Hardly enough time to cover even most important stories today.

I should begin on a positive note in congratulating the men who rescued the 12 boys from a cave in northern Thailand. It was a close call, almost seemed like an impossible task. Sad that one hero on the rescue team died in his attempt.

*****

The nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has lit the fuse within the Democrat Party's pyrotechnic think tank, while bringing joyful triumph to Republican ranks. This long-awaited event will be the second stage of the Dem's self-destruct rocket, which anticipates its final decent into oblivion.

For at least a generation the Democrat Party is finished - absent Armageddon.

It has been caught with its political knickers down for all the world to see. As admitted by all reputable journalists (a few remain) this Party and its fellow travellers have succeeded in undermining the very heart of American government. Obama and his administration minions networked an incredible conspiracy to help Hillary Clinton win the presidential election in 2016, and undermine now President Trump's chances for winning.

The plot beggars the Guy Fawkes Gunpowder Plot of 1605 in which an attempt to blow-up houses of parliament by placing explosives under the structure, failed. Mr. Fawkes and friends were caught and the plot destroyed. Today, Mr. Obama, with many of his hold-over workers have also been caught. Recently, Congressional committees have subpoenaed 40 more members of the Obama administration to determine whether they played a part in the conspiracy to destroy Trump's hopes in the 2016 election.

This, following the decimation of most FBI leaders and a growing number at the Attorney General's office. The crimes involved here make the Whitewater scandal seem petty. The allegations of Russian interference are humorous by comparison. As a cartoon character once observed, "We've met the enemy and they are us."

I thank God for the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. On the scale of judicial purity he is simply 24 karat gold. Let's pray that the pot metal Democrat senators can be frustrated as they attack this good man with their *aqua regia examinations. (*dissolves gold)

After all these decades I finally feel like our judicial system, with its devious, anti-Constitutional liberal jurists, is being corrected.

It's the Fourth of July again. As I grow older the more this day demands my attention. The Fourth commemorates the greatest triumph of liberty in human history. This was the day in 1776 when people calling themselves Americans threw off the chains of English royal authority and proclaimed themselves citizens of a new democratic republic. Our new nation is now 241years old, having survived numerous conflicts, beginning with Indian wars dating back to the early 17th century. America's survival has always been a bloody struggle, and we have always prevailed - though once ending with a stand-off in Vietnam. America's freedom was bought with millions of American lives.

Except for the fact that America has always celebrated its independence with fireworks, as the reason we celebrate this day recedes from the memory of most Americans, pyrotechnics have just become an annoyance for me.

American citizens, particularly our youth, are not properly educated in our nation's history; they don't know why America is unique among the world's countries, why it is indeed exceptional. Without this essential knowledge they are vulnerable to the lies of seditious liberals seeking to undermine our nation's vitality.

We celebrate America for the freedom we enjoy. From the beginning Americans have formally acknowledged this freedom as a gift from God, not from government. We have been endowed by our Creator with unalienable Rights, such as Life, Liberty, and the freedom to pursue Happiness. We should remember that these rights, being "unalienable," empower the citizens to defend against all attempts to take them from us. Our Declaration of Independence is as much a message to our government as it was to the English crown - leave us alone!

Our rights, stipulated in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, place strict limitations on governmental powers. Today, as I think about the condition of our great nation, it's troubling to see evidence of corruption and decline at such a destructive level. Many of the foundational beliefs have been discarded.

That right to life enshrined in our Declaration is ignored by our highest legal authority. It now proclaims that a mother has a substituted "right" to kill her unborn baby - right up to the last minute before normal birth would take place (a "right" Senator Chuck Schumer affirms). The dead baby's skin, and other organs, can thereafter be sold for profit through organizations like Planned Parenthood. All of America would have recoiled in disbelief at this pagan barbarity at any time during the first 200 years of our existence. The law as clearly proclaimed in our Declaration and Constitution has not changed. What has changed is the interpretation of its words by corrupt liberal justices, which has deadened the natural conscience of America. A nation without a conscience is in evil hands. A nation that refuses to protect the most innocent and vulnerable of persons loses its authority to govern. Since Roe v. Wade in 1973 America is responsible for 60,069,971 abortions, as I write this. Millions of children will never have a chance at life as God intended. What an unspeakably horrible loss, what a supremely fiendish activity.

President Donald Trump has promised to nominate Pro-Life judges to the Supreme Court bench. This is sufficient for me to overlook any and all objections I have had to any of his negative political comments. Following his actions since the inauguration, I see his social imperfections as being far less than those of King David, who despite that King's flaws, was blessed, as God said: "I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart."

It's also worth remembering that, like King David, who established his capital in Jerusalem 3,000 years ago, our president has established the Embassy of the United States of America in Jerusalem as well, respecting King David's perpetual capital.

At the present time, considering the incredible accomplishments during his mere one and a half years in office, all objections to and aspersions cast upon President Trump are as nothing. He is the man for this season.

God Bless President Trump, his family, and our recovering American nation!

Charles Krauthammer passed away last week. His conservative political column was syndicated on more than 400 publications and he was a star commentator at FOX news for many years.

Krauthammer was famous for the brilliance of his thought as well as his extraordinary perseverance following an accident which severed his spinal cord as a young man. Afterwards, he graduated from Harvard Medical School and attended Oxford, later choosing political journalism. He finally succumbed to cancer, informing his readers that he had only a short time to live.

Rest in peace Charles Krauthammer. You are a brilliant example of the Good Man.

******

The Democrat dogs of war are loosed from their chains. They are on the scent of anarchy. Once constrained by public opinion, now the wound of electoral failure will not heal. The Democrat Party and its anarchist minions are at large.

