Column #446       March 15, 2024Head in the Sand

It’s always important to study both sides of any topic. All animals have two ears and two eyes in order to gain a better perspective as to what’s going on in the physical world. Two eyes can provide depth of perception and two ears can tell you where a sound is coming from. Mulling over two opposing ideas may lead to an even better idea, or help one decide which one fits his agenda best.

Once in awhile I take the time to exchange thoughts on hot button topics with radical liberals. Yes, I’m that curious as to how their thinking processes function. The topics have involved ranching, nutrition, medical proficiency, COVID, finances, money and markets, politics, foreign policy, education, the environment, global warming, and other buttons that provide flaming responses.

Is it possible that nearly all rabid liberals view those topics differently than independents and conservatives? One wouldn’t think that’s possible, but they sure do. Amazingly, quite often I see where actual scientific facts and/or historical precedents are so polarizing that merely mentioning the topic can be like touching the third rail. It always strikes me as amazing that a topic can be so upsetting to anyone.

Another aspect of this is I’m always puzzled by people who can’t accept reality. But the leftists have an ability to deny reality that’s beyond my comprehension. Maybe that’s because the people I’m used to dealing with are intelligent, sane, and have a normal level of common sense. Leftists may appear to be normal, but the minute they start talking about some topics it’s obvious their brains are so scrambled you’d expect them to claim the sun rises in the west. That’s absurd of course, but it’s no more ridiculous than saying men can have babies, men pretending to be women can compete in women sports, climate change is an existential threat, Biden doesn’t have dementia, tampon dispensers must be installed in men’s bathrooms, spending more borrowed money solves the deficit problem and inflation, open borders are good policy, paying for weapons sent to Ukraine is good for the economy, DEI isn’t racist, and other batty claims that defy reality and historical precedence.

On the heels of Biden’s recent State of the Union address I sent out a note recommending that folks read Victor Davis Hanson’s blog titled “One Angry Biden Lie After Another.” THAT lit a Californian’s fuse beginning a “conversation” that started with this reply to my note.1 2

Biden has every right to be angry, especially at GOP obstructionist senators, and their corrupt and immoral "leader." ....But he's not a liar--his honesty is impeccable. Joseph Biden is a brilliant man with a long history of working in our government to make this country better, always giving his best to the job despite massive personal tragedies. He will have my respect and my vote, though I must admit I'd vote for anyone, including my neighbor's dog before I'd consider tfg [The Former Guy].

In order to see if the responder (who’s my same age and with whom I was familiar) would give any ground on her over-the-top assessments, I responded with a few points to see. I started out: “I wonder if we can agree on anything?” Then I highlighted her points and commented.

he's not a liar—But doesn't he tell us there is no border crisis yet millions of illegals have poured into the country under his watch? And didn't he on his first day in office decree that the border will be opened? He did it by nullifying all of Trump's border policies. You remember that don't you? What about Biden saying the Dobbs decision outlaws abortion and threatens women’s lives. Doesn't ending Dobbs merely allow states to set their own laws regarding abortion? And in CA, are women not allowed to have abortions and are their lives threatened because Dobbs no longer exists? Implying that without Dobbs women’s lives are threatened seems to be a lie.

his honesty is impeccable—Yet, didn't he take home classified documents while a senator and a vice president? That is flat out illegal no matter how you slice it. Has he paid the income taxes on the cash he has received from influence peddling during the past 12 years? Didn't he brag about forcing Ukraine to fire their prosecutor who was investigating the Ukrainian company his son worked for? You know, the Ukrainian company that paid Hunter about $86,000 PER MONTH to sit on the board.3 4

He is brilliant man—Can you can provide examples of his brilliance in terms of foreign policy, history of positions on abortion, voting record for incarcerating blacks, other landmark legislation, financial acumen, his overtly racist positions, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and how he goaded Putin into invading Ukraine? (To know that last point you'd need to know the history of the agreement the USA made regarding NATO when Russia was broken up. That's actual history—it's about "not one inch." Look it up. Maybe you missed that. What about sticking up for Israel? What is his plan for Ukraine? Why has he refused to settle the issue with Russia instead of prolonging it? What's he accomplishing there besides the killing off of a couple of generations of Ukranian men?

Do you think his current border policies are brilliant? Do you like his positions on a law and order and lawfare? Do you know what he was saying 35 years ago? His reply to George H.W. Bush is footnoted below and today it’s a perfect response to his own State of the Union Speech? Check it out and you’ll notice that he didn't stutter and mumble. He didn't yell and he was not divisive. He didn't threaten the members of the Supreme Court. Listen to every word. He was quite reasonable 35 years ago and every American would have applauded.5 6

long history of working in our government to make this country better—Doesn't that make him a professional politician who seems to have gotten rich on a politician's salary? How many acts has he been instrumental in that have made this a better country? There’s a big difference in making a claim and providing examples.

giving his best to the job despite massive personal tragedies—This implies that his tragedies far and away outstrips the tragedies that have hit all other American families. I guess your family has never had anyone die of a disease or accident? So Biden’s personal tragedies make him an exceptional man?

