Virginia's Public Square
Virginia's Public Square
“The biggest skill I can bring to the table is a thorough understanding of the budgeting process and understanding the flows of money and an ability to work with the people to accomplish what our priorities and needs are,” said Joe McNamara, the Republican candidate in the 8th District House of Delegates race that will determine if the GOP holds on to their majority in the state legislature.
The problem for the polls highlighting the district is that it sees through a national looking glass, which has biases of its own – that is the true understated total error. Considering Tom Garrett won by a very hefty margin in the previous election cycle and Trump still has the good graces of many in VA-5, do not be surprised if Republican Denver Riggleman wins by a pretty sufficient margin.
Although the news is good on the job creation front, the bigger story is with wage growth, which has languished in the years since the Great Recession of 2008. Average hourly earnings increased by five cents an hour for the month and 83 cents year over year, representing a 3.1 percent gain.
The former Navy SEAL and Iraq combat veteran said his primary goals upon getting to Washington in January 2016 were to expand the military, help veterans through post-active duty care and other areas, and to help improve the Virginia Beach and Eastern Shore economy. Responding quite categorically to his mission, he said, “We’ve done just that.”
Many believe the younger generation has been indoctrinated with the vast, over-bearing progressivism plaguing the American populous through the public education system. After all, the father of the nation’s educational approach, Horace Mann, famously quipped, “Men are cast-iron, but children are wax.”
Schooling has always been – presumably always will be – a process that molds not only a student’s abilities, but more importantly even, a student’s worldview based upon the values of the particular educator. Therefore, within the education system, there is no basic value-neutral premise.
Stated in a piece from Intellectual Takeout, Mann’s vision for American education was initially challenged. In an 1840 special committee in the Massachusetts legislature, many had serious reservations about increasing government control over education.
Lawmakers were worried that the public education system would destroying America’s republican principles, insofar as a government founded as a Republic is concerned. Moreover, they found criticism in the ideal that it would be used as a tool for increasing the government’s power, for the purposes of propaganda, and reducing parents’ influence over their children:
In 1840, legislators remarked:
“The right to mold the political, moral, and religious opinions of…children is a right exclusively and jealously reserved by our laws to every parent; and for the government to attempt, directly or indirectly, as to these matters, to stand in the parent’s place, is an undertaking of very questionable policy. Such an attempt cannot fail to excite a feeling of jealousy, with respect to our public schools, the results of which could not but be disastrous.”
We were warned over 175 years ago that education could become a tool of indoctrination, with it now being undeniably used as such, and those propagating it denying those claims. Nevertheless, it seems that it is not just the public education system that is spouting ridicule over those who value equality of opportunity, not equality of outcome. Children far younger than of schooling age are now getting a taste of the poisonous elixir.
Although there seems to be many, here are two books that were recently identified as invoking indoctrination as a means to mold a child’s mind.
The first book is: “Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights”
As stated in a staunch review by the non-profit organization Prager U, which sees things undoubtedly from a conservative perspective, the aforementioned children’s book is not meant for high school students, but for kids ages four to eight, and sold at your local Barnes and Noble.
“Assemble. Take Action. Create Allies.” Those are the phrases overshadowed by a colorful cartoon depicting people holding a sign saying “Resist. Resist. Resist.” Yes, that’s what little children need to know. No longer are shapes, historical facts, geography, and mathematics important, it’s political “wokeness.”
Pictures in the book also show people holding signs that say “Boycott Grapes” next to the raised fist symbol, an iconic piece of imagery of socialism. How did grapes become traditionalist, patriarchal twaddle?
Written on another page is, “Be fearless. Fly a flag. File a lawsuit. Have faith.” What child is filing a lawsuit?
Depicted is also a football player wearing red and gold colors kneeling before the flag amid an array of protesters.
Hmm…wonder who that is.
Flipping the pages more, there comes a depiction of what seems to be workers in uniforms and hard hats, with one carrying a baby below the words, “Organize. Organize. Organize. Parade. Picket. Post. Persist. Persevere.” Who has a small child in factory? Who makes hard hats that small? All great questions, but, of course, when all are working in conjunction to give the government money to redistribute to those who have no jobs, child labor laws kind of go out the window at that point.
Then, two pages are used to show a massive “STRIKE.” depiction. Four year olds don’t have jobs and are not striking from their jobs. What does this even mean?
“Be nonviolent,” the book says. Well, that is one good thing coming out of this prose – better tell that to Antifa.
Overall, super weird.
The second book is: “The Little Book of Little Activists”
“Activism. Taking action in order to create social change.”
