No One Asked Me But… (January 25, 2023)

By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but… Each year our neighborhood decorates a neighborhood Christmas tree. Albert goes into the wilderness of Utah and cuts the tree. Albert and Frank stands the tree and places the lights on it. This year three of Albert’s grandsons, representing the third generation involved in this endeavor, helped with the lights. My contribution is the side-yard where the tree is located and the electricity that powers the lights.

On an appointed Saturday, the neighbors and extended families all congregate to decorate the tree. Hot chocolate and donuts are provided. This year the crowd was made up of over seventy people, including some great grandchildren of the original participates. This tradition has been going on for nearly thirty years.

You may be wondering why I am talking about a Christmas tree this late in January. It is because after Christmas, Albert removes the Christmas decorations and replaces the lights with red and white lights and it becomes a Valentine’s day tree. Neighbor children will begin placing Valentine Day cards and wishes on the tree. All in the community are welcome to join in.

This may not be the last you hear of this tree. One year it became a St. Patrick’s Day tree. I remember the green lights that were placed on the tree. However, I am not sure what other decorations were placed there. If the tree makes it to St. Patrick’s day, I may have to ask for suggestions.

One might ask why we don’t just plant a pine tree and use it each year for all these celebrations. We did that one year but over time the tree grew too large to decorate. We topped the tree and used the top for a tree one year. After this year’s major windstorm, I deemed it a threat to the house. In a preemptive strike, the near 80-foot tree was removed.

No one asked me but… Does anyone else wonder how career politicians make enough money to become multi-millionaires. The present President is a classic example of this phenomenon. There are those who are amazed that classified documents have been found at his home in New Jersey.

I am more amazed that his home in New Jersey is a $2 million edifice. When he completed his stint as the Vice-President, he did not return to that home, for he had rented it out. He instead rented a place on the beach front property for a mere $20,000 dollars a month. This would seem to suggest that his claim to the title of “middle-class Joe” is a little suspect.

Republicans may want to be careful before they call for an investigation of Joe Biden’s finances for many of them have also profited from their positions in the House or Senate.

The investigations of the last four years, most of which are of a dubious origin at best or a sinister plan at the worst, are destroying the chances that an honorable man will be willing to run for the leadership positions in the national government. Who wants to subject themselves and their families to these false accusations?

Since national legislators are protected from being sued for these character assassinations, they feel free to say anything from the House and Senate floor, whether it is true or not. Think of Adam Schiff’s and Jerry Nadler’s false claims that they had definitive proof that Donald Trump colluded with the Russians to get elected. Closer to home you may remember Harry Reid’s lie on the floor of the Senate about Mitt Romney’s not filing taxes for over ten years. When this was proven to be a lie, Reid justified it with the statement: “Well! He didn’t get elected, did he!”

There was a day when a man in the situation of Trump and Romney would have settled the issue on the field of honor. I am not suggesting we go back to that. I am suggesting that men in leadership position should not lie to advance their political aims. This might return us to a time when some real leaders will step forward and take on the responsibility of running our country. Until that time comes, we will be led by ego-maniacs or political hacks looking to aggrandize themselves at the expense of the country.

No one asked me but… When President Truman left the White House he did so without a large government pension, without federal security agents guarding his home, nor did he have a large bank account that he accumulated while serving his country. He provided his own transportation back to Independence, Missouri, and moved into his mother’s home. He rejected numerous offers for high paying position from major companies. He stated they wanted to buy the prestige of the presidency, rather than the knowledge and skills of Harry Truman. He did not stump the nation with speaking opportunities to the tune of millions of dollars. He, like George Washington, went back to being Harry Truman, American citizen. We need more leaders like George and Harry.

Thoughts of the week…
This week I collected a number of thoughts on this issue.
One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
― Carl Sagan

A man who has never gone to school may steal a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.”
― Theodore Roosevelt.

I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible to any public office of trust or profit in the Republic.
― H.L. Mencken.

Corrupt politicians make the other ten percent look bad.”
― Henry Kissinger.

“It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.”
― Mark Twain.

“Politics: “Poli” a Latin word meaning “many” and “tics” meaning “bloodsucking creatures”
― Robin Williams

“All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.”
― Frank Herbert.

“You don’t necessarily need atomic bombs to destroy a nation. Politicians who value their pockets more than the life of citizens always do that every day.”
― Israelmore Ayivor.