A response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

I’ve said “Hello Kelly” about 400 times during the past 8 years, if my counting is correct. My debate with Kelly Scoles has kept me on my toes. Kelly is a worthy opponent and representative of the Democratic liberal left, while I’ve tried to represent the conservative side. Out of curiosity awhile back I determined that I have written more than a million words since Realilties was launched in 1989 with a Macintosh Plus. Though Realities began about two years earlier in Idaho, it finally landed in Fillmore, 30 miles from my birthplace.

In this week’s letter to the editor Kelly announced that, due to other obligations, she will only occasionally write her weekly letter. Like millions of others, the recent election has also left its imprint. I hope Kelly does not abandon her weekly messages altogether for I have greatly enjoyed our civil and open discourse; it has refreshed me as well over the years. It’s hard to believe our discussion has lasted 8 years! My hope is, even at a less frequent pace, our debate will continue. I am grateful as well that Kelly’s strong words “signaled her commitment to the First Amendment.” We know what this free exchange of opinion would cause in Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea. God bless and sustain our Constitution!
Kelly, I quickly recognize the hot points of your letter; the impression is familiar. I must admit that I’m somewhat worn out with my redundant defense. You are a classic liberal and I, an old-fashioned conservative. The crux of our disagreement lies in mystical understanding, in understanding or misunderstanding eternal things – in short, a belief or disbelief in God and his eternal plan. The decision to believe or not changes the entire playing field, all values and expectations. For example, what atheists believe to be extraterrestrial sentient beings, Christians believe to be demons.

While billions of people scoff at the idea of demons and the supernatural, those same people uncritically accept the idea of UFOs and extraterrestrial beings. The world has never existed without a belief in demons (evil) supernatural beings. But UFOS, et. al. have only been popularly accepted since H. G. Wells’ science fiction. For Judeo-Christians the truth is found only in Genesiss I:I, 26 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…Then God said, ‘let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” Another argument makes sense here, Pascal’s famous wager. (Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer. God’s existence: “One should assume He exists. If God does not exist and one does not believe in him, nothing is gained. On the other hand, if God does exist and one does not believe in Him, everything is lost; if God does exist and one does believe in Him, everything is gained.”

Please remember I’m just offering my opinion in exchange for yours. Ultimately everything is simple for me; there is good and bad, eternal things and temporal, earthly things. Human creations are unique because they have unique eternal souls. In my opinion all the issues we have discussed here in the past 8 years have a moral basis and can be resolved by the application of Judeo-Christian criteria, i.e. abortion is intrinsically evil, and transgenderism is irrational.

The critical issue is the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God. Without acknowledging this fact there are no answers, just sound and fury signifying nothing. Our ultimate success or failure in this life depends on faith, whether as urged by Pascal or upon sacred scripture which underlies that bet.

We have argued endlessly about facts, which should stand independently. You describe the election as “tsunami of political retrogression.” It seems to me that the election of Donald Trump has set us free of political retrogression, like open borders, the surge in crime, and a host of other Woke idiocies.

But my worries have not abated because we are heading into global war. Most of Trump’s Cabinet appointments are excellent while others bother me. It’s a huge mistake to leave Mike Pompeo out of the mix, while strong as Pete Hegseth is he lacks the depth of experience of Pompeo for Defense Secretary. Big mistake. As for protecting women, every normal man has in his DNA the protection of women, a naturally good thing insufficiently exercised.

My greatest concern – a deadly abandonment of Ukraine which will inevitably doom Europe, then the world, to war of unprecedented destruction. The stench of Free World weakness is in the nostrils of the wolfish, Jihadist-Communist enemy.
But I agree, “The people have made their choice.”

Former senior Dept. of Nuclear Energy official Sam Brinton. Photo By U.S. Department of Energy - U.S. Department of Energy, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=126070318.

Thank You Almighty God for granting electoral victory to Donald Trump, now President-Elect of these United States of America!

Note: Most of this column was drafted before Trump’s historic election win last night. No time to revise, only time for last minute extension. What an incredible election scenario!

I watched several hours of FOX coverage on Election Day. Relieved to see Trump’s progress towards his likely second inauguration as next President of the United Sates. The reporting went calmly on several channels, without expressions of fear, anger, or anxiety. No boasting by Republicans, just warm expressions of growing satisfaction with probable victory, though a few tortured “paths” to victory remained for Kamala when I had to get to work. Harris was even praised for her pre-election efforts. Only a single incident reported of dreaded tabulating machine breakdowns required a recount of 30,000 ballots due to a machine lock issue. So far, there are no serious allegations of fraud, due to heavy surveillance. The new marvel of electronic engineering FOX used for the first time to show voting progression was a little too quick and sophisticated for me, but fascinating. The entire TV production was the smoothest I’ve ever viewed.
Let’s hope this election and the transition remain peaceful and the beginning of civic healing, because the nation’s defense is about to be gravely tested.

Republicans have won the Senate, and possibly the House of Representatives as well. If this proves true, progress towards repairing the lethal economic damage four years of Democratic leadership have caused could be quick. For example, refilling the nation’s emergency oil reserves which Biden drained could be done using our own famous sweet crude. Those 90-some presidential executive orders, like the one shutting down the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline on his first day in office, could be rescinded, just like Biden rescinded Trump’s orders.

Of all the Biden domestic damage done during the past four years none compares to the breaching of our southern border which is giving away American sovereignty to some 20 million criminal trespassers, drug runners, thieves, killers, rapists, terrorists, and their progeny. This is a particularly indelible wound, demanding that we house, feed, and employ, these 20 million, while providing free education and health care. Each child born to these illegal immigrants becomes a citizen: “The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution defines a citizen as anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to its jurisdiction.” We have for decades admitted at least one million legal immigrants yearly after proper vetting. We know nothing about these new Biden globetrotting trespassers except by their illegal activities.

Until this outrageous attack upon our sovereignty is fixed (if possible), except for special circumstances, all immigration should be postponed and the 14th Amendment itself amended. Then perhaps we can find where those 300,000 kidnapped children are being enslaved as drug cartel sex workers. Biden’s open border policy caused this infamy; let’s stop it! A massive, coordinated effort is now required to remedy these disastrous Biden policies, and Trump will have only four years to complete the work. Any progress here demands a deep cleaning of the federal government. With Republican tenure in the Senate at least Democrats will be unable to stop new Trump Supreme Court nominees, cabinet members, or halt the removal of Justice Department Lawfare practitioners.

The Democrat Temple to the Unnatural, and all self-identified clowns, freaks, and suitcase thieves of ladies’ underwear (former senior Dept. of Nuclear Energy official Sam Brinton) can now be swept away and replaced by normal people hired into government service once again.

Insane policies like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and men competing in women’s sports can be permanently benched. All security clearance can be removed from disloyal past, present and retired military and civilian officials. And, finally, we can begin to enjoy a new birth of Judeo-Christian NORMALCY!!

I mentioned earlier that I am on the horns of a dilemma facing this election. I must vote for Trump because the nation faces an imminent threat of global war. Despite the unprecedented hatred expressed by Democratic Party Never-Trump berserkers, Donald Trump can govern and command during any such catastrophe. Kamila Harris cannot. She’s a low intelligence political emoji with one hand clapping, incapable of commanding a girl scout troop to make a playground right turn maneuver. She is a professional politician whose political ascendence is both mysterious and troubling. Try and recall any significant, positive achievement in her public life.

The life-and-death dangers we now face with Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea makes my escape from dilemma much easier. With Trump as Commander-in-Chief our country is safe. The nightmare of a Kamala presidency makes me wonder what we would do if the North Korean (7-million-man Army) was directed by Russia or China to enter the U.S from the Atlantic. Then of course there are those millions of head-hunting Muslim Jihadists seeking submission of the Great Satan.

If Putin is confident enough to sign-up 10,000 North Korean soldiers, outfit and train them, and send them 7,000 miles from Pyongyang, North Korea to Moscow to fight in Ukraine, we are drifting quickly into WWIII. Should we be surprised as well if America was similarly attacked from our Northwest, as some predict? If we don’t stop Putin’s new Russian-North Korean onslaught now Ukraine will lose the war in 2025, forcing millions more homeless Ukrainians into Europe, further destabilizing an already immigrant-saturated, Jihadist-afflicted territory. With the mass of Muslim Jihadists already destabilizing Europe, Putin will not hesitate to gamble for leftovers. Russia is losing 1000 soldiers PER DAY, for months: 600,000 since invading Ukraine.

The only policy (and I mean the ONLY Democratic policy) I agree with is defeating Russia in Ukraine. Help for Ukraine has been far too slow, even halted for months. Most critically, the U.S. refuses to provide most needed weapons – long range missiles to reach targets well into Russia--while Russia has free rein. It’s a crazy, cowardly policy which facilitates massive destruction and death in Ukraine.

