The "Fulda Gap"

I've recently learned that the core Top Secret piece of our Country's war plans from a generation ago have been declassified.  That makes it now possible for me to relate an incident you might find of interest...

I commented to family members more than 100 days ago that if the invasion of Ukraine lasts more than two weeks, it could go on for five years.  And my training and experience in the Army gave my prediction some legitimacy.

I was stationed in West Germany during the Vietnam era.  I was involved tangentially with those who engaged in war planning, with special emphasis given to a more-than-likely full-scale tank invasion from East Germany.  Across the so-called "Fulda gap."  That's the lowland area through the center of Germany the Soviets would have had to use to achieve a land bridge to the Rhine River.  From which they could attack the rest of the Allied forces, and the rest of Europe.  

Those "allied forces" ... was mainly us.  The poor bastards we had stationed in often knee-deep mud waaay out in the boonies, camped out, sleeping on the ground were the ones who would man our tanks and if necessary, fight back. Everyone got under their desks when these guys got a three-day pass into town after thirty days' in purgatory.  They were to be the "Tip of the Spear."  And based upon their ability to terrorize an entire German city, I'd hate to have been on the receiving end.  

Our tanks were lined up cheek by jowl from north to south at strategic points over an 80 mile area.  All facing east.  Pointed at all the big T-32 and later T-52 and T-54 Tiger tanks from the Soviet Union.  Big, ugly, loud.  What they lacked in sleek design and manufacturing excellence they made up for in sheer bulk and weight.  They were all pointed west.  At us.  And there were thousands of them.  One thing about it, those fun-loving Soviets didn't lack for volume!  That was what we called a "Mexican Standoff."  The only question was, who were the Mexicans?

They had more than 120,000 hardened troops assembled just across the Fulda Gap.  We couldn't sustain that troop level (remember, at the time we had more than 62,000 active-duty soldiers in W. Germany anyway!).  But we had to figure a way to parry their thrust should it come to that.  Should the "balloon go up," so to speak.  In a way that would enable us to "have our cake and eat it too," preferably.  To be ready to meet our enemy on the battlefield without having to pay for a sustained buildup.  To act like we had a wartime stance, without having to pay a wartime price.  Politically, economically or physically.  

And that's why plans were devised for potentially the second biggest troop movement and deployment over the shortest period of time in American history.  

You may be familiar with the C-5M.  That's the current iteration of the biggest cargo plane we've ever built.  And boy, is it enormous!  If you've never seen one up close, you just cannot imagine how yuuuuge it really is.  You could probably put together a pretty fair soccer game in one, together with the bleachers and the hot dog stand.  You may recall the picture of the plane taking off from Afghanistan during Uncle Joe's disastrous surrender while dozens of those poor souls were still hanging on.  That was a C-5M.  It held 845 people that day.  Plus the ones on the wings.  Ahem.  Double its intended maximum capacity.  Well, that was to be our "secret weapon."  And we planned to use them 24 hours-a-day.

Upon word of an impending invasion, and we'd have a few days' advance notice, our troops would amass at one of three American Army bases; Fort Lewis, WA, Fort Riley, KS, or Fort Dix, NJ.  And then they'd be ferried to the C-5's warming up on the tarmac nearby and told to buckle up.  They'd be flown non-stop to Stuttgart, the closest major airport to Germersheim Army Depot.  From whence they'd pick up their rolling stock (jeeps, 2 1/2 ton trucks, tanks, tank retrievers, and, of course, other "party favors" as needed (ahem!).  All polished up and waiting.  For quite possibly the End of the World...

Each of these sky ferries had been prepared by the Communications Zone-Europe (COM-Z) for the job.  Each plane was scheduled to ferry more than 500 combat-ready troops, plus a couple of jeeps or a helicopter.  They'd "kneel down" upon landing, unload, and be fueled-up and sent back to America.  This was to be accomplished in a half-hour or less with the plane leaping back in the air.  With mid-air refueling then performed at least twice by our Air Force friends each way, back and forth.  The C-5A could cruise at nearly 600 mph and at almost 40,000 feet.  We had fewer than 30 C-5's assigned to the Army's effort at the time, but with rotating air crews we planned to keep them all in the air, all around the clock.

Just think about that for a minute...

I'll never forget the first time I got up close and personal to a C-5A.  I walked up to one of its 28 tires, stretched my right arm up above my head as high as I could, stood on my tippy-toes...and still couldn't touch the top.  This plane made me proud to be an American!

And they would never shut off, until either the job was done, or we were done.  At least 96 hours in the air, non-stop, around-the-clock.

We held exercises to prepare for this possible eventuality, called "Carbide Ice," and "Operation Reforger, I and II."  We knew that if we were successful in manning a credible response to Soviet aggression it could well result in a trench warfare reminiscent of World War One.  I can't say much more about that phase of my life, but I can say that you're about to see another trench war unfold in Eastern Ukraine.  Tanks throwing 155m shells at each other from miles away while their soldiers fight hand-to-hand in the streets.  Just like Stalingrad during WWII.  Trust me, it's going to get ugly.  Even uglier than it's already been.

Maybe what the Ukrainians need are a few C-5's.  They sure were a "silver bullet" for us back then...  

The Law of Unintended Consequences...

You may have missed the press conference the diminutive would-be dictator from the Great White North foisted upon his fellow Canadians on May 23rd.