“Feminism. The belief that women and men deserve equal rights, opportunities, and respect.”
Those are the two defining phrases with which the book begins. Then there is pictured a kid, not more than six or seven, holding a sign saying “We will not be silenced.” From what? Yelling at cartoons on the television?
Again, another child, this time younger, holding a sign that says, “DIVERSITY MAKES AMERICA GREAT!” Agreed, however, it’s highly doubtful that they’re talking about diversity of outcome, thought, or anything else that actually makes the U.S. a great place.
Lastly, what looks to be an 18-month-old child holding a sign emblazoned with “I DISSENT.” From what? Eating crushed peas?
Many say indoctrination starts in American colleges and universities, even in high school. From the looks of it, it starts even before school begins.
Well, it’s almost Christmas time. So, if you want your toddler or young child to be a gleaming example of a postmodernist, woefully under-educated, emotion-only driven, social justice warrior-like, charlatanesque huckster of false, alternate realities devoid of any sense of habitual veracity, pushing forth revisionist history all in the name of power, go ahead, buy these books. But, understand, in the eyes of the radical neomarxists, whom controls the present controls the past, and whom controls the past dominates the future.
While a political meltdown should not be had now over the federal debt and deficit, if something is not done soon to curb the increasing numbers of debt and deficit, the melting will begin in just a few short decades.
For those fed up by the endorsement of members of the Front Royal Town Council, it’s beer time…no, seriously.
There is a new enemy waging war on Christmas. No, it has nothing to do with nuanced holiday greetings and decorations turning into divisive political statements.
Whether the manufacturing jobs boom seen under President Trump in his first 21 months in office will continue is now largely dependent on the administration’s handling of China, which currently has a quarter of a trillion dollars in duties levied on its products.
As the thousands-strong caravan of Central and South American migrants press onward towards the U.S. border, media coverage of the situation has been centered on President Donald Trump’s social media reactions to the news reports, which are about his social media reactions to the reporting of the situation in a constant, never-ending loop. Whether it’s potentially closing the southern border or sending military troops to secure and maintain U.S. sovereignty, there are far more questions that need to be asked about crisis about which the mainstream media has failed to inquire.
For example, The Washington Post published a “what you need to know” piece that leaves much to be desired after such an un-inquisitive narrative that simply bashes the Trump Administration and reports based off of things that are seen on the crawl at the bottom of the common “news” channel.
A 2,000-mile transcontinental trek has a lot of moving parts in it. So, here’s not what you need to know, but what you need to ask.
1. How many migrants are there in the caravan?
In the weeks since the caravan set off from Honduras, there is now between 3,500 – as the Mexican government reports – to over 10,000 – as some aid groups report – people now making their way north to the U.S. Unfortunately, no one has been able to conduct an accurate head count. This could be due to a few extenuating factors.
Some situations like this often garner others who join in for a few days, even a few hours, as a sense of protest, but end up going back home after they achieve their sense of fulfillment. Secondly, some also drop off as they apply for asylum in either Guatemala or Mexico. Nevertheless, it is quite precarious that even the most independent-minded, citizen journalists don’t just go down there and interview people and get a sense of the situation themselves.
Unfortunately, TRS doesn’t have it in its budget to send a massive contingent of reporters to the bottom of the continent. After all, there’s food, water, shelter, transportation, bug spray, cliché press hats, flashbulb cameras, typewriters, among other things to pay for. That brings us to the next question.
2. How is everyone receiving food and water?
Again, walking thousands of miles takes a lot of energy. As well, giving people – thousands of them – that energy with food and water takes a lot of resources and a lot of planning. However, there aren’t any instances of people carrying palettes of Aquafina or Nutrigrain bars.
Could they have stopped at restaurants and food trucks to fuel up? Well, don’t you think that would have been seen in at least one reported picture? Even the most hipster of migrants would have posted their enchiladas and tostadas on Instagram with witty hashtags.
Therefore, they must be getting a majority of their sustenance from outside sources. They all cannot drink water from rivers or eat berries from bushes. That brings us to the next question.
3. Where are the migrants relieving themselves?
Let’s be honest with ourselves, if the thousands of people trekking towards the U.S. were defecating and urinating in and along the roads which they have traveled, that would be an extraordinary environmental crisis. Greenpeace would be all over that.
So far, there have been no reports of massive piles of excrement along the pathway of the migrants. Are they knocking on doors to use indoor plumbing? Are they using portable lavatories somewhere? Again, there have been no photos or stories about any actual necessary infrastructure along the journey. That brings us to the next question.
4. Where are the migrants sleeping at night?
Obviously, one must rest on a 2,000-mile journey. Again, are they knocking on doors to see if they can crash on a local couch? Are they booking themselves into hotels? Presumably, they all do not have sleeping bags, cots, and tents.
After all, it’s not the safest place in the world to be making a transcontinental march. That brings us to the next question.
5. Shouldn’t there be security involved?
Some areas of Mexico, let alone the Central American subcontinent, are commonly in the news for brutal murders on part of rampant drug gangs and narcoterrorists. In the pictures provided by many news outlets we have seen that many are in tow with small children and babies in strollers.
One of the reasons people are fleeing their home countries is because of the dangerous situations involving the aforementioned “bad hombres” that have caused unrest in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and other countries.
So, how are these people being kept safe during their journey? Obviously, if even one was brandishing a firearm to protect the group, at least one media outlet would have freaked out, or even President Trump would have found someway to describe the caravan as an “armed invasion.” However, no such issue has arisen.
It would be quite interesting if the caravan took a wrong turn and found itself in the middle of a contested area of gang activity. While that would be catastrophically unfortunate, that brings us to the next question.
6. Who is leading the group?
It has been said that Pueblo sin Fronteras has organized the caravan. The “political outreach group” has extensive experience in leading other caravans of migrants across countries in an illegal manner, just like a few months ago when a 1,500-person caravan marched on the U.S.-Mexico border demanding to be let in and given support.
It is probably implausible that those leading the caravan are using maps and sextants to navigate by the stars. In today’s age, few people still use maps. These people aren’t barbarians, of course they probably use GPS systems like the rest of modern society.
Considering the caravan is consistently moving and is never always near a wall socket, they may not be using a handheld navigation system. Are they using a GPS system in a car? That could work very well, which brings us to the next question.
7. Where are all the support vehicles?
When it comes to having enough food, water, and other supplies for thousands of people walking across multiple countries there must be some type of logistics system and support vehicles to carry all that is needed.
The U.S. Army didn’t land on the beach at Normandy with a few bags of peanuts and a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle full of water.
Could they be stopping and buying things they need a local stores? Wouldn’t that be expensive for those claiming to be fleeing their home countries because of economic conditions? That brings us to the next question.
8. Who’s funding this venture?
Of course, this question has been asked. However, those giving money to assist the caravan do not have to file FEC forms or probably don’t have any type of receipt or expenditure reports.
While this is probably the hardest to answer, like political donations, timing is everything. That brings us to the next question.
9. Interesting timing, right?
It’s less than two weeks before Election Day. On Friday morning, the caravan left Pijijiapan, Mexico, about 110 miles north of the Mexico-Guatemala border. Right now, the closest border crossing would be between Matamoros, Mexico, and Brownsville, Texas, about 1,000 miles away from the group’s current location.
To date, the caravan has traveled about 20-30 miles a day; therefore, it will take weeks to reach the U.S. border at the current speed. Though, it could be faster if the circumstances are changed insofar as vehicles are concerned.
Even though much, rather all, of the criticism has emanated from the Republican-led White House and Congress, Democrats are now beginning to question the timing of the situation.
“The timing of this caravan, much larger than anything we’ve seen before, I’ve asked and we’re trying to get the intelligence community to see, why now?” Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) said recently during an interview on CNN’s “New Day.” He asked, “Why at this moment in time? Who would this benefit if it’s suddenly in the news?”
Hmm…
Anchor John Berman then charged, “Are you suggesting that it was ginned up for political purposes?”
Warner responded, “All I’m saying is, we’ve never seen a caravan of this size. Usually there’s been smaller ones, that have been about safety. This one seems much, much larger, and at an unusual time.”
Hmm…
Let’s be honest, when both political parties agree on something, or even aren’t in staunch opposition with each other, weird things happen. Speaking of weird coincidences, that brings us to the last question.
10. Who does this caravan benefit?
In keeping with the popular criticisms that foreign entities have attempted to meddle in U.S. elections, is this caravan part of that concept? Considering the nation has put election infrastructure under a microscope, conducted congressional hearings, and even an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, whomever wishes to stir up the pot must innovate.
It would be very interesting to find out that those hoping to influence an election are no longer pushing fake stories on Facebook, or using phishing scams, or employing Macedonian “content farmers,” or whatever Hillary Clinton blamed in her apologist-style book.
Regardless, one must begin not questioning reactions to situations, but the situations themselves. For the migrant caravan, it’s truly painful that the big media outlets simply do not care to ask the necessary questions.