warrior male of yore capable of vanquishing any and all opposition in his way.

And underneath it all,  just a boy with big dreams and a wild imagination and the ambition to climb the tree all the way to the top.  He must have seen the movie, Swiss Family Robinson, too.

Make it a Good Day, G