Trump Trauma

Tom Sheppard

11/10/2016

Are you one of those feeling Trump Trauma in the aftermath of the Presidential election of 2016?  If you are, then read on...

#TrumpTrauma has been sweeping the country in the aftermath of the 2016 election.  Many of those who backed Hilary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, or one of the many other candidates whose aspirations were dashed in this election cycle, are taking to the streets to voice their discontent with their new president.

From their statements, "Not my President", they appear to believe that the world as they know it has somehow come to an end.  Other chants of "No KKK.  No fascist state," just reveal their own gullibility to media hype and their lack of understanding of what the word "fascist" actually means.

Many young people today equate the term fascist with the word oppressor.  Some bring in the notion of capitalism and believe the term fascist refers to a capitalist oppressor.  Unfortunately for them, fascist has a very specific meaning, one that is not changed by their opinion.

Fascism, as both a term and a reality, arose in Europe in the days before World War II.  It was attached to both the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in Germany and Benito Mussolini with his Brown Shirts in Italy.  Both Hitler and Mussolini were one-time Communists.  They each broke with the Communist party over the issue of nationalism.

In contrast with the international struggle and triumph envisioned by both Marx, Lenin and Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini wanted to implement a flavor of communism which was focused on the supremacy of their own nation.  With Hitler it narrowed further to focus on the superiority of the Aryan race.

In order to implement their national socialist agendas, they needed to control the levers of power in their countries.  Business was and is a significant source of power in any nation where capitalism prevails.  This fact was not lost on Hitler and Mussolini.  They used the power of their governments to regulate business to the point where it became a tool of government, an arm of the government.

Hitler and Mussolini ruthlessly and relentlessly used all the powers at their command to attempt to subjugate the entire world to their Nationalist Socialist governments.

The transformation of big business into an arm of a socialist government gave birth to a new form of socialism called Fascism.  Among its many admirers in the US were the likes of Henry Ford and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

In more recent years, many of those in the US with Socialist leanings have conveniently forgotten the Socialist part of Fascism and instead of being truthful and accurate, use the term Fascist to attempt to paint all capitalists with the oppressive clothing of those socialist collaborators from World War II.

But enough with this history lesson.  I was wanting to address the phenomena I call #TrumpTrauma.

For those who today are despairing because Trump has been elected President, they need to remember a little more recent history.

When Barak Obama was elected President, Republicans and conservatives felt some of the same despair you feel today.  And here, eight years later, they are feeling elated.  The world did not end when Barak Obama was elected President.  It will not end because Donald Trump was elected President.

For those who disagree with the policy inclinations of Mr. Trump, they can do as many conservatives have done for the past eight years, pray for political gridlock in Washington.

As I am given to general pessimism about the value of federal government intervention, I am very much a fan of political gridlock in DC.  Gridlock means that the politicians are unable to screw things up any worse than it is today.

Don't despair those suffering #TrumpTrauma today, the sun will rise and in four to eight years, someone else will take office in the White House.

It is time to behave like mature adults.  Come in off the streets.  Realize the differences between fact and media hype and join the rest of the adults in the country.  There may come a day when your political aspirations of today will come to pass.  You can thank God and the wise men who penned the Constitution of the United States that your political disappointment won't inevitably lead you to a jail cell or to be stood against a wall and shot because the other side won.  Unfortunately, that is what happens today in many other countries around the world, but not in the USA.

Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM). 

 The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein. 

(c) Copyright 2016 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved. 

 Your comments are welcome... Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome.

Divorced Devotion

Tom Sheppard

10/7/2016

Tim Kaine and Mike Pence both claim to be devout Christians.  

Both were brought up Catholic.

Tim Kaine says, “he wouldn’t allow his religious beliefs to interfere” when it comes to his politics. “I try to practice my religion in a very devout way and follow the teachings of my church in my own personal life. But…”  

Do you know what “but” means?  It means that everything that was said before the word “but” is negated by what comes after.

Mike Pence says, “…my Christian faith became real for me when I made a personal decision for Christ when I was a freshman in college. And I've tried to live that out however imperfectly every day of my life since. … for me, my faith informs my life.”

