Why?

Why is it that the Left goes bat-crazy psycho-nuts whenever the issue of Sex Trafficking is brought up? Any time someone brings up the prevalence of the sex slave trade today, they seem immediately linked to crazy conspiracy theories and attacked as liars and kooks.

Jeffrey Epstein, whose life story should be the subject of a million movies, TV shows and streaming specials, is largely ignored.   I can imagine, in a different age, his case being one of those stories that never goes away.  Yet it only appears to raise its head when something makes it happen, and then it is quickly swept under the carpet again.  Which I find interesting.  

The movie Sound of Freedom was ravaged.  It was brutally attacked.  Film critic and Catholic deacon Steven Greydanus linked to an authority who said the movie's lies would lead to endless death and suffering on the part of trafficked children.  Others attacked the movie for failing to be a full scale dissertation on the subject.   Triumph of the Will got less pushback.  

Now we have Senator Katie Britt, who gave the response to the State of Union stump speech.  Wow.  I mean, the Press/Left always attacks the Republican who gives the SOTU response.  Remember the great Dry Mouth Apocalypse of Marco Rubio?  But this has been brutal.  Apparently she bold face lied about a case involving sex trafficking from decades ago.  I don't know the details since everyone has their versions.  I just notice that the topic of sex trafficking itself has been all but ignored in preference for attacking her.  Once again.  Even the victim in her example has jumped on board and attacked her as the main point of contention. 

I just notice trends.  And one trend I notice is that the national press spends scant little time discussing the modern global slave trade driven largely by the sex slave trade.  Especially given our current lack of mercy or empathy for Western slave traders and slave owners of the past.   Local press outlets will sometimes cover it, mostly in the sense of how local agencies are helping victims.  But there's no real big national 'we must stop the horrors!' media frenzy.  No ongoing headlines keeping it in the public eye for months on end, like George Floyd or the Unite the Right rally of 2017 or gun violence.  In fact, it seldom comes up.  

Unless someone brings it up, and then it's pull out all the stops and attack - the ones bringing it up.  Again, I'm no conspiracy theorist.  Nonetheless, if those - usually on the Left - would mount an outrage driven crusade against sex trafficking with the zeal that they go after those who bring up the problems with modern sex trafficking, I'd be far less inclined to give wild conspiracy theories even a second glance.  

But as I've said before, there comes a time when it takes far more credulity to disbelieve a conspiracy theory than to believe in one.  And given the reactions I've seen over the last few years where this topic does and doesn't come up, the craziest thing to believe appears to be the claim that nothing is going on behind the scenes where this modern scandal of human slavery is concerned. 

Twisters twisters in the night

To our West.  Image from the Dayton Daily News

So we were in the path of those tornados that swept through the Midwest last night.  Just to our west, the worst of the tornados - at least as of now - hit and did much damage.  At least three were killed by the storms.  In these parts tornados are usually of the weaker variety.  But in recent years, especially in the last couple, the storms have growing in frequency and severity.  I've noted the sudden shift in weather in just the last couple years.  

Fortunately for us, the cell that produced the tornado suddenly swung south and then after it passed, turned east again.  It weakened a bit as it approached us, and then strengthened.  It looks like places farther to the east also got hit hard.  

This is the fifth tornado I've been through, including two that hit right next to where I was at the time.  When I was little, about four years old, a tornado cut a path right up to our house and then 'jumped' over our property.  In Florida, I was getting ready for work when a tornado hit and cut travel across the intercoastal bridges, leaving me stranded.  

Apparently when I was an infant, my mom was home with my sister and me while Dad was at work.  A tornado hit the town then (that town has been hit before, owing to its place in the Ohio landscape) while she kept rocking in her rocking chair.   

And finally when I was a pastor in Southern Indiana, our church was one of the few buildings with a basement.  So we were assigned to make sure the doors were opened in case of something like a tornado outbreak.  One night it hit, while the Final Four was going on (prompting those basketball obsessed Hoosiers to constantly apologize for having to break from the important stuff to talk about all of that saving our lives gibberish).  

And now this.  I will say this, the stories are true.  Of the three tornados that hit when I was able to see the conditions, it's just like they say.  First you have the storms, massive winds, lightning, downpours and hail.  Then silence.  A dead, suffocating silence.  And then it hits.  The two times I heard the tornadoes actually hit nearby, it does sound like a locomotive.  

And they are fickle things.  Back in 1974 during what they called The Super-Outbreak, my dad was at work on the railroad.  He stayed where he was, since it takes only the strongest tornadoes to damage a railroad engine.  So he kept on moving, watching the distance as he crossed no fewer than four of the tornadoes that night.  He said there's no sense trying to plot a course and guess.  They jumped around like rabbits, appearing here, vanishing there, reappearing a mile later.    

So having gone through number five, I hope that's it.  We were fortunate, though others weren't.  Our prayers for them while the state digs out of the second outbreak of tornados in almost as many weeks.  Again, nobody denies the climate changes.  And it's tough not to see a sudden shift in weather patterns.  It's approaching it scientifically and realistically that most people want, not doing the political thing that dominates the disucssion nowadays. 

This hurts

 

Now, I don't know if that is accurate or not, but it sure feels accurate.  I know there are things we have to buy for my mom that have doubled in two years.  And they weren't cheap to begin with.  The same goes for other items at the store.  And we won't even discuss utilities and housing.  

What is telling for me is that those on the Left are acting like nothing is wrong.  I know the media is doing this and I know why.  But not all to the left are multi-billionaires.  Certainly some of them have to be struggling like the rest of us.  I mean, had my wife not done yeoman's work finding a new position that came with a pay raise, I don't know that we'd be making it.  And she makes what only a few years ago was considered a very, very good salary.  Combined with the rest of our income, we are still just barely making it. 