In it he referenced the awful massacre that occurred in Uvalde, TX.  Our awful massacre.  And stated that Canada needed to respond forcefully by passing a brand-new law confiscating all handguns.  Every one of them.  And ceasing to sell any more of them.  Ever.  He'd already outlawed so-called "assault weapons," so defending oneself in Canada has been getting ever more difficult.  But now, because of Uvalde, which has nothing at all to do with Canada, or Canadians, or the method our deranged illegal alien Hispanic high school drop-out used to murder little kids, or the absolutely abject failure law enforcement displayed in their defense, it should suffice as a reason to confiscate their firearms.  Like his miniscule fellow socialist dictator did in New Zealand did last year.  And the dweebs in Australia had it done to them in 1990.  Because a deranged fool shot up a campground Australians had to give up their guns.    

It's sort of like, wait for a massacre, call a press conference, demand a new anti-gun law.  It's amazing how much more compliant an unarmed society can be, am I right?

So the tiny authoritarian bozo "up there" said he needed Canada's parliament to pass this legislation immediately!  Stop selling handguns!  Post haste, doncha' know.    

Welll, there's a thing called the "Law of Unintended Conseqences."  And I'm guessing that guy who'd prefer to appear in Blackface has become intimately familiar with it over the past few days.  Because during the first few days following the Prime Minister's demand, every single gun store in Canada sold out.  And there's a line out the door waiting for the next shipment to arrive.  Hoping to snag one before their government renders them unprotected... 

Like in Chicago. 

And let me add, this sell-out is in spite of Canada's extremely rigid requirements to acquire one.  A would-be gun owner must  obtain at least three letters from police or other law enforcement officials up there attesting to one's character, be forced to engage in a long and expensive application process, take a firearm safety course, and then wait for their Gubmint to process it.  Which can take months.  Even so, the handguns are flying out of the stores.  Again, as of this morning, every store in the entire Serfdom of Canada was sold out!

Example, if you're still paying attention.  The biggest (and only) gun store in Vancouver, B.C. sold out in three days.  100 pistols.  More than they usually sell in three months!

Trudeau may replace Obama as the Greatest Gun Salesman of All Time!

I don't think Herr Trudeau had this sort of response to his demand in mind.  And it makes me think that their Parliament might actually tell this guy to pound sand and let their fine country go back to normal.  Assuming he hasn't been recalled our voted out or run out of town on a rail by then.  

And just so you have something to contrast all this gun-grabbing with, I called Turner's, my local gun store here in Temecula, to see how their sales are going.  "Matt" told me there's a line out the door.  Seems our Mumbler-in-Chief's" ramblings about outlawing "AR-style" rifles has caused their already vibrant sales to skyrocket.  And to rid us of the "plague of 9mm pistols," he said.  They're sold out as well...

Maybe O'Biden and Trudeau can get together and do a Vaudeville skit.  In Blackface... 

Remember:  They do not have a 2nd Amendment up there.  They have no RIGHT to buy or own or use a firearm.  Unlike  we do here in America.  The only Country on Earth with the RIGHT to protect oneself by keeping and bearing arms written into the fabric of its Constitution.  And reaffirmed now for the Third time by our Supreme Court.  Be damn thankful you live here.  Whether you choose to own a firearm or not, continue to fight like Hell against anyone or any group that tries to take the Right from you.  Like the Democrats are doing up on Capitol Hill.  

The Canadians, now can't.  We can... 

"Demand Destruction"

You might not know that I, The Chuckmeister, your friend and mine, am a graduate economist.  Yes, among my other attributes, I know stuff about economics.  Now I should point out that not knowing about stuff has never kept me from opining, usually with great clarity and reason (ahem!).  But actually knowing whereof I speak enables me to pontificate with authority.  So for those who are befuddled about this fustercluck of an economy, I thought I'd come up with an analogy to help you sort things out:

There's this bakery I dearly love that's about 7 miles from Fortress Chuckmeister.  It ooooozes warm, cuddly "umami" smells that are worth their weight in..., well, are just lovely.  And they bake this particular cookie that is the honest and honorable citizen's version of crack cocaine.  It's called "Salted Carmel Dream" and boy is it.  One bite and you're hooked forever.  They come six discus-sized cookies to the bag, and the bag goes out at the dear cost of $11.50 per.  

I should add about here that it was $10.00 a bag forever, until Joe O'Biden mumbled his way into orifice.  

Anyhoo, they only produce this delicacy on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  And on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays my cookie sensor kicks in and I start thinking about hopping in the old steed and cruising on down to my favorite bakery.  And snagging some of those overpriced, but over-luscious cookies.  I even conjure up reasons.  Is there a car wash on the way?  Do I need to pick up a prescription nearby?  I'm even so paranoid about it I call ahead and have them put a couple of bags aside for the old Chuckmeister.  Thinking ahead.  Works every time.

But then, reality kicks in.  Sooo, since my trusty steed is pretty thirsty around town, I just computed it would cost me about $10.00 in gas for the round-trip to buy my cookies.  And if you add in the cost of the confection, we're talking $21.50 a bag here folks!  Now, I can b.s. myself into thinking that six cookies are worth $11.50. but they sure as Hell aren't worth $21.50!  So, like the lady who goes to the supermarket, picks up an item, stares at the price, puts it back down, turns and walks away, I decide to alter my thinking.  To adopt the mantle of Scarlett in "Gone with the wind," and decide I'm not going to think about those cookies today.  I'm going to think about them tomorrow...

Now, pay attention here, I never, ever thought about the cost of the motion lotion it would take for cart my fat arse back and forth to the bakery prior to this past year's rapid run-up in the price of gas.  Never, ever...

And that, faithful Patriot, is the real-world definition of "Demand destruction."  The cost rises so high the product or service no longer sells.  Be advised we may hear about Apple and Tesla and Toyota being the big movers and shakers in our economy, but you and I, fellow Patriots, your and I are good for a full 70% of our total economy.  And the sale of new Ford F-150 pickups, long my go-to yardstick for economic activity, was down 3.7% last month.  For the first month-over-month drop in more than two decades...

When we stop spending due to "Demand Destruction," the very next step may well be a snap-back recession.  Or, perhaps worse.  As the lady once said, "Fasten your seat belts.  It's gonna' be a bumpy ride..."

One Year's Experience...

I was at one time the National Sales Manager of a large-ish medical equipment manufacturing company.  One of my many accomplishments.  Many.  Ahem...

I was appointed to that position in their hope that I could turn that company's fortunes around after several losing years.  I was up the challenge.

I started by firing 90% of their sales staff.  They were boils on the butt of humanity.  The reason they hadn't done well is their sales force was bupkus.  That meant I had to replace them.  I had a team running ads for me in major market newspapers to solicit resumes from top sales candidates (the way it was done back in those pre-Internet days).  With me then parachuting in out of the sky to scoop up the resumes and conduct the interviews.  I conducted more than 200 interviews in eight cities in four months during that effort.  (Whew!!!)  And here is the experience I had during one of those interviews...

I welcomed a candidate for the sales position out of Dallas into my hotel room that day.  The sales jobs I was filling were top-tier.  I wanted only experienced performers.  Those ready to grab the brass ring and prove their mettle.  No newfers, thank you.  So this guy steps in and tries to immediately take control of the interview.  He preened with confidence, attempting to convince me he's the only guy for the job.  Plus he dripped with that Texas twang that's so endearing on a hot babe, and so utterly puke-inducing on a guy in a suit.  

He kept bragging about having ten years' experience selling his widgets, as if that in and of itself was somehow important.  His demeanor so reeked with self-assurance that it irritated me.  And I'm big on self-assurance, and hard to irritate!  So I decided to pull out my "Secret Weapon."  And it's a Weapon that worked for me then, and could be used by us voters now, as you'll soon see...

I closed my notebook and put down my pen.  I said to him, "Let's stop the interview for a moment and discuss "experience."  I said, "You've made it a point to emphasize your ten years' experience.  But I'm interested in knowing, were those really ten years' experience, or was that one year's experience repeated ten times?"

Well, he didn't know how to respond.  Most of us wouldn't, frankly.  Because we're not wired that way.  I left him dumbfounded.  We tend to think of our experience cumulatively, as opposed to sequentially.  We tend to think of who we are today instead of a more linear look at how we got here and where we're going.  We tend to think in a way that often results in the "Peter Principle." (look it up).   

And how we got here, step-by-step, is as important, so far as I'm concerned, as where we are.

BTW, that guy didn't get the job.  But Joe O'Biden, did.  O'Biden used to brag about his 40 years of experience in Gubmint.  But if you think about it sequentially, it was just good ol' Joe, hopping on the Amtrak in Baltimore, getting off at the Capitol Building, voting on any one of a thousand bills over the decades, and then back on at 6:00 p.m. clikety-clak back to Delaware that evening.  Five days a week, for 40 years.  40 years experience!  And remember, Joe graduated number 161 in his law school class!  Of 232! 

I may be wrong on that.  It might be 231... 

No, I would submit it was 1 year experience repeated 40 times.  He learned nothing new in each of those years, and now we're paying for it.  We're paying for it in our eroded national security.  And in our border security.  And in our electric bill.  And in our gas bill and mortgage payment.  And in the erosion of our savings through punishing inflation.  And of course, every time we fill up at the gas station.  All I can say is... 

...Vote better next time.

Want to End Gun Violence?

As this is written a small bipartisan group of senators is attempting to knit together a new law, or group of laws, that would serve to "reduce gun violence," and attract enough Republican votes to skirt the filibuster.

And as of this morning's news headlines, the "answer" the Senate's gang of negotiators have arrived at would not have prevented Uvalde, or Parkland, or Buffalo, Sandy Hook, or the Pulse night club, or any of the recent mass shootings. 

But notice how quickly they've packaged together a collection, a "want list" of "infringements" they think they can ram through Congress.  I predicted this in my "Somebody DO Something" posting a few weeks back.  Predictable.  These dimbulbs have moss growing on their backs from living in the Swamp for too long... 

However, I, The Chuckmeister, your Loyal Scribe Without Portfolio, have the answer to gun violence.  You ready for it?  Ready?  Here it is:

                        Arm Everybody.

That's right, I suggest we simply publish the exact text of the 2nd Amendment in bright orange letters so everybody can see it.  And then encourage everybody of legal age who meets the Fed's background check requirements to go out and buy a firearm.  Legally.  Get the necessary training, of course, but buy one.  Today!

This is made even more urgent now because of the dramatic flight of cops from Big Blue cities.  Nearly every Big Blue is suffering from that whole "Defund the Police" idiocy, resulting in a doubling of retirements and resignations, and now their citizens are paying the price.  

