Better Than Puns-Churchillisms

A favorite story about Churchill is when at a dinner party a member of the Labor Party’s (the opposition) wife said, “Mr. Churchill, you are despicable.  If I were your wife I’d put poison in your whiskey. ”His reply, “Madam, if you were my wife, I’d drink it.”  He always had an appropriate come-back.

Wisdom From the Masters

1.        In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is a congress.— John   Adams
 2.  If you don ‘t read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.— Mark   Twain
 3.  Suppose you were an   idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then, I repeat   myself.— Mark   Twain
 4.  I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.— Winston   Churchill
 5.  A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.— George Bernard Shaw
 6.  A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.— G. Gordon   Liddy
 7.  Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.— James Bovard, Civil   Libertarian (1994)
 8.  Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.— Douglas Casey,   Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown   University
 9.  Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.— P.J. O ‘Rourke,   Civil Libertarian
 10. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.— Frederic Bastiat,   French economist(1801-1850)
 11.  Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.— Ronald Reagan   (1986)
 12.  I don ‘t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the   facts.— Will Rogers
 13.  If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free!— P.J. O ‘Rourke
 14.  In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.— Voltaire   (1764)
 15.  Just because you do not take an interest in politics, doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you!— Pericles (430   B.C.)
 16.  No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session.— Mark Twain   (1866)
 17. Talk is cheap …. Except when Congress does it.—   Anonymous
 18.  The government is like a baby’s alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.— Ronald   Reagan
 19.  The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.— Winston   Churchill
 20. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin.— Mark Twain
 21.  The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.— Herbert Spencer,   English Philosopher (1820-1903)
 22.  There is no distinctly Native American criminal class …. Save Congress.— Mark  Twain
 23.  What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.— Edward Langley,   Artist (1928-1995)
 24. A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.— Thomas   Jefferson
 25. We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.—   Aesop

We Have Two Choices

Today I was reminded of a story I had heard many years ago. The author of this piece states very eloquently the problem we have in America.

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Darkest Hour
By: Judd Garrett
December 13, 2020
  I was re-watching the movie, Darkest Hour, the other day, about the weeks leading up to Great Britain’s entrance into World War II, and I was struck by the similarities between the political dynamics of their country during that time to the United States, today. England was facing an existential threat from an evil totalitarian regime of Nazi Germany, and England’s Prime Minister was a loud, outspoken, rude, politically incorrect man named Winston Churchill. Churchill believed the best course of action was to stand up to the evil Nazi regime, and if they were to negotiate, they could then do so from a position of strength. He understood that the most dangerous course of action for the country would be not to fight.
  Churchill was not well received by the elites or the political class of England. He was brash and outspoken, saying unpopular things. The King told Churchill once, “you scare people. One never knows what’s going to come out of your mouth next. Something that will flatter. Something that will wound.” 
One does not have to be perfect to be a great leader, in fact, many times, their flaws are what makes them great. Churchill’s wife told him, “you are strong because you are imperfect. You are wise because you have doubts.”
 A contingent of career politicians worked behind the scenes, colluding together to oust Churchill because they believed their positions and their special interests were best served not to fight. They were willing to achieve a peace treaty with the Nazis at-all-cost even if it meant negotiating from a position of weakness. It was highly unlikely that Germany would have abided by the terms of the agreement forged under those circumstances. The treaty would only have been used by Germany to exploit England’s weaker position.
  What the peace-at-all-cost contingent in England did not realize was that Germany was at war with them, as they were with the rest of Europe, and simply saying “I do not want war”, does not make the war go away. In fact, it makes the war inevitable, and the results more devastating. 
Today in the United States, we have an existential threat in the form of Communist Chinese. And for the last four years, we have had a President who is a loud, outspoken, rude, flawed man named Donald Trump. Trump has not been well received by the elites or the political class of the United States. He is politically incorrect. No one knows what’s will come out of his mouth. 
Like Churchill facing the Nazis, Trump believes the best course of action is to stand up and confront the evil Communist Chinese, and by doing we will negotiate trade deals and other agreements with them from a position of strength. He understands that the most dangerous course of action for our country would be not to confront the Chinese, and pursue a peace-at-all-cost approach. 
Throughout Trump’s term in office, there has been a contingent of career politicians, tech billionaires, and the media working behind the scenes, colluding together to oust him. These people believe their positions and their special interests will be best served to acquiesce to the Chinese, pursue peace-at-all-cost thus giving away our power at the negotiating table. But these trade deals negotiated from a position of weakness makes it highly unlikely that the Chinese would abide by the terms of the agreement, merely using the treaty to further exploit our weaker position. 
China is at war with the United States, pretending they are not, does not make their unfair trade practices, their currency manipulation, their stealing of intellectual property magically go away. It merely emboldens them, making all of their unfair, illegal, unethical practices get worse. 
Both Churchill and Trump understood the premiere importance of individual and national sovereignty, and the utmost necessity it is to defend it against anyone or anything set to take it from us. 
For those who reject the “America First” approach to international relations that Trump has promoted, answer this, does China put China first? Yes. Does Russia put Russia first? Yes. Does Germany put Germany first? Yes. Does (fill in the blank) country put their country’s interests first? Yes. Why is it only evil when America puts American interests first? And since America, the greatest force of good in the world, a strong America, America as the world’s superpower, is unequivocally what’s in the best interest of the world. China’s ascendency to the world’s superpower would be bad for all of the world except China and a few rogue nations. How philanthropic and caring for human rights will China be to the rest of the world when they systematically oppress, enslave, and kill their own people? 
When Churchill was pushed to rush into some one-sided treaty for the appearance of peace, Churchill shouted, “When will the lesson be learned? How many more dictators must be wooed, appeased until we learn the lesson, you cannot reason with a lion when your head is in his mouth.” China is the lion and they are slowly but surely inserting our head into their mouth. And by the time we realize their jaws clamping down on us, it will be too late to negotiate ourselves out of it. 
Despite his lack of decorum and political statesmanship, Churchill will go down as a great leader because of his strength and his fearlessness. He once said, “Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” 
73 million Americans voted for Trump, not because of his statesmanship and his rhetoric skills but because of his strength and his fearlessness. Trump has shown the courage to fight for America and for each of us until the end against enemies both foreign and domestic. It is far better to go down fighting for America than to surrender to globalism where our interests will be subjugated to the interests of other nations. 
This is what scares me most going forward, we will have a President who is not strong enough and is too embedded with the Chinese to stand up against the existential threat they pose to our country. He will acquiesce to them in the name of political expediency and to appease his special interest at the expense of America’s strength and sovereignty. 
When the threat of the Nazis was the most-dire, and his war cabinet was advising him to surrender, Churchill said, “Nations that go down fighting rise up again, those who surrender tamely, perish.” China is at war with us. We have two choices, stand up and fight, or surrender and perish.

Tsunami

     In the year I was born unemployment was at 19% down from 25% a few years earlier. FDR was frantic with anxiety over people going hungry in his socialist world. He spent, spent, and spent. Nothing worked. Then the British became involved with Hitler. Britain was broke, and Churchill needed armaments.  FDR invented the Lend Lease program to help the Brits fight Hitler. We built the guns, tanks, jeeps, etc. and loaned them to Churchill. Suddenly, people were working in the USA. Suddenly, people had money. The real reason the first Great Depression ended was our participation in WWII, not the New Deal, CCC, WPA, or any other spending program FDR came up with..

     With a new Great Depression coming to a neighborhood near you, what will end it this time? How long will it take, and which soup line will you be standing in? On a brighter note, the soup line may be the answer to national obesity.