And others, who are Democrats and swing left, must be in the same boat.  Yet all I hear from those I know are how awesome everything is.  Am I missing something?  Usually there is a breaking point with people, but I'm not seeing it. I find that a troubling sign when people who are struggling will say nothing because it's their guy in office.  At least acknowledge it is bad and blame Republicans.  But this is full denial. Which, by my lights, is never a good sign. 

A good point

Like so many around the world, we have prayed for peace in Israel and the now forgotten Ukrainian war. We pray for the victims and the families.  We pray for the families of the hostages.  I have no clue how the families of the hostages could be managing themselves at this point.  I'd be curled up in the bathroom picking flowers off the toilet paper on the verge of a meltdown.  I suppose God grants strength when needed, perhaps even when we don't know to ask.

We have also been talking about what is happening.  My youngest pointed out something.  He said [Hamas] did it on purpose for a reason.  That is, there is a reason Hamas has done this horrible thing.  There is a plan.  

In recent years, over the last decade or so, we've seen how these things work out.  Hamas or some radical Islamic group launches a random attack against Israel.  Israel responds.  The world piles on Israel. 

This time, it's as if Hamas went out of its way to make it impossible to be that simple.  In literally the worst massacre of Jews since WWII, Hamas immediately made themselves the villains in the eyes of the world.  A world that has made it clear it's wanting to, waiting to, and willing to make Israel ever and always the villain.

Why?  My son is right, bless his heart.  You can't just say savages, barbarians, bronze age thugs.  There is a method to this.  What is the end goal here?   When you think of how the 9/11 attacks brought America down a notch, increased divisions, and left us far worse in the world than we were to begin with, what is this about?  I've said the 9/11 attacks were what Japan wanted Pearl Harbor to be but it wasn't.  

So why did Hamas do this?  Why did they purposefully go out and commit atrocities so heinous that many who normally wait to trounce Israel have been forced to start with condemning Hamas?  What's the game plan here?  Does it involve America, the world, China?  It's worth pondering.  I just hope our best and brightest in Washington are already working on solving what my youngest son was able to figure out. 

The eyes of the world are upon Ohio

Whew. I have never seen our polling location this busy.  Not even in the most voted on election in human history in 2020.   And issue in question has been in Brit papers, Euro news and of course the US national press.  It's about - Issue 1.  The only issue on a midterm August special election ballot.  And it was a madhouse. In our little corner of voting world, it's the first time we have ever had to wait in line.

What's the issue?  Let me 'splain.  A couple years ago, coming out of the lockdowns when the School Board Battles were taking off, a bunch of transgender activists went to our statehouse and tried to play the 'save our trans kids from parents' card.  The local press jumped on the story and ran with it in the same way: if we let parents interfere, then what choice will our children have but to kill themselves?  And we can't have that!

Fortunately, a GOP dominated state government didn't let it see the light of day.  And in the midterms, when the GOP underperformed in several states, Ohio gushed red over almost the entire state in a conservative tsunami.  Same as with Florida, where the issue of sexing up our kids, surgically altering them, and keeping parents in the street seem to be winning issues for Republicans. 

Well, after that the SCOTUS dropped the Roe bomb and ushered in the new Terror - at least to hear the Left.  Sadly, the Pro-Life movement seemed content with resting on its laurels for a while as the pro-abortion rights movement prepared to storm the beaches.  The first big warning shot came in Kansas when Kansas voters struck down a much underreported attempt to enshrine pro-life policies in the Kansas constitution. 

Being Buckeyes, we realized the same can't happen here.  First, as soon as the abortion rights movement began pushing an amendment for abortion, conservatives effectively tied it to the same push we saw with the transgender activists only months earlier.  Which isn't altogether unfair if you think on it.   Second, the GOP moved to change our constitution to make it harder to amend the constitution in the first place. Finally we made darn sure to get the word out, even if Issue 1 itself was a little late in the promoting. 

What is Issue 1? Right now, Ohio is one of the few states where the state constitution can be amended with a vote of 50% plus 1 on citizen and legislature-initiated referendums.  Plus, currently to get an amendment push going, you need only obtain signatures from half of Ohio's counties.    This issue, Issue 1, would require a 60% vote to amend the constitution, and would require signatures from all 88 counties in order to get the proposal to move forward.

Naturally, its' really about abortion, transgender activism, parent's rights, and basically the growing rift between the Left's vision for America and those who don't accept that vision.  The pro-abortion movement already has an amendment enshrining abortion rights on the November ballot.  What will be required to get the constitution amended will therefore depend on what happens today.  

For me it's very simple.  Do we want pagan America, where life is precious or dirt cheap when certain people at certain times decide so?  Or is life precious and we work in our state's priorities accordingly?  Obviously, no matter how people articulate it, they get this is important.  That's why for the first time since we've been voting in our cavernous poling place we had to wait in line in the middle of the day.  We'll see. 

Prayers for the victims in Nashville

Your heart just breaks at stories like this.  Sure, tragedy happens every day.  Yes, it's a hard world for little things.   But we just don't always hear about it.  When we do, it tears at the heart, especially where the youngest of these are involved. 

According to reports, not only were three adults, but three children, were among the victims.  And from the reports this morning, one of the victims was the pastor's child.  That hits hard, let me tell you.  

I get that in our Orwellian age, almost immediately we rush in to stake our political claims on this.   It's easy to be sucked in and be part of the problem here.  Better to do what people of good will would do in the past.  We pray for the victims, the families, and all impacted by this horrible crime.  We celebrate the police officers who rushed in, risking their lives to stop the shooting.  If possible, we find ways to help the people involved. 