Instead of just saying stuff and name calling, let's talk about Biden's actual accomplishments while a senator, vice president, and president. Once again, did you read the article by Victor Davis Hanson? The article discusses history of actual events. That doesn't mean you shouldn't vote the way you want, but if there is to be a conversation it has to be grounded on something other than shouting, unsubstantiated claims, and name calling.

Then came her response.

We can't agree on much. Yes, Biden accidentally ended up with some papers that weren't supposed to leave the white house--a few, which HE IMMEDIATELY RETURNED.

Over a period of several decades Biden deliberately took home classified documents without any form of authorization and had them stored in nine different locations—some many miles from his home! By law Senators and VPs cannot remove classified documents from their source locations—nor even take handwritten notes gleaned from classified material. There was no accidental removal of documents. BTW, all presidents have retained classified documents. Never before has that been an issue like it is today with Trump.

Not carton after carton stolen purposely after asking his staff to help him, stacked to the ceiling in every room of his house, even the bathroom! And never returned!

This is literally not true in nearly every respect or taken totally out of context. Many hundreds of boxes were initially moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago that were initially stacked all over the place—which is common with most moves. It was those stacks of moving boxes that were claimed to be classified documents by a giddy CNN. Yet most of them contained personal belongings and not classified documents.

In the months leading up to the FBI raid, many classified documents were returned as requested. But when the FBI raided Trump’s home it’s reported by the FBI that they got “31 confidential documents, 54 secret documents, and 18 top secret documents” along with many boxes of personal items that were not confidential. Nearly all of Trump’s classified documents were stored in a locked safe room at Mar-a-Lago monitored by security cameras and guarded by Secret Service agents.

I don't think anyone who hasn't lost a young child to death can presume to understand how deep that emotional pain is. It reverses the natural order of things and nothing can ever feel right again. What is exceptional about Biden is that he found a way to continue his service to his country while grieving. Not everyone can do that. And he did it well . . .

To imply this is a reason to vote for someone might be a reason to vote for Trump. That’s because it’s strictly an emotional feeling on your part rather than a rational analysis of policies, capabilities, and actions. As stated before, most people have had to overcome some sort of tragedy in their lives. Many statesmen have continued on even after being shot. Quite often those that do continue on have deep feelings for others in the same boat. Yet there were two examples of Biden’s disregard for the feelings of other parents who have lost their children during his speech the other night. Do you recall what they were?

Re Ukraine, if anyone goaded them into invading their neighbor country, it was Putin's buddy Trump; if you haven't seen that connection, you must be blind........

How can you blame Trump? It’s an empty claim if you think his goading phrase, taken out of context when he was insisting that NATO countries spend more on their militaries to defend against Russia, was an actual invite for Russia to attack Ukraine. If so that’s totally deranged thinking because taking words out of context is a form of lying. We can’t have a conversation sprinkled with lies and deliberate deceptions such as played by Biden. (What about the Russian money the Biden’s have received?)

The flipping of Ukraine’s neutral government in 2014 was not under Trump’s watch. The weeks leading up to the invasion (that could have been avoided) was not on Trump’s watch. The refusal to end the hostilities one year into the conflict was turned down by Biden—not Trump. Do you not realize our deficit is increasing at the rate of $1 trillion every 100 days? Yet Biden wants to spend billions defending Ukraine’s border but not reverse his decrees which opened our border.

I don't begrudge any politician taking his salary for doing his job---it is the corrupt, sleazy ones that collect for Veterans and use it for their campaign, that inflate their earnings for borrowing money and diminish them massively for taxes, that cheat ordinary people and the wealthy out of huge sums, as in hundreds of millions, as has been proven recently for your cult hero.

A politician’s salary won't make anyone a multimillionaire with large beachfront homes. BTW, when Trump was president he donated his salary back to the government.

Have you ever borrowed money from a bank and had to present a balance sheet? I have many times over the years. Many times. Like Trump always did, when presenting estimated values and projections, I ALWAYS provided hedge clauses with the expectation the lender would do their own due diligence. Trump has paid off or fully serviced his loans and no banks lost money. In fact the banks testified that what he did followed normal business practices and they would lend him the money all over again. Do you know anything about tax law? Your comment shows you don't. Very few builders pay a lot of taxes because of depreciation. Trump was a builder.7

BTW, in ranching there is also a lot of deprecation and many expenses are legally sheltered from taxes. That’s why so many folks in the country have livestock. Does that make them bad people?

I'm too old to waste any of my time reading articles by nut cases, even if they managed to get into Stanford---assuming that's not a lie . . .