The Biden-Harris command of “Don’t” will do nothing to stop Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran from having their way. We are a long way from that old China “ping pong diplomacy” once thought to entice Communist China to the Western Capitalist system. The West has never understood the intrinsic evil of communism; it cannot, it will not change by itself.
But I digress.

Though I voted for Trump, I’m angered and disgusted by wild, anti-Ukrainian statements coming from the Trump team, so much so that I would switch my vote if a pro-Ukrainian conservative were running against him. But a Kamala win would be the end of America. Among her negatives is the fact that she is a witless member of similarly driven, witless power-hungry Democrats. There’s a special word for this group, it’s “kakistocracy”; it means “A government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens.” That is exactly what the Biden-Harris people have given us these past four years, a disastrous, self-defeating kakistocracy.

We may be able to change this mistaken Ukrainian policy after a Trump win. For now, let’s vote to save the nation.

I was surprised to learn of the departure of our City Manager Dave Rowlands this week. He has guided the City of Fillmore flawlessly for 11 years and I am sorry to see him go, though glad to hear he has accepted even more responsibility as the new Manager for the City of Santa Maria.

Dave came into Fillmore at a time when city politics was wrecking the community, when meetings were acrimonious and attitudes combative, the worst time in the 35-years I’ve experienced. He led with a steady and understanding hand which transformed city hall and maximized civic cooperation.

Thanks, Dave, for your great work. The best of luck in your new position; we will miss your influence.

****

I remember how the liberal press hated Richard Nixon with an implacable intensity. This was during the 1970s Watergate scandal, after Nixon had defeated George McGovern in
1972 in one of the largest landslide victories in American history (60.7% of the popular vote, carrying 49 states.) He was forced to resign shortly thereafter.

The hatred of Donald Trump during the past 10 years, manifested in widespread, unconstitutional Lawfare attacks (impeachments, arrests, calumnies, phony investigations, FBI attacks, attempted assassinations, etc.) are today magnitudes greater than those against Nixon.

Trump has endured those slings and arrows. You might say, despite his social flaws, he’s as tough as shoe leather, which his enemies have learned to fear and respect. He keeps his word. These are excellent characteristics for an American president today as we face globalist terrorists and satanic totalitarians plotting to destroy our democratic society. These traits will serve our country well as Trump faces down Russia’s Putin, China’s ‎Xi Jinping, Iran’s Ali Khamenei, and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Mere requests like Biden’s “don’t” are laughed at, as are giggles and presidents in pantsuits pretending to be tough. We know for sure that Khamenei would just shout “Get thee into a burkea”. Our enemies do not engage in vocal fantasies. Study deeply the details of the Hamas attack, which Hamas plotted for more than a year to murder 1,700 innocent Israelis, especially women, at a music festival. Yes, I know, feminists are outraged and insulted by such statements. But 1,400-years of bloody Islamic Jihad and the 7 October 2023 Hamas surprise attack on Israel tells the truth about our Jihadist enemy. A female non-believer president should expect to receive that historical contempt due a typical “kafir”, with or without the giggle. Kamala orders to “just don’t” would be heard as a weak, contemptable challenge.

****

A brief response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

Hi Kelly,

I am again discombobulated due to appointments. Sorry.

I cannot always excuse the occasional verbal antics of Donald Trump. I’m tired of them and think they’re sometimes highly inappropriate. At times they make me angry and I have to say “Why in hell did you say that?!” But, I know of very few successful angelic national leaders. Most of the generals of his time hated General Patton because he was the richest officer in WWII, kept a stable of polo ponies, cussed like a drunken private soldier, and had an ugly, ill-tempered dog. But he had the soul of a combat general, like my favorite Biblical General, David, with his own flaws. I can’t see him ever surrendering Afghanistan or welcoming homosexuality into his army. So, I will vote for Donald Trump despite his social defects and occasional outrageous comments. I know several now-retired generals who damn him for alleged statements. However, as Lincoln responded to critics of General Grant (he drinks too much), “When someone charged Gen. Grant, in the President’s hearing, with drinking too much liquor, Mr. Lincoln, recalling Gen. Grant’s successes, said that if he could find out what brand of whisky Grant drank, he would send a barrel of it to all the other commanders.” “That man fights!”
As for Harris, her leadership ability can be easily seen in the 90 percent of her ladies-in-waiting who have quit that otherwise highly desirable job; they couldn’t stand working for her. She is famous for alienating associates, assistants – and for being lazy and usually unprepared. She also has zero military experience to recommend her to become Commander in Chief of our military forces. I can’t see Trump facilitating the installation of tampon machines in men’s bathrooms – I leave that to Kamala and her Elmer Fudd vice president wannabe.

I want to note the closing of Patterson Hardware after 105 years of service to the people of Fillmore. Harvey Patterson and wife Emma always provided the kind of personal service rarely seen today. Throughout the 34-years of the Fillmore Gazette’s existence Harvey always supported the Gazette, and I believe he was the first local company to advertise in the paper; certainly, Harvey supported us continuously during those years. A final word of thanks to the entire Patterson family for a job well done.

I’m way over time and space due to appointments. I apologize to Kelly, being unable to respond this week. I do recommend Jonathan Turley’s new book The Indispensable Right, Free Speech in an Age of Rage.

****

A word about the war. It may sound strange to mention “the war” because very little information is provided as one should expect of imminent global war. We do hear bits and pieces about the wars in Ukraine and Israel, but not with the urgency or fullness needed to secure our military readiness. We are unprepared. We are at the September 1938 Neville Chamberlain stage of pre-conflagration when he sought to appease Nazi Germany by signing the Munich Agreement with Hitler. It’s not hard to understand why Chamberlain, British Prime Minister at the time, would seek peace with Nazi Germany after having lost 880,000 British forces, 6% of the adult male population and 12.5% of those serving, in World War 1 – (only 20 years, 9 months, 21 days later). Appeasement was supposed to bring "Peace with Honour - Peace for Our Time" according to Chamberlain’s speech after Munich.

But weakness, as always, brought six years of WWII from 1939-1945, and the ascendency of the Communist Soviet Union and Communist China – with whom we are about to deal again, in WWIII. The big difference today is our foolish reluctance to prepare our industries for this war. The Democrat Party has seriously acerbated this weakness with novel Woke mandates such as President Biden’s 2021 Executive Order 14035, promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce (DEIA). This is a clarion call for incompetency, eagerly answered by flocks of faint-hearted applicants. Biden generals such as Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation's highest-ranking military officer, are ardent supporters of DEIA even though it has decimated recruitment, depleted the ranks, and caused massive disillusionment throughout our defense system. General incompetency brings to mind Mark Milley and his great adventure in the Afghanistan surrender to the Taliban, and China calls. Where are our Grants, Shermans, and Sheridans? Lastly, how can any reasonable person explain this? “Mystery Drones Swarmed a U.S. Military Base for 17 Days. The Pentagon is Stumped.” “U.S officials don’t know who is behind the drones that have flown unhindered over sensitive national-security sites - or how to stop them.” Didn’t this sort of thing happen with giant Chinese balloons a while ago? With laws like this: “Federal law prohibits the military from shooting down drones near military bases in the U.S. unless they pose an imminent threat.”
This is a problem no other country in the world would have trouble solving. The answer is clear and obvious – shoot the damn things down, determine ownership, and prosecute, militarily or publicly. I’ve given up trying to put the pieces of this damnable Woke political puzzle together for the purpose of understanding the decline of the Republic. 20 million illegals crossing our border is proof of its closure? Demanding an ID at the voting booth is racist? The product of abortion is not a human male or female with a unique eternal soul? A human is capable of changing their sex? There is no eternity? There is no God? Government should provide pornography for our children? Go figure. I’ve tried and failed.

****

The truth or falsity of those Marion Apparitions I’ve spoken about perhaps too often is about to present itself, beginning this month. Events will speak for themselves. Watch North Korea.

A response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

Hi Kelly,

As the election looms darkly in front of us, political commentary of every sort condenses into sulfuric stuff. Emotion replaces logic and lies escape detection in the process of phony fact-checking. The American market is busy selling its soul to foreign power gods for short term gains, earned from 200 years of blood, sweat, tears and innovation. What remains of the Woke-Democrat fire sale of American citizenship is squandered on millions of coddled illegals, who produce millions more terrorists, drug dealers, rapists and fraudulent voters, while consuming our welfare. We reject absolute Truth – “Do not cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” In our brave new world, we manage to slop the hogs with the family jewels.

All this governmental perversity produces deep seated confusion, which the poet Keates saw as the falcon unable to hear the falconer, as “things fall apart”. Anyone looking at America today with clear eyes can see an historical rejection of traditional, foundational (Constitutional) Judeo-Christian values. The country today may show Franklin that we are no longer able to keep that Republic he helped found at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

So, Kelly, when I read your laundry list of anti-Trump allegations, complaints, exaggerations, and untruths, they inspire memories of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell novels, 1984 and Brave New World, respectively, each a reflection of the world today. For example, Orwell has his World State Motto: “COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY”, while the Democrat Party has its “Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)”, each seeking perfection in an imperfect world. I find it ironic that these goals are as old as Thomas More’s “Utopia” (meaning nowhere) and a favorite quote of Wm. F. Buckley’s “Don’t immanentize the eschaton” (don’t ignore the good seeking the perfect. My interpretation – often humorous reminder among Republicans in the 1960s).