In all things we stay planted in reality, remembering the priorities, and the human beings swept up in this moment. 

So this is happening

China is joining a right fine group of countries in Russia for some uneventful troop exercises. Nothing to see here.  I'm sure most who hear of this will dismiss it as no big deal.  Or they will bet the farm that if it is a big deal, it will become so only after they have passed on from this life to the next. 

Ventilators and Covid

I am not a doctor.  I run an informal blog where I just noodle about, reading this or that story, commenting with my feet propped up, blathering about what interests me.  I avoid my own areas of expertise because I just don't have time to do them justice. This goes triple for subjects like medicine or almost any science, law, auto mechanics, or ballet dancing - subjects that are well beyond my ability to speak to them even halfway credibly and not look stupid.  

But this story jumped out at me.  Sadly we know several who died from Covid.  That's why I don't make light of it.  I get the problems, the Covid regulations, the disaster that all these measures were and the lives shattered by them.  But the disease is still serious.

Nonetheless, a few weeks ago my wife and I were discussing these last couple years.  We thought of those who we know who died.  A few of them were already in medical facilities because they were suffering from serious, basically terminal, problems.  When her uncle died of Covid, I was shocked he was still alive.  He had about a half dozen serious and essentially fatal conditions.  

But something else came to us as we thought about the people we know.  Everyone who died was in a hospital.  Even if they went to the hospital only for Covid.  True, almost everyone we know who died had some serious aliment one way or another.  But whatever the case, they were all  in the hospital when they died.

On the other hand, we also know many who came down with Covid who didn't die.  In fact, almost everyone we know came down with Covid, including us.  It could be serious and some of us were hit hard by the symptoms.  But almost none of us went to the hospital.  I think only one we know of went to the hospital who didn't pass away.

Three we know had it bad.  Real bad.  Close to death bad.  This includes two close family members - one who was fully vaccinated and the other who wasn't vaccinated.  There were times we thought we were going to lose them.  But they stayed home and fought it off.  And both have medical issues, including one with serious respiratory limits.  Yet they didn't die. 

Everyone we know of who died died in a hospital.  I have no way of knowing if they were on ventilators or not.  I think one was, a young fellow who was a classmate of my oldest.  He went to the hospital early December and was on a ventilator through most of the month, sadly passing a week or so before Christmas.  Yet everyone we know who lived stayed put and stayed home.

I won't say I'm not trying to say something, because I clearly am.  We've watched as the medical community has fumbled the ball a dozen times with this.  And that's without the politics of it.  Just the initial promise of what the vaccinations would do versus what they actually seem to do - based on what we know right now - is staggering.  When my wife and I thought of this, and then I saw the above article, I must admit it did little other than reinforce our initial observations.  And suspicions. 

Oh, and Elon Musk

So the news broke last week by an exuberant media that Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter might not go through.  Cue rejoicing in the streets.  Cue those on the Left blowing beer out their noses mocking conservatives for getting their hopes up.  It might be nothing, but I can tell the press is hoping it means the deal is void.  I've not heard any updates, so who knows what is going on. 

Here's my thing.  I know little to nothing about Musk.  I remember some years ago I got tired of hearing about him.  For a while it seemed as if every MSM outlet gushed over him.  There were times I couldn't go two days without some 'praise Musk' story.  I recall telling my wife if I see one more story gushing over Telsa I'm going to scream. Beyond that, I notice he says things that riles people on the Left. 

Other than that, no clue.  He could be Lenny the Leftist for all I know.  He might be Batman, more likely the Joker, or something in between.  Those who cling to the Gospel have been burned too many times in recent years after hitching their wagons to the latest potential superstar for conservatism. 

I do think that no matter what he has served his purpose.  The whole hysteria about Musk threatening democracy, the world and the universe if he gets Twitter showed a couple important things.   First, it showed what we all know, that double standards and naked hypocrisy are mother's milk for progressive activism.  The same ones screaming about his takeover were the ones, only a few months earlier, dismissing concerns about social media censorship and message control:  'It's just a social media outlet, get over it.  Find another one if you don't like it.'  Or so they said.  Again, it's wrong when it hurts progressives, it's right when it helps.  

But more importantly, he also showed how far we've descended into a world held by an oligarchy that has gamed the system, is tired of freedom for the little people, and makes sure the rules help only themselves.  We saw this a year ago with the Game Stop debacle.  That was about nothing other than someone outside of the official cabal daring to game the system the way the cabal no doubt does on a daily basis.  The system is only to be gamed by those who control it.  Hence the 2020 election. An election not stolen per se, but gamed. 

The problem with Musk isn't that he is some right wing radical.  It's not that he's some MAGA Trump type.  It's that he is out of the system.  He isn't in the rules and living within the rules of those who now control the rules.  He is a wild card, and that is anathema to the modern establishment.  Gates, Buffet, even Zuckerberg may occasionally run afoul or this or that leftwing dogma, but they nonetheless run within the system.  They pander to the system and exist within it. 

Musk does not.  He seems to go where he will, and most of the time the establishment doesn't seem to care.  But this is important, controlling the message.  Yet Musk wasn't trying to obtain Twitter on their behalf, or by their permission.  Someone outside the system getting hold of a major source of narrative control?  Hence the subsequent days of global outrage, calls for the government to step in, hysterics over the fall of freedom and democracy.  

Now the deal might not happen.  Or the deal could go through.  I dunno.  That's beyond my ability to guess one way or another.  Perhaps it was just Musk playing around.  Maybe he's snickering about all those yokels who thought he was their white knight.  Maybe he gets his kicks laughing at all those people who thought they were in control.  Again, I don't know.  I just know that no matter what, I'm not going to see us any better off if Musk does everything he's suggested he will do - when he's not doing anything else he feels like doing.  I've learned never trust people who are defined by being wild cards.  That falls under the old adage of never underestimating an enemy, but  never overestimating an ally. 