I pride myself on listening to both sides of an argument. If you don't know both sides, you are living with your head in the sand. Without even investigating the man you think Victor Davis Hanson is a nut case. That speaks volumes about you. He’s a respected Stanford professor of history (who is a guest speaker at many institutions around the world) and is considered a national treasure by many. Reading his comments has nothing to do with our age. To say that and assume Victor Davis Hanson is a lie means you are fearful of learning something or incredibly ignorant about one of America’s leading scholars!

I'm continuously studying—never stopping. Sticking your head in the sand to avoid the respected council of leading citizens is how people end up being brainwashed by manipulative politicians, bureaucrats, MSM talking heads, sociopaths, and elitists who don’t have their feet on the ground. Once again I urge you to read Professor Davidson’s brief comments and then think for yourself—rather than parrot what you hear from the MSM. It only takes a few minutes, less time than typing a response.

I didn't say our country is a dictatorship, only that it's what your deceitful insurrectionist (not name-calling, but proven facts) will turn it into if he gets his arrogant narcissistic way.

Do you realize how many Democrats have protested elections over the years? It’s legendary. Do you even know the definition of "insurrection?” Trump has never been charged with insurrection nor has been convicted of insurrection. None of the people convicted for being disruptive on Jan6 were even accused of being insurrectionists. Yet you assume Trump actually aided and abetted an armed rebellion with an intent to overthrow the government of the USA! And he did that not with an armed military assault, but with a bunch of unarmed people who came to protest what may well be the most corrupt election in our nation’s history. Also, it’s a fact that before the rally Trump requested the Capitol police bring in 10,000 national guard troops to help maintain order, but Pelosi and the like refused the offer. Why would they do that?

As for living in a dictatorship, what are these presidential administrative decrees: we must get rid of gas stoves and internal combustion engines; GM, Ford, and such MUST build EVs; businesses should not change their product packaging when raw material prices increase; the government must use DEI; the border must be open contrary to law; student loans can be forgiven contrary to law; funds for finishing the border wall can be diverted to other purposes contrary to law; and on and on the list goes.8

And never will I consider taking a step back in my fight to make every child a wanted child. To help every woman regain the right to have control over her body, to be able to terminate a pregnancy in early stage without any questions, as is done in every forward-moving country in the world. (Did you know that the incidence of Down's syndrome in Iceland is near zero?) I will not accept the return of our country to the dark ages of the Christian inquisition, the witch trials, or a future dystopia of a "Handmaids tale (did YOU read that book?? ) That alone is enough to make me vote not just for Biden, but to check the credentials of everyone running for schoolboard, water district and judge, and alert others to the dangerous ones. As long as I have breath, I will fight for a return to the once declared safe (even by the corrupt judges, esp. Kavenaugh, who later hypocritically voted against it ) constitutional protection of Roe vs Wade, something supported by a great majority (This article was updated on July 7, 2023, with Gallup's latest data: When asked about the legality of abortion at different stages of pregnancy, over two-thirds of Americans say it should be legal in the first trimester (69%.)

First of all, Roe vs. Wade was unconstitutional. We can’t have unconstitutional laws if we are going to have a country. Other than that, you happen to agree with Trump’s position on abortion! So there is agreement on something. But unless you listen to commentators who see the Big Picture, you can believe anything under the sun. But to not even know where you have agreement means you must be missing out a lot with your head in the sand view of the world.

No response followed. So, even when agreement could be found on her most passionate topic, she refused to say even, “hmmmmmm.”

A few days later I was talking with a very nice middle-aged nurse. I mentioned that the upcoming election may have a huge impact on her life and asked her “what did she think about it?” She said she really didn’t pay much attention to politics. Then I asked her, “Have you ever heard of The Great Reset? She hadn’t. I explained a little about it and she gave me a look like I was taking her for a fool. In other words, she didn’t believe such an organization existed.9

I think it’s rather amazing how people can be so uninformed in this day and age. But it goes to show you how leaders like Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, and similar despots have gained power in the past. The citizens of their countries actually supported them at first and even voted for them—because they ignored history and lived with their heads in the sand.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

For additional reading:

1. One Angry Biden Lie After Another by Victor Davis Hanson from X

2. The Grinch Who Stole Freedom by Jeffrey A. Tucker via The Epoch Times

3. Biden Tells Story of Getting the Ukraine Prosecutor Fired

4. Fired Ukrainian Prosecutor Believes Bidens Received Bribes from Fox News

5. Joe Biden Can’t Stop Making Racist Comments by Mike Fishmore from America Insider

6. Joe Biden's Response to George H.W. Bush's State of the Union 35 Years Ago

7. Justice Arthur Engoron 'Shot' New York With 'Absurd Decision' by Roger L. Simon from The Epoch Times

8. List of Executive Actions by Joe Biden from Wikipedia

9. Now Is the Time for a 'Great Reset' by Klaus Schwab Founder, Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum