Memories

 It was just about this time of year, roughly sixty-years ago, when our parents assigned my sister and me to a very, very serious task – to create a list for Santa Claus.

 

Obediently, we sat at the kitchen table and thoughtfully jotted down our hopes and wishes for gifts from Saint Nick.  This one particular Yule Season found my sister wanting girl stuff, largely consisting of Barbie’s play sets and baby dolls, of course.

 

I, on the other hand, desperately needed construction equipment to finish the highway I was building in the sandbox.  This major project was put on-hold due to cold weather and accompanying upstate New York snow, but I digress.

 

Tomorrow, after church, was when we were to make sugar cookies from scratch, and later decorate them with homemade edible paints.  They were usually a bit burned, but only around the edges.  Not to worry; the singe marks would be hidden by the vibrant red, green, blue, and yellow food coloring/egg wash paints.

 

Dad had Ray Conniff’s Christmas record playing on the Hi-Fi, readying the tree for the wobbly stand, while the cooking decorating proceeded.  It was a magical time.  As if by magic, the Christmas holiday spirit had appeared in the form of traditions and enjoyed by all.

 

Still carefully painting, my sister and I gave it our all.  We decorated the pale sweet treats with caution and aplomb, demonstrated by our tongues poking against our cheeks, intently staring at the progress as though we were in a trance.  I wonder if Picasso operated like this.

 

Nonetheless, I recall those times with great fondness evident by a smile these memories still evoke.

 

Eventually, after weeks of Christmas movies and music and snow shoveling and snow shoveling and snow shoveling, Christmas Eve had finally arrived.  We were almost at the last door of the Advent calendar meaning Santa would stop by at midnight!

 

All the decorating, tree trimming, Ray Conniff singing, snow shoveling, and road planning left me drained; I slept well until I was awakened by the aroma of French Toast.

 

My sister beat me to the parlor – we had a parlor which, for your information, is a room built and used largely by anyone not living in our house – where the tinseled tree proudly stood.

 

We were forced to have breakfast before opening the great volume of packages from the North Pole.  Needless to say, we ate quickly.

 

Giddy, we realized Santa didn’t disappoint, once again.  Except for the socks and underwear, that is.

 

Fast forward to 2022, and things have changed dramatically.  A new family, a different house, a son who closely resembles a midget in a cat costume, and different goals, all bring a new perspective to this age-old celebration.

 

But a celebration it is.  It is about the coming of Baby Jesus, our Savior.  The gifts and memories are all related to this religious instance, though.

 

It was neither the Barbie doll nor the Tonka bulldozer that we were being gifted.  Jesus was the gift given to humankind to save our souls.  The believing and hope and love – all the rest – is up to us.  Never forget.

 

Merry Christmas!

God Bless Joe

 For many years we have listened to public figures, uh, well, lie to us.

In a time when practically everyone in the world has encyclopedias – in the form of their cell phones – in their hands, they still fall for tripe spread by the anointed among us.

Mainstream Media (MSM), politicians both past and present, along with social media, all seem to enjoy pulling the wool over everyone’s lives – almost as if they were running a gag on us.  Unfortunately, this is no gag since it is affecting the outcome of elections, our economy, as well as efforts at world peace.

We have to retreat to when a beloved man – Barack Hussein Obama – served as America’s 44^th president from 2009 until 2017 – just prior to President Donald John Trump.

A Republican congressman representing a South Carolina district had been serving since 2001, Addison “Joe” Graves Wilson.

It was during a speech given by President Obama regarding his brilliant proposed “free” health care plan when, well, I’ll defer to a CNN byline:

Rep. Joe Wilson at work

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The South Carolina GOP congressman who shouted at President Barack Obama during his Wednesday night speech to Congress insisted Thursday that his outburst was "spontaneous."

Rep. Joe Wilson shocked many when he shouted "You lie!" after the president denied that health-care legislation would provide free health coverage for illegal immigrants.

Fast forward to today, 2022.  Rep Joe Wilson is still serving South Carolinians, but he should be clearly vindicated from calling out a lie when he heard one.

 

America is now chock full o’ illegal immigrants – over 2,000,000 within the last two years – with hands out for free EBT debit cards, free cell phones, free housing, free education, and free health care.  Now who lied?

 

But if you listen to the MSM and politicians you will hear nothing concerning crime, inflation, over-spending, lack of energy independence, while teetering on the cusp of World War III, you would believe all is well.  Period.

 

It is not well, though.

 

Just overcoming mid-term elections for numerous governors, senators and congressfolk, Republicans are aghast as to why their self-predicted “Red Tide” never materialized.

 

Some soul searching should squarely place the blame exactly where it belongs: the Republican Party itself.

 

Over the years, Democrats have summarily jettisoned American values in favor of killing babies, tearing up The Constitution, and encouraging hate amongst the races.  Republicans, however, are still attempting to grow spines and learn what the word “cohesion” means.

 

All this is pretty easy when voters receive their “news” from late night television comedy shows, biased internet sites, the slanted MSM, and lying politicians themselves.  The current president, Joseph Biden became the Commander-in-Chief by what some people feel were questionable means.

 

As this election coup is still being debated, social media, MSM, and self-appointed speech-cops have been hard at work keeping information under wraps.

 

Call it what you will: suppression, censorship, bowdlerization, or silencing, all these are ways to slant or simply ignore facts that could and should assist a voter in making an intelligent electoral decision.

 

Our country is now mired in a costly war between Ukraine and Russia.  Why?  Politicians will tell you it is for freedom, but freedom for whom?  Not Americans.

 

We are not allowed to drill for our own oil to be self-sufficient on the energy platform.  Why?  Politicians tell us it is for the environment.  That is a lie because we are begging Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to drill oil for us.  I believe this is all part of the same planet.

 

Russia is supposed to be a genuine threat to America, yet Rep. Adam Schiff was willing to secretly work them in order to impeach then-President Donald Trump.  Sleazy?  Sure. But because of lack of evidence MSM is mum.  Now Schiff is at it, again.

 

The MSM and social media have suppressed open exchange of ideas by deeming anything pro-Conservative dangerous or fake news.  It seems odd that their own fake news is not subject to censorship.

 

Crime rises are being misconstrued as your vivid imagination, elementary school kids can’t read at grade level, Americans are being goaded into saying men can have babies, and even a Supreme Court Justice – albeit an affirmative action hire – cannot define a “woman,” all because of lies.

 

Rep. Joe Wilson appears to have been way ahead of his time when he called out President Obama’s blatant lies decades ago.  And he should be held up as an example when smarmy media – social and otherwise – scream lies of systemic racism, no crime, weather crises, and the like.

 

God bless Joe Wilson.