Pray for the victims of the supermarket shooting

Most likely have heard now of the shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.  So far 10 have died, and many others are wounded.  Pray for them especially.  Pray for the poor victims.  Pray for their loved ones who will be left to deal with this unimaginable tragedy.  It's impossible to think what they are going through. May God cover their hearts and minds with the peace that only He can give. 

Also pray for the retaliation.  We all know the drill.  It appears this was a white man with racially motivated reasoning for the shooting.  Therefore we're going to see more backlash against America and its past, the whole of the Western tradition, and all non-progressive whites.  Those who challenge liberal narratives will be lumped in with white racists and nationalists, who will be tied to this shooter no matter what. 

Evil begets evil.  Again, we know the drill.  Normally I try to keep prayers for such tragedies on the victims.  Sadly, the victims will be used and exploited in weeks to come - for this will be dwelt upon for weeks to come, unless the initial narrative turns out to be wrong - and it will be done for reasons far removed from anything virtuous.  

God bless the victims and their families, and God bless those who will be linked to this. 

First Things ponders the thrice daily Russia hate we're seeing

Read it here. 

My take?  Chalk this up to yet another 'You once heard post-war liberalism say, but the Left now says' that has become the norm.  In this case, you heard how stupid, racist, backwater, intolerant and petty Americans were for hating all things Japanese, German, Italian, Middle Eastern, or even English (Revolutionary War period), but we now say you must hate all things Russia in a way that would shame a WWII propagandist. 

Why can we so easily indulge in what was once proof of how bad America was? It's easier now for a couple reasons, at least as I see it:

First, we've been practicing our own American Rage Hate for years.  Beginning in earnest with the Charleston Church Shooting, the hating on America has almost replaced apple pie and baseball as the great American pastime.  Since 2020, that's spilled over onto all things Western and White.  If it's from north of the Mediterranean, West of the Urals, and White North America, you can bet it's Nazi racist genocide slavery output that must go.  Books, movies, television shows, art, memorials, statues, product mascots, sports mascots, awards, you name it.  Not a week goes by that something American heritage or Christian European isn't cast onto the digital bonfires.  So how much easier to cancel all things Russian when canceling our own nation and civilization has been the social fad of the decade? 

Second, deflection.  We all know that Putin may be the enemy, but he was helped and encouraged by bumbling and poor decisions here on the NATO side of the tracks.  Our debacle in Afghanistan no doubt encouraged him.  And who can forget Reset Button and 'The Cold War is calling'?  Things like that don't excuse Putin and the Russians, but they sure add to the explanations of how it came to this.  Given that our current Media State has its guy in office, anything to deflect from asking such questions is a plus. 

Third, embellish the narrative.  Speaking of Putin as the enemy.  Following the 2016 defeat of Hillary Clinton, the idea that Putin got into bed with Trump and produced a legion of election hijackers who wrecked the democratic process became the official narrative.  Putin and Russia were now the Great Satan for the Left.  Working with Trump, their goal was to destroy American democracy (before the liberals got to), destroy our electoral processes, and enslave all minorities for Trump's business ventures.  That's why Trump was impeached for his phone call to Ukraine.  So keeping Putin as Hitler/Nazi and all Russians as a threat to the world helps buttress this already crucial media narrative for explaining the 2016 election results. 

Fourth, Russia is doing everything to appear 'the worst of the past.'  The invasion invokes memories of Germany plowing across the Polish border.  Russia is going all Total War, doing to Keiv what Germany did to Rotterdam.  Putin has presented himself as bold defender of Russia's traditions and past glories.  He has taken harsh stands against the various immoral developments we've seen in the West - even if he doesn't actually care about them personally. He has cozied with the Russian Orthodox Church which has returned his advances.   All of this sets him against Zelenski's Ukraine.  As a Jewish leader, he holds no brief for the Christian elements of Ukraine's past.  News for Christians - many who are Jewish still have little love for the actual Christian Faith and its former place in our society.  Plus he's hardcore left of liberal in his social and cultural designs.  Free abortions, unrestrained sexual license, all things morally left permissible and championed, minimizing glories of the past and wanting to start anew with a modern state looking at ourselves - all of these make it a beautiful 'New World Order' defending itself against the usual evil of the Old Christian European World Order'. 

Finally, Russia is White.  My whole life I've seen the cultural chastisement of our wars against Vietnam, or Iraq, or Al-Qaeda, or Japan, in which Americans could blur the line between waging war and hating ethnic non-Whites.  Almost immediately after 9/11, the emphasis was on praising and uplifting Islam, making any questions about the rise of this Islamic brand of terrorism akin to being a Nazi hating Jews.  We might technically be able to do something in response to the terrorist attacks, but it cannot in any way be negative questions about the Middle East, Islam, Muslims, or any such thing.  Quite frankly, it's a bit of a relief to once again say we have seen the enemy, and they deserve to suffer.  Period. No parsing or squirming or nuance. Just Putin/Russia are evil, destroy!  Especially when we can so easily link the Russians (Christian and White) to reason number one above. 

So that's my take, for what it's worth. 

More thoughts on the War in Urkaine

Just a few more random thoughts, not that they're based on anything by hunches and observations on my part.

1. It is a war.  I find people's lack of willingness to call it a war interesting.  Some do.  But in the press, I notice many still say the Crisis  in Ukraine, or Ukrainian Crisis, or similar. A couple I've heard say the Invasion of Ukraine, or Russia's invasion of Ukraine.  But seldom actual War.  I wonder why that is. 

