Susan's Musings

What If?

“May God save the country, for it is evident that the people will not.” While many of us may echo the sentiment expressed as we contemplate the upcoming presidential election, our 13th president, Millard Fillmore, beat us to the punch. With the huge sums allotted to my Musings research team ($0), I didn’t uncover exactly what precipitated these words. But a cursory review of Fillmore’s career did remind me that this isn’t the first time that we humans are making a mess of things.  

A favorite theme of science fiction literature imagines how history would have changed had certain things happened or not happened. What would have occurred if an assassination attempt against Hitler had succeeded? What if John Wilkes Booth had failed to kill Abraham Lincoln? 

Millard Fillmore is one of our least known presidents. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of fans of the comic strip Mallard Fillmore have no idea of the word play involved in the duck’s name. While I would have recognized President Fillmore’s name a month ago, and probably could have even told you who preceded and followed him, I admit to knowing little about him. But one side effect of my year of mourning for my father is becoming a little more educated. Since I am not listening to music during this year I downloaded a number of podcasts, including one about our presidents.

I learned that although Zachary Taylor, the president before Fillmore, was a southern slave-owner he was leaning with sympathy towards the abolitionists. When he died in office, Vice-president Fillmore signed legislation that included the Fugitive Slave Act. With this act, every citizen of the country became responsible for returning runaway slaves to their owners. Imagine! A government demanding that people violate their beliefs and religious principles in order to remain within the nation’s laws. (Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?) 

In many ways, this legislation was one of the major sparks that lit the conflagration that became the Civil War. As passionately as many northern abolitionists felt, the reality of the sin of slavery hit home harder when they were turned into unwilling accomplices. 

What would have happened if Zachary Taylor hadn’t died in office? Is it possible that he might have shown greater wisdom and understanding, possibly averting a tragedy that the founders foresaw when the United States declared independence and that is still making headlines today? We don’t know. 

Both choices for president this year are so deeply flawed that, indeed, we must say, “May God save the country, for it is evident that the people will not.” Let us hope that like in the 1800s the country does survive, while praying that it does so with less devastation and death than took place previously. 

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Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Party

This past Monday, I finished writing the first part of a Musing about the dilemma of the pro-life movement in dealing with Donald Trump. I am shelving it for the moment, because I must comment on this week’s Democrat convention, which is not going exactly according to plan. (I’m writing this Tuesday morning.)

The convention was supposed to show a contrast to a divided GOP by crowning Queen Hillary amidst adulation. Instead, boos and hisses are greeting mentions of her name. Outside the convention site, protesters are being held back behind fences, yet their jeers of, “Hell no DNC, we won’t vote for Hillary,” aren’t exactly what Clinton fans were hoping to see on TV. 

It couldn’t happen to a nicer party. Ohio’s Rep. Marcia Fudge, Chair of the Democratic National Convention said, “We are all Democrats and we need to act like it.” I would argue that the protesters are doing exactly that. Refusing to listen to anyone with whom you disagree has become a Democrat norm. Isn’t that how President Obama has governed? Rather than talking and listening to Republicans, he has simply governed by fiat. On campuses, the college-aged wing of the Democrat Party refuse to allow speakers of alternate views to be heard. Is Mrs. Clinton’s name being greeted by catcalls? Perhaps she should start a support group with Ayaan Ali Hirsi, Condaleeza Rice, and other conservatives whose ability to speak has been overruled by hecklers. Democrats seemed sympathetic when Occupy Wall Street demonstrators defecated on police cars and damaged businesses. Could it be that the protesters are being too polite here? Maybe the convention isn’t a ‘safe space’ for Bernie supporters and needs to be completely closed down? 

I admit to getting great pleasure in watching Democrats getting eaten by their own, even as my more mature side recognizes the dangers for our democracy in hordes of idealistic, angry and profoundly ignorant and malleable young people. There is something I admire in Bernie supporters refusing to say, “You cheated, you won, so we’ll be quiet if you promise us you won’t do it again (and again and again).” 

Hillary Clinton was a young activist when the phrase, “Don’t trust anyone over thirty,” was popular. It is only fitting that those who are now under thirty completely distrust her. And yes, I know that Sanders is over thirty as well. But applying inconsistent standards to different circumstances and people  is something that many people, and Hillary Clinton in particular, are well accustomed to doing.  