The citizens ALWAYS pay the price for Progressive idiocy.  The FBI just published statistics indicating that you're 86.1% more likely to die by errant gunfire in cities of 50,000 population and larger.  And cities of 50,000 and larger population are much more likely to infringe upon your firearm rights than smaller communities.  So how do we fix this mess?  

Let me take you back in time, and then you decide.

Let's say you lived back in the 1850's in Dodge City, Kansas.  And let's say you happened to wander into the Long Branch Saloon one fine day and bellied up to the bar.  And on the way you happened to bump into a particularly rough looking cowboy, still dirty from the trail, with a yuuuuuge Colt .45 on his hip.  Do you know what you would say?  You would say, "Pardon me, sir, my mistake!  And have a nice day!"  Why?  Because he was armed.  And you were armed.  And everybody else in the place was armed.  And that's why if you look back in history Dodge City's murder rate of less than one per month was half that of Philadelphia's was at that same time.  And Chicago's.  And yes, New Yawk City's.  Yes, check it out if you deign to doubt the Chuckmeister.  And shame on you in you do!

      And armed society is a polite society!!!

So while the hard-core Progressives are trying their best to empty the prisons of three-strike felons, "equity," doncha' know, and violent crime is at crisis levels, while doing their very best to disarm us, you have to ask yourself why?  Why are they refusing to prosecute those who wish to prey upon us, the citiizenry?  And why are they trying to keep us from defending ourselves?  That makes no sense to anyone...but them!

I dunno' about you, but I know when when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.  That means I'm now responsible for my own safety and protection.  And so are you.  Just wrap your arms and your mind around that simple fact and you just might live through the O'Bama Administration... 

If you think you might need more "formal" permission "to keep and bear arms," than the 2nd Amendment guarantees us all as our individual Right, that's a decision you'll have to make for yourself.  But as for me...  

    I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by six...

The "Insurrection" Follies...

A wise old gentleman told me once, "There are two kinds of people.  Those who divide people up into two kinds, and that other kind..."

That was a joke, if you hadn't guessed...  

But that logic applied to "January 6th," means there are two kinds of people: those who watched the January 6th "dust up/protest/riot/insurrection" unfold live, on TV, in front of your very eyes, and those who didn't.  And maybe I should have left a blank after January 6th, 'cause it seems everybody has a different definition for it.

Now then, because I'm retired, I watched it all unfold, minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, on January 6th, 2020.  And it was awful.  And unforgettable.  It was like watching a slow-motion train wreck.  It was obvious the Capitol Police were outmatched.  As to why, I'd like to know.  But is the 1/6 Committee investigating that?  No.  I watched the Police first usher in the protesters, and then do their best to try and later push them out.  And failed.  I worked for a time in that august building, and to see it vandalized hurts my heart.  I was ashamed for my Country.  And a bit OF my Country.  I'm sure every Patriot was...

However, there must have been a yuuuge number of us who were at work, or on vacation, or dealing drugs, or whatever, and so didn't see it live, as it happened.  And so, as a "public service," no doubt, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives has seen fit to invest some $7 million dollars of our tax money to put together a slick, Hollywood-style presentation of their version of what happened that day.  With their particular spin on it.  For all those voters who might want to know their perspective on the events of that fateful day.  Their singular perspective, with edited video and text and email messages to try and underscore their point.  A point made by 7 Democrats, and, umm, two "other" Democrats. 

Also for the first time ever.

In an effort, no doubt, to deflect public opinion away from the awful mess O'Biden's made of our economy.  Sort of like the Romans once gave their put-upon serfs the games at the Coliseum to keep their attention distracted away from their terrible lot in life.  

It worked for awhile.  But not forever, as they soon learned.    

It must be that Congressional Committee hearings will  now forever be one-sided affairs with the Party in Power presenting its version of events for a few days, in Prime Time, and then when (or if) the other Party finds its way into power in the distant future, they then can present their version.  Like what's almost certainly going to happen on the morning after the Republicans take back the House of Representatives on November 3rd.   

What's fair is fair, right?

Trust me, you're going to get sick of seeing Rep. Jim Jordan filet Democrat sycophants.  It will be pure entertainment.  At some point we'll just have to call "enough," right?  

No, we won't.

Anyway, to the point of my rant.  I'm a voracious consumer of news.  I watch it all day long.  And so I've been watching MSNBC and CNN and PBS along with my normal fare of all the Conservative news I can find.  Which isn't much.  And golly, I've come to realize that almost all of CNN/MSNBC's total broadcast menu of late now consists of "January 6th."  The "Insurrection!"  Not the riot, or the protest, the "Insurrection!"  That's just in case you missed it, I'm guessing.  Throw in some gun-control fan boy talk, and how there's lots of dissention within the ranks of the Trump orbit, and how he's most likely going to get arrested, or at the very least subpoenaed (but hopefully frog-marched out of the Justice Building to a hard, gray cell at Leavenworth), and then hand it off to the next talking head.  

Who will glumly look you in the eyes and try and tell you everything's just peachy in O'Biden's America.

No Hunter Biden at all.  He doesn't exist according to those opinion outlets.  Nor does the source of his vast wealth.  Nor does the fact good ol' Joe can't put a sentence together.  Nor does the crises at our southern border.  Or the crises over fentanyl poisonings.  Nor much about the "smash and grab" robberies all over Big Blue Cities.  Nor much about the crises over baby food, and gas, and ever water, fur' God's sake!  

In other words, they look backwards 18 months for those who missed the real thing.  (History Channel, perhaps?).  And they take 7 hearings, lasting over a period of at least 20 hours, to cover something that lasted barely a third of that time.  And they say they might add more hearings if they think they're needed!  

"The beatings will stop when your attitude improves."

Besides the hoped-for distraction, there's No question this whole uber-partisan exercise is designed to dirty up The Donald.  In the hope he's never be able to run again.  For he's their "boogey man."  The one-person who isn't tethered to D.C. machine politics.  And thus the only person they think who can throw a monkey wrench into their carefully-laid plans.  

Wait until DeSantis gets ahold of 'em...

Can't wait to see what the Republicans' one-sided, totally scripted, carefully-edited and -produced hearings will look like early next year.  I'm sure San Fran Nan Pelosi will be Jim Jordan's very first, no doubt subpoenaed witness...

900 Years...

 "I want you to look into my eyes.  I guarantee you.  I guarantee you I will end fossil fuels!"

                      Joe O'Biden, Newcastle, New Hampshire, 2019     

As the Mumbler-in-Chief prepares to go suck up to the oily sheiks in Saudi Arabia next week, begging for the oil he won't drill for here at home, I'm wondering if they'll forget he called them a "pariah nation?"

Do Muslims forget more than other races?  Or religions?  Or whatever they happen to be?  

Ahem...

Anyway, as he goes there hat-in-hand, embarrassing the Hell out of all of us, it's important for the Patriot readers of this unassuming little blog to understand he's leaving the country with the largest known oil reserves on Earth, America, to go prostrate himself (and us) in front of soulless camel jockeys.

In my humble opinion.  Which I'm eager to share.

And it's also important because we know the that of half the Country gets their news from Yahoo, Google, Twitter and Facebook, which have all admitted to censorship (omission AND commission), will likely not know the truth unless modest folks like me start banging the drum.

And here's the drum I'm banging.  Sit up, America, and take notes:

The Bakken Oil Shale Reserves are situated beneath Saskatchewan, North and South Dakota, and Wyoming.  That means, we own most of it.  According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), it has enough proven oil and gas reserves (4.5 Billion Barrels) to last us for more than 300 years.

And to continue, the Williston Basin under Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arizona (we own it) also boasts USGS proven reserves of more than 2.5 Billion Barrels, or enough to last us for more than 200 years.

Then there's the Marcellus Shale Reserves, also quite yuuuuge.  It's located under Joe O'Biden's old homestead in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  It's also under 9 other Eastern states, BTW.  The same states where all our coal is located.  And not being mined right now because of good ol' Joe's "green" policies.  And more than 100,000 UNION miners were put out of work, BTW.  To go along with the more than 100,000 put out of work by Joe's murder of the Keystone-XL Pipeline on his first day in orifice.  The USGS tells us the Williston resource up North has enough natural gas reserves (4.5 Billion Sq. Ft.) to power all of America's energy needs for more than 400 years!  Plus lots and lots and lots of oil!  Fossil Fuel!  Dead Dinosaurs!

So let's take inventory here.  200 years, plus 300 years, and another 400 years!  That's more years even than good ol' Joe has been on this Earth!  And it means the only reason he should embarrass himself - and us - by kissing the sheiks' asses is pure ol' politics.  He's afraid of his hard-Left, "sky is falling" flank.  The "AOC's" of the planet.  And we're paying the price as a result.  Every time you gas up.  And there's nobody in our so-called "MainsStream-Media" to educate the masses that they're being rudely screwed by those they trust.  Except folks like me.  Like ME!

Pity them.  And pity us...  

Black? Check! Gay? Check!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Karine Jean-Pierre, our very newest White House Press Secretary, if for no other reason than how she introduced herself on the very first minute of her very first day at work.

Actually, it's the only reason to mention her.  As you will soon see... 

She introduced herself as the very first immigrant from a nondescript Caribbean island (Martinique), who's also Black, and gay, and a woman.  And I should add at this point, whatever that is now.  

BTW, what's with all these hyphenated last names some professional women wear like a badge of courage these days?  Especially Black women?  Can't they decide between them?  Are they planning for a divorce?  And how are we to address them?  The "full monte," like Alexandria Occasional-Cortex demands, or just the last name?  Or maybe just by "Ms. Hyphen?"  Yeah, I like that.  I think I'll vote for Ms. Hyphen...

Anyway, as she said, she "ticked all the boxes."  She could have also added another box or two, that of being the first Press Secretary with a sub-three digit I.Q., which she proves every time she opens her mouth, and being kinda' cute.  Actually, I think it's more like a room temperature I.Q.

Now then, I've been to two county fairs, a state fair, an armadillo roast and a goat roping contest and I've never seen anyone as dumb as this creature.  I wasn't a big fan of Peppermint Patty who she replaced, but at least the "Single White Female" was good at her job.  Which was to spew Democrat talking points.  She's misguided, of course, as are all socialists, but she's still smart.  Dangerously so.  