It's reported that Party leaders like Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Keith Ellison, Tom Perez, and the Obama zealots working to undermine Trump's presidency, encourage their members to attack Republicans wherever they find them. This is the violent animus that influenced the shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise during the annual Congressional Baseball Game for Charity last year.

These Democrat anarchists have begun physically harassing and targeting anyone working for the Trump organization. Sarah Huckabee, the president's Press Secretary, with family members, was driven from a restaurant because she worked for Trump. Several other Trump administration members are also being harassed by Democrat "Never Trumpers." These events include actual assaults.

It's only a question of time before these anarchists encounter retaliation in self-defense. Such a reaction, of course, is precisely what they want - confusion and chaos.

Ultimately, this could prove to be Fort Sumter, supported by our Second Amendment.

******

But conservatives should not be too discouraged by the Democrat anarchists. This has been a great month for making America great again. Two critically important decisions have come down from our Supreme Court. The first affirms the president's broad authority over the nation's immigration. The president can halt immigration from any country he deems to be a threat to the peace or security of the United States. All of those contemptible, politically corrupt U.S. District Courts and Circuit Courts of Appeal (see 9th Circuit) have been slapped-down. This doesn't mean that they will now behave themselves, but they are about to be put in place, ultimately obliged to follow the law instead of injecting their pet views on alleged Constitutional flexibility and the use of foreign law. Federal courts have been the scourge of the Constitution for decades. God willing, Trump's fresh nominees will clean-up our judicial system.

After this decision we no longer have to admit Jihadist Muslims to America.

This has been a wonderful year for Fillmore High School.

I attended the most impressive FHS graduation of all I have witnessed during my almost-30 years in our city. The planning itself seemed perfect, the graduates positive and mature, and their teachers proud. Special thanks must go to School Superintendent Dr. Adrian E. Palazuelos for his outstanding overall leadership. We have also been blessed with an outstanding School Board. Fillmore High School has never looked better.

What a great year! Thank you all.

//////

Well, it looks like it's time to ask for our other, matching, "snorkel" outside mailbox to be restored. The city responded very quickly to provide a new island at the rear of the post office. They removed the old concrete, painted the curb, added bollards to protect the boxes, and finished it all off with reflective tape. Now it's time to replace the box on the northbound side, as it was for 30 years. That way, the northbound traffic doesn't have to make a long, awkward circle around to access the existing southbound box.

Well, if you want both boxes restored as before you have to sound off with letters to the editor and calls to the Postmaster.

/////

There seems to be too much elation after president Trump's meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Anyone familiar with Kim's family history knows it has been a history of monstrous human rights violations. Several escapees have written books about life in the Hermit Kingdom. Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West, would be a good place to begin.

Most of the world, at least the Western part, has hope that peace between North and South Korea will finally materialize. At present, only a cease fire agreement is recognized. But I just cannot believe that Kim would give away his only leverage (nuclear weapons) against the U.S., Japan and his other perceived enemies, for a promise of Western prosperity. Nor should we provide that prosperity for him on his promise to hand over his nuclear weapons. I can't see how the U.S. can get beyond this standoff as a practical matter. Would we do it piecemeal? Would it be something like a nuclear swap meet - OK, we'll take two of your bombs for a casino and a thousand miles of road pavement? We'll begin construction as you roll out the first bomb. Hmm, wonder how long such a transaction would take.

Kim is said to have produced 20 to 60 nuclear warheads, with the missiles to carry them to America's shores. Kim has also progressed from mere atomic bombs to the hydrogen bomb, which can be a 1,000-times more destructive. In this case trust can have no part in negotiations. The U.S. is demanding "complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization" of North Korea. In other words, Kim must give up his bombs and missiles, and tell us where his testing and storage facilities are. Again, how quickly could this be done, even with Trump managing the deal?

Kim's success has been facilitated by Russia and China over some 40 years. His weapons alone give him leverage and prestige in the world. He has showcased his hydrogen bombs and fired his missiles over Japan to demonstrate their ability.

Would he just hide some of his nukes? They're not very big, and Iran would sell what's left of its soul to buy some of them. Would his military go along with such a deal, or would they simply assassinate him? What about his vast stores of chemical-biological weapons? How could any of this be completely, verifiably, and irreversibly denuclearized and detoxified?

I hope this can be done, but I must say I don't think it can.

I believe in miracles - and I think it would take one to bring true peace here.

It looks like California is doomed to experience higher taxes, more homelessness, and cultural collapse if Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom becomes our next governor.

Normal people are leaving the state in droves, anticipating the dramatic finale after 8 years of Governor Brown's liberal socio-economic experiments.

Newsom found his opportunity in San Francisco, later joining Brown's camp of radical liberal activists in Sacramento. California's state leadership under Brown's command inspires a true "basket of deplorables", people who really do have "contempt for everyday Americans". Conservatives contemplating their state's roster of radical leaders have to gasp. Look at them and weep: Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, Antonio Villaraigosa, Kamala Harris, Kevin de León, Dianne Feinstein, Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Eric Garcetti and that pencil-necked peewee Adam (love-the-camera) Schiff. This is a Machiavellian school for scoundrels.

California conservatives have to ask "How can we survive?". These people hate law enforcement, the military, Bible-loving citizens who cling to their guns, those who espouse traditional moral values, independent cake-bakers, wall masons, marijuana haters, NRA members, Planned Parenthood haters, -- the list goes on.

Few people can afford to buy a home in California, can't defend against (recently released) alien criminals, find their Second Amendment rights constricted to the point of virtual confiscation, and must watch helplessly as all of Mexico, Central America, and South America surges through our overwhelmed border protection, at the invitation of Governor Brown, to be free of brutal communist dictators and criminal chaos. Instead of attempting to assist these people in place, Brown attracts them with free housing, food, medical, schooling and drivers licenses, at taxpayer's expense. The Machiavellian logic here is to feign benevolence for the sake of millions of new votes. In an already overwhelmingly Democratic state, this wave of millions of new California "citizens" will assure the state will never again have a Republican governor - or majorities in many local elections. Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli is smiling today.