I urge you to share this Bible study with a young person in your life. Don't try and draw conclusions for them; let them do that themselves. They need to look at Socialism through a Biblical lens, and our country needs them to do so.  

Losing Respect for Some Trump Foes

I get it. I really understand why Ted Cruz doesn’t want to endorse Trump. Donald Trump didn’t simply defeat him; he insulted and demeaned him and his family with crudeness, gutter language and lies. 

I understand why other politicians don’t want to endorse Trump. The nominee has given no reason for people to trust him not to make foolish and disgusting remarks. Whether it is an act or reality, his emotional maturity comes across as that of a ten year old. Trump may be able to walk past his words, but those associated with him will find it harder to remove the excrement. 

Nonetheless, I don’t respect the Bushes, John Kasich and Ted Cruz  as much as I used to. On a personal level, Trump is reaping what he sowed. If I had a teenager prone to angry outbursts and to giving withering insults, I would use this as an educational moment. Bullying may make you feel powerful in the instance, but it is actually a show of weakness. While you may forget your words, your victims won’t. As my grandfather used to teach me when he addressed everyone from the janitor to his boss with respect and warmth, “You never know the twists and turns life will take and when someone who needs you now will be someone you need in the future.”

However, the Bushes, Kasich and Cruz should not be thinking on a personal level. Not only should they not be nursing hurts from the past two years, they should show that they care more for the country than for their own egos or political futures. If they don’t recognize the threat of a Clinton presidency, they are part of the problem, not part of the solution. 

What of the second worry? Will they find themselves tarred with the brush of an embarrassing and even despicable Trump statement? Guess what? The New York Times, CNN and the rest of the leftist media is going to tar them with that brush anyway. The only way they will avoid that fate is by converting to the Democrat Party and bowing obeisance to secular liberalism. 

I wish these men instead would have taken a page from the Trump playbook. Trump speaks politically incorrect truths about terrorism, the economy  and illegal immigrants even as President Obama and his devotees condemn Americans who want an honest conversation. This is a great part of Trump's popularity. Established Republicans did not understand how many Republican voters and conservative-leaning people yearned for a strong response to the past seven years and despised the tepid, lukewarm words of the Romney-McConell wing of the party that was supposed to represent them. The failed Republican candidates should have followed Trump’s lead and spoken honestly. They should have endorsed Donald Trump wholeheartedly as the only alternative to Hillary Clinton,  while sadly acknowledging that his language and manner are often cringeworthy. By staying away they are looking like sore losers as well as missing the chance to acknowledge the pain of the electorate, for which they do hold more than a little responsibility. 

Ted Cruz could have spoken at the convention of his conflicted emotions and internal struggle about Donald Trump — giving voice to many of his supporters’ feelings. The he could have explained why he is putting the need to defeat Hillary above everything else. Do everything you can to get Trump elected and then hold Trump’s feet to the fire to ensure that he makes the right Supreme Court picks and surrounds himself with wise, conservative advisors rather then sycophants. Encourage his supporters not to put blinders on, as so many Democrat politicians do when it comes to their extremely flawed nominee, but to realistically face their own flawed candidate. Instead, as my husband put it, Cruz, “ate another man’s food and then vomited on his table.” It would have been classier not to show up. 

in 1939, a document known as the White Paper was issued under Neville Chamberlain’s government that severely restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine and reversed previous British promises to the Jewish people. That immigration restriction doomed Jews to death in Europe. At the same time, the British quickly became the leaders in the battle against the Nazis. David Ben-Gurion, head of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, encouraged people to fight the White Paper as if there were no Nazis while fighting the Nazis (by enlisting in and helping the British army) as if there was no White Paper. 

Trump is the nominee. It is time to fight Hillary as if there were no flaws in Donald Trump while opposing the vulgarity that Trump exudes and his confused understanding of some issues as if there was no Hillary. 

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Friends Don't Let Friend Vote...how?

This election cycle has already moved out-of-the-box so many times, that there actually is no longer any box to be seen. I’m not going to enumerate the plethora of examples in both the Republican and Democrat race. Unless you not only have your head in the sand but you are also wearing a blindfold and earmuffs, you can identify them yourself. 

However, there is one strange out-of-the-box way of which I am increasingly becoming aware. I have no idea how many of my friends will choose to cast their ballot. Without talking to them, I can’t predict what my friends are thinking, even those with whom I’ve politically walked in sync, sometimes for decades.

