“The Lord is coming, always coming.  When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life.  Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord.”

–Henri Nouwen.

“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

–Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commenting on the aftermath of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s surprise attack on U.S. Naval Forces at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941

Eighty-four (84) years ago today, at 7:48 a.m. (Hawaiian Standard Time), the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked without warning United States Naval Forces stationed at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu.  The casualties were high, with 2,335 dead, and 1,143 wounded.  The bulk of the United States Pacific naval fleet lay sunk upon the harbor floor, while its planes burned on the tarmac.  Fortunately, the fleet’s aircraft carriers were at sea, and thus, unharmed.

The Pearl Harbor attack was well coordinated with Japanese attacks later that day on Guam, Philippines, Wake Island, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaya.  The Japanese plan to disable the United States’ ability to interfere with their expansionist plans succeeded.  But success came at a tremendous cost. 

The Japanese attack aroused an anger in the American people, who previously wished no part of foreign engagements.  A country whose people were willing to sit on the sidelines on December 6 as hostilities raged around the globe were suddenly plunged into the midst of the turmoil, responding with an energy and a vengeance that the Axis powers could never match.  The mobilized American nation proved its mettle by leading the destruction—the utter destruction—of Germany, Italy and Japan, all formidable military and economic powers at the war’s height.

The war also changed the lives of many, including my own father, as young men were ripped from their peaceful rural existences, and sent abroad to witness, fight in, and discover a whole world.  And it changed the role of the United States as a nation, shedding our prior historic role of isolationism, and thrusting the mantle of internationalism onto our collective shoulders as we used our nation’s might to ensure that such an atrocity would never again occur.  As stated by then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “December 7, 1941 is a day which will live in infamy.”  And so it is, still today.

“Dost thou love life?  Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.”

–Benjamin Franklin.

GFK

“The Christmas spirit is the spirit of giving and forgiving.” 

– James E. Faust

Benjamin Franklin once said that democracy was 2 wolves and 1 lamb voting on what would be on the lunch menu. And it was an apt observation, because democracy maintains no respect for individual liberties and freedoms. Rather, democracy stands only for the proposition of majority rule. If 51% votes to strip the rights of 49%, then democratic standards permits that result. And that is not the United States of America.

“The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”

–Winston Churchill.

People in the news, politicians, journalists, scholars are always referring to “our democracy”. We do not live in a “democracy” in the United States. We live in a constitutional republic. There is a difference, because our written, republican constitution acts to protect minority rights.

What’s the big deal? Quit splitting hairs! Whooooaaa Nelly! This is not hair splitting. This is a big deal. And the article below by John Hendrickson, which was published in The American Spectator (December 2, 2025) explains why this is so.

Republic or Democracy: Democrats’ Crusade to ‘Save Our Democracy’ Is a Ploy to Undermine Our Constitution

Blurring the distinction between democracy and a republic is undermining constitutionalism.

“The United States of America is a federal republic: a federation of states governed by written constitutions,” wrote Russell Kirk. The Constitution created a republican form of government. A foundational aspect of our system is representative government. “Representative government, or what we call the republican tradition, is the bedrock of American constitutionalism,” noted James McClellan.

A republican form of government, as designed by the Founders, meant that sovereignty resided with the people who elected representatives. Further, the Founders designed a republican system based on the constitutional principles, which included limited government, checks and balances, separation of powers, federalism, rule of law, among others. 

The Framers understood political theory and systems, and the idea of a democracy was rejected. Democracy was associated with “mob rule,” which was fresh in the minds of the Framers with Shays’ Rebellion. 

They also understood human nature and that humanity was fallen. As James Madison wrote in Federalist 51:

But what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: You must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is no doubt the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

The late historian of the American Founding, Forrest McDonald, argued that “the genius of the system was that the power of government, though great and emanating ultimately from the people, was divided rather than concentrated in any single representation of the people.” This was the balance that the Constitution achieved by rejecting democracy. 

The use of the word “democracy” is not just harmless horse swapping of terms.

Although the Framers created a republican form of government, the term has been interchanged with “democracy.” Politicians, the media, and academia constantly refer to American democracy. The use of the word “democracy” is not just harmless horse swapping of terms.

Decades of civic illiteracy, combined with ideological policy efforts to “save our democracy,” have been successful in not only confusing Americans but outright undermining constitutionalism.

This is why our designation as a “republic” or a “democracy” is more than just an academic question. The more the United States forgets its republican heritage results in further erosion of constitutional principles.

James Carville, a Democratic Party strategist who is famous for his “it’s the economy, stupid” advice, recently revealed what many liberals have been thinking about once they regain power. Carville not only predicts that the Democrats will win the presidency in 2028 but that they will then proceed to start reforming government by “packing” the United States Supreme Court. 

“I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen. A Democrat is going to be elected in 2028. You know that. I know that. The Democratic president is going to announce a special transition advisory committee on the reform of the Supreme Court,” predicts Carville.

Carville argues that Democrats will “pack the Court by expanding the number of Justices from nine to 13.” The end goal, states Carville, is for the Democrats to make this “intervention so we can have a Supreme Court that the American people trust again.”

The justification for this is to “save our democracy.” The term “democracy” is often used incorrectly to describe the American political system. This is especially true of the political left, which argues that revolutionary changes are needed in order to preserve democracy.

