Dakota Beacon

In the end, we do get the government we deserve whether it be modeled after King George’s England or George Orwell’s “1984.” When we behave as if our rights and freedoms come from the government, then those rights and freedoms can just as easily be taken back by the same government. Alternatively, the concept of God-given inalienable rights might be a better way to go. As such, Independence Day takes on more meaning than just the celebration of Chinese fireworks.

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For those still feeling the Bern, I’ve some bad news: Bernie Sanders will never be president. This is first and foremost because he’ll never, ever be the Democrat nominee. The man who never really was yesterday’s candidate (except in Vermont) is nonetheless yesterday’s news.

Democrats’ governance by prejudice — they don’t like white men, the aged or Jews — and, hey, it’s Dead End at Bernie’s. Similar to the ’89 film that characterization is patterned after, some of Sanders’ underlings may know he’s dead, but they have reasons to pretend otherwise.

Of course, the old white male can still go back to Vermont and remain senator until he’s a dead white male. But if you’re still feeling the Bern, well, it’s probably something you ate.

Publisher’s Note: Philip Nicolaides, who was instrumental in the founding of the newsletter Sobran’s: The Real News of the Month, and Joe Sobran’s closest friend, died on June 25, 1994. Here is a column that Sobran wrote after his passing.

Summertime is outdoor time. Still, there is plenty of time to read. Idle conversation might lead to the rare question “So, what are you reading?” Don’t be caught short.

My recommendation may resonate with many readers. I recently read “Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution” by Tucker Carlson, (New York: Free Press), 2018. Yes, this is the same Tucker Carlson who hosts the Tucker Carlson Tonight show on the Fox News Channel. His background includes hosting shows on CNN, MSNBC, and PBS. In 2010 he co-founded The Daily Caller, a conservative news website based in Washington, DC.

China’s human rights violations are numerous, but few are more sinister than its organ supply scheme. Dr. Jan Dudt details the horrors of China’s forced organ “donation” system in his reflection on the dangers of losing humanity in medical ethics. Dudt recognizes that “the official atheism of China is plainly inadequate to generate a repudiation of the nation’s transplant practices [but] the current condition of the cultural West bars it from any true moral high ground.”

“Equality” cries were cherished by feminists when they gave females entry into military academies, boardrooms and the ranks of police; prize-money parity in some sporting events; and access to boys’ athletics. But with these appeals now putting sexually confused men in women’s sports, well, feminists’ cries are a tad different. Equality can be a real downer when it’s principle and not ploy.

As for my position, I’ve devoted more ink to combating the made-up sexual status (MUSS, usually called “transgender”) agenda than most any other writer. In fact, almost first in the field — and almost alone there — inveighing against MUSS ideology 10 years ago, I was criticized for political incorrectness by conservatives (some of whom now sing my tune). It thus may be surprising that I today say to MUSSmen athletes everywhere:

Best of luck to you, lads — may the best man win!

Was President Donald Trump’s decision to call off airstrikes on Iran last week a wise one? With an eye to American military history, Dr. Earl H. Tilford analyzes the complicated relationship between the United States and Iran. Despite the economic sanctions yesterday, Tilford warns that, “If this situation continues, as is certainly possible, the increasingly-likely outcome will be war.”

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Like it or not, campaign season is upon us. Anyone who listens to the news is caught up in the season by default. Some folks do not like “politics” and will avoid the topic whenever possible.

Most people consider themselves conservative and consciously reject the liberal label. In the 1800s, liberalism stood for progress in all things democratic. Today, liberalism is synonymous with socialism, Marxism and Communism. No wonder liberalism has fallen into disrepute. In the end, it is not so much how one wears a label as how one acts on their beliefs.

How do YOU score?

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We need to halt the destruction of our visible past before it is all lost forever.  It is difficult to protect statues now that we are deep into a self-induced state of lawlessness where mobs are free to destroy things belonging to the public and to our history, but at least we can stop our public “servants” from planning us into dust.   

Contempt for individual liberty, claims to the contrary, has roots in today’s education system. Specifically, our colleges and universities have become breeding grounds of intolerance. Furthermore, the degradation of civility goes hand in hand with the squelching of free speech.

Since the 1960s, and the advent of the hippie free speech movement, individual liberty has gradually become the target of contempt and incivility. The hippie generation has come of age and now holds tenure in colleges and universities. Today, rudeness and vulgarity manifests itself in such inappropriate restrictions as speech codes and the disinviting of guest speakers ostensibly to guard against “hate” speech.

This is in no way accidental. This technique we’ve seen before under other totalitarians such as the Nazis and the Communists. Free speech is used to gain their objectives. Once achieved, free speech is shut down to protect the leftist gains. So it is in our colleges and universities today.

Orwellian double-speak on Capitol Hill could change the abortion debate in America. In this article, Dr. Joseph Horton argues that the Equality Act – which prevents discrimination from treatment of pregnancy, including abortions – “is a radical attack on freedom of conscience as well as life.” Horton shares several pro-life victories in recent months but stresses the importance of vigilance in dealing with strategically-named legislation, especially regarding issues of life and death. Click below for more.

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Every major river in plains states reached flood stage during May and will probably remain high for weeks. Much of the plains states’ acreage remain unplanted.

“Global warming! Climate Change!” cry the Chicken Littles on the left.

Not so fast. There are other reasonable explanations. What are the rational alternatives?

That very line was uttered, reflexively, by Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson Monday night while discussing how one percent of Guatemalans have left for our country in just the last year. It’s a qualifier reflecting that one has been put on the defensive — in a losing position.

No, this isn’t an attack on Carlson, who’s the best mainstream cable news and commentary host in the business. Rather, it’s a cautionary tale: That an intrepid culture warrior such as Carlson can be conditioned to behave defensively — when he should be unabashedly taking the offense (the best defense) — speaks volumes about the effectiveness of leftist conditioning.

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What distinguishes a job from a calling? As the academic year ends and millions of students find themselves asking the serious question of what to do with their lives, finding vocational role models is more critical than ever. In a touching depiction of John Urschel’s transformation from NFL starter to MIT student, Dr. James Thrasher shares the importance of being “willing to make a major change in your life to pursue your love.”

High school grads may have already learned not to express their opinions. Challenging the PC orthodoxy of affirmative action, racial and gender preferences, gay and lesbian studies, women’s studies, welfare reform, environmentalism or, of late, manmade climate change might stigmatize a college student leading them to be branded as a racist, sexist, homophobe, or worse. Challenging PC orthodoxy in the workplace may land a person in sensitivity training, hauled before an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission hearing, or otherwise jeopardize their advancement.

Only the courageous will resist the PC movement. To ridicule PC is still the most effective weapon. Given enough wisdom and courage, the use of ridicule, mockery, parody, satire, and farce is the best way to deal with the PC fallacies of bad logic and oxymoronic disconnects. Making PC advocates a laughing stock through a variety of mediums is a sure way to disarm these cultural despots. It is infinitely important to show that the emperor has no clothes.

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Stare decisis is just a euphemistic way of saying that judges’ decisions — “precedent” — should take precedence over the Constitution. This perverts our system. It undermines the republic. We’re supposed to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The Constitution reflects the people’s will in that it was ratified by the states and because Americans tacitly approve it to this day it by allowing it to stand; after all, they can amend it through their representatives.

On Memorial Day we honor men and women who served their country in the military and who have passed on to their final reward. Over the years Memorial Day expanded to include anyone we wish to memorialize -- especially parents.

That parents influence their kids is an understatement. Sometimes they impart lessons intentionally, sometimes inadvertently. What they do is as instructive as what they say. By setting the example my parents unconsciously taught me without realizing it. That’s how I came to understand one of life’s important skills.

“Plan ahead,” is what my folks used to say. “If you have a plan, you’ll know where you’re going and how to get there.” That was my father’s axiom.

There would be no need, absent the Electoral College, for a candidate to ever set foot in North or South Dakota, Nevada, Maine, Montana, Utah, or any of the 41 less populous states.  That’s right. As of 2010, according the the U.S. Census, more than half of the population lives in the top nine states.  

When man's concept of “communal living” has included one or more vices such as human sacrifices, human torture, thievery, rape, kidnapping, and the murder of innocents, such a culture has historically reaped the destruction it invited.

So be careful not to summarily dismiss communal living… unless it is devoid of the righteous spirituality that can make such communal living successful. And when you see “communal living” that is obviously failing… understand that man's vices, the products of Godlessness, are likely the cause.

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Coup defined: An unexpected stroke, act, or move; a clever action or accomplishment. An attempt to thwart a constitutionally elected President by an unelected, “non-political” bureaucracy would fit the definition of a coup.

The so-called “deep state” evolved long before President Trump was elected. The major media in collusion with various Democrat administration hold-overs harassed Republican presidents as far back as Ronald Reagan. That high-level Obama administration functionaries worked actively to elect Hillary Clinton should come as no surprise.

Arlington County, located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., has asked the Commonwealth of Virginia to rename the Jefferson Davis Highway in Arlington. Alexandria, Virginia renamed the sections of the Jefferson Davis Highway running through their city a few years ago. This is ironic because the great affection that many generations felt for President Jefferson Davis was primarily a result of the cruelty and injustice inflicted on him by the triumphant North.

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For most of us it has been a challenge to sort out the players and their actions. Two items are concise and pithy in providing an understanding of the “Russia” probe. The first is the book. “The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump” was written by Gregg Jarrett and published in 2018 by HarperCollins. It offers the clearest overview of a complicated subject. The second is the letter from the White House to the Attorney General with a legal assessment of the Mueller report. The most effective way to communicate on this subject is by quoting the sources with comment.