Brown's 8-years at the helm virtually assures the ship of state will drift from the shoals to the rocks in short order if Gavin Newsom is elected his successor.

Congratulations to Fillmore High School varsity baseball team. They have won their place in the CIF Southern Section Division 7 Finals! 2018 is turning out to be a red letter year for FHS sports, in swimming, soccer, track, and now, baseball. Congratulations also to FHS baseball coach Matt Suttle. The Gazette is waiting with bated breath for a comment from you.

*****

The construction of Rotorcraft Support's new 68,000 square-foot hangar is well under way. Located on 10-acres of the southwest corner of Fillmore's Business Park, Rotorcraft will also share the facility with another helicopter company, a firefighting firm called The Guardian.

Rotorcraft is moving from its current location at Van Nuys Airport, bringing with it 58 employees, and an additional 16 with The Guardian. Rotorcraft expects to hire an additional 10-15 people from the Fillmore area on completion of the move.

The project will be built in two phases, after the 68,000 square-foot hangar, another 45,000-square-foot hangar will be leased to another business.

The Rotorcraft facility is a repair station, not a heliport, according to Mike Harrah, project designer. It expects to service about 20 helicopters per week "during normal business hours".

"Their flight paths will not go over the city" according to Kevin McSweeney, Fillmore’s Planning Director.

The City of Fillmore welcomes Rotorcraft and The Guardian!

*****

The first time I remember watching Roseanne on TV was years ago when she "sang" our National Anthem at a baseball game, before spitting on the ground. My memory of her hasn't changed much since then. It's a sorry assessment of American popular culture that her bare knuckle shtick has earned her an alleged $80-million. And to think she was becoming popular again.

*****

Kim Kardashian going to the White House? Good grief Donald! Don't you know that this will attract Liberals like flies to a watermelon?

*****

Then we have Stormy... and the Hoggletts ...etc. I can't stand any more!

See you next week.

Without going on too much with the details, I have to say, as I've said so many times before, the Fillmore Chamber of Commerce almost caused the May Festival to disappear. Astounding incompetence at every level spurred the rumor that the Festival would not happen, and/or would be held at a different location. Virtually no advertising for the event, including no Central Avenue banner, etc. makes me suggest that the Chamber turn the job over to someone else. It seems to me that the Festival happened this year almost by accident.

*****

The remarkable spectacle of Deep State collusion (conspiracy is a more accurate word) of our FBI, CIA, DOJ, DNI, etc. to foil President Trump is simply unparalleled. We are witnessing the greatest Constitutional catastrophe in American history. And it all started in the Obama administration, with his knowledge and consent. Among the most treacherous of these Machiavellian conspirators is former CIA Director John Brennan (who voted for Gus Hall for president) who was leader and chairman of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) died in 2000). Let's listen to Brennan's friend's own words: "The Christians are always singing about the blood. Let us give them enough of it! Let us cut their throats and drag them over the altar! And let them drown in their own blood! I dream of the day when the last priest is strangled on the guts of the last preacher". I wonder who Brennan's other friends are. And our Senate confirmed him to head the CIA! Does character still count today?

Brennan was appointed CIA Director despite his passionate support for sharia Islam, which must have affected his judgment on terrorist strategy. Here's Brennan on Islam: Obama advisor John Brennan speaks about the beauty of Islam ..."https://www.youtube.com/ .

I have just enough time to reiterate: the scope of this Democrat Party betrayal has the hallmarks of a Benedict Arnold scheme.

I have to marvel at President Trump's achievements while under attack from these traitors.

Hang em high!

My warmest congratulations to Fillmore High School's champion swimmer, Katrionna Furness.

"Kat" recently took first place in the CIF 100 Backstroke, and third place in the CIF 100 Freestyle. She is new to FHS, in her junior year, and is very happy with the school, her classmates and teammates.

Go Kat go!

*****

Congratulations also to our Fillmore Rotary Club for initiating the "Baby Otter Water Safety Awareness Program". School Superintendent, Dr.Adrian Palazuelo is so impressed with the children's illustrated book about a baby otter and how its family taught it to float, then how to swim, that he read it to the those in attendance at Tuesday's School Board meeting.

The idea is to get parents to teach very young children how to float first in an attempt to avoid the tragedies of drowning in unattended swimming pools, as happens too frequently. The Rotary Club will distribute the books throughout Fillmore schools. This is truly an effective, life-saving effort.

*****

I was delighted to watch Benjamin Netanyahu lead the ceremony establishing America's embassy in Jerusalem. It was inspiring to say the least. Finally, after 3,000 years, Israel's capital is recognized by its strongest friend, to be established in the area where the promise was first made to Abraham (Genesis 15:18-21), then confirmed to his son Isaac (Genesis 26:3), and then to Isaac's son Jacob (Genesis 28:13) that this land was theirs in perpetuity.

God bless Israel, keep her strong and free as the only democratic nation in that troubled part of the world. It is comforting to know that this great nation has our back, a true friend among so many deadly enemies, and treacherous pretenders, like Turkey's President Erdogan.

*****

North Korea's leader now threatens to cancel the summit because he feels threatened by joint US and South Korean military drills. Well, as much as the West appears thrilled by the prospect of a non-nuclear Korean peninsula, trust has no rational place in this attempt. We are dealing with a treacherous monster in Kim Jong-un, perhaps the worst of the top 10.

He and China's Xi Jinping, remind me of a huge anaconda I once observed at a zoo. It was absolutely still, until a zoo keeper tossed a rabbit into its cage. It struck with incredible speed to grab the rabbit, which quickly disappeared into the snake's belly. The scene was startling.