Today’s Democrats are hoping they will succeed where President Franklin D. Roosevelt failed when he attempted to “pack” the Court. “We have, therefore, reached the point as a nation where we must take action to save the Constitution from the Court and the Court from itself,” explained President Roosevelt in arguing for his reform plan. 

Similar arguments will be made that, as a result of President Donald Trump’s policies and recent decisions by the Supreme Court, constitutional reforms are needed to “save our democracy.” Carville’s argument for “packing” the Court is not new, nor is the progressive or modern liberal belief in advocating for substantial constitutional reforms.

It is not just “packing” the Court, but also eliminating the Electoral College, reforming the Senate by either reforming the institution or outright elimination, and further limiting the sovereignty of states. 

In two opinion essays for Governing, Stephen Legomsky, a law professor emeritus at Washington University and author of Reimaging the American Union, argues that many of the political problems confronting the nation are a direct result of federalism. The root cause of the problem, Legomsky argues, directly resides with the states.

Although Legomsky places the blame for the nation’s political ills on states, in reality, it is a larger attack on the Constitution. “Liberals have for many decades tried to replace the Constitution’s ideas of limited federal and presidential power, checks and balances, and federalism with majoritarian democracy, expanded and centralized government, and strong presidential leadership,” noted Claes G. Ryn, an emeritus professor of politics at Catholic University.

Since the early 20th Century, progressives have attacked the American Founding as obsolete.

Progressives argued that the Constitution could not solve modern policy problems, and in response, they called for a vast expansion of federal power. Since the 1930s, the federal government has expanded both in size and scope. This has come at the expense of federalism — the constitutional principle of power being divided between the national and state governments.

“A dislike for the constitutional republicanism of the Framers has been integral to modern American liberalism. Liberals have long wanted an imperial presidency and a corresponding centralization and expansion of government,” argues Ryn.

Legomsky and Carville are not offering new arguments. In fact, they are just echoing what progressive academics and politicians have been arguing for decades.

These revolutionary reforms are being proposed as a measure to not only “save democracy,” but to “improve our democracy.” The term “democracy” is not only overused and misapplied but also misunderstood.

“There is far more danger of harm than there is hope of good in any radical changes,” warned President Calvin Coolidge.

The Founding Fathers outright rejected democracy. The Constitution created a republican form of government, that is, a republic and not a democracy. This was once clearly understood, but as a result of the decline in civic education and the repetitive use of the term “democracy,” it is an important principle that has been lost.

“The government of the United States is a representative republic and not a pure democracy,” wrote Senator Arthur Vandenberg. Further, Vandenberg argued that “this country is frequently spoken of as a democracy, and yet the men who established our government made a very marked distinction between a ‘republic’ and a ‘democracy,’ gave very clear definitions of each term, and emphatically said they had founded a republic.”

Whether it is “packing” the Court, abolishing the Electoral College, the relevance of the Senate, or the further undermining of federalism, Americans need to realize that a serious debate over the Constitution is occurring. The crusade for “democracy” by those on the political left is an effort to fundamentally change the Constitution, which will have significant ramifications on policy.

Senator Vandenberg warned that “the most serious of all modern dangers to the Constitution, and therefore, to the welfare of the American people, are traceable to neglect of these distinctions” in referring to the misunderstanding of “republic” and “democracy.”

Benjamin Franklin, on the final day (September 18, 1787) of the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, when asked about what type of government was created, he famously replied, “a republic, if we can keep it.”

The future direction of policy will hinge on whether we remain a republic as the Founders intended or become a “democracy.”

GFK

“Advent, this powerful liturgical season that we are beginning, invites us to pause in silence to understand a presence.  It is an invitation to understand that the individual events of the day are hints that God is giving us, signs of the attention he has for each one of us.”

–Pope Benedict XVI.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested a Virginia man in connection with the pipe bombs found at the Republican and Democrat National Committees’ headquarters on January 6, 2021. Hmmm. What prevented the China Joe Administration from arresting this suspect?

Congressional Democrats are pushing for a $25.00 minimum hourly wage. Please explain where in the Constitution the federal government has the power to establish wages that the private market must pay. We’ll wait.

Besides the legal issues concerning the minimum wage, there are solid economic reasons why the perfect minimum wage is $0.00. Freedom means that people be allowed to buy or sell labor at a market price, unfettered by government regulation. Some jobs are not worth an artificial minimum wage, and historically, raising the minimum wage causes unemployment. Why do you think that there are self-checkout stations in retail stores now? Why is McDonald’s experimenting with robotic cooks? Outside of Oregon and New Jersey, when was the last time you pulled into a full service gas station?

Minimum wages also adversely impact the unskilled, particularly young people. Teenagers used to gain valuable skills and experience working in grocery stores, restaurants, and other retail outlets. No more. The minimum wage has priced them out of the labor market, meaning that high school graduates will have never held a job, learning those things that only employment can teach.

The minimum wage is unconstitutional, and illegal. It is an economically illiterate solution to a problem that does not exist. It should be abolished at both the federal and State levels. Now.

“What needs to be said that isn’t being said enough in our press over the last 24 hours is that the President of the United States said a blatantly, obviously racist thing in the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday when he said what he said about Somali immigrants in this country. 