2. Remember Ukraine is fast replacing Remember Pearl Harbor.  With no clear indication of what is being demanded, many are insisting we say Putin/Russia is Hitler/Nazis and that's it. Otherwise, you're a Putin worshipping traitor stooge Russian propagandist.  Which automatically makes me stop and think why this urgency to frame it in such simplistic of terms.  Especially when I reflect on the modern love for simplistic terms and phrases (BLM, #MeToo, non-binary, Get the Shot/Stop the Spread). I've already said Putin and the Russian military are the bad guys here.  It's not rocket science.  But that doesn't mean we must therefore say 'anything has to happen or you worship Putin.'  Pull that trick, and I instinctively begin asking questions, as I was taught to by my post-WWII liberal educators and pop culture. 

3. What do we know about history?  In keeping with 'Putin/Russia bad/end of statement' option, I've seen plenty of pushback against those trying to sort this out, figure how we got there, and how we can proceed without spiraling into an escalated war.  Those who have tried to compare it to the outbreak of WWII are learning that apparently nothing led to WWII except Hitler and the Nazis (we'll ignore Japan for the moment).  Hitler and the Nazis did it, no sense squabbling over details, they were the bad guys, so is Putin/Russia.  Hearing such a take, to my ears, is like hearing people say we were wrong, the moon is made of cheese.  All my life a massive part of WWII studies was hearing all of the myriad factors and blunders outside of Germany that set the stage for what happened.  Now?  See your support of Putin as the answer. 

4. We don't want to admit the obvious.  That is, Zelenski's Ukraine is just the type of thing destroying Europe and Western Christianity and Democratic civilization.  As I said earlier, we can celebrate him for being a hero and brave in the face of all this, without making him into a god to be worshipped.  Given his own way, he represents that post-Western mindset that says sex, abortions and all thing leftists must reign supreme, but maybe it's time to get over this old 'glories of the past' rubbish.  Not that Putin is any better mind you.  It might help to imagine this the way the Left has taught us to see the American Civil War.  Not good guys versus bad guys, but two bad actors with bad designs in a conflict where the only distinguisher right now is that one is the real bad guy for invading a sovereign neighbor. 

5. I necessarily have no clue what is going on.  I trust the news media like I trust Honest Larry the used car salesman.  All I have to do is see how the press reports on Democratic Party voting reforms, or how it is reporting on the educational legislation in Florida, or how it is treating the conflict between school boards and parents.  If the press is only half as biased in its reporting from Ukraine, that means I still know virtually nothing about the facts.  It would be foolish of me to think otherwise. 

6. As I said in 2, many are insisting there is no approach to this but "Damn Putin to hell!" or you're a Russian thrall.  With that said, I'm hearing almost no clear explanation of what this means.  Does this mean we should go to war?  Does it mean we should put ourselves in a situation where war could happen? Does it mean we should keep doing what we're doing and hope it works before too many are killed?  Should we ride a missile down into Russia like Slim Pickens?  I'm always itchy when people say I have to conform or else, and yet seem reticent about just what it is I'm support to conform to. 

7. Isn't it nice to hate the enemy again?  Remember the first and second Gulf Wars?  Remember our post-9/11 responses?  Wow.  No way could we just 'hate on Muslims', or 'hate on Iraq', or 'hate  on Afghanistan'.  Not even close.  Heck, we weren't even allowed to hate on Osama bin Laden.  Remember when he was killed and some poured into the streets to celebrate?  Remember not a few pols, religious leaders and pundits rushed out and condemn it?  Remember how it's wrong to hate, to celebrate his death, to do anything but pray for him?  Remember how we learned we should never have hated Germans or Japanese in WWII, or Vietcong in Vietnam?  Now I'm seeing those wanting to pray for Putin being accused of worshipping the same.  Russia is evil.  Russians?  Well, sorry about their luck!  Russian soldiers and Putin?  The more death and misery they get the happier we are!  Why do I get the feeling that's because, when all is said and done', they're white in 2022?  They're European.  They're "Western".  Allowing ourselves to think badly of non-white/non-Western folks is a good way to lose the Left's main template: That the Caucasians of Western Civilization are the sole cause of evil in this world.  Focusing on the 9/11 terrorists for too long, or questioning modern Islam, challenges that.  Come to think of it, asking where Covid may have originated is the same as saying you want Asians killed in death camps.  But white Russians and white Putin being the bad guys?  Bring out the propaganda posters and let's show just how wicked and evil they are and why all peace loving people of good will should proclaim it. 

8.  Those who rushed out to score points by saying how awesomely brilliant Putin is have eggs on their faces.  

9. Most of this, I'm afraid, is a war within a war.  It's an actual war everyone thought was a thing of the past.  I mean, did anyone believe last year that we would ever again see a European nation line up military divisions and invade a neighboring European nation?  Did anyone think it would ever happen, much less happen this year?  I don't think so.  And yet it did.  But at least here in America - perhaps Europe too, I don't know - it seems all of this is filtered through the really big war, and that's the war to end or maintain America and the West.  Yet, at least among those fighting to maintain America, there appears to be divisions.  With some on the 'it's Putin or you're a Russian' side, and others going full conspiracy theory about how this is a giant Soros conspiracy and Ukraine is making it all up.  In any event, I get the feeling that for not a few on this side of the Atlantic, each bomb dropped is merely a weapon to use against the real enemies of the world - each other. 

10. I can't help but wonder how all of this would look, how it would be covered, what we would be allowed to ask, and who would be saying what, if Donald Trump was president (R), instead of President Biden (D).  I have a hunch much of what I've watched and heard would change.  The strange thing here?  I bet those conservatives who are more or less aligned with those on the Left who are saying 'it's evil Putin/Russians or shut up' would still be doing so.  I have a feeling almost everyone else would be sounding like their ideological opponents in this.  And when you have that assumption around something as critical as the outbreak of war, the only ones to ultimately win will be those happy to see Russia, Ukraine, Europe and America all burn to the ground.  Many of whom have remained on the fence in all of this I've noticed. 