Neither leader should inspire trust. As much as I can hope Kim would rid himself of all the nuclear playthings in his little house of horrors, I can't convince myself that he will. Trying to bribe him with the rabbit of peace and prosperity will prove disappointing. This sort of tactic is what got him where he is today, with plenty of atomic trinkets. Acknowledging the historic treatment of his own people by him and his family, from a Christian perspective, we should characterize Kim as being in need of exorcism.

So, let's keep the pressure on and avoid rabbit habits.

It seems the world is splitting apart today. National, international, state and local news is sparking - not all of it bad, but much of it is bad.

I just heard that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) has announced total separation from the Boy Scouts, after a 100-years cooperation. The issue causing the breach is the Scout organization's decision to permit openly gay scoutmasters, and the recent decision to include girls in the group.

My congratulations to the "LDS" church. Scouting has been taken over by the hard Left for some time now. The multicultural, feminist influence is rotting away American moral traditions.

More later. But again, congratulations.

*****

Our new Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, is leading the three Americans held hostage in North Korea home at last. Another victory for President Trump. This is good news.

*****

Would-be CIA director Gina Haspel is finally getting the support she needs to overcome Liberal bias. She is highly respected at the Agency, with 33-years experience. This could be good news.

*****

Our southern border is broken and leaking hundreds of thousands of people from every South American nation. The dam will break as never before if the wall is too long in coming.

Here is the threat: The combined population of South America, as of 2016, has been estimated at more than 420 million. Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and Ecuador are all in terrible economic and societal condition. Chile is probably in the best condition, but a wave of migration is starting elsewhere.

Venezuela is leading the charge because its currency has collapsed. The late Stalinist Hugo Chávez's tenure started the decline, which extended over the years into the current presidency of Nicolás Maduro. Rampant political corruption throughout South American countries has always been the fundamental problem. It's OK to cry for Argentina, and most of the rest. You see, none of these governments permit their people to own firearms, and a history of failed revolutions just didn't help.

Now I can hear the Liberal anger over the firearm statement, but had the people of Venezuela had a Second Amendment in its constitution, Communist thugs and opportunists like Chávez and Maduro would have been eliminated before the house came down. Colombia's law-abiding people haven't a chance for peace because that same corruption has allowed the criminals to subdue the government. It will take pure military force to achieve peaceful democracy again. Pablo Escobar may be dead but the spirit of his $21.9 billion a year in personal income lives on.

So political corruption and brutal narcoterrorism has eaten away what was once a peaceful civilization in most of South America today. Who can blame these people for seeking shelter from the criminal chaos down there? But does this justify the migration of tens of millions into the United States today? A helpful analogy for this situation is the lifeboat built to seat 100, with 1,000 swimming to get into the boat. Everybody drowns.

There is no way to validate claims for amnesty at the southern border because everyone is faced with criminal and economic attack. The latest group to force entry to America is from Honduras. Are these people more threatened than Venezuelans, who are starving in an environment of hyperinflation and brutal gang killings?

America is good, but not perfect. Our duty should be to help these nations with essential goods - if such help can be delivered without being hijacked by the perpetual criminal element.

Build the wall before we are unable to help anyone.

No loyal conservative should grow tired of defending our president against the incessant, disloyal attacks of the Democrat Party. We're in the middle of a political revolution where Democrats are determined to remove President Trump from office.

The threat is serious and immediate, with a corrupt Judiciary, Senate, Justice Department, FBI, CIA, NSA, etc. leading the way. What is most maddening about this situation is the fact that the corruption of these departments is so obvious. Start with the nonsense probe of Russian collusion, whatever that is. As has been pointed out many times, "collusion" is not a crime and therefore, not capable of lawfully initiating the Mueller probe.

This is the most serious threat to our Constitutional Republic in American history, and may well bring a violent response from the president's loyal supporters. The crux of the issue here is that the Democrat Party is preventing President Trump from forming a government. The Deep State is stalling everything, except harassment of our president, at a time when he is dealing with the extraordinary possibility of bringing peace to the Korean peninsula, keeping the bomb from Iran, dealing with China trade, and halting Russian expansion into Syria - and he has to deal with this criminal farce of the Mueller investigation as well.

Democrats are delaying the appointment of hundreds of officials, including judges, all in an attempt to end all the progress Trump has made before the mid-term election. This action by Democrats is truly seditious. Trump has to clean house, getting rid of Sessions, Rod Rosenstein, Mueller, Christopher Wray, the whole lot of them.

Our judicial system is being exposed as completely corrupt. This cannot end well.

Leave it to the Democrat Media to put on that salacious, vicious, and vile "dinner" last week. We saw a sluttish "comedian" destroy the remnants of respect for the "Drive By Media".

I'm too disgusted to prolong this column.

(above) Deputy Taylor Lindsey and Sgt. Noel Ramirez.

There is, as always, an overload of things to talk about.

But I have to start by expressing my heart-felt condolences to the families who have suffered this horrendous loss. These, now outrageously too frequent, murders make me almost physically sick to think about. These two young outstanding deputies represent an enormous loss to society. These Florida officers were assassinated as they were having breakfast. They can no longer serve as they did to keep us safe from the criminal element which killed them.

Rest in peace Sgt. Noel Ramirez and Deputy Taylor Lindsey.

***

DRUDGE reports that the so-called migrant caravan has reached our border. This is an outrageous invasion of our sovereign nation. It's reported that these people are from Honduras. America is being overrun as European nations have been, with catastrophic cultural results. It's time to get that wall finished, and to seriously punish Mexico for facilitating this outrage. Only those who refuse to put America's safety first promote this invasion of illegal, un-vetted people.