Ms. Hyphen, on the other hand, answers all the questions by reading directly from a Fake Book she keeps on the lectern.  Those answers are written by somebody far smarter than is she.  In fact, if it weren't for Peter Doocy, Fox News' appointed attack squirrel, there would be no reason to attend these snooze-fests.  Mzzzzz. Hyphen is an Immigrant, she is Black, and Gay, and a woman.  And she's dumb as a bag of rocks.  God, is she dumb!   And she's hyphenated.  They could have added all of those to the boxes.

Oh yeah, and she's kinda' cute.

Check, check, and check!

Imagine if they'd found somebody with all those "attributes" but was also a dwarf?  Or perhaps suffering from the heartbreak of psoriasis?  Or a non-binary vegan who'd had a few abortions?  Or whose mom and dad owned a bakery and refused to make cakes for heterosexuals?  Or maybe somebody who could check all these boxes, too?  Ms. Hyphen would have been passed over so damn fast her Harvard pedigree would have vanished, just like her student loans.  

This "identity politics" thing can get complicated, now don't it?

But until and unless they find somebody even dumber than Ms. Hyphen, who's also a dwarf, with Psoriasis, Ms. Hyphen will just have to do.  For the 17 people, most likely from back home in Fort-de-France, who actually care what she has to say.  Most likely here mom and dad...

"...Shall Not Be Infringed."

So we closed America down tight, sent everyone home to lock the doors and pull down the shades, go into mom and dad's basement and wait...for the Government to tell us it's okay to rejoin the land of the living.  

And force our youngest to consume "Grand Theft Auto" and "World of Warcraft" and "Mortal Kombat" 24 hours a day.  Shooting nameless, faceless Bad Guys by the dozen, using our AR-15's and AK-47's, facing no pushback or public condemnation for mass murder.  

They shoot and kill the "others" with abandon, blowing clip after clip of digital ammo in a never-ending quest to improve their aim.  And thier kill rate.   Perhaps harboring deep-down thoughts of actually doing such a thing someday.  To help assuage their ever-growing pain and anger.  At life.  At their friends.  At their school.  At America.... 

We took from these just-pubescent teens the chance to interact with their friends, robbing them of the "togetherness" so necessary for young adult development.  Forcing them to turn inward, becoming more and more withdrawn.*  

What could possibly have gone wrong?   

I am amused, and frankly alarmed, each time there's a mass shooting by some disaffected loner crazed kid out there and liberals in search of increased power and a "reason" they can latch upon for all this senseless gun violence leap for the nearest microphone.  Trampling any unsuspecting citizen who happens to get the way.  To call for new and improved gun control.  So they can try and disarm us further.  In direct contravention with the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.  Which reads...

"A well regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the Right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

There are more than three hundred thousand gun laws on the books here in America, covering every aspect of firearm appearance, size, caliber, acquisition, ownership, storage, usage, transportation and collection.  In effect "infringing" upon this Right in almost every way imaginable, nibbling around the edges of a Right that shall not be infringed.   

Twenty seven words.  Only.  The very shortest of the Bill of Rights.  And the one most focused in its intent.  And that is, to make sure you know you're guaranteed the Right as an American to own and use firearms to protect yourself.  A Right which was reaffirmed by "McDonald v. City of Chicago," SCOTUS, 2008, and again by the "District of Columbia v. Heller," 2010, specifying that we have an individual, inalienable Right to keep and use firearms.  

And the words most poignant to me are the last four: "...shall not be infringed."  And it means what it says.  And that's why all the anti-gun nuts have been having such a hard time doing away with it.  Or finding a way to stop the purchase of some 3 million more of them each and every month!  Right now, today! 

Perhaps this time they'll learn start "hardening" our schools and putting $dollars into mental health awareness and screening.  The real causes of mass shootings.  And maybe they'll stop calling every school a "gun free zone," and equipping them with trained, armed teachers and staff, will any of the 100,000,000 of us who own more than 500,000,000 firearms go along with anything they come up with that "infringes" on that Right.  

I'm really sorry they permitted the tragedy at Ross Elementary to occur.  They were warned.  They ignored the warning. I'm sorry I wasn't nearby that day to blow this miscreant out of his socks before he could hurt anyone.  And I'm sorry for the next mass shooting that will surely occur.  Until they face reality.

Something they're not particular good at...

*    My minor in college was "Child and Adolescent Development."

"End of Our Democracy," Part Deux

So in case you chose to watch the Hallmark Channel, or "Forged in Fire," or the reruns of Cheers instead of last night's one-sided hit-piece on Trump, which they laughably called the "Un)Select Committee on the January 6th 'Riots,'" you had me, The Chuckmeister, your Scribe Without Portfolio, to check it out for you.*  To make sure they asked - and answered - the questions us Americans want to know.  After more than a year of investigation.  At the cost of more than $5,000,000 in Taxpayer money.  And to make sure they were fair and balanced.

They didn't.  And they weren't.

  -     I wanted to know why Speaker Pelosi refused Trump's offer to provide up to 20,000 National Guard troops to protect the Capitol on January 6th.  The question wasn't asked.

  -     I wanted to know why the Capitol Police force was at only a 50% staffing that fateful day.  The question wasn't asked.

I wanted to know why the Capitol Police opened the doors and ushered in the "protesters/rioters."  They didn't ask that question.

  -     I wanted to know why there were reported to be a dozen or more FBI agents in the crowd, inciting it to enter the Capitol and break the law.  And if true, I wanted to know who they were and why they were there.  The question wasn't asked.

  -     I wanted to know why nobody slapped back the statement from the Capitol Police woman who was injured in the attack when she stated unequivocally that Officer Brian Sicknick's death was directly related to January 6th.  Even though he died days later.  From a stroke.  Even the coroner stated his death was unrelated to 1/6!  Yet, she was permitted to slander the protesters and sully Sicknick's death.  Letting us all in on the Committee's true purpose.

  -     I also wanted to know why there are still some 400 "protesters" still in the Capitol Jail.  And with what they've been charged.  Or even if they've been charged with a crime at all.  We cannot hold people in solitary confinement for more than a year without "reasonable articulable suspicion" that they've committed a crime.  Or, maybe we can!  And for a felony, not a misdemeanor.  They didn't ask that question.  Or provide that answer...

  -     And lastly, I wanted to know why Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt, a San Diego resident who was exercising her Constitutional Right to "assemble" that day, to "redress her grievances" and to "protest," wound up dead with a bullet in her neck.  Shot by Corporal Michael Byrd at close range (6 feet), who felt "threatened" by her presence.  Somehow.  Even though she was unarmed.  And then she was hustled out of the Capitol by four cops, one on each appendage, like a bag of potatoes.  While she bled out.  And while Cpl. Byrd ran like a bandit from the crime scene.  Rendering him the only law enforcement officer in history, as near as I can tell, to fail to provide medical care to a victim he's shot.  

But this Committee on Smearing Trump found no need to ask questions about Ms. Babbitt.  They're okay with her murder, I guess.  And okay with Corporal Byrd's exoneration.  I guess.  

All I can say is if I wanted to execute people and get paid for it, while getting off Scot free, getting a job as a Capitol Policeman would be the way to go...

So my takeaway from the made-for-TV production last evening is that the folks on this Committee really, really, REALLY hate Donald J. Trump.  And they want everyone, everywhere to know it.  In spades!  So be thankful, fellow Patriot, that you watched "Forged in Fire."  You might have learned something...

The End of Our Democracy!

Well, maybe not the end!

According to the (Un)select Committee on the January 6th "Riots," almost the end of our democracy.  Close to it.  And the second worst day in American history.  Or maybe the third.  Depends on who's counting.  Which will unleash its findings on prime-time TV tonight for all to see.  Unless they need to do it again.  Produced by an ABC propaganda meister paid for by all of us.

Yep, fellow Patriot, tonight on every TV set will be the results from more than 1,000 interviews, 140,000 documents and untold dozens of hours of video, previously unavailable to any of us plebes to see.  Or any member of the Republican Party.  Or its leadership in Congress.  Does that sound strange?  

All this gathered up by five Democrats, and two...Democrats, all personally hand-selected by Queen Nancy Pelosi.  For the very first time in American history, the Minority in the House of Representatives was not permitted to select its own representatives for this or any "Select" committee.  In more than 240 years.  In direct violation of the House's own rules.  And our laws.  Thus making it completely illegal and unconstitutional.  Which is reason enough to not just ignore it, but to pay the suckers back come Election Day.

But that doesn't stop it from spending more than $5,000,000 of our tax money to put together this Hollywood production, intended to both take our minds off inflation, and high gas prices, and zero infant formula, and also try and render Trump ineligible for a Second Term.  

Got it?

So, just had to pass along that Nora O'Donnell reported on CBS News last evening that five, count 'em FIVE people were killed at the Capitol on 1/6.  The dweebs on CNN reported that death rate, of police officers, at only two.  Yet, you and I know that the only person to die that day, on the Capitol Grounds, on January 6th, was an ex-Air Force veteran named Ashli Babbitt.  Who visited the Capitol that day to protest her Government.  Which was her Right to do.  But because she happened to be near a door to the House chamber when a rioter broke out its windows, a Capitol Policeman named Michael Byrd, who was on the other side, opened fire.  From about six feet away.  With a 9mm Sig-Sauer pistol.  Which it's been reported he left in the men's room of the Capitol Bldg. last year.  And turned in by a Boy Scout.  Without any, ANY punishment whatsoever. 

Which is exactly what he got this time.  Apparently he was "frightened."  And that was sufficient cause for the Capitol Police to completely exonerate him.  Completely.  Strong union.  He murdered young Ms. Babbitt, and he received no punishment.  Zero.  Maybe because he voted the right way?  Or maybe he's a secret member of a BLM gang?

So I'm gonna' watch the one-sided hearing tonight hoping they'll tell me, and Ms. Babbitt's boyfriend, and the rest of right-thinking America, why this outrage was permitted to occur.  And then allow to be forgotten...

Other than that, I have no interest...

Okay.  Dunno' about you, but I'm gonna' watch feverishly.  With not only the hope but the expectation that we'll finally learn why Corporal Michael Byrd executed Ashli Babbitt on January 6th.  

Damn!  We need some of that "gun control!"  Starting with the Capitol Police!     

The Democrat Theory of Gun Control...

Your neighbor is an alcoholic.

He beats his wife.

So now you have to stop drinking...

Sound reasonable to you?  Me neither.  Nor does it sound reasonable to the 10 million Americans who own more than 15 million AR-style rifles who've done nothing to warrant a backlash against the lawful exercise of their 2nd Amendment Rights.  Who suggest that the Federal Government do its job and prevent those who shouldn't have firearms...from getting firearms.  And if they can't do that, we'll get somebody who can.  And without "...infringing on the Right of the People to keep and bear arms."  

And they're not all that happy about a small group of folks who've likely never even shot a gun arguing about which of our Constitutional Rights to take away.  In the interest of "safety," doncha' know.  Well, here's what one of our Founding Fathers had to say about that...

"Those who would trade essential liberty for temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety..."

                                                                                           Benjamin Franklin, 1775

What he said...

Keep Buying Teslas...

Pssst!  Don't tell anyone, but the price of coal has more than doubled over the past year.

From less than $60.00 a ton a year ago, to $149.31 a ton today.

Why should you care about the price of coal, especially since you just might be one of those eco-warriors who want to transform America into a Green Paradise, no matter what?  Because, fellow Patriot, 58% of all our electrical power nationwide is still generated by coal and oil and natural gas.  The "dirty stuff" upon which the O'Biden Administration has declared all-out war.

And that electricity rates are already up more than 70% in some areas, and as much as 435% in others!  Good luck to pensioners trying to stay warm this winter.

And what's the practical implication of all that, you might ask?  All of those nice, shiny new electric cars won't get charged this summer.  And neither will the half the houses in which they sit.

Because those on the rabid Left did a "Ready, Fire, Aim..."

At least we'll still have our i.c.e. cars to get around, no matter what the cost.  Sorta' like "Mad Max."  Unfortunately...

You're watching it it action.  A crazed ideologue who's determined to be an FDR no matter what, fumbling and bumbling and dithering, even as it's killing America in the process.

Which he's now doing, every time we fill up our gas tanks, pissing our wealth away...

I'm afraid the "elites" are at the gates...

"Somebody DO Something!"

Every time some disaffected, crazed weirdo shoots up a mall or a hospital or a school, as just happened in Texas, those on the Left who neither understand the problem nor know how to deal with it, will run to the nearest microphone and call for gun control.  At least those awful, scary-looking "assault weapons" they talk about, which civilians cannot obtain by law,* but perhaps all our firearms, as some of the more rabid among them demand.  It's predictable.  It's automatic.  Unlike the guns they so detest...  

Did you know that the "Gun Free Zones Act" has been in effect since 1990?  And it requires that all of America's 140,000 K-12 schools be declared "Gun Free Zones."  Which means they're declaring themselves "soft" targets to any would-be mass murderer?  And if you bring a firearm within 1,000 feet of one of those schools, then you're subject to a $1,000 fine and up to 5 years in the slammer.    

So it's already been a felony to just BRING a firearm close to a school.  And that didn't stop the crazed disaffected young man who shot up Ross Elementary.  And neither did the penalties for the attempted capitol murder of shooting one's grandmother in the face.  But that didn't stop him.  He did it anyway.  And yet, those on the Left seem Hell-bent to passing some more laws, on top of the 300,000+ anti-gun laws now on the books Nationwide (Google it), trusting, I gather, that THIS time they'll do some good.  The shooter's grandmother wonders the same...

Fat chance.

Here's something you need to take to the bank; The Left wouldn't have to search for an answer if they'd just "harden" our schools, making them impregnable, which they've so far failed to do.  And permit teachers and coaches and staff to who are trained to do so to carry concealed firearms, and 

BROADCAST THAT FACT WIDELY.

We've been telling them this for decades.**  They haven't listened.  And they're not listening now.  Potential mass murderers are drawn to "soft," unprotected targets because they are in pain and they want others to suffer along with them.  If we make it known potential shooters will be dropped like a bad habit before they can get through the front door, they'll go somewhere else.  And out most valuable asset, our children, will finally be safe.

From potential mass-murderers, who'll pick the easiest to kill, and from gun-grabbers who'll do anything to disarm the public.  One has to ask, why?  What are they planning that 100 million Americans with 400+ million firearms could thwart?  Just because we're only armed electorate in the world.  And if they're not, please get out of the way so that those who both understand the problem and have a solution can handle it.  

Okay, Mr. O'Biden?  Okay, Mr. Schumer?  Okay all you other big mouth politicians?  Okay now, I can go back to something productive...      

*   It's been against Federal law to purchase a fully-automatic weapon in America since 1934.  But the BidenMedia will tell you they're widely used.  They lie.  BTW, the "AR" in AR-15 stands for Armalite Rifle, the Chicago company that invented them way back in 1955, not "automatic rifle," like the Left has told you.  Repeatedly.  They either lie or they're ignorant.  Duh!  And the "15" is the civilian version of their "AR-10" military issue weapon, rendering it compliant with all applicable, 50-state gun laws, unlike the Left has told you.  They lie.  Etc.  Meaning it may be all black and scary-looking, but it's no different in its "semi-automatic," one-trigger pull, one-shot, operation (THEY'RE NOT FULLY-AUTOMATIC!) than your granddad's shotgun.  Unlike the Left has told you.  They lie.  Ahem.  Just to set the record straight...

**   Am I qualified to comment?  I'm a certified gunsmith.  I was a champion target shooter, a Range Officer at two Army bases, and a Firearm Safety Advocate for the National Rifle Association, our Nation's oldest and largest 501c(3) public benefit corporation (1877).  I also own several of those scary black "assault weapons" that so triggers the Left, have for decades, and I've yet to murder any innocent civilians.  Maybe it's a DNA thing.  Yes, I believe I'm qualified to comment...