Standards in Short Supply

Just another day of perusing the news. The world will always be changing, and that is perfectly fine. At the same time, from where I sit, it is increasingly difficult to engage in conversations about the events of the day. No doubt, others will find plenty of defects in my thoughts and arguments. It is also true that probably this is a conclusion that is often warranted.

A Struggle for Consistent Standards

However, at some point, it would be nice to apply something remotely resembling a consistent set of standards to judge what any of us has to say about a given topic. Alas, this does not seem to be the case. Doing my morning reading on Tuesday, March 31, it was astounding to me the degree of difficulty that would be involved in achieving agreement on what the standards ought to be. Instead, it appears that all that counts these days is which side of the political divide one finds themselves on.

Freedom of Speech—or Selective Enforcement?

Let’s start with that old favorite—freedom of speech. When government officials and educators rationalize or even applaud the killing of someone who had a different view on things, we are told that it constitutes freedom of speech. In reality, it is freedom from consequences for exercising their right to free speech. Meanwhile, an NBA basketball player had ugly things to say about the LGBTQ community. The day after his comments became known, he was cut from the team.

His fate was better than that which befell Paivi Rasanen. A grandmother, doctor, and member of Parliament in Finland, she was found guilty of hate speech by the Finnish Supreme Court for authoring a pamphlet her minister requested about how Christians should view sexuality more than 20 years ago. The Court applied a law written 22 years ago, after the pamphlet had already been published. According to the Court, she committed a war crime and a crime against humanity. This took place on March 26, but I did not see it until

Lest anyone misconstrue my own sentiment on gay marriage, I have advocated in favor of it for nearly 50 years. That’s not the point. The point is the clear and massive double standard concerning free speech.

Justice, Politics, and Contradictions

Later in the morning, I learned of Representative Pramira Jaypal’s (D-Wash) proposal for reparations to be paid to illegal immigrants detained during the Trump Administration. The proposal also included a promise to prosecute those involved if the Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives. So much for that “nobody is above the law” and the evils of politicizing the justice system.

This news comes on the same day as a California sanctuary county saw two Honduran nationals here illegally kill a mom there. This came after the county chose to ignore a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain the illegal immigrants.

Public Safety and Perception

More from this same morning. The Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, found time to call for the removal of a mural being painted on the exterior wall of a gay bar honoring Iyrna Zarustska, the Ukranian immigrant killed by a repeat offender, with a multitude of previous convictions. The Mayor called the intent divisive and misguided. Naturally, the bar and artists made known how the furthest thing from their minds was doing anything that could be construed as supporting President Trump or the policy of cracking down on chronic criminals. Perish the thought.

We should all know by now that the only way to understand criminal behavior is to grasp the need for more social workers and fewer cops. Try telling that to the folks at the Bayshore Mall in Wisconsin after a group of teens took over the mall and vandalized it. Or, ask the people on the bus in Los Angeles where a mob took over, occupied, and vandalized the vehicle. Again, this is news from a single day.

Policy Priorities in Question

Meanwhile, in Colorado, legislation has been introduced to impose a $1000 penalty, per item, for the inclusion of napkins, hot sauces, etc. on fast food or home deliveries where not specifically requested. Seriously?

There are plenty of other news stories just from today we could include in reviewing the state of affairs that cause at least me to give pause. A person is tempted to ask: What the hell is going on?

A Warning We Can’t Ignore

We will leave you with this one very serious item to consider. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warns that the $39 trillion national debt is on a trajectory that “will not end well.” Apparently, there is indeed a limit in how long you can spend money you do not have.

Common Sense: Using anything resembling fact, logic, and reason, we are nearing a point where we either come to our senses or face the music, which seems unlikely to be much fun.