I didn’t make this up, I took them from a report of the debate in the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-vp-debate-transcript-kaine-pence-20161004-snap-htmlstory.html).

I went to the dictionary (dictionary.com) to look up the word “devout.”  Here is what I found.

1. devoted to divine worship or service; pious; religious:

2. expressing devotion or piety:

3. earnest or sincere; hearty:

The question I have for you is how can a person claim to be devout, and then divorce your behaviors and politics from your religion?

I guess under definition #2 both men could qualify, since expressing devotion or piety meets the definition of being devout.  However, for most people simply expressing piety while actually behaving in an impious manner qualifies as hypocrisy.  So, let’s eliminate that as a workable definition here.

Earnest or sincere, definition #3 is a good working definition.  We all hope both men are earnest and sincere.  The alternative that one or both men are insincere is not something we want to consider in candidates for the second highest position in the most powerful country in the world.  But, the context for these quotes was their belief in god, not their sincerity.

That leaves us with both candidates describing themselves as devoted to divine worship, pious, or religious. In this case, since both are self-proclaimed Christians, that means they were both painting themselves as being devoted to Christ.

Mr. Pence on the one hand allows his faith to inform his life.  Implicitly this means all aspects of his life, including his politics.  On the other hand, Mr. Kaine keeps his devotion divorced from his politics.

I believe it is this divorced devotion that is at the heart of what is ailing our nation, and our politics.

The notion that you can be one person in private and another person in public is one of the biggest lies anyone has ever swallowed.  The Bible says that no one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will love the one and hate the other. Trying to live your life with two personas, each with their own distinct and widely divergent guiding principles is not only a recipe for multiple personality disorder, it is also the very foundation of the notion of being hypocritical.

In case you missed it, here is the definition of a hypocrite:

1.  a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

2.  a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.

So, if Tim Kaine is privately devout and publicly debauched, he is a hypocrite.  If he privately values the sanctity of human life and publicly supports practices like partial birth abortion, then he is a hypocrite.  Which also means that he is not devout under any but one of the definitions above.  I give you a hint which one – he isn’t sincere or earnest and he isn’t devoted to Christ.  He merely expresses piety and devotion – it doesn’t inform his public life.

And this is the heart of the malaise in our country.  We have far too many people who profess piety, but when piety conflicts with their politics, their career, or their business practices, then they pretend that they can wear two faces, be two different people.  They claim, and perhaps even have convinced themselves, that they can privately honor Christ and publicly seek to run him and his values out of the public square on a rail.

Hilary Clinton and Tim Kaine will be the first to tell you that they are privately devout, “but…”

I don’t know about you, but I plan to vote for someone who lets his "faith inform [his] life.”  I think it is the truly Christian thing to do.  Don’t you?

Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM). 

 The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein. 

(c) Copyright 2016 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved. 

Your comments are welcome... Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome.

Charlotte Shooting

http://heyjackass.com/2016-race-of-victim-assailant/ 

Having lived in the Charlotte area for more than 20 years, and with four of my five children still living there, and lots of friends there, I have watched the recent news broadcasts of violence there with trepidation for the safety of those I hold dear.

However, I have not let my concerns for my loved ones blind me to the bigger picture here.

I wanted to know, has anyone else noticed that the Black Lives Matter narrative has changed significantly from its start in Ferguson?

Back then, the drama was focused heavily on the fact that a white cop shot a black man.  For some time thereafter, the drumbeat was an attempt to say that white cops had it in for black men, of all ages.  I call this the "Bad White Cops" message.

Somewhere between then and now, the emphasis has changed.  Segue to Charlotte.

Here we have a black cop, working for a black chief of police, shooting a black man.  Now, the whole "bad white cop" message is out of sight.  Now it is all cops are bad.  I call this the "Bad Cops" song.

Advocates of the Black Lives Matter movement claim that "stop and frisk" practices and profiling are racist policing.  They have woven these threads into the banner of their movement as fundamental doctrines.

