Dick:
In my humble opinion you should transform your excellent newsletter into a vehicle for solutions.
Everybody is complaining but nobody offers solutions.
There are many wrongs on Earth starting with anti-Semitism that raised it's head in the USA all thanks to the Muslim/Arab immigration sponsored/allowed by Obama and Biden.
-How to fight antisemitism
-How to organize and be on the barricades against our enemies
-Israel has no time to protect American Jewry, nor probably even an obligation , so we need to protect ourselves.
-how to fight the upcoming wave of Muslims and Arabs that numerically will surpass Jews
-how to fight against Academia penetrated by many professors who are either Muslims or Arabs (I can explain if you don’t know)
Etc…………….
Max
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Max I will respond to each line:
As for anti-Semitism, it can be responded to but will never be erased. It is an endemic disease. We simply have to be bolder, not intimidated and respond w/o fear!
Not sure we want to do what the French did but we can, as I said, not fear speaking out and support each other with facts.
Jews have to always circle the wagons and protect each other because no one else will.
Eventually Christians will come to realize they too are threatened and will begin to respond. They too have been butchered and have felt the hand of Islamic Terrorism.
When university presidents stop being cowards, professors need to be fired.
AND:
More from my dear friend and neighbor:
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Dick,
Great commentary and you are sooo right about the plight of the republic. Israel will soon realize they will have to go it alone as Biden bales out on the support and backing. I just pray that they are able to stay the course and ignore the ignorance and vitriol that is coming out of this country and others. They will be the only ones with enough guts to take care of Iran.
I forgot to mention the Bibi editorial in the WSJ the other day. So good and spot on. He may have his detractors, but I love the way he speaks; straight talk, no vacillating and waffling. He is just the kind of leader that Israel needs in this war.
Question for you: Do you feel the people he has in the war cabinet are just as committed as he is: Is Benny Gantz supporting this war 100%. Figure you have good insight into the internal affairs over there.
Great blog reads; keep them coming. All the best,
John
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My response:
Thanks for your encouragement and comments. As for other cabinet members like Gantz, I really am not close enough to make truly informed comments. My concerns are always what happens when you place civilians in highly sensitive positions. Kennedy's Sec. of Defense was an unmitigated disaster as are many other high profile appointments, ie. Trump's first appointment as; Sec of State. etc. I am not dodging just do not want to be misleading.
I saw the Bibi Op Ed and posted it in a previous memo. Those who believe he has changed and no longer support him are naturally taking this opportunity to extract their pound of flesh. Hit him while he is down.
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RE: Complex Memo. Hatred Is Belching Out All Over.
Dick,
Very special. You nailed the current times. F------
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| by Cole Bunzel via Foreign Affairs After Hamas’s deadly rampage on October 7, Israel was quick to compare the group to the Islamic State. “Same tactics, different names,” the Israeli government’s official account declared on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The world defeated ISIS. We will defeat Hamas. ++++ The day the music died for progressive Jewry Perhaps the progressive Jewish awakening can be a lesson for Western civilization in general. The Oct. 7 Hamas massacre will be remembered as the day the music died for progressive Jewry. What was will no longer be. Hamas showed for all to see, in many cases live on social media, a level of barbarism and cruelty unseen since the days of Nazism. But Hamas also shattered the dearest delusions of progressive Jews, because its savagery was quickly justified and celebrated throughout the West by progressives. This has forced an overnight exodus of Jews from the progressive movement. Hamas not only shattered the lives of numerous innocent Jews, but also decades during which Jews were part of the vanguard of the progressive world. Within 24 hours, progressive Jews woke up and realized that what they so wholeheartedly believed was based on the illusion that if we just say the right things and advocate for the politics and policies of progressivism, we will not only be doing tikkun olam but also become senior partners in the “woke” revolution. Progressive Jews sympathetic to “woke” discourse now see that they signed on to a worldview that has nothing to say about murder, mass rape, killing children in front of their parents, killing parents in front of their children, beheadings and burning babies alive. The response to the attacks from pro-Hamas Muslim and progressive protestors, along with university presidents and student organizations, celebrities and mainstream media personalities crushed progressive Jews’ sense of solidarity and security. For many years, progressive Jews dismissed the poisonous anti-Semitic environment on campus. They rationalized the actions of campuses anti-Semites by claiming that students shutting down events that don’t embrace the “woke” narrative is irritating, but its what students do. Now these Jews see the results: Campus antisemitism has spread overnight into our communities and cities and on to our streets. Many if not most Jews have lost their sense of personal safety outside their own homes. Progressive Jews saw Muslims and their progressive supporters march like storm troopers through the streets, brandishing swastikas and chanting “gas the Jews” at the top of their lungs. Progressive organizations like Black Lives Matter glorified Hamas terrorists who beheaded and murdered babies. Jewish schools were forced to close down because of safety concerns prompted by these violent “demonstrations.” Jews watched on their TVs and smart phones as, throughout the U.S. and Europe, the mainstream media gleefully broadcast Hamas lies, propaganda and blood libels as they were hard news. The events of the past three weeks have shown these Jews that progressivism now has nothing to do with aiding the oppressed or differentiating between good and evil. It is about killing people, especially Jews. This shattering of the progressive worldview, however, is ultimately a good thing. Delusional beliefs may well be replaced by a life-affirming embrace of the views of the overwhelming majority of world Jewry. The question now is whether this wake-up moment will persist. Will progressive Jews revert back to an illusory utopianism? Or will they be able to resist the urge to indulge in magical thinking and soothing myths over harsh realities? They’d better, and not only to save themselves. What starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews. With its embrace of terrorism, barbarism and mass murder, today’s progressivism has made it clear that it is a threat to civilization itself. Progressive Jews can use their awakening to teach this lesson to all of society. The West has made the value of human life a basic tenet of its civilization. If it embraces the new genocidal progressivism, this value will die, and with it the West. Understanding this is an existential necessity. The alternative is the savagery we witnessed on Oct. 7. The opinions and facts presented in this article are those of the author, and neither JNS nor its partners assume any responsibility for them. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ More Biden shenanigans revealed? FOIA Request Reveals Massive Trove Of Emails Connected To Biden Pseudonyms A surprising discovery by the National Archives has revealed a trove of emails involving then-Vice President Joe Biden, with 82,000 pages of digital correspondence sent from accounts under “shady” pseudonyms. These findings came to light following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by public interest law firm Southeastern Legal Foundation. The email aliases included “Robert Peters,” “Robin Ware,” and “JRB Ware,” and were used to conduct official business, some of which involved Hunter Biden and his business associates. Questions about the legality and propriety of such practices have arisen, as using private emails for government work is against the law. This extremely suspicious behavior has been described as “shady” by some observers. Initially, the National Archives confirmed having 5,400 emails connected to Biden’s private accounts. However, this figure has substantially increased according to the latest reports. There is no detailed information regarding the contents of these emails as of yet. The only known email from these accounts was addressed to “Robert Peters” in 2016 and included a conversation about Ukraine. This same email looped in Hunter Biden and even had an attachment of Joe Biden’s schedule that listed a call with Petro Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president at the time The Biden family’s activities in Ukraine have been under scrutiny, particularly with Joe Biden’s role in the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor. This event is tied to an alleged $5 million bribe to both Joe and Hunter Biden from the founder of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company. Amidst these revelations, politicians like Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson are seeking answers about the alias “Robert Peters” and related matters. Despite multiple attempts to engage the White House on this issue, their requests for clarification have gone unanswered, heightening concerns about potential misconduct. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Israel's IDF is doing the world a favor while the world continues to express it's hatred of Israel and Jews . In America, we do the same by defunding police who protect our lives because one bad apple falls off the tree. +++ Gaza Invasion Claims the Lives of First Israeli Soldiers On Tuesday, two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were killed while fighting in Gaza, the first fatal casualties the IDF has taken in the invasion of the Hamas-held territory. Israel Defense Forces says that two Israeli soldiers died in fighting on Tuesday. This is the first time since Israel started its ground operations in Gaza, that there have been such casualties. Israel relied primarily on airstrikes, artillery, and other means of retaliation until this week to respond to the Hamas massacre that took place in Israel on October 7th. This week, the IDF expanded its ground operations, but troops now face a deadly task: clearing out Hamas’ tunnels and fortified positions. Both of the soldiers who died were 20 years old. In the same battle, at least two Israeli soldiers were also wounded. Israeli leaders have promised to eliminate Hamas from Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu rejected calls for a truce in his Monday speech. It is important to note that to achieve the stated goal of eliminating Hamas in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces must conduct offensive operations within urbanized areas. These are some of the most difficult offensive missions any military organization can perform, but they also offer advantages to the defenders. Israel Defense Forces tanks are equipped with “cope-cages” to prevent items dropped from above from hitting the thin armor of the tank. There are many difficulties in attacking urban areas. Modern main battle tanks like the Merkava, which is still the standard IDF tank, are designed to first fight other tanks on open terrain and then to support infantry. Infantry is needed to protect armor in urban areas from attacks such as RPGs, improvised explosives, and other means. This type of operation requires a well-coordinated plan and solid communication among all units. Israel will likely suffer significant losses in this operation. Israel has still refused to accept any sort of ceasefire. “Calls to cease fire are calls to Israel to submit to Hamas. To surrender to terrorism. To surrender to barbarism.” Netanyahu stated that this would not be the case. “Ladies, gentlemen. The Bible states that there are times for peace and war. It is time to go to war. “A war for our future together,” he added. “Today, we draw a clear line between forces of civilization and forces of barbarism. Now is the time to choose your side. Israel will fight barbarism to the end. “I hope and pray civilized nations will support this fight.” The atrocities of October 7th were the worst attacks Israel has experienced since 1948. Israel should take the necessary steps to prevent such an attack from happening again. All indications show that both the Israeli government, as well as the Israel Defense Forces, will do so. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Ross Rants: +++ The Ross Rant™ ©Joel Ross 2023 Don’t be fooled by the 4.9% growth in GDP in Qtr 3. One of the biggest contributors was concert events by Swift and Beyonce, and pent-up travel, and other one-time boosts. Reality is, the economy is slowing, margins are shrinking, and layoffs are coming. The October Business Conditions Survey suggests sales growth is slowing, and will continue to slow further. It may not be predicting a recession, but it is certainly showing a slower economy and lower profits to come. New projects are going on hold due to the high cost of capital. The whole EV push is collapsing as consumers do not want these cars. This is leading to several billion in new factories for batteries and car production being cancelled. Top that off with the new UAW contract cost of $900 per car, and the rise in interest rates on car loans making new cars less affordable and less profitable to produce. Keep in mind my forecast that in 3 years the car companies will need a government bailout due to the failure of the EV mandates, combined with the labor costs. The whole EV mandate is a financial and market disaster, and is coming to an eventual crash of this effort to jam something down consumers throats that they do not want. Tesla will survive because Musk knows how to produce cost effectively, and there are people who just want to own one. Now Biden is mandating all sorts of changes to appliances that will push up costs and turn off consumers. We will have a rerun of the EV push, and it is another market and financial disaster in the making. The housing market is at a standstill. On top of all this is the war in Gaza. If it spreads, as I think is highly possible, Then oil prices could go as high as $150, and then the whole economy of the world collapses. Most forecasters are ignoring this issue, but you need to pay attention to the real risk over the next several weeks as Israel wipes out Hamas. All of this combined says, Risk Off, and be very conservative in your investing for now. Preservation of capital should be your mandate. If I am wrong, and things go better than I expect, there is lots of time next year to get back into the equity market. While we wait to see, stay safe with your money. The biggest issue is the deficits. We are now at $1 Trillion of debt service for the federal budget. That is simply not sustainable, and as it gets worse, bond buyers will see more risk and will demand even higher rates to buy the bonds, to the point that it becomes a death spiral. If Congress does not begin to make sizable reductions in spending, and reductions in the deficits to get to a balanced budget over the next several years, then interest rates will remain high which will mean a material permanent reduction in the value of commercial real estate. To better understand the Israel war situation, you need to understand that Israel has been attacked numerous times by Hamas, and each time other countries pressured them to back off and leave Hamas alone. This led to the Oct 7 attack. At the same time Obama, then Biden, foolishly believed they could make a deal with Iran. Chamberlain Hitler-1938. Reality is, with these people they just view compromise as weakness. Biden did not enforce the sanctions on Iranian oil, because he needed that production to keep oil prices from going back to $120. So, Iran made tens of billions which was used to fund the proxies, and to expand the threat to Israel and Saudi. Islam is of the belief that Jews need to be subjugated or even killed. That has been the reality for thousands of years. Now that Oct 7 happened, Israel views this as an existential threat to Israel and to Jews all over again just like in WWII. For Israelis this is their worst nightmare. The core Israeli mantra is never again. A military backed by a dictator who is determined to obliterate them just as Hitler tried to do. Iran has tried to surround Israel with proxies