When someone mentions plantations, what comes to mind? And when you hear the words white privilege, white supremacy, or racism, do they conjure similar images?

The plantation analogy occurred to me after I received a White Privilege Card from a friend. Of course, it was a joke, and I had a good belly laugh, but it did cause me to wonder about the concept of white privilege and plantation life.

Historians and economists argue that the plantation system ended with FDR’s New Deal in the 1930s.

I’m not convinced. Continue reading →

I am a genuinely pissed-off patriot.

The Joe-Ker

I volunteered to serve during the Vietnam Conflict. I experienced things that no human should ever see, yet I stayed for multiple tours and never grumbled, complained, whined, or expected special treatment, and I still don’t. I’m not a hero, unlike so many others.

I lost friends and comrades. I saw patriots leave on missions, never to return. Every military branch proudly served with distinction and honor despite the politics involved. I deserve better from my America.

When I returned to America from my deployments, I was subjected to vicious verbal attacks, taunted, spat upon, and physically assaulted by anti-war protesters. After ten years, I saw the loss of respect and discipline and decided not to pursue military service as a career. Even though I believed in America, I knew this was morally and ethically unjust. Continue reading →

A most excellent friend, Kastle, frequently sends me thought-provoking articles like this one by Lew Rockwell: “Where is the Executive Order?“

Mr. Rockwell’s post tackles the tender topic of Executive Orders (EO), opening the curtain a little more; precisely why we take time to write articles like these.

The EO for the General Covid Vaccine Mandate is missing from the Federal Register. You know, the part that requires businesses to fire unvaccinated workers and demand that all Americans be vaccinated. Neither of us can find any legal or legislative basis for the edict to vaccinate the country. It seems a bit capricious to me. Continue reading →

“It is a quite special secret pleasure how the people around us fail to realize what is really happening to them.” ~ Adolph Hitler

I don’t often open my posts with quotes from the most hated despot in modern history, but there is a method and reason.

You must understand that I consider Hitler a monster, but his leadership tactics are genius. You must also recognize that his tactics are millennia old and mere adaptations but are being successfully employed today.

History does not discriminate, for each prominent figure has much to teach us, especially autocrats like Chancellor Hitler and comrades.

Der Fuhrer, Hitler’s königreich, began with a few simple principles and grew to a world power in ten short years under the gaze of a battered and defeated German people. WWI broke the Weimar republic and forced Germany to concede. They were left to languish as a disinterested and dispassionate Europe and its Allies watched. Continue reading →

“Free Speech is probably the most dangerous weapon ever wielded, especially in the hands of those who don’t understand its power.” ~ Author

It’s Sunday morning, September 12th, the day after the twentieth anniversary of our reintroduction to the real world. Many people miss that point. It didn’t stop the self-flagellation; rather than becoming active participants in that reality, we wrench facts to accommodate our narrative.

Yes, this incident was tragic, and yes, the loss of life was atrocious, but it could have been prevented.

Hindsight is 20/20, so they say, which shouldn’t stop us from applying history’s lessons looking forward, or at least to avoid repeating the same irresponsible blunders. We are either that audacious or that stupid.

“If we’d only known,” is our lamentation… Continue reading →

Is this the finale of the Great American Experiment?

Have we reached the end of the enterprise?

When I was young, I admired and respected the president, elected representatives, and authorities. That’s how my parents raised us.

Now that I’m more aware of the siren call of power and corruption, I see these people in an exculpatory light.

I find it most unsettling that politicians so eloquently affirm a position they do not espouse. This glib cavalier approach to truth only promotes disillusion and deception.

I ask myself why I would expect anything but lies from them – my response – I don’t! Continue reading →

August in the Southwest is storm season. Heavy downpours, raucous thunder, flashing lightning, and tree toppling winds punctuate late nights and very early mornings.

Torrential rain usually follows the cacophony. It washes away the accumulated grit of the previous day, refreshing the desert. Now everything looks green and new. It all seems to sparkle at daybreak.

A thunderclap partially awakens me and our small herd of rescued dogs, uncomfortable with these emphatic interruptions of our peaceful environment. I awaken and begin reflecting on the maelstrom in the media cesspool – So much information to sift and collate and so much to disregard. Continue reading →

To choose or not to choose, that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous bullshit or to take arms against this sea of crap and by opposing end it. ~ (adapted from Hamlet – the play, not the pig.)

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

Todays, inspiration is from a FaceBook Friend (FBF) who posted, “Drunk driving kills 20,000 Americans a year. Imagine saying, “Driving drunk is my personal choice; wear a seatbelt & drive sober if you’re so worried.

Personal choices that have public consequences are public health issues. COVID killed 400,000 last year and 610,000 so far. GET VACCINATED???” Continue reading →

I didn’t get much rest in the past few weeks. The use of fear as a shock collar and instigator is keeping me awake and chaffing me raw. My disgust for this administration and any agency that creates and wields fear to extort control sickens me.

I’ve been mulling this over for several months. I call this new medical passport the Wuhan Rider. I hold a US passport for obvious reasons – the same reasons as most people. Now the Wuhan Rider will limit our mobility, not only in America but in every town and village throughout this world. It will even impact our ability to visit places of business and the workplace. It is a violation of our freedom. Continue reading →

NOTE: The Federal Observer published the first 5 entries to this series in late June of 2021. As of this evening, the author has completed the series and Part Six – And the winner is??? has now been added at the bottom of this post. ~ Ed.

Part I – The Big Question

Is this all real, is there a problem or is what we see manufactured by the people who profit from the chaos they create? Both sides of this conflict – yes, it is a conflict – claim the other side is wholly to blame.

So stop for a moment and think. Ask yourself – who really wins in this situation? It certainly isn’t the people involved in this violence or hatred or conflict, and it certainly isn’t the citizens of this country. Continue reading →

A late in the day text from a most excellent friend suggested this title, and like with so many other of his ideas, this one comes at a perfect time.

I happen to agree with his assessment. Continue reading →

I am a long-time resident of Arizona and a combat veteran of Vietnam. I volunteered to serve our country during the 1970s when the convenient and popular sentiment was to protest all things American, especially the war.

I am conservative. I derive my values from our Constitution, Bill of Rights, and my morals from my belief in a higher power. What is right for our state and our country should not be influenced by political party leanings or affiliations. And it certainly must not be controlled by an oligarchy. Continue reading →

It’s another remarkably unremarkable desert morning, but I wish it were raining. There’s a light blue sky, and as usual, the temperature is moderate for this time of year, as usual. Like always, it’s genuinely unremarkable. Another day in paradise, as we say in the valley of the blistering summer sun: But it’s winter. I wish it were raining because deep in my being, I feel the dark overcast of embitterment, and I’m unnerved about my future, our future. Recent events are a concern for any sane American, let alone the political zealots rampaging across the country. Even my ultraconservative neighbor is worried. He sees this as a sign of the apocalypse. He believes he has a future in Heaven after Armageddon. I believed in our Consitution, so I understand his point, but I’ve lost faith in my country. Continue reading →

What’s happened to our moral compass? When did we lose our sense of direction? The assertion that this country as not based on Judeo-Christian values is simply not true.

Consider the phrase “In God We Trust.” It clearly indicates that this country trusts and bases our very existence on a Higher Power: that was the intent, anyway. Try as we might to deny it, we cannot survive without something, a code, to guide us

It seems apparent that the founders of this country knew that without a solid foundation we would be like a rudderless ship in the ocean at the mercy of the prevailing winds. Something tells me that these foresighted people envisioned our modern age and somehow knew what we would face. They didn’t necessarily know the date or time, but they knew that we would face this crisis of direction and division and that our only hope would be a strong moral compass: that being our trust in that Higher Power. I believe that the founders were well schooled in world history. They understood it. They learned from it. They applied it as they created this country. It’s truly amazing how immutable the truth really is. Continue reading →

Aren’t we all slaves?

I suppose I am an old-school individual. I believe that face to face conversations and interaction are certainly the most enlightening and edifying. I enjoy the company of several people at the table for meals and even for drinks. I learn and grow from our conversations, which is after the point. In fact, one of my favorite partner’s and companions is my wife. She provides a different perspective and refreshing view of the topic with her feminine and ethnic views. Continue reading →