I’ll just list a few of your more glaring historical infractions pertaining to Trump. Statements: “Constitution is optional” absurd if taken literally. “Fomenter of violent Capitol insurrection.” Despite media propaganda, this was exactly a 4-hour quasi riot, no fire, no (civilian) guns, no (civilian) shootings, no knives, and with Capitol Police escorting most of the crowd into the building. Outrageous Democrat propaganda called the Capitol incident an “insurrection” for years – finally truthfully re-labeling it a riot. At the same time Democrats say nothing about the 2020 true insurrections where “hundreds of [George Floyd] riots took place in the second half of 2020 left immense property damage, assessed at up to $2 billion, and at least 25 people dead.” Liberal sources never describe the Floyd riots as “insurrections”.

Also, “Trump adjudicated rapist” – “The verdict was split: jurors rejected Carroll’s claim that she was raped.”
Also: “Trump wants to legislate nationalized “Old Testament Christianity.” Ridiculous claim. Trump simply acknowledges Judeo-Christian foundation of the Declaration, Constitution, even Black’s Commentaries. The First Amendment protects and honors religious liberties, and Founders saw them as indispensable.

These defamatory statements about Trump allegedly “disparaging military wounded and dead” deserve treble damages if civil justice were available. Not worth refuting again.

As for Trump being “authoritarian”? Another absurd allegation. You just don’t recognize strength because you are more comfortable with the weakness of the Democrat Party.

If you want an honest look at Kamala’s leadership abilities just pay attention to her abject failures in the current hurricane disasters – no FEMA or military help when most needed. The next hurricane, MILTON, landing tonight (Wednesday) will be even worse! Pray for the hurricane victims, mostly because they receive no help from the Biden-Harris presidential pretenders.

This is a preview of coming war attractions which will also be upon us very soon.

As I begin this column, war has begun between Israel and Iran with Iran having launched hundreds of missiles directly into Israel. No Israeli deaths have been reported; one Palestinian death was due to falling debris.

It’s safe to say that WWIII is today in its hideous infancy, maturing fast. This, because the Muslim jihadist world desires war as it has for 1,400 years, preferably wide-spread and nuclear today. To rational minds this makes no sense, because all civilized nations understand the indiscriminate annihilation which will inevitably follow. However, conversion to the Muslim faith is the ultimate goal of Islam, by the subjugation of all nonbelievers, even if by force. Judeo-Christian faiths are found to be particularly offensive to Islam. This is why a two-state “solution” in Israel is impossible. This is why violence prevails in every Western Judeo-Christian nation which has welcomed Islam. Jihadist attacks in furtherance of religious subjugation is central to Islam, it’s what they do, now endemic throughout Europe, especially in France, Germany, England, and Italy. France suffers 1,000 violent Jihadist attacks per day. Many experts agree all of Europe will soon be entrapped by bloody Jihadist revolutions. Most of this chaos is orchestrated by Iran, with Russia bludgeoning its way in Ukraine, and China itching to flex its muscle in the Pacific. The “Hermit Kingdom” of North Korea is a me-too villain with nuclear weapons as well. We might be surprised to learn that North Korea has 81 submarines – including one diesel-electric ballistic missile submarine.

I no longer doubt that Russia will use nuclear weapons as it becomes more desperate to win its European war – especially since Putin’s military blunders have caused him to lose face with his cohorts. All these atheist troglodytes will overreach, and the world will pay the price. They will combine their treachery thinking that coordinated action will assure victory, just before they discover they too are combustible. As things stand now, it appears we will, as usual, be caught unprepared, wishing we had stoked that Forge of Freedom as we did during the last global war. Running out of ammo during a war can be a real bummer.

This war forecast brought to you by the Benevolent and Protective Order of Nostradamus, Fillmore Auxiliary.

****

At this late point I have run out of brain ammo myself and must retire, to continue, God willing, tomorrow.

God was willing, so just a few words of response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

Enough already about P/2025, Kelly. When it is debated as a bill I will pay more attention. I think legislators should read and debate all proposed legislation before voting on it. That’s only

logical and reasonable. Nancy Pelosi thought otherwise and said so publicly. Also, Trump’s comment on the use of violence must have been triggered by memories of the massive, deadly, leftist Democrat 2020 riots, a true “insurrection” resulting in many deaths and billions in property damage. Compared to those 500, months-long, made-to-order riots, the 4-hour Capitol incident is nothing more than a fart in a windstorm (please excuse the vulgarism).

As to your “numerous corporate billionaires who can buy $575 million-dollar super-yachts” what about “Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg [spending] more than $400 million in 2020 to elect Joe Biden,” has anyone else in the world ever made such a massive political donation?

Of local interest: I was gravely disappointed in hearing that Councilmembers John Garnica and Christina VillaSeñor support making June Pride month and flying a Pride flag in front of City Hall “to save lives.” They are misinformed and drag most Fillmore citizens into that moral morass of LGBTQ political propaganda. For this reason, I will withhold my support for both of them. It is the principle underlying their decision I strongly object to, not their respective competence. This decision to support LGBTQ scandalizes our Christian youth and interjects unwanted radical national politics into a local election. Both should know better.

Pebbles and friend in best of times.
Enlarge Photo

First, glory to Ukraine for destroying three enormous Russian ammunition dumps on Russian soil, 30,000 tons of ammo. Largest, most successful attack of the war, with drones. Also, Russia botched a test of its largest, most deadly strategic ICBM, RS-28 Sarmat (Satan); it blew-up in the hole so powerfully that seismologists in Norway and other remote parts of the world, registered the event as a 2.4 earthquake. Understandably, Russia also nicknames its most powerful attack helicopter “Satan’s chariot”.

****

A response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

Hi Kelly,

You say, “to accuse Trump of representing a ‘threat to democracy’ is not an incendiary lie.” Of course, I recognize this statement as absurd. If only from the extraordinary business success he has enjoyed, most people would conclude he recognizes that democracy facilitated that success. You are obsessed with the alleged threat of Project 2025. Has it been offered as a bill as yet, or just an idea whose time has come? I’m not going to read those hundreds of pages until and unless they are formally presented as attempted legislation. What little I have read of it I agree with. Do you think it might be prudent to debate these ideas in Congress, or do you prefer the infamous method of Speaker Nancy Pelosi who suggested, “You can read the bill AFTER [it] passes”? This is the same kind of obtuseness adopted by Kamala when she suggests her policies will be revealed after she is elected.

You fret about MAGA dealing with “dark promises of WWIII, retribution.” You’re bothered when Trump recommends Catholics and Jews “should have their heads examined” if they don’t vote for him. What if such an examination proves that Jews and Catholics who vote for Trump turn out to be brilliant realists, and if Democrats undergoing the same examination are exposed as naïve loons? As for those “dark promises of WWIII” as a Traditional Catholic myself, I see those “promises” witnessed both in the daily news and looming Marion apparitions warning of imminent global war.

Let’s avoid the colorful political metaphors and concentrate on things connected with truth. Using truth as our guide, what conceivable purpose can quotes from the infected brain of wannabe assassin Ryan Westley Routh serve in this discussion? And your characterization of JD Vance’s statements as “bubonic” seems a tad sensational. The story of some immigrants killing and eating “pets” like ducks, geese, dogs and cats is factual if not widespread. Since Democrats have sabotaged American sovereignty by destroying border security, people from impoverished cultures like Haiti, and others, do eat dogs and cats. Illegal immigrants have come here from hunter-gatherer cultures, with some known to continue their hunting and gathering exploits upon arrival, especially if poor. Ignorant liberals quickly characterize anyone mentioning this fact as “racist.”
I feel it necessary to clarify my opinion on Trump’s attitude towards the Russian-Ukrainian war. As I’ve said before, Russia is a criminal country absolutely owned and operated by a Hitleresque killer, Vladamir Putin. Ukraine is completely innocent of any responsibility for the war. Russia’s war plan is to kill as many civilians as possible and utterly destroy the infrastructure, the dams, power plants, hospitals, schools, orphanages, food markets, shopping malls, etc. and occupy the entire nation. At its heart, Russia’s Federation today exudes the satanic stench of Lenin’s and Stalin’s-communist Soviet Union, a veritable slave state.

Both Trump and Vance are vilifying Ukraine and its valiant leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. To me, this is shockingly mistaken. If a win by Kamala Harris did not present such an obvious and immediate disaster for the nation’s security, and a sane alternative to Kamala were running, I would avoid Trump on the Ukraine war issue alone. I am frankly stunned by the ignorant anti-Ukraine tirade coming from too many Republicans. Putin is the enemy writ large in blood red letters! I must vote for Trump to keep the nation alive, but I can never agree with his foolish deferential treatment of Putin, which can also backfire. This forces me onto the horns of a dilemma.