who they assumed would one day wipe Israel off the map and get the US out of the region. Biden continues to look weak toward Iran. He still has not directly called them out and now there are new attacks on US forces. Until Biden unleashes US attacks directly against Iran, they will continue to have their proxies launch attacks. This is really a religious war of the Shia Muslims vs the Jews. It is not just a war- it is a religious battle to the death. Israel cannot lose. They cannot continue to have this threat always surrounding them, so they will fight through Gaza until they kill every last Hamas fighter. They have no choice now. That leads to Hezbollah and Iran saying there were redlines. These lines are now crossed by Israel. So either Hezbollah goes on the attack, or they and Iran lose all credibility. Therefore, in my opinion, there is high likelihood this is going to turn out to be all out war, and then the US has to be militarily involved. If Biden were to back off that commitment to Israel, Xi would assume he can go after Taiwan. So now the US is in, like it or not. We cannot let Israel be at real risk. This is going to get much wider and uglier, and must end with Iran defeated and taken over by armed internal revolution. If Biden were to back off standing with Israel, the blowback from American Jews would be such that he cannot do that. The same thing that is happening with the wealthy guys stopping funding of academia, would happen to the Dems. The Evangelicals would also rise up in this event. The radical left can scream all they want, but as Leon Cooperman aptly put it, the students have shit for brains. They understand nothing about the Mideast. The protesters seem to have forgotten or approved what happened on Oct 7. I doubt any one of them knows what occurred in Gaza in 2005 or 2007. Not one could explain why it is OK for Hamas to fire rockets at Israel, but it is not OK for Israel to go into Gaza to end that threat to its citizens. I doubt any can discuss the prior cease fires that left Hamas viable to undertake Oct 7. In a recent survey of college students, only 35% were fully familiar with what was the Holocaust. That tells you all you need to know to understand how miseducated college students are about history. US college students forget what happened after we were attacked on 9-11 and Pearl Harbor. The country rallied around, and we attacked the attackers. During WWII there was no worries about some German or Japanese civilians getting killed. There was only winning. Hamas did not send leaflets to Israelis before they conducted the massacre, but the college kids ignore all of that. There is now a video of what the terrorists actually did to people and little kids. It needs to be shown one very college campus with compulsory attendance. Journalists who were shown it say it is almost impossible to watch, yet the college kids celebrate Hamas. This is sick. If anyone had massacred a group of blacks somewhere in the world the college kids would go nuts against the perpetrators, but since it was Jews, it is blame the victims. Hitler would be thrilled. The FBI says there has been a 400% increase in anti-Semitic attacks recently. The underlying basis of the university education these days is the Marxist interpretation that the working class and blacks are taken advantage of and are being oppressed by the white male dominated society, and by the managerial capitalist class. This then goes on to say that white men were the colonialists, and, therefore, the bad guys because they killed or enslaved the pre-existing indigenous population. True to some extent over centuries, but that has been the nature of all societies since man evolved. Nothing is put into historic context. It is true in the animal kingdom. The dominant male rules and controls the herd, and if any young buck tries to intervene, he is driven off in violent battle. The animal, or the invader with the bigger weapon generally wins. This has been the case in Europe right up through WWII when the monarchies were mostly eliminated, and more parliaments were created. Democracy as we know it today is a basically modern concept, and is not really practiced even today in most nations, even if they claim to be a democracy. Truly free and fair elections are few and far between. So, the far-left professors are teaching that the white straight males in the US uniquely subjugated minorities. Reality is, slavery today still exists in many places in the world, only it is made to look like people get paid some meager amount for their work. Academia ignores the fact that the slave traders in Africa who rounded up the locals for sale to the white slave traders were local blacks who sold them to the white slave traders who brought them to the US for resale. It is no different today. Many African countries are run by brutal, corrupt dictators who have their people living in poverty so the dictator can use them as cheap labor to mine or otherwise create raw material product for sale to Russian or other oligarchs. They use Wagner group soldiers to keep everyone in line. The professors also ignore the fact that some Indian tribes raided others and kidnapped pioneers to be used as slaves. White men did not invent slavery or oppression. The hypocrisy of the students and their university professors is they canceled conservative speakers due to the “violence created by their words.” And now their hateful words about Israel and Jews is perfectly acceptable to them. They demanded everyone use certain pronouns and professors even on occasion gave bad grades to students who did not genuflect to the right pronoun. The whole ideology of DEI, equality, safe