Stop Pulling the Wagon

JUST TO BE CLEAR.  

I WILL SPELL THIS OUT IN BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS.  

I DO NOT WANT TO BE TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT OR MISREAD.  

I BELIEVE THAT SLAVERY HAS ALWAYS BEEN WRONG, IS WRONG AND WILL ALWAYS BE WRONG.  

HUMANS WERE NOT MEANT BY THEIR CREATOR TO LIVE IN SLAVERY.  

I ALSO BELIEVE THAT RACISM IN ALL ITS FORMS IS NOT ONLY WRONG BUT IS STUPID AND THOSE WHO PRACTICE IT CHEAT THEMSELVES OUT OF THE RICHNESS OF OUR COLLECTIVE DIVERSITY.  

PERIOD!

Having said the above I am witnessing in our media and on our streets a form of mass hysteria and hate.  It scares me in the sense that I can see it ripping our society apart. I hear and read about “non-negotiable” demands to erase and tear down any relics of real or imagined links to slavery in our nation.  

It seems that anyone with any cultural, racial or historical ties to slavery by any association or relationship in any way, is marked for removal from the annals of  our nations heritage.

The other day it was announced that ESPN removed a Sportscaster from the commentary at a Sporting event because the man, who had an Asian background, shared the same name as a Confederate General.

Let me share something with you.  I have a 60+ year fascination with history.  

But, don’t take my word for it, study for yourself.  When you study you will find that, take a deep breath, slavery in various forms was practiced by: The Carthaginians, the Romans, The Greeks, The Persians (Iranians), The Babylonians, The Chinese, The Mongols, The Huns (Europeans), England, The Vikings, The Russians, Southern Asian Peoples (including India), Egyptians, Middle Eastern and North African Islamic States, Native Americans (North, Central and South America), The People, Tribes and Nations of Central and South Africa.  Also, many Island Nations including Japan. And, I have probably missed naming a few.

Also keep in mind that the horror of slavery is still practiced in parts of the world.

I could be wrong but the only Continent that I am aware of that has no history of slavery in some part or way is Antarctica.  So, if you can firmly establish that all of your ancestors were Native Antarcticans you are stain free. Otherwise, join the rest of us in the cesspool.  

Virtually all of us have a skeleton or two in our closet if we want to dig a little and drag them out.  

If it is decided to eradicate all statues, memorials, hospitals, schools, parks, highways, malls, airports, landmarks etc. etc. etc. with the names of anybody who has any ties in history to slavery, racism, a now despised group or family heirloom associated with such, you are going to be very busy.

Just one example:  Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Besides being a Senator, he was a former Grand Wizard in the Ku Klux Klan.  I have heard an estimate, probably exaggerated, that perhaps half the airports, schools, hospitals, parks, highways etc. in the State of West Virginia are named after him.  You are going to need a lot of shovels, backhoes, “whitewash” and other equipment to eradicate his name and memory from the state.

But not to pick on just the Senator.  Many, most or all of our great leaders, as well as us common folk, have historical skeletons we would probably just as soon not know about. 

Slavery was abolished in the United States more than 150 years ago.  

The stain of racism is still with us and is practiced by people of all colors.  It will be with us until we all learn to love one another, forgive one another and be enriched by one another.  You cannot erase it by law, edict, marching in the streets or hating one another.  Unfortunately, the latter is what I see being practiced in the media and on the streets.  Pity.

Bob Bandy

It is very clear to me that I am a slow learner.

What is the old saying?  One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.

For 50+ years I have faithfully participated in our system of government.  Working, paying taxes and voting for the person whom I honestly felt best qualified for whatever position needed to be filled.

In the process I have unwittingly contributed to help create a system filled with what I like to call “Clowns, Criminals and Lunatics” in charge of a poorly organized, mostly criminal enterprise that robs its own citizens while rewarding corruption and theft.

Not to say that all members of Congress fit this description but the 2 or 3 percent who do not fit the description are totally outgunned by the 97 or 98 percent who do.

They have littered our history with the rot and debris of failed government “programs” and left us with an ever growing percentage of  our citizenry enslaved and addicted to a government funded by runaway debt.  At this writing some 20 Trillion Dollars worth and growing.

What I observe is self serving politicians working for their own re-election goals and not the needs of their constituents.  Corruption and greed on a massive scale.  Political correctness twisted to serve political agendas.

Once Government declared War on Poverty.  Poverty won.

I no longer expect anything out of government but lies, corruption, failed programs and debt.  After 50 years why should I expect anything else?  Lie to me once – shame on you.  Lie to me a thousand times – shame on me.  To borrow from one of my earlier writings:  “Expecting something good to come out of Washington is like fishing for your dinner in a septic tank”.

Some of these programs were well intentioned but misguided and horribly mismanaged.  Instead of helping the needy  to grow into confident self sufficient individuals, they created addicts to the slavery of dependency on the drug of a cancerous charity that steals their freedom and dignity.

One of life’s great truths: Forced charity breeds resentment. If you take by force the fruits of those who worked for them to enrich those who will not work for themselves, you create enmity and bitterness on both the unwilling giver and the ungrateful receiver.

Recently I heard a commentator say that it is not worthwhile to read or listen to the “Drive By” “Mainstream Media”.  Most of which have become nothing more than a public forum of “Innuendo”, “lies from anonymous sources”, “Talking Points”, “Propaganda” and other agenda driven non-news.  At first I was inclined to reject his advice but on further thought it finally registered with me that he was right. All reading and listening to this “drivel” accomplishes is to make me mad and insult my intelligence.

Soooooo…….

I have determined to accept the fact that our government is, with or without my participation, firmly on the path to economic destruction and cultural ruin and I want to minimize my part in this endeavor to an absolute legal minimum.

I will, to the best of my ability, violate no laws but I sure “ain’t” going to help them either.

I will focus my own efforts to helping those I care about find a way to survive the chaos and destruction that is sure to come.  “A house divided”.

At some point the “Government” is going to find their “wagon” abandoned with no one left to pull it.

Bob Bandy

True story but I wrote this just for fun.

In the early and mid 1960’s the Army was not politically correct.  The Army used what can best be described as a  “destroy the old you and make you into the new Army you” method in Basic and Advanced Training.  At least that was their plan.

During “Basic Training” I learned to survive the Army’s version, at that time, of Hell.  I am told that in the modern incarnation it has become more genteel.  In those days it meant little sleep, being treated like a convict on Devils Island, long marches, verbal abuse, almost inedible food, etc.

After “Basic Training” you graduated to “Advanced Training”.  In my case I was sent to be trained on “Indirect Fire” weapons.  Mortar Gunnery School.  Unlike Rifles or Artillery, which are, at least in theory, “Direct Fire” weapons, the Mortar is fired high into the sky and, done properly, comes raining down out of the sky on your enemy like “Fire and Brimstone” on Sodom and Gomorra.

I also learned that the Mortar is a useful fishing accessory but that’s another story.

In addition to learning how to kill your enemy without ever seeing them, I think the most valuable thing I learned in Advanced Training was the magic of the clipboard.  It was a ticket to freedom on many days.

Walk around with a clipboard containing several pages of paperwork and others assumed you were working on a task of some kind. That clipboard would make those NCO’s and Officers who  had the power of making your life miserable more likely target those whose hands were empty for such enterprises as moving a pile of rocks from one side of the Parade Ground to the other on a day when it was 102 degrees in the non-existent shade.

By the time I made Sergeant I had turned the use of the clipboard into an art form.  It very often bought me many hours of leisure in place of undesired labor at menial tasks.

Want to have some fun?

In civilian life I observed that many public “servants” and private workers who serve the public, do not like note takers as they fear what might come back to haunt them from carefully documented note pages.

So, I substitute a notebook for my army clipboard.

I like to take a notebook with me when needing to visit the offices of sometimes surly City, County, State or Federal employees.  It also is helpful in commercial public enterprises.

For example, you might want to try this:

In a public office or private enterprise, enter and walk up to the counter. After making sure you are being observed,  take out and open your notebook and, looking at your watch or the clock on the wall, make note of the date and time. Then, with a friendly smile say “Good Morning” and ask the clerk for their name or copy it carefully from their name badge into your notebook.   If they ask you what you are doing,  just smile and say that your memory is not so good and you need notes to remind you of the purpose of your visit and what you accomplished during your time there.  Make  some notes to yourself in the notebook during the visit. At all times, and despite any aggravation, remain, pleasant and courteous. It works even better if you have a silent friend with you who just listens and smiles.

You might be amazed at the polite, helpful, even courteous service this usually leads to.

A little planning ahead and a clipboard, notebook or other prop can greatly enrich your life.

I have many fun examples I could share from my experiences but enough for now.

Bob Bandy

I received the following in my personal email from a friend.  It was sent to me without attribution but I was so impressed by it that I researched it and found that the article is credited as having originally been written by a person named Chris Sperry.  Coach John Scolinos (1918-2009) was a real coach.

I am reprinting it here because it is important and says something really important that I could not begin to say as well.  Enjoy and be enriched by the truth that it gives.  Bob Bandy

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Once upon a time there was a war.  

Not the traditional type of war involving uniformed armies using real guns and bullets to shoot at each other.  

This war was about values, family, honor, morality, self discipline and culture.

On one side  were those who believed in tradition and the practice of proven rules, values, principles and self discipline handed down from generation to generation.

On the other side were the “Secular Humanists”.   Those who believed that “anything goes”. No self discipline or personal responsibility was required and consequences were not important as long as they only applied to others who were required to pay the bill.

If you were a member of the first group you were made fun of, mocked and marginalized by members of the second group whose goal was shutting you up and getting you to comply with and accept the agenda of the Secular Humanists.

To a very large extent the Secular Humanists, aka “Progressives” owned the education system, the news media, entertainment industry, courts and justice system.  

“Political Correctness”  was metastasized to the extent that the First Amendment was compromised.  A mob could march down the street shouting “Pigs in a blanket – Fry them like bacon” or “What do we want – dead cops – when do we want it – now” and that was considered protected free speech.   But, if someone questioned  the “official”  position on such things as “Man Made Global Climate Change” and other popular political agenda issues, such as even late term abortion, it was considered “hate” speech.  Such an individual was made the subject of public ridicule and in some venues even subject to legal and civil penalties.

The weapons of the Secular Humanists were varied.  From half truths (lipstick on a lie) to junk science to propaganda and intimidation.  Their desired ends justified their using any means to accomplish their political and social agenda.

I ended up not as a “Stranger In A Strange Land*” but as a “Stranger In My Own Land”. Or, to paraphrase the title of this little essay:  “An Exile In The Land Of My Birth”. 

My only comfort lay in the knowledge that ultimately I would not be a citizen in this fractured land.  

“This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through………” (Albert E. Brumley – copyright 1965)

Bob Bandy

* Stranger In A Strange Land – A Novel by Robert A Heinlein