In Chicago, the adopted homeland of President Barak Obama and the city run by one of his top former advisors, Rahm Emanuel, the politicians joined in on the chorus of "Bad Cops."  They have given the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) the right to review every single police stop.

As a direct result of the Chicago Police being put at risk of a lawsuit and job loss with every stop they perform, they have understandably stopped making stops.  Now, they just cruise on past potential trouble like they just don't care.

A recent Wall Street Journal article noted that the consequence of the politicians slapping the PD is that now, black lives are being ended on the streets of Chicago at a record rate not seen in "two decades" according to Dean Angelo, President of the Chicago police union.

"By Sept. 8, nearly 3,000 people had been shot in Chicago in 2016, an average of one shooting victim every two hours. Five hundred and sixteen people had been murdered. Gun homicides and non-fatal shootings were up 47%..."

One shooting victim every two hours.  Can you imagine that happening in your home town?

And what does the article say is the root cause of this killing spree?

"Chicago officers have cut back drastically on proactive policing under the onslaught of criticism from the Black Lives Matter movement and its political and media enablers."

The accompanying chart shows who is killing who in Chicago this year.

As the chart at the top of this article notes, 78.2% of murder victims in Chicago this year are blacks.

This begs the question, do black lives matter only when police kill them?

These numbers show definitively that the real fruit of the Black Lives Matter movement is a dramatic increase in the number of black lives ended by murder.

In his "Daily Rant" Mychal Massie on September 22 made the point that Black Lives Matter is not heading the right direction.  What will reduce the number of dead black men in our streets is for people to show respect for authority, both at home and in the streets.

Regarding the shooting in Charlotte, he says, "...Lamont was responsible for his own death."

From there, he goes on to note how members of the black community used the shooting as an excuse to descend like a Mongol horde following Ghengis Khan to loot a nearby Wal Mart and pillage and intimidate innocent people on a nearby freeway.

Speaking on the topic of this kind of lawless behavior, black commentator Star Parker says,

The basis of a civilized, decent and just society is law. But law, if it is going to be respected, must be rooted in core values and eternal truths. In the words of our second president, John Adams, we need "a government of laws, not of men."

In our zeal to purge our nation of Judeo-Christian values, driven by the false notion that religion hampers rather than enhances our freedom, we bear the consequences of this effort. We wind up with a government of men, not laws.

She goes on to link the lawlessness permitted in characters like Hilary Clinton and her handling of classified information as further affirmation that we are emerging as a government of men where power and wealth can buy immunity for wrong-doing.  This directly inspires the narrative promoted by Black Lives Matter that the only cure for injustice is through violence.

While I am certain that there are some bad cops out there, just as there are bad people in almost every line of work, I am equally certain that the majority of police officers, regardless of their color are good people.  The cops I have known joined the force out of a desire to help people in meaningful ways.

Respect for authority and the rule of law, not of capricious men, are bulwarks of civilization and foundations for both the US Constitution and this nation.

Black Lives Matter sympathizers need to redirect their energy to supporting law enforcement.  Their current efforts are clearly resulting in more black lives ended than was happening when the police were allowed to do their jobs and given the respect they deserve for putting their lives on the line every day.  The song needs to change from "Bad Cops" to "My Country 'Tis of Thee," and to "Politicians Accountability."

Hilary violated laws and regulations that were put in place to protect the people of the United States.  She should be prosecuted for that.  Just as should everyone who violates the laws of the land, regardless of their race or wealth.

Black Lives Matter is right to focus on accountability.  And they should focus on accountability of all parties involved.  The dead man is accountable for failing to put down his gun when ordered by the police.  The police involved are accountable for keeping everyone in the area safe from a man with a gun who is disregarding lawful police orders.

But where does that common sense approach leave the "protesters?"  Now, they have to take accountability for their own savagery, barbarity and lawlessness.

Your comments are welcome... Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome.

Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM). 

The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein. 

(c) Copyright 2015 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved. 