That they don’t contribute anything, that they’re not of value.  In no normal world should the President of the United States of America ever, ever say something like that to the American people or even say it privately.  I mean, if the President of the United States says it privately, it means he’s a bad person and we should get rid of him.

But to me, that was an impeachable moment.  There have been so many impeachable moments since Donald Trump has come back to the White House, but to blatantly say something as racist and as hateful and as nasty and cruel and mean-spirited as what he said yesterday.  The impeachment proceedings should begin right now.  But of course, they won’t.”

–former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, trying desperately to become relevant.

President Trump said nothing racist about Somalis. He expressed his opinion, one with which The Observations agrees. Somalis are contributing nothing to this country; they are a drain. The only reason that Somalis were ever admitted to this country is because they are black. And that is truly racist.

Immigration should be about making the United States stronger. We are not a repository for those suffering in the Third World. If you bring the Third World here, here becomes the Third World.

Senator Mark Warner (D. Va.) is calling for the uniformed military to “save us from this President [Trump].” My gosh, the man is calling for a coup d’etat! Shades of Seven Days in May!

Mark Warner has never held a real job. He is a creature of government, and he is not very good at government. What he is good at is twisting the law to preserve his own power. Typical Democrat.

Representative Pramila Jayapal (D. Wa.) is introducing a bill that would prevent ICE from detaining illegal aliens, instead requiring the aliens’ release into the interior of the country on their own recognizance. The bill would extend special protections to asylum seekers, pregnant women, mentally ill people, people fleeing “gender violence”, disabled people, people over 60 years, LGBTQ++ individuals . . . blah, blah, blah. The bill would also require taxpayers to finance lawyers to represent illegal aliens present in this country, or aliens seeking to enter this country. The bill has 123 Democrat member co-sponsors. Because Democrats love illegal aliens more than the citizens of this country.

Representative Jasmine Crockett (D. Tx.) has a lien against her Dallas, Texas condominium for $3,047.79, due to her refusal to pay her HOA dues. Deadbeat!

Representative Ilhan Omar (D. Mn.) said that companies that were not “sufficiently anti-Trump” must pay a “costly price”. What in the world does that mean?

“I think what happened, um, is that, you know, when you have these, kind of, new programs that are, um, designed to, uh, help people you are often times relying on third parties to be able to facilitate, and I just think that a lot of the COVID programs . . . were set up so quickly that a lot of the guardrails did not get created.”

–Representative Ilhan Omar trying to excuse her Somali brethren for their fraudulent actions and theft of government monies. You see, it was the government’s fault for not preventing the fraud in the first place!

The Minneapolis, Minnesota police chief called on residents to call 911 in response to observing any ICE raids or operations in the city. What is he proposing; that his officers arrest ICE agents for performing their duties?

The California Attorney General called on citizens to photograph and film ICE agents in the performance of their duties, and upload those images to a State website. Again, for what purpose? Nothing good.

In Dedham, Massachusetts, St. Sussana Catholic Church is displaying a Nativity scene with an empty manger. Next to the manger, a sign bears the message “ICE was here”. Sigh.

In Virginia there will be no “dry” jurisdictions whereby local authorities can ban retail sales of marijuana. Why? Shouldn’t the people of, say, Henry County be able to ban retail marijuana sales? Not according to General Assembly Democrats. No, according to the Democrats’ wisdom, the entire Commonwealth must smell like a head shop, or a street in New York City. Sigh.

Jaguar fired Chief Executive Creativity Officer Gerry McGovern after the company suffered a 97.5% sales drop following his rebrand, including the showcasing of androgynous characters in television advertisements, instead of actual automobiles. What took so long?

In-N-Out Burger is opening 4 new locations soon in Tennessee, including Franklin, Antioch, Murfreesboro, and Lebanon. We Virginians continue to wait impatiently for our own In-N-Out locations. I cannot keep commuting to LAX to get my In-N-Out Burger fix.

Venezuela has agreed to resume accepting deportation flights from the United States of its citizens. Send ’em all back!

Guitarist Steve Cropper, who performed with Booker T. & the MG’s, has died at age 84. R. I. P.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

– Mark Twain

GFK

“The word advent means ‘expectation.’  What advent can do for us is create a sense of hope.”

–Louie Giglio.

The Trump Administration is terminating China Joe’s high fuel mileage standards for automobiles. GOOD-BYE excessive government regulation. HELLO affordable automobiles!

President Trump pardoned Representative Henry Cueller (D. Tx.), who was facing federal criminal bribery charges, brought by the China Joe Administration. There was a belief that China Joe was having Representative Cueller prosecuted in retaliation for his criticism of China Joe’s immigration policies.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that States that refused to provide requested data about food stamps programs would not receive federal funds. Do you understand that, Tampon Tim (D. Mn.)? If you want to fund Somali fraud, then use your State dollars, but federal taxpayers will not subsidize your schemes.

Matt Van Epps (R. Tn.) won a special election on Tuesday to replace retired Representative Mark Green (R. Tn.) He bested Aftyn Behn (D. Tn.), who was famous for stating how much she hated the Congressional district she wanted to represent. Following her concession telephone call to Mr. Van Epps, Aftyn Behn told supporters:

“I called the Congressman-elect, Matt Van Epps, and I had one question for him.  What will define what happens next?  Do not let the Affordable Care Act subsidies expire.  Do not raise health care costs for working families in Tennessee.”

Someone needs to tell Aftyn Behn that she lost the election. The voters rejected her views.

The Democrats–including Aftyn Behn–continue to push for Obamacare subsidies, thus revealing the lie that the Affordable Care Act is “affordable”. Obamacare has distorted the health insurance, and the health care markets, raising costs for all Americans. What are the prime movers of these market distortions? Guaranteed coverage, no matter the applicant’s health, community rating, which prevents insurers from treating applicants differently, and mandated benefits, requiring consumers to purchase coverage that they neither need nor want.

Obamacare is the perfect example of what happens when you have politicians insert themselves into the markets. The Democrats who pushed through Obamacare were not insurance executives or doctors. They were–mostly–not even people who ever held private sector jobs. Rather, they were power hungry politicians who know better than their constituents what people want, need, or can afford.

And never forget; Obamacare as originally intended was mandatory. Unless you were a federal elected official or bureaucrat. Those people were exempt from their own policies, just like the Politburo members in the former Soviet Union.

The brouhaha over the narco-terrorist boats in the Caribbean Sea is just so much performative political posturing. These are stateless ships, flying no flags of registration. They are pirate ships, and the ships and their sailors are not entitled to any protections under any laws, domestic or international. They are pirates/terrorists. Remember that when you hear a Democrat or a talking head (but I repeat myself) scream “war crimes”.

“What is disturbing is that there are Democrats out there who apparently look at these bad guys flooding the country with illegal drugs that cause these drug overdoses, and think that the president and Secretary Hegseth are the problem because they are stopping the bad guys.

Safe to say, the Democrats’ appalling laxity on this issue effectively encourages massive drug overdoses in America for Americans.  And the Democrats’ answer as to how to stop this drug war is not only nowhere to be seen but is effectively allowing the problem — and the overdoses — to continue.”

–Jeffrey Lord, The American Spectator (December 2, 2025).

Only in the United States could the President and the Secretary of War actually take decisive action to prevent our enemies from harming Americans in this country, and then be accused of committing “war crimes” by the Democrats. Sigh We have issues.

Reverend Phillip Phaneuf, of North Chili United Methodist Church in Rochester, New York announced that he was transitioning to become a woman, and hereafter he was asexual. Sigh. Reverend Phaneuf is a cross dresser. He will remain a man. Because it is biologically impossible for a man to become a woman.

You would think that a man of the cloth would know that man cannot become woman. It is The Bible’s first book, Genesis. Perhaps Reverend Phaneuf should rethink his profession.

In Evanston, Illinois, the Lake Street Church erected a Nativity scene. That is not unusual at this time of year, EXCEPT; the Baby Jesus has zip tied hands, Mary and Joseph are wearing gas masks, and there are Roman soldiers, dressed as ICE agents. Sigh. The Lake Street Church does not embrace The Gospels. The Lake Street Church embraces radical progressive politics instead.

A Brooklyn, New York middle-school principal denied a parent’s request to have a Holocaust survivor speak to students about antisemitism — saying the victim’s pro-Israel views are not appropriate for a public school. Of course she did. How dare a parent suggest that a survivor of a horrific historical event be allowed to speak!

Jose Francisco Jovel, a career criminal, was arrested for heaving Molotov cocktails at the ICE detention center in Los Angeles, California. He might have done serious damage to the building and its personnel if he had bothered to light the cocktails first.

“These companies engineered a public health crisis, they profited handsomely, and now they need to take responsibility for the harm they have caused.”

–San Francisco, California City Attorney David Chiu.

The city of San Francisco sued Kraft, Mondelez, Coca-Cola and other makers of ultra-processed foods on Tuesday, accusing them of knowingly sickening California residents with addictive and harmful products.

City Attorney David Chiu filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court, alleging that the companies employed tactics similar to those used by the tobacco industry to design and market products intended to addict consumers. The lawsuit accuses the companies of violating California laws on public nuisance and deceptive marketing.

This is just another government shakedown of the private sector. If you do not want to drink a Coke with your Kraft Mac-N-Cheese, then don’t.

As an aside, who does not like Kraft Mac-N-Cheese? Seriously. It is delicious.

Frank informs me that after 76 years, Short Sugars restaurant in Reidsville, North Carolina has closed for good. This is a crime against humanity! The shabby looking restaurant served up some of the best pork barbecue, hush puppies, and slaw in the world. In fact, in 1982, their barbecue was judged the best in the world. President Reagan loved Short Sugars’ barbecue, and served it at The White House. And their hot dogs! Gosh they served good hot dogs! This is just a very sad development. In fact, it is the worst thing to happen to Southern cuisine since Rumley’s closed in Martinsville, Virginia.

On his way to the airport to board a private plane for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, former University of Mississippi head football coach Lane Kiffin lamented that the school would not permit him to coach the team in the post-season, claiming that the players wanted him to have that opportunity. Not so fast, my friends; to a man, the Ole Miss football players have denied making any such request. Lane Kiffin is a disloyal liar.

Claude, an albino alligator, who resided in San Francisco at the California Academy of Sciences, has died at age 30. R. I. P.