We have certainly had differences before. But the differences have been ones of intensity rather than final result. I thought Mitt Romney ran an awful campaign (I believe you can draw a straight line between his campaign and Trump being the nominee) handing the election to the Obama team. I had serious misgivings about how good a president he would have been were he to be elected. Some of my friends thought he was the perfect candidate, running an excellent, if losing, campaign; a loss they blamed on not being welcoming enough to illegal immigrants. Yet, we all agreed that voting for Barack Obama wasn’t an option. 

I have other friends who have been loyal Democrats since their first voting experience. I disagreed vehemently with their assessment of the Democrat and Republican parties, but I knew where they stood. They were solid Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Barack Obama voters. 

When I do speak to friends on both sides of this divide, I hear of people jumping ship. Staunch conservatives who are considering voting for Hillary and fervent liberals who are thinking of voting for Trump. I am in a continual state of surprise. It is entirely possible that twists and turns over the next few months will upend what these friends are saying today.

If the election was tomorrow, I would cast my vote for Trump. All the choices, including a third-party candidate or leaving the president box blank, make my heart sink. I see no option that makes me proud. I would choose Trump right now because the analogy I see is a doctor telling a patient that they have a 5% chance of recovery. They can continue the course they are on (Hillary) and almost certainly die. Alternatively,  they can try an experimental (Trump) drug. It might cure them or at least keep them alive longer while scientists work on discovering a cure. Of course, it might kill them more quickly than doing nothing. Neither option has me sleeping peacefully; but I would go with the gamble. 

I am also going to speak to my friend, N., whose knowledge of history and street-smart wisdom I admire. We are on the same spiritual and cultural page. Just yesterday she mentioned that she would vote for Hillary. She looked nauseous as she said that. I want to hear her thoughts as I work on steeling myself to make a decision that, whichever way I go, has the possibility of being disastrous for a country I love. 

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Rays of Hope

Last week, when I was feeling overwhelmed by the mendacity, chicanery and overall incompetence of politicians and the press, I gave myself a challenge. The next Musing, the one I am writing now, will sound positive. 

It would be easy to write of family, friends, health, the comforts of living in America in the 21st century or hundreds of other blessings that effortlessly spring to mind. All of these are crucially important and much appreciated,  but as a Musing to contrast with last week’s, this would be a cop-out. I decided that I needed to find rays of hope on a national level. Here are some of the things I found:

• There are lots of great resources out there for getting a real education. I have just started listening to a Hillsdale College course on the Constitution. If I have only finished the first class in the series over a period of two months, that’s only due to my deficiencies. But the material is available. Of course I got an email asking for a contribution to the college. That is perfectly just and I should send something in for the value they are making available. (Are you a conservative paying to send your child to a liberal, anti-God university? Make next year’s tuition payments contingent on their watching these videos with you over the summer.)
• Look at the crowds at any pro-life event. There are young, attractive and articulate men and women who are leading the charge.
• There are still good people out there who are willing to get involved and try to make a difference through the political system. My friend Ruth works tirelessly to stay involved in local politics and keeps the rest of us informed. 
• In the same vein, there are people running for office despite the financial and emotional toll on their lives, simply because they want to do the right thing. These people actually do have full lives, both personally and professionally but they are truly stepping up in the spirit of public service. (Reminder to me: send a contribution to Dr. Mark Plaster’s campaign for Congress.)
• There are many fantastic young people out there who are working hard and living moral, upright lives. They are too busy to go out in the middle of the day to join destructive rallies (not that they’d be drawn to them anyway) so the press ignores them. But they do exist and are productive beacons of light in the world.
• Many of these same young people also give time and energy to volunteer work. Even those whose volunteer work might be for causes with which I disagree, nonetheless represent a spirit of giving that is a reason for optimism.
• Despite the media and cultural focus on all the negative, in my daily interactions whether in stores, on the street or while traveling, I overwhelmingly see people smiling at and graciously helping other people of all sizes, shapes and appearances. I read about road rage and misbehavior on airplanes; I see proper behavior and kindness all around me. 

Wow! When I started this Musing I thought it would only be fair to have seven positive bullet points since I had seven negative ones last week. I hesitated to declare my goal at the top because I wasn’t sure I’d make it. Yet once I started, I found the ideas coming easily. I hope they uplift you as they do me. 