11. There is a legitimate pro-war movement.  It does include some conservatives, but is quickly becoming dominated by those on the Left.  Part of this no doubt has to do with linking Putin as Hitler to Trump as Putin's Mussolini.  Part of it is trying to deflect from the disastrous last year, the crushing inflation and the problems under Biden's administration.  But some of it is clear and naked jockeying for war.  Real, honest to goodness war.  Get our boots out, get our planes up, and get to war!  Given that one of the uber-narratives of my life has been 'liberals about pace/conservatives all about war', this is a strange development.  Not that there hasn't been this tendency of supporting war because a (D) is in the White House.  But this time it's potential total war, and even - some suggest - potential nuclear war.  Yet so much of the "To War!" rhetoric is coming from left of center, at least as far as I can tell. 

12. Why is it that wealthy celebrities telling Americans to suck on inflation and gas prices for the cause rings hollow?  I know in WWII, Hollywood celebrities joined the bond drives and called on Americans to sacrifice, while they remained wealthy Hollywood celebrities.  For some reason I can't pinpoint, it didn't seem as callous and elitist then as it does today.  I think partly because you get the feeling much of this is trying to deflect from Biden's performance, or downplay problems, and has only a little to do with anything war effort.  As opposed to WWII, where you feel those wealthy celebrities really were in it for the cause. Perhaps that's unfair of me, but it's the hunch I have. 

Musings on the war in Ukraine

The following are just random thoughts and observations from watching and listening to things.  It in no way represents some back room informed list of opinions.  Just what I know of history, of current events, and from getting whatever information I can get.  Some of it is from my sons' observations, which I have come to value as much as any pundits on the news.  In no particular order: 

No matter how you slice or dice it, Putin and Russia are the bad guys. You don't invade to conquer, killing innocents in the process, and not be the bad guy.  

We who are opposed to Russia are fighting to defend a dying West eager to commit suicide.  

After years of hearing how stupid and wrong America was for villainizing all Japanese or Germans in WWI or WWII, or for Americans going after Iranian Americans during the hostage crisis, we're once again seeing the same dogs go back to the vomit and push for the same attitude against 'Russians", both here and abroad.  

Zelenski is a hero in the same way De Gaulle was a hero.  He's shown courage, and his stalwart opposition to the invasion is to be commended, but many of the things he stands for are the very things conservatives despise and see as poison in the Western bloodstream.

The anti-Russian alliance has pretty much played most of its cards.  Short of military intervention, we've boycotted, banned and blocked financially and corporately.  If it doesn't work, we'll have to wait and see what Putin will do next, putting the ball back in his court.

Anti-war sentiment in Russia is more than many expected.

With that said, many anti-war Russians appear like Zelenski: they want a Russia like the rest of Europe, no war, just party about and whatever happens to the nation's heritage is of little consequence. 

Exactly why Putin began all this with only a couple hundred thousand total troops is beyond me.  One typically doesn't overrun a nation like Ukraine with a force like that.

We're likely getting little of the actual facts, since the divisions here at home mandate spin put on any news in order to avoid making this or that side look bad. 

Obama's "the Cold War is calling" retort is now one of the most boneheaded and disastrous statements in the last fifty years. 

It's more than one president's fault, but we can't ignore the obvious impact President Biden's Afghanistan debacle had in encouraging Putin.  

Resistance from Ukraine and its Dancing With the Stars president was probably more than Putin expected.  Just like some other B-Movie actor Russia underestimated a few decades ago. 

China has been rather vague about things, and that could make a big difference for Putin's overall plans. 

In addition to deflecting blame from chosen political parties, expect the media to find ways to insert the narrative of 'evil [White] West vs. rest of oppressed, discriminated against world, at home and abroad, people.' 

President Biden has shown more resolve than many - including Putin - likely imagined.  That's not to say he's been perfect, but he has acted more swiftly and decisively than many critics (like me) imagined he would. 

There are probably two outcomes from this:  If Putin and Russia are defeated because of a vast, global conspiracy of multi-billion dollar corporations acting in tandem with various national governments, expect that to remain in their minds the next time someone pops up they want to conspire to destroy (ahem, trucking protesters or anyone holding to the heritage or traditions of the Christian West)

If Putin ends up winning and somehow Russia emerges with a victory, on the other hand, expect more countries to go old school when it comes to those rascally neighbors across the border. With the global corporations figuring how they can capitalize on such a development. 

In just a few days, the world has shifted in a way it took two years to shift under Covid, and ten years since the Obama revolution.  That's a lot of shifting in barely more than a decade.  Whatever happens, things won't be the same again. 

In case you need a refresher

 Here is a nice little visual history of the changing borders of Europe over the years:

I always loved maps, and this is the sort of think that strikes my fancy.  Granted you could possibly quibble over this or that, but the broader point remains.  Things have changed a bit over the years.

The main reason it's being passed around is to rub Russia's nose in its state of affairs ages ago when Poland and other regions were quite established.  Fair enough.  

But notice something else.  Note the Mongols, then the Ottomans.  Swing west to the Iberian Peninsula in the early years.  We forget - purposely or otherwise - that the first centuries of European history saw Europe with its back against the wall, fending off one invasion after another. 

Even when the early colonies in America were being established in the 17th Century, the Ottomans remained in south central Europe, chomping at the bit for a chance to break through and subdue that land mass Muslims have been eyeing for centuries.  

By the 18th Century the scales tipped and Europe emerged as the clear dominant force in the world.  Europe would soon gobble up much of the globe over the next century or two.  The question is, did those other regions suddenly see the light and decide how wrong it was that their ancestors spent so much time trying to break across the European borders?  Or was the last couple centuries merely a temporary setback?  I'm sure generations of Europeans and Americans not yet born hope we get the right answer to those questions. 

What he said

It appears to be a show of sorts, and much of the video is the rest of the episode involving discussion panels and what have you.  Don't know who he is or anything about him.  But in this at least, he hits the nail on the head.  In all honesty, his accent - as any accent from the British Isles will do for American ears - gives him a +10 on the awesome meter. But beyond that, he's honest and he's right.  We're watching the end of the Western tradition because we took freedom for granted and weren't paying attention.  Watch it through - the first part is the main part to get a good rundown on the state of affairs today.

I know enough about Eastern European affairs

To know I know little about Eastern European affairs.  And that includes the tangled mess that is Russian History.  One could spend a lifetime studying that monster and you'd still only scratch the surface. 

My chief problem is the divisiveness that tends to dumb down discourse.  You get a million experts running around and calling down hellfire on this or that topic.   Naturally I defer to those who are in Russia, or Ukraine.  But even then, only with caution.  It's not like going east will suddenly make you honest or always right.  Still, I've had the chance to befriend several over the years who call east of the Danube their home, and it's been a revelation to be sure. 

When I was in graduate school, one of our best friends was a fellow named Alexander and his wife, Luba.  He was from Russia, she was from Ukraine.  It was then I learned the most important of all lessons: never say a Ukrainian is Russian.  Their perspectives on life in the USSR, even in its waning days, was an education to be sure. 

Likewise, in my years with the Orthodox Church I had the chance to meet and talk to many from those regions: Bulgaria, Serbia, Russia, Ukraine, and Romania.  Again, it was an eye opener.  My favorite was a Romanian professor who often spoke about his life in the Soviet and post-Soviet system.  He eventually immigrated to the US in the late 1990s.  He also had perspectives about the increase of Muslim immigration and the designs of the Russian government in these post-Cold War years. 

In any event, like those from the Middle East we became friends with during those years, I learned the stories we are told in America are seriously deficient when it comes to what people in other parts of the world see.  That may always be the case.  It's likely they don't get being American.  But it's enough to know most of the punditry and talking points is likely missing big pieces of the puzzle. 

Hence this:

Well, if you have any knowledge at all of the Russian Orthodox Church, you wouldn't be shocked in the least.  Much less disappointed.  It would make perfect sense, as many Orthodox Christians outside the dominant circle of Russian Orthodoxy often lament. Even those Russian Orthodox struggle with the church's allegiance with the State in light of the need to protect the Church against those modernist forces that would happily see the Church put back in the chains  it wore during the Soviet era.  It isn't simple, and likely shouldn't be commented on as quickly as I believe the stories were wanting us to. 

In fact, I can't help but think part of what Deacon Greydanus sees is based on that modern progressive narrative that assumes the very best in anyone except those in my own circle of neighbors.  That is, 'the East' isn't us, therefore he sees it through those modern, progressive rose color lenses.  Which is why it's shocking that things may be as complex anywhere else in the world as we should admit they really are here.  But that's for another post.  For now, I'm shocked that he's so disappointed if he knows enough about the history of the Russian Orthodox Church to think he should be disappointed.

Therefore, during this time I'll keep trying to focus on the prayers for peace, and those who are clearly trying to find ways to mitigate the suffering and seek paths toward realistic ends to the conflict.  I will ignore those who talk like experts when their talking makes it clear they're anything but experts.

Always a good sign

Russia and Ukraine have sat down for talks while the fighting it ongoing.  

This doesn't mean it's all peace and love today.  But it's a good sign.  If you know nothing about Russia and can't find Ukraine on the map, you can see this has not gone as Russia could ever have hoped.  Like Russia reportedly did after the election of Reagan in 1980, Putin and his cohorts likely saw in Ukraine's Zelensky a half-baked actor who wouldn't know what to do with a little push.  Like Reagan in 1980, they were wrong. 

None of this is to say it's easy to parse the complexities of this situation.  There is blame aplenty, and there are greater issues right now behind all this than Russian tanks in Ukraine.  But right now, things have clearly gone sour for Putin's plans.  While I can't speak to his sanity or mental balance, I can say that anything bringing this to a quick conclusion will be better for everyone.  That is as long as we learn the biggest lesson from this, and it's stop basing our policy on silly progressive modernity narratives.  And for heaven's sake, stop worrying more about pregnant men with nail polish in the military than the actual events and purposes of the real world in these troubled times. 

Pray for Ukraine and those who would exploit its sufferings

I've come to believe that the only thing worse than a true perpetrator of evil is the one who shamelessly exploits the evil for her own good.  Hence my war against the modern media and its almost Pavlovian tendency to not cover or care about true suffering and misery and death unless it can be shoved into the press's pet agenda templates.

The same goes here.  This is actually a war, call it what we will.  Putin has thrown the dice and we'll see what happens.  Whether he succeeds - increasingly unlikely - or doesn't, many innocent people will have to die before we know.  Hence the reason why war should always be dead last in the options category.  That goes for sane people, much less followers of Christ. 

So today and this week, heading into Lent, we should bend our prayers and our thoughts to the Ukraine.  Pray for peace.  Pray that something will stop the madness.  Pray for those trying to stop it, including our president and leaders, NATO, Pope Francis, or what have you.  