Ask the people of once-tranquil Sweden how they like their new neighbors, and France, and Germany. The world order is being overthrown, which can only bring chaos.

Orderly, legal immigration is one thing; massive illegal migration is another. The latter is destabilizing our fundamental values as a Judeo-Christian culture. Diversity for the sake of diversity is an explosive, illogical, Liberal nostrum. Diversity is, per se, illogical in public affairs, but it sure brings in the liberal vote. There is something unnatural about an artificially homogenized society.

For its complicity in facilitating this latest border attack, Mexico should be body-slammed with tariffs.

Yeah, I can already hear that half-wit in the back of the room shouting "Racist!" That's to be expected these days. But normal, rational people know that's just more fake news. That phalanx of liberal lawyers landing at the border to assist with the invasion? They're just flies buzzing the picnic.

***

I don't know yet whether Mike Pompeo will get in as Secretary of State. If he does, it will be a triumph for us all. He is perhaps the most talented and distinguished civil servant in our nation. First in his class at West Point, and first at Harvard Law, he is precisely the man we need at State. Conservatives should pray for that to happen. What did John Kerry or Hillary Clinton do to deserve that distinction?

I'm out of time - but I've managed to get myself in enough trouble for now.

After nearly 60 years of Communist captivity, the people of Cuba await another dictator, Miguel Diaz-Canel. The small island, under the sole proprietorship of the Castro family all that time, reflects shame on the United States. For 60 years we have been unable to free the Cuban people from Marxist slavery, only 90 miles from Florida.

Every CIA effort has failed miserably, leaving this nefarious Marxist leftover as an affront to freedom. The Bay of Pigs disaster was a massive, startling, bloody failure of CIA intelligence, and all of its efforts thereafter to rid Cuba of Fidel Castro, only further embarrassments.

To this day Cuba is tightly aligned with Russia and China as an outpost for enemy intelligence, much like Panama quickly became a Chinese outpost immediately following Jimmy Carter's dim-witted gift of the Canal to Panama. That gave China power points on both eastern and western shores, also boosting the drug trade. Jimmy Carter was, and is, a well-meaning fool.

Miguel Diaz-Canel is the sole candidate to be Cuba's president because there are no free elections in Communist countries, as we should know by now.

Has there been anything good about Cuba since the former dictator Fulgencio Batista packed his money bags and fled the island in 1959? Things immediately went from bad to worse. The only memories I can recall are murder, imprisonment, and the ubiquitous stenciled image of the infamous Argentine Marxist Che Guevara. I prefer the photo of his bullet-riddled body taken by the Bolivian Army - similar to Pablo Escobar's. Something tells me that had Donald Trump been in charge of retaking Cuba it would have been a free and happy place for the last 60 years. Maybe we should try again?

*****

This nation is headed for a revolutionary-Constitutional conflict. Not since the Revolutionary War between loyalists and rebels has there been such a hate-filled standoff. The radical Liberal Deep State with its supporters seeks to change our Constitutional base; it wants a "living" Constitution which they can modify to suite their emotional needs. The country is truly divided, nearly in half, with conservatives determined to protect the original meaning of the Constitution, the original intent of our Founding Fathers.

I read today that the New York Attorney General seeks to "bypass the presidential power to pardon." This is typical of the radical Left's attempt to change Constitutional law to suit their individual emotional needs. The effort has rarely been so strong. This was never a problem for the Left when Bill Clinton was disgracing the office. Remember his very last act in office? It was a pay-for-pardon of Marc Rich, the fugitive international commodities trader. Appalling and disgusting as it was, Republicans did not demand the limiting of presidential pardon.

Liberals will continue to twist our Constitution until they succeed in wringing all of the original sense out of it.

The blaring red headline on top of today's DRUDGE REPORT declares "Comey Calls Trump Mob Boss". My first thought was to remember that James Comey, as a mob member himself, may just be envious.

As the painful facts of FBI, CIA, and Justice Department criminal collusion reveal, I would not trust James Comey to water my dog, as the saying goes. His behavior before, during, and after his tenure as 7th Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, despite liberal political accolades, shows him to be a spectacular Machiavellian agent for that swampy Deep State.

Our country is faced with critical threats growing out of an unprecedented conspiracy to destroy President Trump's administration. Nothing paranoid in recognizing this threat because this fear is rational, based on empirical facts.

Look at the determined forces at play, most related to Obama administration holdovers, and outrageously foolish advise provided to the President concerning administrative appointments in the early months of his administration.

Add to this the (also unprecedented) bias of 90 percent of the media - virtually all liberal. The anti-Trump hate is deep and broad. Virtually all Democrat law-makers attack Trump, and many Republicans as well.

The worst single mistake made was to appoint Jeff Sessions to DOJ. As Attorney General he is a flaming disaster which cannot be put out without poisonous political fallout. His unnecessary recusal started the domino effect, cheered-on by deputy Rod Rosenstein, who dutifully brought in Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, turning him loose with plenary powers and no direction. He's the pig rooting for the magic truffle.

There is a real possibility now for a violent national political insurgency in the Leftist attempt to unseat a duly elected president.

The FBI's Christopher Wray is untrustworthy. A look at swamp creatures such as retired James Clapper (who perjured himself on TV) is galling. Clapper's job was to oversee Comey's FBI and 16 other intelligence agencies, including the CIA and NSA. Then there's John Brennan, formerly at CIA, and other swampers like Loretta Lynch, Eric Holder (of Fast and Furious fame), etc.

America is at a life-and-death moment, with international military threats at hair trigger.

We must defend our President or let our Constitutional Republic collapse.

