Dakota Beacon

Here we go again. Middle East turmoil never ceases.

Set the scene by asking questions. Does anyone know who the players are? Who are the Israelis, who are the Palestinians, and why do they fight? How do you tell the difference between a Hamas terrorist and a Palestinian? Hezbollah and Palestinian? Do Hamas (Sunni Muslims) and Hezbollah (Shia Muslims) get along? Why do Palestinians in Gaza aid, abet, tolerate, and support Hamas terrorists? Many questions; much confusion.

Perusing three books may offer clarity to the casual observer.

America was no happy place in the Summer of ’23. Count the ways: immigrant invasion, inflation, rising crime, weak economy, billions of dollars for an unwelcome war in Ukraine, depleted US military forces, and all this capped by lousy political leadership.

Illegal immigrants flow incessantly across America’s borders. Since Biden became president 3.8 million illegals have entered the US. That includes 1.5 million so-called “gotaways,” i.e., people for which there is no accounting. They just disappeared into the interior.

Many Americans feel as though they are losing their country, or worse still, that it’s being given away by an elected elite. Citizens tried to register their frustrations at the ballot box, but the remedy has not worked. Our federal government allowed the influx to continue unabated and even curtailing any effort by border states to stop the invasion. Here is a brief summary.

There are many ways things slip into law undetected by citizens without proper discussion and hearings by lawmakers. This can result in a slow erosion of liberties if not carefully subjected to the scrutiny of fundamental truths. The lawsuit put forth regarding the Public Employee Retirement System against the state of North Dakota challenged the breach of the “one subject rule” for legislation and I believe brings to light the discussion of the nature of tyranny.

To finish Thomas Paine’s earlier quote, “yet we have this consolation the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

Times are changing in oh so many ways -- technologically, economically, educationally. Change imposes itself so fast that keeping up with the changes becomes impossible. One of the most evident changes is the cultural breakdown we see daily as evidenced by violence and incivility across cities and states. Consuming snippets of news may be entertaining or distracting, but crime statistics paint a realistic and comprehensive picture of who we have become.

America has not been this fragile since the War Between the States.  The legitimacy of our elections has come under attack for the last several election cycles, first by Democrats who claimed that Hillary Clinton was the "real winner" in 2016,  with Russia manipulating the vote, and by Republicans who claim evidence of election fraud since then.   A free republic is only as valid as its election process.  That said, we are in a lot of trouble.  If we cannot believe in our eletions, if they are open to manipulation through our vote-counting process or even if we just no longer believe they are legitimate, our leadership, our government, can no longer be deemed to be "of the people".  America is needlessly vulnerable to falling as a free country.  Only the people can do anything about it.  In North Dakota this effort is already taking shape.  

What is a police state? Wikipedia describes it as “a state whose government institutions exercise an extreme level of control over civil society and liberties. There is typically little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive… Deployment of internal security and police forces play a heightened role in governance. A police state is characteristic of authoritarian, totalitarian, and illiberal regimes… police-state-level of control may emerge in multi-party systems as well.”

What is a conspiracy theory? Call upon Wikipedia again. “A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy by powerful and sinister groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable… The appeal of a conspiracy theory is based in prejudice, emotional conviction, or insufficient evidence.”

So be it. Take these two definitions at face value and evaluate America’s drift from the 1930s onward. Take into consideration the following:

So what are America’s actual COVID numbers? Can ME’s one-to-two-percent estimate be extrapolated to our whole country? We don’t know. What’s for certain is that COVID has been grossly mismanaged and mischaracterized by people who would sententiously scold “Follow the science!” but were themselves following money and politics. In the process, this medical/scientific establishment has perhaps permanently discredited itself — and never was reputational destruction more richly deserved.

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) gained the authority to negotiate the price the government pays for prescription drugs. Recently, the CMS released a target list of 10 drugs that will be subject to the first round of government-mandated price negotiation. The list includes drugs to treat chronic conditions like diabetes, arthritis, and heart failure and accounts for nearly 20 percent of total spending in the Medicare prescription-drug program, according to CMS data. This process isn’t a negotiation, however, but an arbitrary, one-sided effort at price controls.

When John Adams made the statement, “The Constitution was written for a moral and religious people and is unfit to govern any other,” one must ask, “What did he mean?”

He may have been referring to the difficulty of interpreting the Constitution and its application to the lives of the people it was originally crafted to govern.

As conservatives, we understand this to include the “laws of nature and of nature’s God” as the stopping off place for such an endeavor. This principle is not only championed by pastors or ministers, but even the more secular enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and Charles de Montesquieu, who adhered to the value for civil law of the universal moral law to love others found in the Bible.

Dear Student,

With summer over, a new school year begins. Blessings to you and your studies in this new adventure. As many of you may be aware, “education” is one thing, but learning is quite another.

Evidence abounds indicating that the US student population overall lags far behind many second and third world countries in the mastery of mathematics. In fact, many students studying advanced mathematics in US graduate schools are foreign students. That said, I offer a suggestion.

Should you be so inclined, expand your math knowledge beyond institutional learning. Engage in a wee bit of extracurricular reading in the field of mathematics. Dipping into the following recommended books will make this challenge easier than you think.

We hear from certain quarters within the Republican Party that Trump is our last best hope of recovering our republic. But the case can be made that he is not the savior, but the Terminator of our republic.  And like so many other villains, he lies.  A lot.

For an obvious leftist to even right about what he believes is going on in a party that he doesn’t support is as moronic as a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest. But I guess Rob Port is doing what he is good at, printing opinion and non-truth. So, I guess kudos to him.

Some hard-hitting and candid words about the state of our society through the lens of popular culture.  And art.  Or something like that.

Problem solving need not be difficult. Some people refer to a deliberate way of thinking as “thinking ahead.” My mom called it “thinking past the end of your nose.” I always thought “thinking ahead” was the norm for everyone and not merely an exception for the few. I have since discovered otherwise. The larger world does not think this way. Lack of application in the arena of government policymaking is so striking as to be bizarre. Too many people do not think past the end of their noses.

Think of a problem. Then, think of a solution to that problem. Pause. By way of consequence, now ask, “What happens next?” The answer to that question may determine the viability of your solution. In other words, what are the further implications of your choice?

So far most of the accusationos of election fraud and rigging of the process have come fdrom Republicans and especially those who believe that Trump won a majority of votes ins 2020.  Now, the accusation - and it is more than just an accusation - comes from one of the Democrat Party's most iconic scions - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.  Well, we are all pretty well aware that this party eats its own for breakfast.  We saw what they did twice in a row with Bernie Sanders.  We would have to be marooned on a desert isle not to be aware of the blatant shenanigans where are part and parcel of every single Democrat campaign.  It is even arguable that they attempt to participate in the Republican processes as well.  We know they contrive to manage news.  So, what is in store for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.?  How will this end?

For the last 22 years, Sept. 11 has become a somber day to memorialize the thousands of victims killed that day in 2001 by the homicidal bombers of Osama Bin Laden. The total dead numbered nearly 3,000.

More recently, the anniversary of Sept. 11 brought still more bad news, as the Taliban that the U.S. ousted after Sept. 11, 2001, somehow managed to return to power courtesy of the Biden administration’s disastrously managed pullout of U.S. troops in August 2021.

For purely political reasons, what began a splendid process of peace that continues to bear fruit has not gotten the attention it deserves.

George Orwell’s novel "1984" has caused many to consider what is happening in today’s world as a fulfilled prophecy. Others would call it mere science fiction.

Originally written as a warning about the dangers of a totalitarianism, government surveillance and the abuse of power, it should be a wake-up call for those on either side. Though perhaps not intentional, we find ourselves on one side or the other and there seems to be no room for middle ground. It’s time we openly discuss what is happening in this country and not be hypersensitive to someone with a difference of opinion.

The emergence of existentialism as a philosophy in the 19th and 20th centuries attempted to accommodate advances in science, technology, and man’s power over the material world. The Renaissance and the Enlightenment uprooted traditional religious beliefs and replaced them with science, rationalism, and materialism. Existential philosophy grew up within the void left by the decline of Christianity. With this decline, people lost contact with a transcendent realm of being. They were set free to confront the material world in all its fierce objectivity.

Existentialism, the “Johnny-come-lately” of the philosophical world, comes burdened with baggage because of its nebulous nature. It has always been difficult to define due to its diverse reaction to the challenges emerging in history. Existentialism has been viewed by the philosophical establishment as illegitimate and unworthy of being called philosophy. It was thus not a true heir to the philosophical tradition.

On a recent visit to the Reagan Presidential Library in California, I took a step back in time and experienced a reacquaintance with the man and his message. As I came face to face with him casually leaning on a column in the portico the White House, I remembered his words about being a “here today and gone tomorrow” servant of the people of America. The presidency for him was about the people; America the only place on earth where the Constitution reads: “We the people…” The following Reagan quote stopped me in my tracks as I considered the path we’ve taken since then.

If there is such a thing as “good ol’ days” then there must have been some point of reference. Surely there must be more to a perception of change than mere nostalgia. To my old eyes we have morphed culturally into something unrecognizable. When wrong becomes right and evil becomes good; when standards evaporate and everyone does that which is right in their own eyes; we have degenerated into a moral vacuum.

A clarion call was sounded many decades ago by the likes of Schaeffer, Whitehead, and others. Many people heeded but the generations that followed did not. As a result we are experiencing today a cultural rot of our own making.

When Lorie Smith, owner of a Colorado website design business, thought about expanding her business to include websites for those planning traditional weddings (one man and one woman), she was understandably concerned that such a business expansion could put her in legal jeopardy under Colorado’s “public accommodations” law. The law called for penalties to be imposed upon any business open to the general public which refused to provide goods or services to persons based on, among other things, their sexual orientation.

Donald Trump's behavior has been puzzling to many of us, as has that of his adherents.  What, we wonder, as the indictments mount, are they thinking?  It's not that there is any merit in these indictments, of course.  Trump is being prosecuted for protected free speech under the First Amendment.  It is an honored American tradition for citizens as well as candidates to question election results and call for recounts.  There is never any excuse in indicting anyone for any statements, whether we agree or not - and, just for the record, a whole lot of us do question the 2020 election.  But it seems that no one anywhere is actually doing anything about any of this injustice.  Why not?  Is Trump running a different kind of campaign from what we have all assumed?  It's worth thinking about.

Ask any American what they value most about the US and they would likely reply with one word: “freedom.” This would be the freedom to live as one pleases without being monitored, persecuted, or manipulated. It is the freedom to express oneself without fear of retaliation and the freedom to earn a living based on one’s own merits.

This brings to mind the antithesis of freedom, namely totalitarianism. How does American culture today measure up to freedom versus totalitarianism? Here are a few instances to think about.

Much is being said right now about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. The reason, of course, is the new film on Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan. The film has opened old debates and wounds about Oppenheimer’s communist sympathies and loyalties. That’s something that I know a good deal about and should write about separately. But for now, I thought I could relate something altogether more unique and perhaps more historically valuable. It involves a man who was very critical and suspicious of Oppenheimer’s politics, and for daring to voice those concerns, has been vilified by leftists in a way that Oppenheimer never was. This man, too, was a brilliant physicist and likewise a founder of the bomb, a fusion rather than fission bomb; that is, the hydrogen bomb.

Of the nearly 80 people since Alexander Hamilton to hold the office of secretary of the treasury of the United States, my choice for the best of them is Andrew Mellon of Pittsburgh (1855–1937). From 1921 to 1932, Andrew William Mellon served Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover as treasury secretary. Only two other individuals in American history held the office longer than his 10 years and 11 months. Mellon’s business prowess before that was legendary.

Earlier this month the King’s College in New York City announced it was canceling classes for the fall semester, laying off most of its faculty and staff, and struggling to recover its recently revoked academic accreditation. The fate of Manhattan’s most prominent Christian Evangelical college — a school rooted in the political and literary canon of Western civilization — is uncertain.

Old school civility has expired. What better place to observe societal rancor than from the top down. Starting with our political leaders in their decision-making schemes and amplified through the media, their contemptuous behavior bodes ill for society in particular and culture in general. Everyday life at ground level smells of wokesterism. With the upsurge of social justice warriors and climate change activists, who needs good manners and civility? Who needs decorum and propriety when Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and assorted race baiters hold sway? No need. To be sure, the growing lack of self-control and blurred moral convictions combined with a greater polarization and secularization of society reflects a culture in regression.

On Aug. 2, 1923, President Warren Harding unexpectedly fell ill and died while visiting San Francisco. Five hours later, America had a new president: Calvin Coolidge, a man driven by humility, respect, civility, and compassion. At 2:47 a.m. on Aug. 3, 1923, Coolidge was sworn into the highest office by the light of a kerosene lamp in the humble sitting room of the Coolidge Homestead in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. A Bible belonging to his late mother, who took her final breath in a room just steps away, sat on the small table as his father, Col. John Coolidge, read from a copy of the Constitution and administered the oath of office.

The Dobbs decision striking down Roe v. Wade has led to shrill outcries by providers of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy. Both are lucrative, high-growth commercial industries enjoying increasing demand, thanks in part to rising infertility and late pregnancy among folk in income brackets able to pay for these services. Many of those involved in this industry are alarmed that their “market growth” and profitability are threatened by abortion restrictions and are willing to publicly say so. Others have argued that state bans will likely exclude abortion restrictions that will significantly impact these industries.

For casual reading on long summer days, here are some pithy quotes from familiar folks. They recall old-school values aligned to the traditional way of thinking.

The following selection of axioms bears reconsideration in light of today’s cultural environment. Humorous or serious, they offer wisdom gleaned from experience. With a little effort, anyone can find similar aphorisms by noodling around the internet. Suggested sites include brainyquote.com, rightwingnews.com, and refseek.com to name a few.