It’s late and I’m tired – next week.

*****

Final wistful note: I’m very sad to report that “Pebbles the wonder dog” had to be put away this week. She was a very happy, quick, smart, and faithful Miniature Pinscher friend for nearly 20 years. She was an answer to prayer in a time of need. Thank you, Lord.

Before I respond to Kelly Scoles’ letter, just some thoughts about the most recent attempted assassination of former President Trump.

Saying “most recent” acknowledges expectations of more politically motivated assassination attempts. This is a reality created by that legion of Democratic Party members and media who suffer from the dreaded “Trump Derangement Syndrome”. The irrational DNA causing this brain disease is pure, unadulterated hatred, which disrupts normal thinking. It creates a free-floating irrationality which seeks to justify irrational acts and thoughts. Since I’m not a psychiatrist I’ll just characterize these folks as nutzoids, dangerous people of the Left.

This week Kelly accuses Trump of being an “immoral sexual actor” and that “sexual crimes are an indication of lack of character.” To the first allegation Trump pleads innocent; to the second most people would agree. So, Kelly believes Trump lacks moral character and, therefore, should not be reelected president. We have squeezed this lemon to dusty pulp. I have no more squeeze power to respond; like that 2004 Monty Python Flying Circus dead parrot sketch, the issue is deceased for me. It is dead. Should we also examine the sexual perversities of Democrat office holders as well? If Kamala gets in, should we expose her private dalliances in pursuit of public office? From both sides of the aisle, I think only Carter, Reagan, and Nixon would survive a marital integrity test. Just a thought – should Jefferson’s alleged sexual deviance have caused him to be ostracized? If those allegations were truly proven, Kelly would certainly condemn him as she accuses Trump of the same “depraved conduct”. Was Clinton’s treatment of his White House intern Monica Lewinsky also “depraved conduct” worthy of his impeachment, conviction, and removal from office? Did Democrats reelect Clinton despite the scandal? You agree that “we are all serial sinners” Kelly, it’s just that Democrats are serial hypocrites as well.

As for that “bloodbath” comment. I cannot find an American president who was ever able to avoid this word, and as for “targeting” opponents, read about “Democrats roll out Michigan billboards targeting Trump.” “Targeting” Trump, as Democrats do, is to play with a loaded word. Trump is also not “Hitler” or a “threat” to the nation, more Democrat inflammatory lies. This kind of propaganda incites violence among weak-minded radicals, like Ryan Wesley Routh, Thomas Matthew Crooks, John Hinckley Jr., and Lee Harvey Oswald, and encourages media newspeak.

A reminder: “There have been 45 men elected president since the country’s founding. And 40% of them have experienced known attempts on their lives. Four presidents – Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy – have been assassinated.”

I cannot defend inappropriate language or statements by Trump, just as I can never defend the conduct of a womanizing rake like Bill Clinton, or his foul-mouthed wife, Hillary. Can you? But I’m not voting for a pope, priest, or preacher. I’m voting for the person who will be the strongest Commander in Chief at a time of approaching war. If we can forgive Jefferson for far greater alleged misconduct, we should find it easier to forgive alleged personal misbehavior from Trump, especially to facilitate defeating the wolf snarling at our front door.

Kelly, your comment about “lack of evidence” on Biden family criminal behavior is false to the point of silliness. The Family’s criminality is notorious throughout the world. Hunter’s laptop is irrefutable evidence of that. You are too familiar with frivolous social personalities like Taylor Swift. I’m a somewhat more secluded homebody, haven’t been to a movie since the “Duke” was popular and William F. Buckley was reminding conservatives “not to immanentize the eschaton!" (a caution against insistence on perfection.) Had to throw that in for old time’s sake! His TV program Firing Line remains for me the best of its type ever produced.

Finally, Kelly, I take exception to your comment on my supposed opinion of “women’s competency”. I have always had the greatest respect for women, except Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, et. al. Women keep men from destroying the Earth, especially my Blessed Mother, Mary. But, doing my best to remain inclusive, my list of despised male Democrats greatly exceeds that of the females. I include Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Dick Durbin, and Senator Cory Booker, as samples.

My concern with female “competency” today zeros on Kamala Harris, Border Tzarina and last-minute Democrat left-over. In an almost comical switch from old Joe to cackling Kamala, she’s in play without even having to explain why she wants to change basic Biden-Harris policies. And let’s acknowledge the most important women responsible for “housework” as “homemakers”, not mere “housewives”! They create, protect and preserve our generations of family. God bless them all!

****
I almost forgot. It’s the Fillmore Gazette’s 35th birthday today.

A response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

Hi Kelly,

Why do Democrats keep bringing up ancient allegations of Trump sexual crimes? Luke 6:41-46 asks, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,' when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?” When I survey Democratic Party leadership from the past 50 years or so, Trump’s singular condemnation appears wildly hypocritical. From Democrat varsity players down to the Democrat Little Leaguers, the bench is scabrously deep with serial sinners. Start, if you dare, with the infamous Biden extended presidential crime family – with laptop ties to all manner of crime, foreign and domestic. Moral turpitude aplenty.

Why is it that every Trump expression (“bloodbath” for example) is always taken literally by the media, while in different environments, the stock market for example, it’s commonly understood as normal metaphorical speech for “turmoil”. This method of turning normal figures of speech into allegedly dangerous ideas is now a signature practice of American Never-Trump media propaganda. This is an attempt to make Trump appear dangerous, like a wannabe “dictator.”

I watched the Trump-Kamala debate. Expecting the usual liberal media bias, I wasn’t disappointed. Vice President Kamala failed to answer the first question (are you better off today than four years ago?). Failing to answer, she was not pressed on the matter. CBS monitors avoided asking Kamala the most important questions and didn’t fact-check numerous false answers (sometimes known as lies). Very little substance on important policy issues. On the other hand, President Trump was often pressed on the accuracy of his answers and faulted for allegedly inaccurate statements.

My disappointment overall had to do with the fact that Kamala was not asked about her most controversial positions (energy, Ukraine War, Israel War, open border, sex changes for illegal immigrants, etc.). I came away knowing little more about Kamala and her secret policies. The debate was not a complete waste of time, but, as it was designed to help Kamala, I found it boring.

I hear complaints from some women believing Trump acts like a bully. Those women should ask themselves whether Kamala or Trump is best suited to stand face to face with berserkers like Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, or Ali Hosseini Khamenei. None of these gangsters are gentlemen. None respects female sensitivity, known to be downright rude at times. Also, none of these killers will tolerate scolding, giggling, or demands from an American female president. The challenge here derives from communistic-atheistic-Muslim cultural norms. So, to confront our enemies, Kamala would have to kowtow to China, salute Russia, bow to North Korea, and don her burka to meet Iranian leaders. Somehow, I can’t see Trump peeking through the face grill of a burka to approach an Iranian Jihadist or bowing to an enemy. I’m sure that our adventurous enemy leaders are familiar with Kamala’s professional biography. They know of her professional incompetence, combined with the squealing under-cover sessions with married Mayor Willie Brown, which succeeded in her securing California leadership positions. They know of her weakness, naivete, and vulnerability, that she’s easily bought.
At a deeper level I am simply awestruck at the prospect of my country disintegrating ignominiously into the hands of Kamala Harris, after two and a half centuries of extraordinary accomplishment. I’m put in a frame of mind best described by Irish poet William Butler Yeats in his masterpiece “The Second Coming.”

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; ….”
What we need is the “passionate intensity” of prayer.

A response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

Hi again, Kelly,

Frankly, with news of the most recent satanic Russian missile attacks upon Ukrainian orphanages, hospitals, schools, playgrounds, shopping malls, and civilian homes, your letter this week seems just too pathetic to answer.
You quote “former political advisor and retired U.S. Marine Corps General John Kelly, who served as White House chief of staff for President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019” alleging Trump called “those who defended their country in uniform” “suckers, because there is nothing in it for them.” This has been completely rebutted. (Gen.) Kelly is just a Never-Trumper and a supercilious ass.

I honor his son, buried at Arlington among the greatest of our American heroes, because “No greater love” can be shown than by laying down one’s life for another, as he did.

I do not honor Kelly, however. He exhibits the worst kind of treachery when he stabs his former Commander in Chief in the back with the sharpest of calumnies, a slander that in much of our history would have demanded a duel.

I see this character trait in too many retired flag officers who served Trump, including another Marine General James (“mad dog”) Mattis, Secretary of Defense from 2017 to 2019, retired Marine Corps four-star general, who also slandered his former superior saying, “Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us.” To be polite, this is political hogwash.
Both of these political turncoats prefer giggling Kamala Harris to be Commander in Chief as we march into global war! It’s a question of stolen trustworthiness – or (to be kinder) perhaps missing common sense.

I do not defend every statement Trump makes, including his promise to end the Ukraine war in a day. I support Trump primarily because he has the tenacity and experience to deal strongly with our enemies (with whom we are about to engage) and to avoid Kamala’s weak socialist naivete which would destabilize our defense by replacing her word salad with war salad. However, on at least one critical policy I ardently disagree, i.e. the defense of Ukraine.

Your reference to the disastrous Afghanistan surrender is so fatally flawed I will not bother to respond.
It would be a waste of time responding to most of your confettied Trump libels. But war in Ukraine and Israel move quickly towards the U.S.
Germany recently announced a severe cutback on Ukrainian war supplies. This, following the disastrous 8-month previous stoppage by Republicans, continues slow, inadequate help to defeat Russia. I am faced with a draconian dilemma. Except for the defense leadership emergency facing us after Biden, and perhaps with Kamala, Trump’s presumably absolute anti-Ukrainian stance would cause me to withhold my vote for him. It is imperative that Ukraine WIN against Russia. Putin will not stop until he is forced to stop. He suffers from his Mongol DNA (see: Mongo, Blazing Saddles, 2011). NATO, America, and other allies must supply everything Ukraine needs to defeat Russia now – or we may take over the job directly very soon.

Ukrainians have shown they can win; they are smart, innovative, and courageous. There is a moral imperative here to defend freedom and Judeo-Christian democracy against atheistic tyranny both in Israel and Ukraine. Support Netanyahu! A “two-state solution” has never existed!

Russia and Iran need to be effectively destroyed. Ukraine can defeat Russia if we provide all the weapons it needs, QUICKLY. Israel will defeat Hamas and Hezbollah if we stop obstructing its plan. Israel can defeat Iran (absolute necessity) by obliterating Iran’s oil refining facilities at Abadan, whose complex processes and transfers 80 percent of its oil and gas.

****

Hamas Jihadists (who just murdered six of their hostages in Rafah, Gaza) will reemerge roachlike from the dirt with a ceasefire, and Russia just finished its greatest Ukrainian bloodletting on an orphanage, will grind down into an unprepared Europe.

I’m happy to have received two letters from Kelly Scoles this week. The first is a comment on last week’s letter from Ryan Shiells about the sacred Name “Jesus” alleged not to be His real name. This name (Jesus) is, according to Mr. Schells, the result of a “bait and switch disinformation” by “nefariously funded religious experts.” We expressed our differences of opinion by email prior to publication. I will not engage again. Arguing about historically established spellings of YHWH, Jesus, and Yeshua, screened through a half-dozen languages over 4,000 years, is unproductive. YHWH, Hebrew name for God, was held so sacred that vowels were removed to make that word unspeakable. Jesus spoke in Aramaic, still spoken in a half-dozen isolated areas of the East. I’m not a linguist, historian, or theologian, but these are accepted historical facts.

****

Kelly, once again you expect me to answer an avalanche of assorted statements. To save face, if not patience, I will bulletize some answers.

As that “older person” I don’t dwell on “everything from the rosy nostalgia of youth.” Memories “inconsistent” with the best of yesteryear are not “aberrant.” That image is yours not mine. But you come closer to reality when you characterize the Republic today as, comparatively, a “catastrophe” and possibly “hellish”. You Democrats have jumped tracks to the “Freedom” line just as you jumped from old Joe Biden to giddy Kamala when Obama snapped his fingers.

****
No doctor has moral authority to collude with a mother to kill her newborn baby. Babies are unique human beings, with unique eternal souls, whatever their physical size. By Judeo-Christian ethical standards for more than 4,000 years, it is clearly murder. The first murder was recognized as such by Almighty God as he confronted Cain, the first felon. But atheists remain ignorant of these eternal truths. You keep harping about Freedom, a newly coined Democrat idea plagiarized from bedrock Republican history. Ironic, seeing that from the beginning, and through the Civil War (which Democrats started), they fought to secure their system of slavery!
****
The rejection of Roe v. Wade has provided that Freedom you seek by giving each state the ability to characterize abortion as legal or not. Are you so addicted to governmental muscle that you are afraid to let citizens of each state think and act for themselves?
****
Feminism has kneecapped America by bastardizing science, ruining women’s sporting activities, and creating wildly fictitious categories of humanity, as found in the “aberrant” LGBTQIA+ acronym denoting psychological foolishness. It’s become a slick game for hungry for-profit specialists. To convince ignorant fellow travelers of their nefarious schemes, Leftists need only destroy the idea of God. Without the supreme order, omnipotence and goodness of God, mankind (generic reference) runs amuck, anything goes, including scientific method, spiritual awareness, and stabilizing Commandments. Show me a century where this hasn’t happened. We’ve always been slow learners – even then, only after God’s fearsome intervention.

****

You criticize House Speaker Mike Johnson for calling homosexuality “pornography.” He’s only restating the traditional moral foundations of America. You and your Leftist minions want to change history to suit your anti-American moral philosophy. I hope conservative traditionalists can defeat that plan in the coming presidential election, for survival’s sake.

****

You defend government’s stocking of virulently pornographic books in children’s public libraries. Words, lurid illustrations and photos of homosexual activities may not offend you, but they provoke strong remedial demands from most of America. This outrageous content is so bad that congress stopped Republicans attempts to show it to members. “AOC and Raskin: Pornography Is Okay for Children, Not for Congress” - “Democrats were infuriated”. Jamie Raskin called the display “an assault on the dignity of the committee.” “AOC accused Republicans of reaching a “new low” by showing “pornographic” images to Congress.” Why would Democrats complain when they demand that our children view this filth?

Michelangelo’s statue of David? The solution here is to have a Leftist Democrat artist chisel-away the offending male genitalia and pronounce it a masterpiece of Transgender art.

A response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

I am too old to get angry over American politics. Instead, I’m just mesmerized by the scene of our ongoing civil war. When I witness the crowd at the Democratic National Convention wildly cheering for the likes of Barack Obama, the Clintons, the Joe Biden family, and Kamala Harris, sadly, it only confirms my opinion that the Republic is passing away. Historians a hundred years from now will conclude that these four entities precipitated its demise. Without an unprecedented, and unexpected abandonment of its communist, socialist, atheist, and hedonist cultural practices, America becomes that half-cooked frog in the pot.

As a charter member of the Fictitious Octogenarian Realists Club of America without portfolio, I believe our nation will soon be attacked by at least four of our most determined enemies, China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, with odds being even for defeat. Iran alone can quickly inject millions of vengeful Islamic Jihadists. Compared to the present slaughter fests consuming Ukraine and Israel, the final act in a fully global war here can now be truly tectonic. But I’ve said this ad nauseum before.

Putin has lost face over Ukraine blunders, and for a gangster like him this bodes ill for an irrational excuse for nuclear revenge. It’s suggested that he could explode a small tactical nuclear bomb on Russian soil (false flag) to fraudulently justify offensive nuclear “retaliation”. Although North Korea and Iran are newbies to the nuclear club, both Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran, and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un are about to wet themselves with giddy anticipation of their new nuclear bombs. All members of this group have only contempt for female military leaders. Margaret Thatchers are rare indeed and always disciplined their laughter.

The most favorable time for an enemy strike is from the present (August) to the middle of 2025, a time offering surprise aggressors the advantage of massive confusion coupled with widespread unreadiness. With Biden’s illegal millions concealing perhaps one million single-minded Jihadists, our civil police and National Guard will have no chance to contain the anticipated, repetitive, coordinated carnage.

With the prospect of a Kamala presidency, the only hope (my apology to atheists) is sincere, humble, prayer for Divine Mercy. Of course, those who reject the existence of God may be compelled to waste away with Kamala’s Transgender troops or Eunuchs United for Peace.

I’m off track. Kelly, we can’t “hastily correct” stolen valor. The man fled from the sound of the guns. It’s supposed to be the other way around. Walz is a putz. Also, you should bone-up on “combat journalists” like Ernie Pyle. “…a total of 69 journalists were killed in WWII, 63 in the Vietnam war”. You say, “He saw little action.” When you are stationed in a missile live fire zone no place is safe, as hundreds of our guys are finding out in Syria. You also quote Trump out of context, and falsely allege the infamous “suckers and losers” slander. This has been thoroughly refuted numerous times by on-scene witnesses. Who would ever say such a stupid, irreverent thing? Not any Commander in Chief. Trump has done great things for all veterans.

For me the national moral downfall began in the 1960s. Treasonous attitudes metastasized throughout our education system, with greed and political power dominating. The same types continue to betray the country and support our enemies.
Kelly, just watching the crowd at the Democratic convention induces sadness, for I see the American citizenry has changed fundamentally, for the worst, possibly forever. Comparing today’s Americans to those living in the 1940s-1950s is a depressing task. We have become very different people. We are ignorant of our history, and most all, remain ungrateful for God’s unparalleled blessings. God is love and mercy. He is also perfectly just. By rejecting His mercy we are asking for His justice, for which we are unprepared.

I would much rather ruminate about last week’s Dave the Fire Horse!

In a roundabout way, a response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

Hi Kelly,

American politics are increasingly toxic to me these days. It seems the world has gone mad, with the US the trendsetter in that madness. Alarms signaling the approach of a supremely catastrophic war are abundant, with the West only half awake to the alert. When the despairing British General Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown (1781), he ordered his band to play “The World Turned Upside Down.” He couldn’t understand how the British army could lose the battle to a ragtag, upstart colony like the future United States. A new rendition of that song may be appropriate for us now, as the American Republic dissolves itself in the Woke regimen of historically suicidal policies, foreign and domestic. After 140 years of normal, psychologically sound, spiritually healthy, and constitutionally successful history, our national normality has been rejected and transformed into a Progressive, radically Liberal, atheistic political spittoon. Yes, I meant it to be disgusting.

We are in the eye of a devilish political typhoon, still naïve about reality and accepting the most obvious lies; getting through it without life preservers is the challenge, and to Judeo-Christian believers the only “preserver” is our religious faith. Non-believers? They accept oblivion quietly. But we’re shackled together.

I’m off again on a religious polemic mostly because I can. However, in this darkening hour I found some solace in a report of Ukrainian recruits heading to their first fight “praying their rosaries.” That is supernatural faith overcoming natural fear. God bless them all.

But, Kelly, I have no stomach for a discussion of those 877 pages of Heritage Foundation’s “Mandate for Leadership 2025.” On your recommendation I did read a small part of it. Sounds like a wonderful plan! What kind of a plan has the Democratic Party given us? We’re all familiar with its border plan (15 million later). And we know about inflation, and no fracking, and transgenderism, pro Hamas, defund the police, pornography in schools, and the insane Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) plans. Forget the spittoon, I need a vomitorium.

I also need some relief from depressing subjects, and I’m happy to report my daughter supplied me with such a gift today, through a book in the mail. The title: “Eccentrics, Heroes, and Cutthroats of Old Berkeley” by Richard Schwartz. A fabulous read, not the least because the first chapter is devoted to my great Uncle, Martin Murrey Dunn. I was named after Martin Joseph Dunn, one of his sons.

Beautifully written, I’m proud of this immigrant ancestor’s substantial contribution to our great nation. “He emigrated from Kilkenny, Ireland, [1851, in his mid-twenties] to New York, and two years later set out for California”. This complements the story of my great-grandfather James Leonard’s contributions to Ventura County, before it was a county. I have, however, always questioned why we should be “proud” of things we have had nothing to do with. But I am.

Dunn became many things after purchasing his 160 acres of farmland, including a “leading expert at raising a certain type of horse – the offspring of Percheron workhorses bred with racing stallions. The resulting breed was stocky, intelligent, and long-winded” as fire horses. Many fire departments came to Dunn for their station horses. Schwartz provides fascinating details about the fire department horses. An especially heartwarming story of one horse, Dave, bred by Dunn, working as a fire horse for years, finally retired and was sold as a merchant horse. On his last trip with his new owner, passing the Dunn ranch, Dave, trailing his wagon, broke from his rope tie, recognized Dunn, trotted over and nuzzled him. Dunn bought Dave back from the new owner and Dave spent the rest of his life in quiet repose on the ranch.

Martin Dunn passed away in1904. He was very successful in many areas, including farming, horse breeding, and real estate. His three daughters became teachers and his four sons, doctors and dentists. Uncle Martin was a dentist. After his death, his wife, Matilda Dunn, moved to 380 Bellevue Street in Oakland.

“It seems fitting to imagine Martin Murrey Dunn and Dave the fire horse in an ethereal pasture rubbing faces in celebration of their good lives lived in the peaceful and magical land of southeast Berkeley.” My mother always fondly remembered “Uncle Martin” [Joseph] Dunn.

The Dunn mansion was replaced by a Safeway Market much later. I visited it’s overgrown remnants during leave as a recruit from Fort Ord – now also gone.

Thank you, daughter Kate, for sending this glorious book to me. Thanks Richard Schwartz for writing it so beautifully!

A response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

Hi Kelly,

It doesn’t take imagination, “prodigious” or impoverished, for me to escape the bounds of “mere Editorials.” But when I begin scribbling about destructive Democratic Party policies a non-fiction method is most illuminating, and often stranger than fiction.

This is because liberals inhabit a Reality Wonderland of confused vocabulary, unstable logic, and a wandering focus.
For example, you accuse me of wanting “everyone to practice [my] Old Testament Christianity.” I admit that it is a Christian desire and invitation, but never compelled. You apparently find the commandments threatening; I find them liberating, the way to clarify morality. Is it OK to mull over the issues of morality? I find it stabilizing and reassuring.
You are OK with “same sex marriage.” I trust the authority that says it is evil and prohibited – from the beginning. Even the “marriage” label here is offensive as a non sequitur fallacy. “Marriage” has been defined since Adam and Eve began their large family. To deliberately attach a false meaning here is iniquitous, a tactic of today’s liberals aiming to deceive - not much different than honoring bestiality as marriage. But marriage is a sacred thing, known as such by believers in the Commandments, and those with healthy common sense. This bizarre Woke phenomenon (same sex) corrodes the essence of true marriage between one man and one woman. It is therefore poisonous to family formation and “promoting the general welfare.”
Now, onwards to your reference to “women’s reproductive rights.” As I’ve said before, we are not talking about “reproduction” here. We’re talking about “abortion”, the opposite of reproduction (new life). Abortion is by definition death – destruction, ending human life.

You mention “suppression of studies of racism, etc.” Can’t follow your argument here. I’m all for “studies” which improve our lives. I have the same problem with your “parents’ choices for their children.” Not enough here to form an opinion. If you refer to gender mutilation of the young, it’s right down there with abortion. I like to affirm life and health.
To elevate our debate a little, Kelly, we should skip the emotional one-liner comments and focus on POLICIES, i.e. what the candidates intend to DO if elected. Our Border Tzarina Kamala Harris is so massively ignorant of government workings she avoids press conferences as being too revealing. She will seek a Biden basement to hide from inquiring citizens.
Kelly, you praise Kamala for “her full-throated and strong celebration of enthusiasm and mirth in laughter…” with her “Optimism and hope for the country”. Her optimism and hope for the country are emotional vapor. I have to ask; do you understand the threat of global war facing the Free World right now? All of this “celebration of enthusiasm and mirth in laughter” by a potential woman president and Woke combat generals, would doom America’s survivability. Feminists understandably despise this sort of misogynistic thought, but it is a dominant theme within the enemy’s psyche (Islam, Communism, and typical dictatorships). A proper respect for womanhood has never existed in those societies, and “familiarity” does breed contempt. The intrinsically evil leaders of Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Jihadist proxies do not give a damn about the “optimism and hope for the country and our democracy” which America’s Woke female Democrat Party leadership exudes. They see this, in Kamala, as a perfumed national weakness which they intend to exploit with the threat of nuclear missiles. Mirth is nowhere on their radar screens. Look at their handiwork now in Ukraine and Israel. The “enthusiasm, mirth and laughter” you so much admire in Kamala carries with it the stench of obtuseness, stupidity, and defeat. How can a reasonable citizenry believe Kamala Harris has the intelligence, experience, or ability to assume the duties of Commander in Chief of the most powerful country in the world in time of war? A whiff of her pathetic lack of seriousness immediately attracts the wolfish greed of our insatiable enemies. I recoil in horror at the thought of Kamala having to use that nuclear football!

The fast-arriving presidential election is the most consequential IQ test this country has ever taken and will be graded in the year 2025. It is also a test of our faith in “Old Testament Christianity.” The question: Can the American citizen recognize good from evil, in time.

Quick note on Piru Mansion: As a little boy, my great uncle Bill Eaton was a visitor to the Piru Mansion (then Cook Mansion); he remembered sitting on the steps by the tower. Mr. Cook told him he could eat all the oranges he liked from the ground but not to pick any.

****

A response to Kelly Scoles’s letter:

Hi Kelly,

After reading your first paragraph I better understand that it’s really not so much your abuse of logic, or philosophical outlook that perturbs me, it’s the loosely fallacious conclusions.

For example, you regret that I set standards which “we all fail to meet.” Kelly, in this regard I’m also just a follower; I don’t set the standards. At the basic level my standards are clearly listed in those 10 Commandments. Now, I know that this provokes your personal rebellion because those standards more than imply the existence of a Supreme Being – they actually command obedience and identify the ultimate authority, God. However, without the free will God gave us you couldn’t reject His existence and we wouldn’t be able to debate the issue. Would you at least pay respect to ancient Greek efforts to know God? “…walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I'm telling you about. He is the God who made the world and everything in it.” Acts 17:23-31.

As you say, I am indeed conservative, and miss those “good old days.” But I don’t claim to own those standards, or keep them perfectly myself, and the Good Book reminds us: For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Romans 3:23.

I never “tell people what religion they must follow.” Of some 300 religions in the world, I choose to be Catholic. More than 6 billion people choose otherwise, and among 2 billion Christians worldwide, there are 45,000 denominations. Plenty of choice. Of course, those enslaved in communist nations have no freedom to choose – they are told “There is no God” and are frequently killed for holding to their faith (Uyghurs in Xinjiang). That’s the essential difference between democracy, Islamo-Communism, and diverse dictatorships.

Values? Trump values are Judeo-Christian values (not forgetting the Jewish people, “Our elder brothers in faith”). Those “authoritarians” you speak of live in the Democratic Party, are Woke, atheist, Jihadist (Hamas), anti-science (transgenderism) and worship at the altar of the Unnatural. They love violence, riots being their brand (2020). One word can define the entire radical-Woke-Democrat-Jihadist-communist world: the eternal “LIE”. Maybe that’s why there is one law that Liberals hate even more than our Amendment number 2 – and that is Commandment number 9: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Exodus 20:16. Everything in the enemy’s playbook is false or misleading. If Commandment number 9 were made compulsory, under oath in the Democratic Party, its leaders would be instantly muted – no more infamous political defamation. I can dream. Congress could recapture its honor, and MAGA could relax.

As to the “fair” peace treaty proposed for Ukraine by Gen. Keith Kellog, Ret.” this would be an exercise of unforgiveable betrayal. Ukraine has lost 300,000 soldiers so far, and Russia about 500,000. Most hospitals and schools have been destroyed, infrastructure demolished, an estimated 3.7 million people have been driven from their homes and are internally displaced and nearly 6.5 million people have crossed into neighboring countries, all in three years! (We tragically, lost 58,220 soldiers in 12-years of Vietnam.) A once beautiful, fertile, budding democratic nation has been methodically destroyed by Putin, the serial killer. Russia and its diabolical cohorts must be stopped to save ourselves as well as Ukraine. We must break their will.

One sunny day the world watched this war begin with Russia attacking (the capital) Kyiv, dubbed a “special military operation” with “victory” expected in a couple of days. Three years later Putin tells the world it’s now a “war.” He is not a genius strategist. He’s just a blundering opportunist who picked the wrong opportunity. His aggression caused Sweden and Finland to join NATO. He has lost a third of his Black Sea fleet, and most of the war material he started with. If the West abandons Ukraine after encouraging its defense, we deserve the same treatment!
On Trump’s relations with enemy leaders, he expressed positive impressions when he saw a chance to ameliorate national relationships. That was a mistake, repeated by all presidents since Ronald Reagan. My hope - he now recognizes the inherent evil reality of these enemies today. Of course, neither Biden nor Kamala understand the enemy or the imminence of their threat. To them it’s just a parlor power game. Both Orbán of Hungary and Erdoğan of Turkey are untrustworthy NATO members. Nukes should be removed from Turkey.

As for your references to China’s and Russia’s “financing transportation and infrastructure projects in Africa, South America, and elsewhere, creating future allies,” understand this is not a good thing. Both these criminal states are destabilizing weak nations to control and sweep them into a hostile hegemony. Here we go again with communist Cuba and the South China Sea!

Your worry about Republicans creating “a forced religion-based social and legal order,” is baseless. “Force” is absent, and America has always been a “religion-based social and legal order”, it’s called Judeo-Christianity. It has, like it or not, always been the basis of our social order; see the Declaration, about forming a more perfect union, establishing Justice, ensuring domestic Tranquility, providing for the common defense, promoting the general Welfare, and securing the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. God is mentioned in the Declaration, “Laws of Nature and of Nature's God,” and religious (Judeo-Christian) morality itself was acknowledged by every Founder (even Thomas Paine – “We can know God only through his works.”) as essential to survival.

Finally, you trivialize the importance of Hunter’s laptop. With respect, Kelly, this sort of naivete energizes Liberalism’s confusion within the common good, making the country fatefully vulnerable. President Biden is a shameless crook, a traitor, the Big Guy prospering from the family’s brand of influence-peddling for 50-years. A great gig while it lasted.

A response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

Hi Kelly,

I’m going to skip over the personal invective you sprinkle on all MAGA efforts and individuals. The issues today are just too serious to deal with such childish distractions. Besides, I’m rubber you’re glue, it bounces off me and sticks on you! And, that remark about “losers, haters, and traitors” is by now a proven threadbare lie. Even so, how do you account for those “50 former intelligence officials warned” Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation? This is typical of the magnitude of Democratic Party lies. Any apologies?

If you dispute the fact that the Department of Justice, under Attorney General Merrick Garland, and the Bureau under FBI Director Christopher Wray, et al, are entirely corrupt, how do you account for the fact the alleged “malfeasance and crimes” have been thrown out of court as unconstitutional? The charge thought to be most serious (retained secret documents) also thrown out, others expected to follow. Does this impress you?

(Well, around midnight I lost a third of this document. I have really begun to hate this new Word program which was designed to impress the user with its proliferation of nonessential (typically useless) capabilities which can be mysterious and confusing to simple people like me. At this moment I’m as confused as a Democrat scrutinizing a truth.)
Kelly says Biden withdrew from the race due to a “serious fumble.” It was more like a pilot’s recording to passengers onboard the Democratic Party’s Boeing 737, wishing them “good luck” after informing them of a three-engine failure. As for Kamala, she is emblematic of Democratic Party vacuousness. She has been wafted onto the presidential throne before “President” Biden has had a chance to abandon his post. No one has cast a vote for her and Biden is still pretending to be president – while Putin, xi jinping, Kim Jong Un, Ali Khamenei, and the Taliban, smile with that lean and hungry look. I hope Kamala is learning her passwords for the nuclear football, which by law must always be with the president.
Should she ever find herself president of the United States our Republic will be eaten by those enemies who have been teased beyond endurance.

****

A last word about defense. My objection to those who adamantly reject American war assistance to Ukraine is absolute. Though I strongly support Trump’s candidacy for president, I, with equal strength, disagree with his plans to cut-off weapons and financial assistance to Ukraine. Europe will be lost without Ukraine winning its war with Russia. That’s a fact which will force us into WWIII. We shouldn’t be $32 trillion in debt – but we are. We also cannot afford to support Israel in the same way. But we must! We also cannot afford to defend Taiwan – but we must! When America is itself finally struck, we will not quibble about the cost of defending the nation. Our past spendthrift habits do not negate the necessity of firing-up the “forge of freedom”. Our defense industries (perhaps already too late) must provide what is necessary to defeat our enemies and assist our friends in this effort. And, NO, Trump can’t stop the war in a day!

****

“…a time for war, and a time for peace.” This is a time for war!

Excuse me, Kelly, for skipping my response to your letters (two this week) due to the seriousness of the Trump attempted assassination. I am fixated on the lingering danger.

This week’s Realities will put off many readers for being too religious, and even a touch emotional. But that is just me at age 85, awaiting the final bell. And I don’t regret ringing that bell for truth as I see it.

At Saturday’s Republican convention the world witnessed a first-class miracle, not just fortuitous luck. Former President Donald Trump came within a half-inch of being killed by an assassin’s bullet. Many Catholics know his life was protected by the benevolent hand of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the behest of her Divine Son, Jesus Christ. Mary as the perfect human “Mother of God” (“All generations will call me blessed” Luke 1:46-49.) has been tasked to assist in the Savior’s work of salvation, and her defending touch is felt throughout human history, as it was in 1981 during and after Pope John Paul II was also shot by an assassin.

In an effort at full disclosure, I’m Catholic myself, and see this event as a critical moment in American history, perhaps the definitive point in deciding the future of the Republic.

Negative political events are happening with abnormal speed amidst confusion and a state of unpreparedness, physical and spiritual. Most citizens are naive about the reality of imminent global war. They are also ignorant about the size of global enemy forces and the imminence of their belligerent intentions. This ignorance can only accelerate the time of attack. It’s easier for a Judeo-Christian believer to understand the threat because we believe in one God, the Creator and Redeemer of humanity. Men were created to follow His instructions but are reluctant to do so. When humanity rejects His plan, even disavows His existence, chaos follows, even chastisements.

Every human being chooses one side or the other. The good guarantees eternal happiness. The evil side, eternal horror. The young man who attempted to assassinate Trump on Saturday, having no chance to change his mind, chose to enter that eternal horror of perfect hate and violence.

I believe Donald Trump was protected by Divine Mercy and set aside as the unique leader for our Republic, the chosen leader at a decisive time. I believe he will lead this nation back to its Judeo-Christian origins – during global war of unprecedented destruction. I believe he will lead our victorious forces against inevitable attacks from Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and Islamic hordes from North Africa and Asia.

Furthermore, I believe Trump's vice-presidential pick, J.D. Vance, is the perfect choice. He contributes moral, intellectual strength and youthful vigor. Reading his biography, I am truly impressed. Unlike so many of Trump’s former cabinet members and backstabbing “friends”, Vance will be utterly trustworthy. I am strongly convinced that J.D. Vance will, with Donald Trump, work to make America strong, healthy, and victorious again. I see Vance, like Trump, as celestially chosen at this time to defend our nation against diabolical forces. They will work in tandem, with the encouragement and prayers of this nation’s Judeo-Christian citizens to defeat the enemy and restore honor to God and country.

Another great concern of mine is the readiness timeline. If the intentions of our self-identified enemies are to win a (possibly nuclear) war with the West, sooner rather than later serves their purposes best. America, (and the West) is most vulnerable from this point (July) through the election in November, and into 2025. Heated confusion stirred-up by the Democratic Party, a broadly treacherous media, Deep State betrayal, enormous illegal infiltration, and initial terrorist attacks will overwhelm government’s ability to contain. If our enemies are not stupid, they will attack with broad coordination - soon.

At this point I will save readers from any redundant references to current Marian apparitions, and myself from further grief.

Well, there it is. I’ve set myself up for some healthy debate and rebuke.
My bottom line: Humble, heartfelt prayer for mercy and victory can extinguish any flame the enemy might conjure. Prayer is the most important part of “readiness” in a Judeo-Christian nation.

A response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

Hi again, Kelly. Thanks for another challenge.

I really didn’t want to get into a discussion about our Supreme Court justices. The cerebral shocks I have received watching the scandalous treatment of so many Republican nominees to the High Court challenges my objectivity. My first experience with these infamous Democratic Party ship worms began with the rejection of Judge Robert Bork in 1987.

Bork was an eminent legal scholar, Yale professor of law, and Reagan appointee to several Senate affirmed positions.
“Bork had a considerable reputation as a conservative law scholar and a proponent of originalism, the legal theory that the Constitution should be interpreted as originally intended by the Founders and Founding generation” the same as Justice Scalia. Bork also taught at Yale University. Among his Yale Law students were Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Is this all beginning to sound familiar?

President Reagan nominated Bork for the Supreme Court on July 1, 1987, to replace a retiring Lewis Powell. Senator Ted Kennedy reacted with a public statement that quickly drew political battle lines over Bork’s nomination.
“Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists would be censored at the whim of government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is often the only protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy,” he said. (Bork later stated that he felt every word in the statement was false.)
Bork’s opponents were critical of his opinions about the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. Bork’s testimony was also broadcast on live television. The Senate Judiciary Committee, led by then-Senator Joseph Biden (always into the rot), decided to send Bork’s nomination to the floor with a recommendation that it be rejected.

Bork responded: “Federal judges are not appointed to decide cases according to the latest opinion polls,” he said, adding that if judicial candidates “are treated as political candidates the effect will be to erode public confidence and endanger the independence of the judiciary.”

Judge Bork passed away at the age of 85 in 2012.

Borks treatment by Democrats was so savage that a word is named for him in the Oxford English Dictionary. “The verb “bork” is used as slang, to ‘defame or vilify (a person) systematically, esp. in the mass media, usually with the aim of preventing his or her appointment to public office; to obstruct or thwart (a person) in this way.’”

Bork’s treatment was not just a one-time Democratic Party event. This sort of political defamation, used for sabotaging Republican nominees, is policy, showcased during the past 60-years. I remember the Bork attack clearly and see this same tactic in the attacks upon Clarence Thomas, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Neil M. Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett at their nomination hearings. Worthy of special note here was the outrageous criminal threat by Senator Schumer: “Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Supreme Court tirade is a symptom of America’s democratic decline.” By Ian Millhiser

No Democrat had the guts to condemn Schumer’s criminal threats against Supreme Court Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch: “I want to tell you Gorsuch. I want to tell you Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” Schumer broadcast this threat from the steps of the Supreme Court building by microphone in 2020, demonstrating how Democrats are all from the same communistic-socialistic-atheistic mold. They remain without honor. Schumer should have been arrested, tried, and jailed. “On October 23, 1987, the United States Senate held one of the most-controversial votes on a Supreme Court nominee in its history, when it rejected Robert Bork’s appointment.”

“After the Judiciary Committee declined to recommend Bork in a full Senate vote, the nominee voiced his frustrations with a nomination process that he thought had turned into a political litmus test for the Supreme Court.” A great man was dishonored. The same Democrat tactic was used against Clarence Thomas, who described the treatment as a "High tech lynching". Remember the Anita Hill setup? Then there was the outrage of the Kavanaugh hearings, where someone named Christine Blasey Ford falsely alleged that as a teenager in the early 1980s, Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her during a party; a charge totally without proof. The history of Democratic party-political defamation is clear. That party is a fifth column for radical political subversion. Like flies on animal excrement, the Democratic Party judiciary minions plague our justice system today: Fani Willis, Arthur F. Engoron, Juan Merchan, Tanya Chutkan, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, and the band goes on. Oh – for Ketanji Brown Jackson: the answer to the “woman” question is: they have two X chromosomes, and lack the Y.
(Had to cut short for time)

A response to Kelly Scoles’ letter:

Hi again, Kelly. Thanks for another challenge.

I really didn’t want to get into a discussion about our Supreme Court justices. The cerebral shocks I have received watching the scandalous treatment of so many Republican nominees to the High Court challenges my objectivity. My first experience with these infamous Democratic Party ship worms began with the rejection of Judge Robert Bork in 1987.

Bork was an eminent legal scholar, Yale professor of law, and Reagan appointee to several Senate affirmed positions.
“Bork had a considerable reputation as a conservative law scholar and a proponent of originalism, the legal theory that the Constitution should be interpreted as originally intended by the Founders and Founding generation” the same as Justice Scalia. Bork also taught at Yale University. Among his Yale Law students were Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Is this all beginning to sound familiar?

President Reagan nominated Bork for the Supreme Court on July 1, 1987, to replace a retiring Lewis Powell. Senator Ted Kennedy reacted with a public statement that quickly drew political battle lines over Bork’s nomination.
“Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists would be censored at the whim of government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is often the only protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy,” he said. (Bork later stated that he felt every word in the statement was false.)
Bork’s opponents were critical of his opinions about the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision. Bork’s testimony was also broadcast on live television. The Senate Judiciary Committee, led by then-Senator Joseph Biden (always into the rot), decided to send Bork’s nomination to the floor with a recommendation that it be rejected.

Bork responded: “Federal judges are not appointed to decide cases according to the latest opinion polls,” he said, adding that if judicial candidates “are treated as political candidates the effect will be to erode public confidence and endanger the independence of the judiciary.”

Judge Bork passed away at the age of 85 in 2012.

Borks treatment by Democrats was so savage that a word is named for him in the Oxford English Dictionary. “The verb “bork” is used as slang, to ‘defame or vilify (a person) systematically, esp. in the mass media, usually with the aim of preventing his or her appointment to public office; to obstruct or thwart (a person) in this way.’”

Bork’s treatment was not just a one-time Democratic Party event. This sort of political defamation, used for sabotaging Republican nominees, is policy, showcased during the past 60-years. I remember the Bork attack clearly and see this same tactic in the attacks upon Clarence Thomas, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Neil M. Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett at their nomination hearings. Worthy of special note here was the outrageous criminal threat by Senator Schumer: “Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Supreme Court tirade is a symptom of America’s democratic decline.” By Ian Millhiser

No Democrat had the guts to condemn Schumer’s criminal threats against Supreme Court Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch: “I want to tell you Gorsuch. I want to tell you Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” Schumer broadcast this threat from the steps of the Supreme Court building by microphone in 2020, demonstrating how Democrats are all from the same communistic-socialistic-atheistic mold. They remain without honor. Schumer should have been arrested, tried, and jailed. “On October 23, 1987, the United States Senate held one of the most-controversial votes on a Supreme Court nominee in its history, when it rejected Robert Bork’s appointment.”

“After the Judiciary Committee declined to recommend Bork in a full Senate vote, the nominee voiced his frustrations with a nomination process that he thought had turned into a political litmus test for the Supreme Court.” A great man was dishonored. The same Democrat tactic was used against Clarence Thomas, who described the treatment as a "High tech lynching". Remember the Anita Hill setup? Then there was the outrage of the Kavanaugh hearings, where someone named Christine Blasey Ford falsely alleged that as a teenager in the early 1980s, Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her during a party; a charge totally without proof. The history of Democratic party-political defamation is clear. That party is a fifth column for radical political subversion. Like flies on animal excrement, the Democratic Party judiciary minions plague our justice system today: Fani Willis, Arthur F. Engoron, Juan Merchan, Tanya Chutkan, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, and the band goes on. Oh – for Ketanji Brown Jackson: the answer to the “woman” question is: they have two X chromosomes, and lack the Y.
(Had to cut short for time)