Don't be quick to condemn, for this isn't an easy Group A versus Group B.  This is a long time coming, and contrary to our media's slick 'you versus them' narratives, those who are supporting Putin are not simply Hitler worshipers worshipping the first thing they can find.  That doesn't mean they're right.  Nor does it mean we can't call them out.  But logs and splinters as they say. 

Because in our neck of the woods, there are clearly those who appear to see this as just another weapon in their own partisan arsenals.  Far more important than peace or the protection of the innocent is making sure my side gets off the blame hook, and your side is Satan.  If it was confined to a few Catholic bloggers, it wouldn't be more than a shame.  Unfortunately, not a few prominent individuals and institutions seem just as concerned about covering their own side's tails or biting the other side's tails. 

This isn't to say we can't try to get our heads around what happened.  Legitimate questions deserve legitimate answers.  Likewise, credit and blame where due.  I, for one, don't wish to engage in a war in Europe - not with three combat aged sons (who alone can be drafted, feminism hedging inequality when needed).  And I've been pleasantly surprised with President Biden's resolve in this.  I think Putin confused Obama's tomfoolery and ineptitude with Biden who, for all he's bathed in the ludicrous left, was still born out of a different mold. 

So right now, keep it all in our prayers.  Pray for peace.  Pray that the Lord can intervene and soften hearts and convert minds.  Pray that Putin be changed and softened by the Holy Spirit.  Pray for those who see in this only an opportunity to score points for their own particular agendas.  And pray for those standing up to the aggression and courageously risking their own lives to protect the innocent, their home, and stop this war before it becomes far, far worse. 

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God Matthew 5:9

Peace, Urkaine and America

I'm no expert when it comes to Eastern European political and historical wrangling.  In those years I sojourned with the Orthodox Christians - many from Eastern and Southeastern Europe - I realized just how deficient our modern American understanding of the world has become. I get the impression Americans in the 1910s had a better grasp of the world than we do today.  

The divisions in our country are a big reason.  Among many pundits, this is all about attacking each other.  To he honest, I don't even know what different pundits want to happen.  All I know is that they're attacking the other ones because of course they are.

As best I can tell, non-leftists and conservatives are split into two groups.  One says we must stand up to Putin, and the other says we have no business getting involved in yet another foreign conflict. The left seems content with attacking group number two as traitors and Tokyo Roses for Putin and Satan and Hitler and everything else.  Whether the Left recognizes group number one is unknown to me. 

Meanwhile, I have watched the Biden administration fail repeatedly to stop Putin from doing what Putin clearly intended to do. Those on the Left seem more focused on defending Biden by ignoring the obvious than they are actually helping anything.  In fact, most who blast those conservatives for not wanting to get involved in Ukraine appear to  offer no clear examples of what we should do while making sure blame falls anywhere but with Biden (or Mr. 'Cold War is Calling' Obama). 

So zealous have they been in attacking those who don't want to get involved, in fact, they come off as fanatical warmongers of the type they've long accused conservatives of being.  To hear some of them scream traitor at those who don't want to get involved in a potential land war in Europe, they come across as jockeys for war in a way that would shame the Marx Brothers:

True, they're not committing to any particular course of action, and seem more concerned about scoring points against conservatives than articulating any clear solutions to the crisis.  Therefore they could always insist they don't mean war while meaning nothing else at all.  That's what comes from a divided and dying nation like ours I suppose.

True across the board

Rod Dreher has been following these developments.  His extensive interactions with those east of the Danube have likely given him insights that seem to help frame things realistically.   Based on what I experienced in my few paltry years with Orthodox Christianity listening to immigrants from Eastern Europe, it's also closer to what I heard than the fictional narrative hoisted on us by many of our warring pundits.  He's also honest about the hot mess the West and America is in - something those on the Left wouldn't understand since they fully support the things that are killing the West.

I abhor what Russia has done today. But this did not come from nowhere. Now Europe faces the prospect of a wider war — unlikely, but not at all unthinkable, which explains the anxiety so many Hungarians I meet have — and the opening of a new Cold War with Russia … and China. The historical period that ended last night, when Russian troops crossed the border, began with the US hoping to integrate China and Russia into a liberal democratic world order. It ended with wealthy China the world’s ascendant power; Russia — an historically Christian nation — having abandoned liberal democracy after the shambles that corrupt Russians and US advisors made of the 1990s, pivoting away from the West, and now firmly in the orbit of China; and the United States, a declining empire weakened and humiliated by twenty years of failed Mideast and Asian war, and sharply divided at home by the culture war American elites have waged on half of their own people, left to figure out what the hell to do with itself and its inheritance.

In all of this, one wonders where China, and even India, will fall.  Also the Middle East.  So far in news reports I've seen, those condemning Putin are either European or African reps to the UN.  I've seen very few allusions to ambassadors from the Middle East or China.  Perhaps I just missed it.  But I can't help but think it's where those cultures and nations fall, rather than the dying West, that will make a difference.  For good or ill. 

Nonetheless, I don't see the rulers of the world beating a path to my door and seeking my insights into the problem.  For now, I can do the one thing I can do, and that's pray for peace.  What happens in the weeks and months to come is the guess of others with more insight than I have. So on behalf of my sons, and the wider world, I'll offer prayers that things can be stopped before death and suffering become the norm. 

I'm shocked

According to this story, one of the accused associates of Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in his prison cell from suicide.   May God have mercy on his soul. 

I'm still wondering why the only person I've seen the press really go after in the whole Epstein drama is Prince Andrew.  They've been all over him like a bad suit.   But he's been it.  I've seen nothing else about any of Mr. Epstein's other big name pals and buddies and associates.  I hadn't heard of this fellow until now.  

Why do I get the feeling that if most of his associates were big name conservatives and Republicans and MAGA types, we would be hearing more.  Maybe I'm being judgmental, but it's the hunch I have.