You Have Done It Unto Me: The Lie of Liberal Altruism

In the 25th chapter of Matthew, the Savior speaks of the final judgment.  To those who have done well and to those who have not, he offers the same explanation for the reward they are offered.  He tells them all that, "... inasmuch as ye have done [or not done] it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

He is referring to how they did, or did not, take care of the poor, the sick, the destitute and the afflicted among them.

Today, much of our political debate and divide appears to be focused on how we, as a society, believe we should go about taking care of the least advantaged among us.

For many years, as I read or heard these words, I believed that Jesus was speaking metaphorically. I believed he was saying that he was holding us accountable for our treatment of our fellow human beings.  And, he is certainly saying that.  However, I am now convinced that Jesus was not speaking metaphorically in this matter.  Rather, he was being completely literal.

We learn elsewhere that in his atoning sacrifice he suffered all the pains of humanity (D&C 18:11), so that he could learn to succor those in need (Hebrews 2:18).  I suggest that in a very real way, he has actually shared and felt the very pains of the homeless, the hungry, the naked, those in prison and those who wash up on the edges of our society like flotsam washing up on a beach.  And, that he did not suffer those pains in some abstract way, or as a derivative of what those people suffer, rather, through some incomprehensible mechanism he is and was able to fully feel the actual pains that each of us has and will suffered.  And, feeling those actual pains, he then can understand completely our situation and can comfort us, or forgive us, in exact measure according to our pain and need.

Knowing then, that He feels the pains of others, when we help those in need, when we relieve the suffering of those in anguish or pain, when we feed the hungry, we directly reduce the amount of suffering and pain that Christ suffers.  Likewise, when we cause others to suffer, we add to pain He suffers.  And when we fail to act to alleviate the pain and suffering of others, we fail to alleviate His pain and suffering.

I believe that is true.

In the light of that belief, some would suppose that I would be driven to embrace the social welfare model of government (aka Socialism, Communism, Progressivism, Liberalism, Fascism).  In fact much of the social welfare model of government wraps itself in a mantle of altruism about caring for the less fortunate among us. But, nothing could be further from the truth.

Socialists like Bernie Sanders and Liberals like Hilary Clinton and Barak Obama, seek to destroy the rich (other than themselves) and even to destroy the middle class, and make us all equally poor together.

I despise their cries to destroy the wealthy in order to help the poor.  And there is no hypocrisy in my feelings.  You cannot lift anyone up by tearing someone else down.

When Bernie Sanders, Hilary Clinton, Barak Obama and their ilk talk about helping the poor and relieving suffering, they are not talking about digging deep into their own pockets and giving until it hurts themselves in order to help others.  They are content to keep their own wealth, gained by feeding at the trough of the taxpayers.  They will keep their wealth, and instead they will dig deep into the pockets of others and force them to give until it hurts.

Their hypocrisy in their failure to live the very principles they are espousing is as clear and horrendous as that of any Christian preacher who rails from the pulpit against the evils of the flesh, and then is caught in adultery and debauchery.  And their altruistic battle cries of "soak the rich" mask the brutal reality of their policies which actually soak everyone who is above the poverty line in order to make us all poor together and ensure that the only path to wealth and comfort is through service to the State.

We need to re-enshrine the notion of individual action and individual accountability in our nation, especially when it comes to the issues of caring for the poor and disadvantaged.  A thrust toward individual accountability is in direct opposition to the Socialist thrust of collective accountability.

Each individual should take personal action to help those who are less advantaged than they.  Each person should do according to their ability and means.  This does not mean that we cannot band together into charitable organizations to magnify our efforts.  But, we should not ever rely upon the power of taxation, which is nothing less than forcible redistribution of wealth, in order to take care of those who are disadvantaged.

I make a notable exception in this for military veterans.  Military veterans are the only organization which has earned the right to partake of a portion of the public treasury to support them in their times of trouble. Because they have literally offered their lives in the service of our country, they are actually entitled to support through taxation.

Links Related to this Post:

• Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning
• Uncle Sam's Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America's Poor and What We Can Do About It
• Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto

Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM). The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein. 

The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein.

Visit Tom's Amazon.com Author's Page

(c) Copyright 2015 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved. 

Your comments are welcome and invited. Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome, even ones that may unsettle me.

Bernie Sanders v Donald Trump for President - Hurray!

Today's Wall Street Journal features a front page article titled, "Unhappy Voters Shake Up Contest."  The article notes that Hillary Clinton's lead in the polls is sinking while her Democratic opponent Bernie Sanders has jumped to 25%, from less than 10%.  Likewise, it points out that Jeb Bush, once the heir apparent now finds himself running in third, with Donald Trump pulling the top numbers among Republicans.

I look with relish and uncommon excitement at a presidential election that would pit Bernie Sanders against Donald Trump.

First of all, if those were the two picks, for the first time in decades we would have two contenders who are truly, fundamentally, different from each other, instead of having candidates who were just two different shades of the same color.

Second, this would be the first presidential election in my memory where the two candidates are not saying whatever they think it takes to get elected and instead are taking principled, and frequently unpopular stands that are consistent with their ideologies.  Both men appear to be willing and able to state their convictions and stand up for them, regardless of any pressure to do otherwise.

Third, this particular match-up would give Americans the chance to make a clear choice between the two competing economic models of the last century - a choice that historic facts would appear to be moot, but still it persists.

Bernie Sanders is an unapologetic Socialist.  For decades he has consistently voted for laws and measures that drove this country closer and closer to the socialist ideal.  He makes no apologies for his approach and he doesn't try to hide it. 

While I personally find it amazing that anyone can look at the lessons of history and see the massive failures of socialism in the former USSR and China, and any other country that has embraced the policy of trying to make their people all equally poor (except for those ruling elites), and yet continue to espouse such blatant stupidity, nay economic suicide; still, I find Bernie Sanders admirable in his consistent commitment and advocacy of his principles.

In sharp economic contrast to Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump is an unapologetic capitalist.  Unlike the hypocrisy of uber-rich George Soros, Warren Buffet and Oprah Winfrey, who having feathered their own nests through capitalism now seek to destroy the means for others to attain similar levels of prosperity, Donald Trump continues to espouse policies that would keep the American Dream alive and keep the doors to individual success and prosperity open to all comers who are willing to work hard and smart.

Unfortunately, I suspect that if the establishment fails to keep these two zealots out of office, they will arrange for the untimely demise of any President of the United States (POTUS) who they cannot control.  And neither Bernie Sanders nor Donald Trump sound at all like the kind of men who will dance to any tune that is not their own.  I am not one of those crackpot conspiracy theorists, seeing some nefarious hand in everything.  Still, I recognize the realities of human nature and power.  Those who benefit from the ongoing trend toward socialism in this country will do what they can to encourage the movement that direction.

I know many Republicans are as horrified at the prospect of having The Donald as their candidate or POTUS as some Democrats are at the prospect of having Bernie as their front man.  Still, for the American People, I hope that each of these two contenders manage to knock out the same-old-same-old front runners from both parties and give us a real, discernible choice in this upcoming presidential election.  I think it would be just what the country needs - a clear choice instead of choosing between socialism (liberal Democrats) and socialism lite (moderate Republicans).

Let's have a real, public, debate over the virtues of capitalism v socialism.  Let Donald and Bernie go toe-to-toe and let the American People make a clear choice for one economic approach versus another.  I am hopeful that the majority will choose the opportunity of capitalism over the oppression of socialism.

Tom Sheppard is a business consultant and coach to small business owners and individuals. He is a recognized author with dozens of titles in business and fiction to his credit. One of his endeavors is to help those who want to see their own book in print. He does this through his trademarked Book Whispering Process (TM). The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein. 

The author is not an official spokesperson for any organization or person mentioned herein.

Visit Tom's Amazon.com Author's Page

(c) Copyright 2015 A+ Results LLC. All Rights Reserved. 

 Your comments are welcome... Please observe some ground rules. No profanity, vulgarity, or personal attacks. Profanity, vulgarity and personal attacks not only betray a lack of vocabulary and imagination, they also are the hallmarks of bigotry, and bigotry is the hallmark of someone who is fundamentally insecure in their views. Facts are always welcome.