I keep thinking about Explorer 1, our satellite launched in 1977 which entered interstellar space in 2012, now the farthest man-made object from earth. It is more than 13 billion miles away. No human can reasonably comprehend such a distance. Imagine we are at the "front" of a light beam following Voyager 1's trajectory (no rest stops or obstructions on the way) with light traveling at 186,000 miles per SECOND. In one year on that beam we would be 5.9 TRILLION miles from earth - greatly overshooting Voyager's mere 13 billion. That sure is way out there. But, in terms of distance from our earth, even this is a sort of walk in the celestial park. Scientists have recently discovered the most distant star in God's playground (ironically) described by NASA as being "more than halfway across the universe...." This comment leaves me wondering about the other "half".

It's "an enormous blue star nicknamed Icarus - the farthest individual star ever seen.” Next to Voyager's 13-billion miles, Icarus is 9-billion (not miles) but LIGHT-YEARS away. Maybe if objects could travel at the speed of thought? No, that would still be limited by imagination. Despite the power of science, it's still frustrating sometimes to have to endure human limitations. But, the most sophisticated science is merely peeking into the Divine Creator's handiwork.

So far, science has not told us how much farther beyond Icarus God's universe goes. Maybe our trip to Icarus on that beam of light, some 9-billion light-years away from our unique earth, could enlighten us to the truth of creation.

Science is a wonderful thing, no doubt. The dividing line among those who admire it's power is the issue of creation. Most scientists today scoff at the thought of the Divine. A few recognize their intellectual limitations and humble themselves. Stephen Hawking was not one to value the virtue of humility, especially when confronted with Divine Creation. He had a great mind which, I'm sure, was finally enlightened when he passed away recently. He gave us many new insights on the structure of our universe but refused to acknowledge its Creator. It's hard for me to understand how anyone can perceive the utterly exquisite details of our universe without bowing to its Creator.

Some of Stephen Hawking's predictions were, from a Judeo-Christian perspective, insane. Only the Creator will determine the end of the world He created.

The Second Coming By William Butler Yeats:
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.

Ireland's most famous poet emotes the story of America's condition today though it was written shortly after WWI. Particularly striking: "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."

All that passionate intensity has infested the brain of Master David Hogg, the 18-year-old Parkland school high school student who witnessed the recent Florida shooting. It's said that "As the twig is bent, so grows the tree." His parents and school staff have apparently bent this twig to the breaking point, extolling his energetic ignorance and vicious, foul-mouthed condemnations of our hard fought Constitution, Bill of Rights, and those patriot-citizens who defend them. Hogg's demand: that firearms in America be confiscated to prevent gun violence.

Master Hogg has become the poster child for the Deep-Swamp-Left. He's the progeny of Soros, Bloomberg and a twisted education system. He displays the enthusiasm and hyper-emotion of a Hitler Youth member in pre-WWII Berlin, in disarming its enemies, as though we had no Second Amendment to our Constitution.

The entire Hogg interview is well described by one consumer: "David Hogg's profanity-laced rant was so obnoxious, arrogant and deranged..." that YouTube is apparently cleaning-up these foul tirades to protect his public image.

The whole Children's Crusade which took place last week in DC was clearly orchestrated by various Liberal Left organizations. Most kids knew little or nothing about the issues. How much support would these same school authorities give to a Pro-Life march of the same dimension? A move to take away the 350-million firearms from American hands would save no one. A Pro-Life effort to end the life of Planned Parenthood would save millions of vibrant lives - and help take back the shameful funding of that killing company to the tune of $500,000,000 (That's a HALF-BILLION)! Remember - Trump started out to defund Planned Parenthood.

To top-off this week's ugly news, retired, super liberal, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has called for the repeal of our Second Amendment, which, I fear, would instigate an insurrection, with those 350-million firearms being raised in dissent.

It's not too much of an exaggeration to conclude that America's greatest threats to liberty are due to radical-Liberal ideas. Our Founders were liberal in the preservation of liberties. They were all about securing our Rights, not taking them away. Beside our Founding thinkers, Master David, you are a pissant.

Benjamin Franklin was prescient, again, when he told us that we had a Republic - if we can keep it. I'm sure he meant keep ALL of it.

It's with a leaking roof and short staff that we begin this edition.
Thank you Lord for the rain. Maybe drought conditions will soon be ended.

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The Austin, Texas bomber, 24-Year-Old Mark Anthony Conditt, has killed himself with his own bomb as FBI and police closed in. Good riddance. Prayers to those killed and wounded.

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Forces determined to destroy President Trump are also closing in. The irony of condemning him for an alleged extra marital affair, supposed to have occurred some 12 years ago, is stunning. The Dems and Never Trumpers have coddled the most infamously criminal and immoral political couple in American history - the Clintons. Their attitude towards the Clintons, especially that old horndog, Bill, exudes a truly poisonous hypocrisy. Bill was actually impeached but the Dem. congress lacked the cojoness to complete the job of trying him. Bill was also credibly accused of rape, while in office.

Trump may share allegations of improper conduct years ago, but nothing like Clinton. If you dig a little into Hillary's background (records from her Secret Service bodyguards) her disgusting behavior is clear. Her behavior was so bad that being assigned to her security detail was considered a sort of punishment in the Secret Service. This is a matter of record.

So if hypocrisy were explosive the Democrat Party would be a pile of ash.

Normal citizens should stand up for our President; he is attempting to save this country from the enemies and threatening activity surrounding us. It is outrageous that we have to listen to pornography queen Stormy Daniels and her hungry defenders.

This country is in great peril - when will we become serious?

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A little good news:
Rocklin High School students are using social media to organize a pro-life walkout using the hashtag #life. With so many public school teachers weaponizing their students to promote liberal agendas, it's consoling to hear some schools express their love of life! "Rocklin High School students [Sacramento] are using social media to organize a pro-life walkout using the hashtag #life “To honor all the lives of aborted babies pretty much. All the millions of aborted babies every year,” said organizer Brandon Gillespie."

The great scientist Stephen Hawking has passed away. He popularized science for the world, and was responsible for many extraordinary discoveries. He knew more than the rest of the world about the universe but didn't recognize its Creator.
Rest in peace Dr. Hawking. Now you really understand our universe.

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There was a time when I admired Rand Paul. That time has passed. He has become the Republican Party's Chief RINO. This time around he says he will block Mike Pompeo's appointment to Secretary of State. Mr. Pompeo is perhaps the brightest and most effective public servant we have. His short experience as CIA Director will sharpen his skills at State. Every effort should be made to secure his appointment.

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"Gina Cheri Haspel is an American intelligence officer serving as the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency". Rand Paul has vowed to block her appointment as well.

She's a great pick for this position. Women should cheer her as first of her kind to be appointed to Director.
Solution to Paul's blockade? Leave her in as Deputy Director and keep the Director position empty. She could be something like a Director without portfolio - but with full powers!

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Putin is a thug, but more than that, he's a serial killer. Britain should hurt him as much as possible by cutting financial ties. And, Trump should follow, extending the financial pain.

Just in: "We will freeze Russian state assets wherever we have the evidence that they may be used to threaten the life or property of UK nationals or residents," May said.

Russia today can be described as a third world nation with a first world military. It has an economy smaller than that of Canada. We should break Putin's bloody Russia like we broke the decrepit Soviet Union - economically.

The good news continues regarding our outdoor mailboxes. The city responded very quickly to reconstructing the mailbox island to the rear of the post office. The old concrete base was taken out and was replaced with fresh material. Four bollards were sunk to protect the boxes and were painted and stripped wit reflective tape. The city also stripped the pavement front and back so that it is now highly visible.

Postmaster Bill Thompson then replaced one of the two boxes, freshly painted. The Assistant Postmaster did not know when the second box is expected to be installed but I'm confident it will be soon.

This whole mailbox replacement undertaking has to go down as a model of Fillmore government efficiency. Kudos again to Fillmore City Manager David Rowlands and Postmaster Bill Thompson for a job well done!

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Just an up-date on the malfunctioning Parkview Apartment elevator. I'm told that it has finally been fixed, after a wait of two weeks. We'll see how long this fix lasts.

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I don't know how President Trump's move to place tariffs on steel and aluminum will work. Many people warn of trade wars and point to historical bad outcomes from tariffs. But the trade deficits for America have been absurdly high with China, especially since the U.S. conferred Most Favored Nation (MFN) status on China in 1980. "This exempted Chinese exports to the United States from the high tariff rates stipulated by the Smoot-Hawley Act of June 1930, a measure that was long used to distinguish friends from foes among U.S. trading partners."

When President Nixon decided that Communist China was no longer a foe, he officially ended the U.S. trade embargo on China in 1971. America's change of heart and mind concerning China was a typical liberal move, though instigated by a notoriously conservative Republican. For the past 40 years objective observers can see the catastrophic results.

Soft-headed politicians believed that freeing China from former embargos and tariffs would convert the Communists to democracy by showing them the blessings of democratic trade. Of course these liberal politicians didn't understand Mao's indelible, Godless Communist ideology. So, the Chinese, being an intelligent people, jumped at the opportunity, and, "while forty years ago China’s Gross National Product was only about 7 percent of that of the United States, in 2012 China exceeded the United States as the largest trading nation in the world..." (Quotes from Asia-Pacific Journal).

(Please see Pat Buchanan's recent column: Fatal Delusions of Western Man - March 1, 2018).

But, back to the tariffs. The American government, regardless of who is in power, has never understood what they are up against. Not only in China, but in Russia, Iran, North Korea, and all true Islamic nations under sharia law, the ideology is imperishable, except through war. These nations will never peacefully coexist with America or other democratic lands, and it is foolishness to believe otherwise. They trade peacefully as long as it is to their advantage in advancing their particular ideologies.

Germany, Japan, and Italy traded with us until their ideologies at that time demanded they attack. The only choice democratic nations had was to destroy our enemies, to the tune of hundreds of millions of deaths. Then of course China and Russia murdered hundreds of millions of their own people to strengthen their grip. Mao and Stalin were consummate killers. Nothing has changed except the stage of political opportunity for each of these ideologies. When they are satiated with sufficient western benefits they will attack - as always, in their attempts to conquer the world. Communism and fundamentalist Islam in particular have always aimed at that goal. That is the essence of their being. And deceit is a major tool for both.

China and Russia have been arming for war. Steel and aluminum are essential war materials. China makes more than 50 percent of the world's steel and continues to build steel works. It is using these stockpiled materials in their enormous effort to accumulate ships, planes, rockets, missiles, and in furthering research and development of new offensive weapons. This is not a secret, both Putin and Xi Jinping boast of their offensive military capabilities. Xi Jinping has just appointed himself, essentially, President for Life - in the mode of Mao Zedong, perhaps the greatest butcher of human life in human history. Vladimir Putin has also manipulated his place as President for Life in Russia.

Putin boasts he can destroy the U.S. Navy in a few hours. China now has the largest armed force in the world. Its attitude is clear in their hostile, absolute claims to the South China Sea.

I've wondered from the issue of tariffs, but the point is we trust these enemy nations at our absolute peril. China, in particular, produces steel far beyond their needs and has almost destroyed America's steel industry. Tariff away!

Incidentally, you hot earth people should know China builds new coal-fired steel plants every day.

My congratulations to our Police Chief Dave Wareham who is retiring after 32-years of service, and Max Pina after 53-years of service. Two unbelievably stand-up men. We all wish you both happy and productive retirements. Now it's time for the grandkids!

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I'm concerned about the relentless attacks on our Second Amendment by radical liberal groups. As American culture sinks into a bottomless secular state, we are forgetting what our country is all about.

America was solidly founded on Judeo-Christian law and ethics. You can read about it in our Constitution and its amendments, especially in our Bill of Rights. However hard the liberal Left tries to stretch the basic intent of our founding documents (while hiding under those deceptive "penumbras"), citizens familiar with real life logic should not be fooled.

"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" means exactly what it says. Clever liberals have always sought to destroy this particular amendment by a process of slow exceptions and regulations. But an infringement by any other name in this context is still unconstitutional. Finding a continuous stream of "reasonable" regulations of the Second Amendment amounts to death by a thousand cuts. Since liberals know they will never be able to get rid of this amendment totally they seek to weaken it, condemning firearms as inherently too dangerous for the average American citizen. These people would have been Loyalists during our Revolutionary War. They want America to be converted into some species of England or Australia where firearms are not allowed, where they have been confiscated.

The issue of firearms in America has revealed a deep constitutional rift between Liberals and conservatives. Right now, conservatives who ardently defend our right to keep and bear arms are on the defensive. Liberals who control 90 percent of the country's media are on the attack, frightening even large corporations into cutting off support to the National Rifle Association. The NRA has been actively involved in promoting the shooting sports to youth since 1903. It is the oldest and most distinguished of such organizations.

In full disclosure, I am, and have been for many years, a life member of the NRA. Its motto is "Freedom's Safest Place". This organization provides numerous firearms safety programs, especially for our youth. Enemies of our Second Amendment constantly misrepresent its purpose. A great American, the late former Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia, had this to say about this Amendment:

"...indeed, the right to have arms for personal use (including self-defense)was regarded at the time of the Framing as one of the fundamental rights of Englishmen, described as such by Blackstone, and found in the explicit guarantee of the English Bill of Rights of 1689." Later, "...the Stuart kings had destroyed the people's militia, not by disbanding it, but by disarming those of its members whom they disfavored." Also: It is necessary to judge according to the written law - period." These quotes are taken from the book "Scalia Speaks", with a foreword (believe it or not) by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who was a close friend of Scalia's.

So, if one of the true giants of our Supreme Court clings to his right to keep and bear his arms, maybe liberals should take heed. This is a wonderful book which I heartily recommend. It references the Justice's love of hunting, especially turkeys. He also reminisces about his early childhood, when he, as a member of a school rifle team, regularly took his .22 rifle to school, after taking it on public transportation. His recollection precisely recalls a similar time in my youth, when several students took their .22 rifles to school as part of a rifle team. No one paid much attention.

But our culture has changed today, for the worse. The proper exercise of our right to keep and bear arms has never been more important, and respect and support for those individuals and groups who defend this right, like the NRA, is absolutely important. At least a boycott of companies that are disassociating from the NRA should be undertaken.

America is an exceptional country and one of the things that makes it so is our Second Amendment which secures our right to keep and bear arms.

Rev. Billy Graham has passed away at age 99. Though I am not a member of his denomination, I have listened to and admired him for decades. I have always been struck by the purity, clarity, and persistence of his mission.

I don't have to ask that he rest in peace - I'm sure he's already there.

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After another soul-crushing killing spree at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the usual angry confrontation has begun between liberals and conservatives. How to protect our children from mentally disturbed actors like Nikolas Cruz? That is the issue.

Had he used a knife or a bomb, Jihadist style, we would not be seeking to eliminate knifes from public use, though schools would be protected from both, The issue of school safety must be addressed by "hardening" campus areas as Israel has done since the 1970s, when jihadists were attacking their schools with murder in mind. Israel has highly trained and properly armed guards who scrutinize everyone entering school zones. This method quickly ended the bloody Muslim attacks.

Liberal Americans always react to such shooting attacks by demanding firearms confiscation or prohibition, overlooking the obvious logical impossibility of success. They also fail to understand that such prohibitions are direct "infringements" of our fundamental Constitutional (Second Amendment) right “to keep and bear arms." In the face of a movement to prohibit a species of firearm (the AR 15) the American citizen (patriot) must stand to uphold that right. America is not Australia or England, where firearms are prohibited and seen as something evil. In America the citizen is protected from any federal government attempt to take away or infringe upon his right to keep and bear arms. But that protection is always in need of protection itself.

James Madison was a wise man. He foresaw this threat and created the Second Amendment to enable the citizen the ability to arm himself for self-defense and in order to protect against usurpation by the federal government. All of the liberal emotion engendered by the outrageous Florida attack must not affect our liberties as clearly established in our Bill of Rights. Another way, rather than prohibiting a firearm, must be found. The Israelis found that way by "hardening" school grounds.

All of the school and policing agencies utterly failed in this horrendous Florida event. The actor couldn't have had a more obvious criminal profile. No one did anything to prevent the bloodshed.

Don't blame the firearm for those should-have-been-responsible agencies.

America is the last truly free nation on earth - exemplified by our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms for self-defense and defense against the misuse of government power. No other nation on earth has established that sacred right.

I think the persistent move to restrict or confiscate firearms in America can lead to another, true revolution. Prohibiting firearms to law-abiding American citizens will never succeed in restraining criminals. Criminals will never comply with the law - that is the crux of the problem.

And, law-abiding citizens will always have a need for self defense against the criminal, be it man or government.

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I've just learned that President Trump has come out against the so-called "Bump Stock" which can simulate full auto fire from a simi-auto rifle. I think most firearms friendly people won't have objections to this, as long as this action isn't the prelude to more restrictions (a common fear). Most firearms enthusiasts have long since lost all trust in government on gun matters.

This stock has only been a gimmick until now. For almost all serious shooters this thing is an expensive ammo-waster, and ammo is expensive. Actually, the function of this stock can be easily replicated in other, simple ways. Still a gimmick, so let it go.