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The Emperor Has No Clothes

On occasion, I astound my husband with a rather unimpressive talent I possess. We can be in a hotel room, turn the TV to 'Nick at Nite' and after viewing a few minutes of an ancient sitcom, I will relate the entire half-hour plot to him. 

The episodes were seared into my mind during childhood summers when I Love Lucy, That Girl, The Andy Griffith Show, My Three Sons, Family Affair and other cultural highlights (let’s not forget Green Acres, Leave it to Beaver and The Donna Reed Show!) filled my mornings before I headed out to bicycle and play outdoors for the rest of the day. 

While those shows portrayed moral uprightness and scintillating entertainment compared to what’s on TV today, no one would mistake them for Shakespeare. Yet, it wasn’t until years —and many hours of TV viewing —later that I realized how inane so much of entertainment is. 

My awakening occurred after spending a TV free year in Israel. Upon arriving back in America and turning on the TV, I was appalled at how shallow and uninteresting most sitcoms were. It took stepping away to really see what was in front of me. 

Perhaps the fact that I recently spent a week not reading the newspaper or following any part of the news served the same purpose. All I know is that returning to the news cycle after that short halt has me wanting to run in the streets shouting, “The emperor has no clothes! The emperor has no clothes!”

What have I caught up on and read about? In no particular order, here are a few of the items:

• The Republican Congress has censured the IRS chief. This brings to my mind a group of elderly men slapping each other on the back while puffing cigars and congratulation themselves on how clever they are. I’m glad they’re happy but I’m waiting to understand why Lois Lerner and others aren’t in jail for using the power of the IRS as a tactical, political weapon. 
• An Islamist terrorist commits a terror attack and a Republican dominated congress holds four votes on.....gun control.
• An Islamist terrorist commits a terror attack and religious Christians get called on the carpet for it. 
• The Justice Department censors and rewrites parts of the terrorist’s phone calls to downplay his Islamic involvement and Republican congressmen are talking about ....gun control.
• A room full or reporters questions Attorney General Loretta Lynch about the terrorist attack and NOT ONE reporter asks about why the government is refusing to acknowledge that we do know the motivation of the killer.
• Government agencies are stockpiling weapons and ammunition and Republicans in Congress are discussing...citizen gun control. (I knew about this for quite some time already but a Wall Street Journal article appeared so even GOP elected officials whose heads are in the sand should have heard about it.)
• Hillary Clinton attacks Donald Trump as dangerous and reporters repeat her words without bursting into guffaws of laughter at the pot calling the kettle black.
• Team Trump sends me a few fund-raising appeals without any humility or  explanation of why a candidate who spent months boasting about self-funding wants my money.
• The GOP sends me fund-raising appeals despite presenting itself as incompetent and impotent (see above).

Sadly, my list could go on and on. The duplicity, stupidity, evil and immorality striking me in the face after my news blackout leaves me convinced that even a government populated by the citizens of another ridiculous 1960s sitcom, Petticoat Junction, would be a vast improvement over what we have today.

Here is my challenge to myself: Next week write about something positive and uplifting. It is easy to get discouraged and important to fight against that.

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Our Lose/Lose Society

We’re all familiar with the concept of win/win. I buy a dress that fits my needs in exchange for money that fits the needs of the storeowner. Mike washes the supper dishes and Tali dries them so that they can both get outside and play before it gets dark.

Our society is steadily creeping towards basing itself on a lose/lose philosophy. The sad incident at the Cincinnati Zoo is just one example. Here are the bare facts: a three-year-old toddler entered the moat surrounding the gorilla enclosure and was dragged through the water by a gorilla. 

What if the zoo had not shot the animal? The child might have been rescued safely or might have been harmed. There certainly was a threat of greater damage. How much time do you think would have passed before Black LIves Matter activists began questioning whether the zoo might have acted more quickly and shot the gorilla had the child been white? How long before President Obama picked up the opportunity to agitate for hatred between Americans, a specialty of his, by suggesting that racist America revealed itself once again? How long before someone posted a despicable, stupid comment under the article on a news website making a comparison between the Black child and the gorilla? How long until a daring reporter found out that the bigoted comment-writer once walked on a New York City street that Donald Trump frequently strode, proving that all Trump supporters are Ku Klux Klan wanna-bees? 

I give that scenario two days to play out. 

Meanwhile, the twitter-sphere is out for blood. Someone has to pay! The zoo, the parents, the owner of the trucking company that transported the gorilla to the zoo—surely someone has to suffer because of the deeply sad occurrence. 

Perhaps not. Maybe zoos and other public areas can reassess their safety features and make some changes after being emotionally shaken by this incident. Maybe all parents will be reminded of the speed with which a child can get into trouble. They can hug their children a bit tighter and commit to greater care while at the same time being reminded that as humans they cannot guarantee their children’s safety. Maybe the parents of the toddler who fell into the moat will feel a greater responsibility to raise their children to be givers to their community and country so that their presence is a blessing to the world. Maybe those who believe like PETA that an animal’s life is worth more than a human one will question deep inside themselves whether they truly would have rather seen the gorilla alive and the child dead. Maybe we can, as a society, accept that tragedies can occur without needing to demonize a scapegoat. 

Obviously, if the scenario had played out on a movie screen, a different script could have been written. Instead, it was real life. Everyone on the spot did the best they could within the limitations of human frailty, time and place. That is called reality. The gorilla lost its life, the zoo lost its gorilla and its reputation, the parents lost equanimity and anonymity. As a society we have become less comfortable saying, “There but for the grace of God, go I,” and quicker to condemn and vilify. At what point do we say that there was enough loss and simply accept that bad things sometimes just do happen?

 

I was sent the following video by a friend and found it surprising and shocking. Especially when our cell phones constantly seduce us to look at them instead of around us, I urge you to take the time and see this before heading to the water with kids (or adults).

 

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Smelly Neighbors

My husband and I are having a problem with our neighbors. They don’t seem to be taking enough baths or showers.  You can see how this would make living near them uncomfortable. We’re not even sure that they are washing their dishes or doing laundry.

How do we know this? Each month we get a bill from our public water utility informing us that we are using more water than our neighbors. Some months this certainly could be possible—but when we have been away for three weeks out of the month,  that information is rather troubling. 

Of course, there is an alternative to unhygienic neighbors. Maybe, this entire enterprise is bogus and simply trying to turn neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend. My husband’s response whenever we get one of these notices is to turn on the tap. That might be his inner ten-year-old coming to the surface, but perhaps it isn’t. Maybe it is simply his revulsion for and rejection of our increasingly socialistic society’s attempt to sever links between citizens. He loathes attempts to make us compete with one another to win approval from the government and government approved entities.  

When doctors request that parents leave the room and then ask children if their parents have guns in the house or teachers tell students that their parents’ beliefs are bigoted, we are in a dangerous place. When signs encourage us to turn in fellow drivers wrongly using the carpool lane and politicians stir up envy between citizens based on gender, color and income, our society suffers. The pace at which all this poison is being promoted is rapidly increasing. It is past time to stiffen our backbones —and rebel in ways more effective than leaving our faucets running.

 

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My Nominee for a 3rd Party Candidate Is...

Even if you are a Clintonite or a Trumpista, it is unarguable that the two presumptive nominees for President of the United States are disliked by many. While third party candidates have tended to be spoilers rather than successful, I still find myself trying to imagine whether there is anyone at all in the entire country who could unite a large constituency behind their candidacy. Without calling for such a person to come forward, I am more interested in trying to think who such a person could be. 

I keep coming up blank. To start with, I wanted someone with widespread, positive name recognition, a warm persona and an articulate speaking manner. With two grueling primaries coming to a close, I don’t see how anyone without those traits (at a minimum) could possibly be widely accepted. 

I never got past that first requirement. I couldn’t think of anyone with widespread, positive recognition in today’s climate. Never mind a person, I am not even sure that there is anything that a majority of Americans trust and feel positive about. Mom and apple pie? Suggesting that motherhood is positive marginalizes those who choose not to have children and those who think that one or two fathers are the same as the traditional arrangement.  Let’s not even think of the insult to those mothers who now think that their gender assignment was wrong and that they actually are fathers. 

As for apple pie, that seems to suggest that certain culinary traditions carry more value than others. It somehow eluded me growing up, but my immigrant grandmother who baked many delicacies, never once, to my knowledge,  baked an apple pie. I was never offended by the phrase ‘mom and apple pie,’ but I attended a college that did not have safety zones. I wasn’t sensitized to the idea that my comfort is the responsibility of every person and institution in existence. Is apple pie a mainstay of Chinese, Indian, Hmong and  Mexican traditions, let alone the dozens of other nationalities that make up the United States? 

There was a period where when we had people whose names evoked almost universal affection and respect. Whether or not they really deserved that respect, it is possible that in a similar situation one of those people could have stepped forward and presented themselves an alternative to two tarnished candidates. Even staunch supporters of Clinton or Trump who might choose to stay loyal to their first choice would hesitate to respond to such a candidate with vitriol. General Eisenhower comes to mind as such a candidate or on the other side of the ocean, a post World War II Winston Churchill (before the people turned on him). 

There used to be sports heroes and movie stars, admittedly many of whose private lives were masterfully concealed, who were loved by all but a few cranks. Are we better off now when the slightest wart is publicized? More to the point, the type of things that were hidden such as adulterous or homosexual behavior, ties to crime, violence or drug use are not themselves any longer widely condemned. We can’t agree on what is virtue and what is vice, which makes it rather impossible to find a virtuous and admired person. 

If George Washington would come forward today, he would be rejected and hated by millions as a white slave owner. I don’t believe there is any figure from the past, let alone the present, who could unify our sadly fractured, confused and decaying society. I do see current events as a bloodless revolution taking place. We are many individuals and groups sharing a geographical location; we are no longer one America, one nation under God.

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Welcome to the 1500s

On the surface, President Obama and King Henry VIII of England have little in common. Even the most ardent conspiracy theorist doesn’t suggest that the president has beheaded one, let alone two, wives. Even those who recognize that there are gaps in what we know of the president’s history do not suspect multiple marriages as part of what has not been disclosed. While history shows that Henry VIII cut a dashing figure as a youth, by the time he was President Obama’s current age he was corpulent and physically loathsome. 

Yet, as I read a well-researched account of the king’s last few years, albeit historical fiction, I found myself thinking that there were comparisons to be made. I knew that Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic church, establishing himself as the religious authority. What I hadn’t realized was how much of the turmoil in his life reflected the tussle playing out between following closely in Rome’s path (albeit with himself as the head of the church) versus promoting the Protestant Reformation. 

The king, whether due to a mercurial nature or as a carefully plotted pattern, alternately approved of one side or the other. When he changed, his people needed to change with him. Translations of the Bible in English were promoted by the king and then forbidden, making those who had followed his actions and words traitors to the Crown. Safety was non-existent. Speaking your mind and following your conscience, even when it was consistent with Henry VIII’s past views, branded you a criminal when his proclamations shifted. Being burned to death and tortured on the rack might follow.

Thankfully, our government doesn’t have hidden torture chambers underneath the Capitol. Yet it does have the power to destroy people’s lives, taking away their livelihoods and savings. While (we hope) it doesn’t have spies circulating with the purpose of finding ways to incriminate honest citizens, it has access to our personal records and the ability to manipulate agencies such as the IRS and the Justice Department to punish enemies and reward friends. 

For years, Barack Obama alternated between supporting civil unions while declaring marriage to be “the union between a man and a woman,” to leaning more towards homosexual rights. Once he decisively chose a side, those who are not willing to betray their religious or moral beliefs are heretics. The government is unleashed to bankrupt their businesses and  harass them. Granted, that is better than having one’s eyes put out or one’s  back broken, but no one should sanctimoniously pat themselves on the back thinking this is a great advance. To the best of my knowledge, Henry VIII is not accused of personally killing any of his subjects. Yet, no one doubts that his courtiers and lackeys knew who he wanted maltreated. That  corrupt political reality hasn’t changed. 

I’ve seen a great deal written about “angry white men” during this election cycle. I’ve also seen Wall Street Journal editorials, and the utterances of John Kasich and Paul Ryan among others studiously ignore the fact that upright, religious Americans are being criminalized. Mitt Romney avoided moral issues and only wanted to discuss the economy. Yet lots of Americans of faith feel victims of a witch hunt. The Governor of N. Carolina, and the owner of  TimberCreek Bed & Breakfast in Paxton, Illinois, who is facing an $80,000 fine can tell you about that. When every day converts normal words into “trigger words” and everyday actions into “attacks” that can cause Americans to lose jobs and reputations, it won’t be long before anyone without a protector at court will be fair game.

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