spaces, violence is words, is now laid bare for everyone to see that the real ideology was all along a dictatorship of the extreme left that sought complete control of the students’ minds. Israel is not seen as the only real democracy in the region and our strongest ally but as another white oppressor. The reality of the history of the region where no Arab nation really wanted the Palestinians in their own country. Iran is not a nation. It is a religious movement of radical Islamic militarist thinking that all Jews must be killed and the Caliphate must finally rule the world. The sooner Biden and his foreign policy team recognize reality, the sooner this disaster can get resolved through military action, which in the end is what is required. Once Israel wipes out Hamas and assassinates its leaders living in Qatar, the sooner they and the US can then move to destroy Hezbollah and finally Iran. Until the Iranian regime is killed and eliminated, the sooner the world can get back to some semblance of having only to worry about Putin and Xi. There are no diplomatic solutions for Iran as they are a religious movement and not a government. What we are seeing on campus, and these protests, is a result of the so-called social justice movement in academia, where there are all sorts of classes now that teach that “white privilege” is why blacks often cannot do the work required to get top grades. They never look at the real reasons blacks do not perform as well. It was why the Asians won in SCOTUS in regard to discrimination against them even though they outperformed blacks on every test. Instead of asking why that underperformance exits objectively, they just blame whites for blacks’ failure to perform equally, and then they end tests or grades instead of saying maybe there is a problem with the education blacks get, and with the culture, and we need to institute better teaching in lower schools. That means get rid of the teachers’ union. It is always the Jews over 5,000 years who get the major blame. What began as racial activist professors, morphed to LGBTQ and trans and anything else not white, and then it was an easy leap to claim Israel is the colonial power and so the Jews need to be destroyed. In the process Lia Thomas decided to be a female swimmer even though he is still a man. That set-off the whole trans propaganda and women’s rights got suppressed in the name of “equality” for the .2% of the population against the vast majority of people who are straight women. Women’s rights recently won are now subordinate to the 6 weirdos who decided they were not good enough to win a sport as men, so they now compete as women in swimming, bicycling, martial arts, volleyball and whatever else. The woke university and NCAA administrators decided to side with the miniscule minority rather than side with women who had just fought successfully for equality and opportunity. So now in the name of equality, Israel is claimed by professors to be the bad guys, and terrorists trained by Iran are the good guys. It all began with the racial anti-white teaching in universities. This ideology is destroying the basic culture of America. The problem is when the Great Society was created, 80% of blacks lived in two parent families and hard work was common. Now it is 30%. The payment to women to have babies if the man was not in the house was the thing which destroyed black family units. In 1995, when Newt and Clinton agreed to change welfare to require work, it began to make a difference; however, now the Dems are against welfare requiring work. The result is, we have created asocial structure among blacks where 70% of births are to single mothers, and a life of depending on the government instead of self-sufficiency is the norm. Where the left tells blacks they are victims, and so hard work and education are not worth the effort, that education and hard work are whitey attributes. Sixty years of Great Society has destroyed the black culture in America. The true cost of an EV is far more than a fossil fueled vehicle. The government prefers to just look at the amount paid by the buyer and the cost of charging which they claim is nil. What they ignore is the true cost of all the subsidies we are all paying to the car buyer. First, there is the subsidy of the purchase price-$7500. Second, there are the massive subsidies to the auto manufacturers to build the factories and build the cars, and the charging stations. These combined subsidies amount to tens of thousands per car over the life of the car. So, a recent study showed that the true all-in cost of owning an EV is in fact far more costly than a fossil fueled car. The true costs are buried in the subsides we all pay. Despite all this the auto manufacturers are losing billions on producing EVs. It makes no economic sense to the economy broadly, nor to the car companies to produce a product the market does not really want. The stock market remains a high-risk place for your money right now. We do not know how the Israel situation will evolve over the next few weeks, and how oil prices will be affected. It appears that Israelis making very good, but measured progress in Gaza now, as they seem to have found the way to attack the tunnels, and to deal with the booby traps and IEDs. They are now over 2 miles inside Gaza and moving forward steadily with minimal casualties. They will cut off northern Gaza and then eliminate the Hamas fighters. The drones and spies seem to be able to spot the commanders and they get killed-55+ so far. The ground penetrating radar, drones and other technology seems to be working to find and deal with the tunnels. We will not really know how it is going for a few more days when they can report their progress. The real issue is, Hamas holds families in place, and then uses their home as an attack location, or to launch rockets. It makes this a slow grinding operation. Hamas will make sure civilians die as well as some hostages to get a propaganda advantage. It will not stop Israel this time. There remains a huge amount of bonds to be sold by Treasury. $700 Billion by year end, when and what maturity is unknown, but the volumes are known, and the primary dealers still do not know where to sell all this paper without rates being pushed higher. The recent drop in rates is, in my view, temporary. Apparently, the bond market thinks the economy will slow and rates will slide. It is the massive funding requirements of the Treasury that will be driving rates back up. I continue to find short term Treasury bills as a nice place to park money until we see how bad it gets in the Mideast. Making 5.4% risk free is just fine in this high-risk environment. Also, I continue to believe in oil stocks as the war will do nothing to increase supply when inventories are already very low. So even if demand slows, the low inventories will keep prices high. The consolidation now underway offers an added opportunity to make a good return on top of very strong dividends. Real estate values will continue to decline as rates stay high. That is a simple fact. Rates up-cap rates go up, values go down. At the same time expenses for insurance, energy, and new climate regulations go up. If we had not had 3% or lower rates on commercial mortgages, and investors way overpaid for real estate assets over the past ten years due to ultra-low rates driving down cap rates. It was a one-time anomaly period, and now reality is back. So, if you invested in a real estate project between 2013 and 2022, you likely have a value decline problem. Whatever you thought that investment was worth, it no longer is. Depending on if it is multifamily -down 20%, or urban office -down 50%, you now have a major diminution of recent value, and it is not coming back up as caprates are not going to decline much, if at all, and expenses will continue to rise, while rents stay flat or decline in many markets. You need to accept this as the new reality. This applies to REITs as well. It is all market by market, and property by property, as to the extent of the decline, but it applies to all real estate other than your home. Trump suddenly has a real problem. Pence ended his campaign and so he is now free to testify about what really happened. Also, if Meadows also agrees to testify, Trump has real problems. The Dems are now launching an all-out attack on the conservatives on SCOTUS. This is undermining the institution we all rely on for keeping the rest of government in line which is exactly why the Dems want to destroy its independence. Between this effort to remake the court into their desired ideology, and the effort to crush Trump, RFK and Non Labels, in the 2024 election, the Dems are now engaged in a very dangerous all-out effort to get full control of the government. This is a major threat to our democracy. The FAA says it is now seeking to hire by race and gender as opposed to merit for air-traffic controllers. Doesn’t that make you feel good about flying that the controller handling your flight is diverse as opposed to qualified. There is a lawsuit in the courts on this and the SCOTUS ruling on Harvard will serve as a precedent. There is already a shortage of qualified air controllers so this race-based hiring will surely help the problem get------worse. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Every time a piece of legislation is given a fancy name you should assume it will turn out to be a disaster. +++ American Despotism – The Great Society Cripples AmericaBy Newt Gingrich Many of our current domestic disasters stem from a slate of legislation passed six decades ago. President Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Great Society resulted in a disastrous centralization of power in the Washington bureaucracy. It then sought to impose its destructive values on Americans. After two generations of federal supervision and interference, our school systems are so bad they are a threat to our national survival as we compete with Communist China and others. When five Baltimore high schools have zero students who are proficient in math, something is terribly wrong. The roots of the crisis start with LBJ’s welfare and education policies. In 1960, about 9 percent of children were born outside of wedlock. Today that number is around 40 percent. The anti-family structure of the Great Society welfare programs – and the provisions that made it more profitable to be a single mother than to have a male in the household – still shape the patterns of our culture. The number of young males growing up without a male figure in their lives is a tribute to LBJ’s welfare bureaucracy. Author’s Note: The complex patterns that have led to the greatest crisis of constitutional government and rule of law since the Civil War are far bigger, involve far more people, and are ultimately more dangerous to American freedom than the personal dishonesty and criminality of the Biden family. This “American Despotism” series in The American Spectator will provide a clear history of the weaponization of government, which has violated the Constitution and corrupted the rule of law. While each article will be complete and stand-alone, together they will combine to fully describe the patterns that now threaten to destroy the foundation of individual freedom — the hallmark of the American system. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ |