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.’

–Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.

GFK

“Advent is patience it’s how God has made us a people of promise, in a world of impatience.”

–Stanley Hauerwas.

I have returned to Northern Virginia, having spent a most relaxing time in Chatmoss. Relaxation is important, and something I am not good at enjoying. But for 2 weeks I went without [much] work, and read no newspapers. I saw friends, read books, played golf, and slept late.

Many people travel abroad for relaxation, some to engage in sightseeing, while others revel in tropical paradises. Others remain domestic, visiting national parks, or cities that they have enjoyed in the past. Those are fine things, but I enjoy simpler tastes; I go to the place of my birth and upbringing, and reconnect to all the people and things that made me who I am today. I’m like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, who no matter how far she roamed, she came to realize that “there is no place like home.”

Last week, President Trump announced that he was pausing all Third World country immigration into the United States, in reaction to the Afghani refugee’s attack on National Guard troops in D.C. Predictably, the Left went nuts over the news. Senator Mark Kelly (D. Az.), who is one of the “Seditious Six”, promptly went on CNN to claim that “When he [President Trump] says ‘Third World countries,’ he’s saying he doesn’t want BROWN PEOPLE!” Yes, when all else fails, the Left falls back on racism.

“I want you to realize this. You have lost. You’ve lost. White supremacists, White nationalists, you’ve lost. You are losers. Your story is a s—– story filled with misery. It’s filled with bland chicken. It’s filled with terrible, terrible dry a– meat. Your music sucks. All your culture sucks.”

And that’s the vote with Trump.  So, we’re not going away. And if we do get sent away, literally your sh**hole country will become the United States of America. It will sink.

You have lost. You lost. The mistake that you made is, you let us in in the first place. It has to do with brown people, and I am going to say this as a brown person:

There’s a lot of us—like, a lot.  There is like 1.2 billion in India, there is more than 200 million in Pakistan, and there’s like 170 million in Bangladesh.  Those are just the people there; I ain’t even talking about the folks who are expats or immigrants.  There’s a bunch of us — and we breed.  We’re a breeding people, and the problem is, you let us in in 1965.

There was a few us beforehand, but once you let one of us in, you know what happens with brown folks?   Our grandmother comes, our grandfather comes, our uncle comes, our aunt comes, her cousin comes, a second cousin comes, her third cousin comes [and then they marry each other?].  Then we had kids, a bunch of kids.  And then guess what?

Some white women — you know, the Western Civilization women, the pure women, the American women … the “rust belt” women, the real women — they like some of us brown folks.  We don’t take them; they come to us.  So we’re embedded; we are everywhere, we are everywhere.  I travel this country, and I’m going to speak as a brown person, brown people are everywhere.  There will be a Patel motel or there will be a daisy[?] restaurant everywhere.

I want you to realize this:  You have lost. Your story is a shi**y story, filled with misery.  It’s filled with bland chicken.  It’s filled with terrible terrible, terrible dry a$$ meat.  Your music sucks.  All your culture sucks.  Nobody . . . that’s why the kids, like listen to black people in their music.  That’s why the kids love Latinos.  Your parties suck, because they’re monochromatic.  Our parties have better food, better music, better-looking women.”

–Left wing radical Wajahat Ali, whose parents came to the United States in 1965, and quickly spent time in prison for money laundering and other fraudulent financial crimes.

We are being colonized by radicals from Third World countries. Radical bigots and Islamist extremists who have no intention of assimilating and becoming Americans. These are the people that Democrats like Senator Mark Kelly want to come into this nation.

It is not racist to want to keep these people out of the United States. Indeed, it is rational to want to keep these people out of the United States.

The Washington Post ran a story accusing Secretary of War Pete Hegseth of committing “war crimes” against narco-terrorists in the Caribbean Sea. FAKE NEWS! Even The New York Times says the Post story is false.

Senator Mark Kelly, who cannot seem to keep his mouth shut lately, called for Secretary Hegseth’s firing. Over FAKE NEWS! Trump Derangement Syndrome.

The Observations has reported about Minnesota Somali residents defrauding federal welfare programs, and sending the fraudulently procured funds abroad to relatives, and to terrorist organizations. The amount of money fraudulently procured is more than $1 billion and rising. On CNN, Tampon Tim denied any responsiblity for the fraud, and blamed President Trump! And Mr. Trump was not even in office when the fraud occurred! But now, more than 400 Minnesota State employees have pointed their fingers at the man responsible for the fraud–Governor Tampon Tim (D. Mn.). Wow!

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that it would be investigating Governor Tampon Tim in connection with the fraudulent distribution and use of federal funds. GOOD!

Tampon Tim wanted to live in the Vice-President’s residence off Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Now it looks like he will get to live in a federal facility, perhaps Fort Leavenworth.

Oregon’s Governor is threatening to arrest and prosecute ICE agents for the violation of Oregon State laws in the performance of their duties in enforcing U.S. immigration laws. Huh. How about this; the United States arrests and prosecutes Oregon officials for thwarting the enforcement of immigration laws by declaring and securing Oregon as a “sanctuary State”? We wonder who will win this battle?

Portland, Oregon held a tree lighting ceremony. It was NOT a “Christmas” tree lighting, and Christmas was specifically disavowed. But many speakers gave radical Leftist policy addresses, and attendees waved Palestinian flags. Some holiday, out West.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James’s war on pro-life clinics was just slapped down by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Attorney General James sued pro-life clinics claiming that their prescriptions for reversing abortion pills’ effects constituted “fraud”. The Second Circuit held that the pro-life clinics were engaged in First Amendment protected free speech, and unanimously enjoined Attorney General James from pursuing this matter further.

The Old State Saloon in Boise, Idaho is offering free beer for 1 month to any patron who aids ICE in apprehending illegal aliens. That is an excellent reason to visit Idaho.

“Jews must be abolished by any means necessary.”

–University of Florida law school student Preston Damsky.

The University of Florida law school expelled Preston Damsky for his vile, violent call to exterminate all Jews. Sadly, a court ordered his reinstatement, citing First Amendment concerns. Sigh.

I am all for free speech. But I am having a hard time believing that calling for the elimination of the Jewish people constitutes free speech. Maybe it does, but . . . .

Just because you have a right to do something, does not make it right to do it. And does not the University of Florida law school have the right to impose a standard of conduct to which students must adhere?

New Orleans, Louisiana Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said that her department would not assist ICE in apprehending illegal aliens because “it is a civil matter”. Uh, no. No it is not. Entering the United States without authorization is a crime. Which is within the purview of the police.

Virginia General Assembly Democrats are prepared to legalize the retail sales of marijuana. My goodness, what could possibly go wrong?

General Assembly Democrats insist that the retail sales will be restricted to adults, only. Uh, huh. And no teenager every buys or consumes beer in the Commonwealth. Never has, never will. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

It is not funny. But it is stupid to expect that retail marijuana will only be sold to or consumed by adults. Just plain stupid.

Solar companies pushed by Democrats, and rewarded with massive federal subsidies under China Joe’s Inflation Reduction Act received their monies, but are failing to produce much product, or provide much energy. But that is the least of the scandal. Now it turns out that these solar companies are owned, in large part, by the Chinese Communist Party! Who would have ever guessed that?!?!

That great foreign policy genius Pope Leo XIII said that the only solution to the Arab/Israeli conflict is a 2 State solution. Wow. And how would that look? Would it resemble Gaza? You know, the Hamas controlled territory that launched a war against Israel on October 7, 2023, and has vowed to do it again and again until Israel is wiped off the map? Is that the 2 State solution Pope Leo proposes?

The Pope has more than enough to do guiding The Catholic Church. Perhaps he should leave the Jews and the Muslims to others.

Great Britain continues to proceed steadily towards full “Big Brother”. Local jurisdictions are flooding the skies with drones so as to be able to “monitor” their citizens. Welcome to 1984’s Oceania!

University of Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops vowed he would never walk away from his team. Never. So Kentucky did the necessary thing, and fired him.

The University of Alabama football team announced that it would schedule more “cupcakes”, beginning next year. Coach Paul Bryant would be so embarrassed. Jim Farrell, you should be too!

Alabama refused to schedule VPI’s football team. Too easy. Even the new Alabama schedule has some standards.

There is a professional women’s softball league. Did anyone know that there was a professional women’s softball league? Anyone other than Rocky and Dru?

“Believe you can and you are halfway there.”

–Theodore Roosevelt.

GFK

“It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.”

–Pope Benedict XVI.

Advent:  The Season of Preparation.

–Alan Lancor, The American Thinker (December 1, 2025).

In Henry V, William Shakespare wrote “All things are ready if our mind be so.” As the Christian season of Advent has begun, it is prudent to take stock of whether our society still has a sense of preparation. Is our culture one that works to build something lasting? Are we sacrificial in the present so to be joyful in the future? Such questions may have been taken for granted in the past. But they must be asked to understand why society should work on arranging itself for tomorrow instead of purposely cannibalizing itself today.

Advent is the four-week period before Christmas. It is not simply a period preceding Christmas as if a mere chronological notation. It is an integral part of Christmas, for if one is not properly prepared for what is coming then you will not understand the arrival. And who arrives? The Son of Man, not by loud proclamation but in a poverty that needs no exaggeration. Jesus Christ is born in the dark and cold surrounded by farm animals, not just to live through the night but to transform the world.

In the 2,000 years since Jesus’ birth, is there the sense that we still prepare? Of course, one gives allowance to those for whom daily survival is still a question. And indeed, those with little can sometimes offer us a greater abundance. But for those with plenty in this country and especially in Europe, we must reorient our priorities. To be busy so as to justify ourselves is not preparation. It is not just about being responsible with your to-do list. Planning itself, whether it be for a work meeting or cruise vacation, is prudent but not entirely principled. Are we really prepared for the truly meaningful, the transcendental, the eternal? Of course, this takes fortitude and stoic souls.

The Cologne Cathedral in Germany began with its foundational stone laid in 1248 but was finally completed to its original design in 1880. Do we still have that kind of patience? Do we have a proper sense of what comes after us?

These questions apply to the materially successful and also to those seeking retribution from a group or revenge against an amorphous “they.” Grievance culture could be quickly summed up as settling scores of the distant past by taking something in the present mainly for punishment’s sake. Note the interplay there of the past and the present. What about the inevitable future? Once there is your payback, what is left? The truth is that the harsh reprisal emotion will not always fade, possibly with even uglier consequences.

Saint Augustine writes of his experience walking on a beach and seeing a young boy trying to pour the entire ocean into a hole in the sand. He told the boy it was impossible, with the boy replying, “And you could never possibly understand the Holy Trinity.” The boy then disappeared from Augustine’s shocked sight, leaving him with a brilliant insight on the magnitude of this truth of the Christian faith. Some of us may not be Christian nor philosophers always pondering such wonderous ideas. But we are capable of wonder. This Advent and beyond, remember that we can think about more than just ourselves or what we claim is owed to us. If we are inspired on such a grand scale, we then can be forever changed.

By now readers are familiar with my criticisms of the Anglican Communion’s drift away from God’s Word, and toward accommodation with modern secular values. It is a constant concern of mine.

Below is a piece published over last weekend that touches on this subject. I hope you find it to be of interest.

The Anglican-to-Catholic Pipeline

How doctrinal drift and historic witness continue to draw Anglicans into Catholic communion.

By: S.A. McCarthy, The American Spectator (November 29, 2025).

A Catholic priest I knew once joked that Anglicans are just dressing up as Catholics but with bad theology. According to a new study, a substantial number of Anglican clerics agreed with that characterization and decided to ditch the Anglican theology and embrace full communion with Rome.

There is still, however, one great Anglican tradition worth pursuing: converting to Catholicism.

The Benedict XVI Centre for Religion, Ethics, and Society at St Mary’s University, Twickenham in London analyzed priestly ordinations in the Catholic Church in Britain between 1992 and 2024 and found that 700 Anglican clerics left the Church of England and became Catholic, with 486 becoming Catholic priests. The former Anglicans accounted for nearly 30 percent of diocesan ordinations and over a third (35 percent) of combined diocesan and ordinariate ordinations. (The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England and Wales, which also encompasses Scotland, was established by the late Pope Benedict XVI in 2011 to allow former Anglicans to join the Catholic Church while still retaining elements of their Anglican patrimony, such as a distinct liturgical style.)

The vast majority of conversions, according to the study, occurred in 1994, driven largely by the Church of England’s decision to approve female ordinations to the priesthood. Last month, the Church of England named Sarah Mulally as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, the chief cleric of the Church of England. Mulally is currently the Anglican Bishop of London and is known for her progressive views, including favoring blessings for same-sex unions and tacit support for abortion. “I would suspect that I would describe my approach to this issue as pro-choice rather than pro-life although if it were a continuum I would be somewhere along it moving towards pro-life when it relates to my choice and then enabling choice when it related to others,” the next Archbishop of Canterbury said in 2012. Earlier this year, however, she joined other Anglican bishops in opposing further decriminalization of abortion in the United Kingdom.

The Church of England formally renounced the authority of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, in 1534, under the reign of King Henry VIII. In the following years, many Catholic priests were hunted down and executed. One of the most famous of these priests, Saint Edmund Campion, had previously been an Anglican cleric. A brilliant Oxford scholar and a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, Campion held reservations about Anglican doctrine and theology when he was ordained an Anglican deacon in 1569.

The 1559 Book of Common Prayer and the Anglican Thirty-Nine Articles (especially Articles 28 and 31) explicitly rejected the Catholic teaching of transubstantiation, the belief that the bread and wine used during Mass do contain the True Presence of Christ. Campion’s study of Scripture and the Early Church Fathers led him to believe that the Anglican position was incorrect, that Christ was truly present, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the Blessed Sacrament, and that the Church had held this belief unwaveringly for centuries.

He also rejected the Anglican view of the priesthood and apostolic succession, perceiving the Church of England as a “new invention” rather than a continuation of the Christian Faith in England as it had existed since Augustine of Canterbury converted the English at the end of the sixth century, and could not accept Elizabeth I’s claim to be the spiritual head of the Church in England, holding that a monarch could exercise civic or judicial authority over the Church but not spiritual authority.

Fearing punishment if his views were to become known, Campion fled first to Ireland and then to what is today France, where he entered into full communion with the Catholic Church and was ordained a sub-deacon. He traveled to Rome and joined the Jesuits and was ordained a priest in Prague in 1578. In 1580, Campion returned to England, on a mission to proclaim the truth of the Catholic Faith.

For just over a year, Campion preached, celebrated Mass and the sacraments, and wrote numerous tracts and pamphlets explaining the flaws in Anglican theology and doctrine. In his Decem Rationes, the Jesuit priest outlined ten arguments against Anglican theology and in favor of Catholic theology. Notably, he called on Anglican leaders to openly debate him, clarifying that his mission was not political. During the 1581 commencement at St. Mary’s, Oxford, Campion and his Catholic companions left 400 copies of the treatise on benches, intensifying the urgency of Elizabeth I’s hunt for the priest.

Despite his insistence that his mission was neither political nor treasonous, when Campion was finally captured in July of 1581, a paper was pinned to his hat, reading, “Campion, the Seditious Jesuit.” He was imprisoned in the Tower of London for four days, in a small cell nicknamed “Little Ease,” designed so that a prisoner could not fully stand, sit, or lie down. Campion was questioned numerous times by members of Elizabeth I’s Court and was asked whether he accepted her as the true monarch of England, which he said he did. The Jesuit was held over four months in the Tower and was reportedly tortured on several occasions. Anglican leaders even circulated false reports that Campion had recanted his Catholic positions and converted to Anglicanism.

In November of 1581, Campion was indicted, falsely charged with conspiracy to treason and plotting to overthrow Elizabeth I. At trial, Campion declared, “I am a Catholic man and a priest. In that faith have I lived and in that faith do I intend to die, and if you esteem my religion treason, then I am guilty.” He further warned those present, “In condemning us, you condemn all your own ancestors, all our ancient bishops and kings, all that was once the glory of England — the island of saints, and the most devoted child of the See of Peter.”

Campion was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn, along with fellow Catholic priests Ralph Sherwin and Alexander Briant, on December 1, 1581. The execution is broadly considered one of the worst political blunders of Elizabeth I’s reign. Following the notorious Jesuit’s death, Catholic seminary enrollments more than doubled, from roughly 100 in 1580 to over 250 by 1585, and Catholic conversions surged, especially at Campion’s alma mater, Oxford. At least 60 Oxford scholars not only converted but became Catholic priests in the decades immediately following Campion’s death. The Catholic recusant population more than doubled, from only about 20,000 in 1580 to as many as 50,000 by 1603. William Weston, Campion’s successor as the Jesuit superior in England, wrote in his autobiography that “the death of Father Campion … brought more to the Church than the labors of many years.”

In the centuries since Campion’s death, numerous Anglicans have followed his example and converted to Catholicism. Saint John Henry Newman was an influential and nationally-recognized Oxford academic and Anglican priest until he converted to Catholicism in 1845. He became a Catholic cardinal and is now both a Saint and a Doctor of the Church. Robert Hugh Benson was the son of the Archbishop of Canterbury and, like his father, became an Anglican priest in 1895. Less than a decade later, however, he had converted to Catholicism and became a Catholic priest, later serving as a chamberlain to Pope St. Pius X and authoring several powerful Catholic novels, including Lord of the World and Come Rack! Come Rope! Another literary convert was Ronald Knox, a friend of G.K. Chesterton’s and Agatha Christie’s who was ordained an Anglican priest in 1912. Five years later, he became a Catholic and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1918.

The Church of England has, by this point, accumulated nearly 500 years of history. Unfortunately, much of that history is riddled with theological errors, culminating in a church which openly endorses female ordinations, the blessing of same-sex unions, and even abortion, to an extent. There is still, however, one great Anglican tradition worth pursuing: converting to Catholicism.

GFK

“Look up, you whose gaze is fixed on this earth, who are spellbound by the little events and changes on the face of the earth.  Look up to these words, you who have turned away from heaven disappointed.  Look up, you whose eyes are heavy with tears and who are heavy and who are crying over the fact that the earth has gracelessly torn us away.  Look up, you who, burdened with guilt, cannot lift your eyes.  Look up, your redemption is drawing near. something different from what you see daily will happen.  Just be aware, be watchful, wait just another short moment.  Wait and something quite new will break over you: God will come.”

– Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Holland Koontz returned to Texas on Saturday evening. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and enjoyed a pleasant time all last week, together as a family. It is an increasingly rare occasion. Even Dudley enjoyed Chatmoss, reveling in all the attention given him.

This Thanksgiving I was reminded of the late, great Rush Limbaugh’s annual discussion of the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving.  Rush pointed out that more than ½ of the Pilgrims died in the 1^st year, due largely to starvation.  The problem lay with The Mayflower Compact which called for the common ownership of all property in the colony.  Everyone shared equally in everything.  No one was penalized for not working, and no one was rewarded for working harder.  Stated differently, The Mayflower Compact imposed socialism on the Pilgrims, which, predictably, led to disaster.  The Pilgrims’ leader, William Bradford, who would go on to become The Massachusetts Bay Colony’s 1^st Governor, scrapped that portion of The Mayflower Compact, and instituted private property rights.  Immediately the Pilgrims’ fortunes improved, as all were incentivized to work and produce.  The result was a bountiful harvest which led to their Thanksgiving feast following the harvest.

But socialism was not first tried in Massachusetts.  Rather, it was first tried in the Jamestown colony, in Virginia.  When established in 1607, there was no incentive for work, or penalty for sloth.  The colony nearly perished, and when Captain John Smith arrived in 1608, the whole of the settlement begged to return to England.  Captain Smith refused, and instituted the very reforms that William Bradford would institute some 13 years later.  Captain Smith, borrowing 2^nd Thessalonians, declared “He that will not work, shall not eat.”  Fortunes reversed, and the colony began to thrive.  And by virtue of Captain Smith’s wisdom and leadership, Jamestown became the 1^st permanent English settlement in the New World.

In conclusion, Virginia beat out Massachusetts twice in the early history of our country.  Virginia not only celebrated the 1^st Thanksgiving, it was also the 1^st to reject socialism.  Take that, New England!

“This Thanksgiving, we mourn the Indigenous people killed by European settlers and the United States in order to steal their land.  From here to Palestine, we stand in solidarity with all Indigenous people as they fight for freedom on their own land.”

–U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D. Mi.). 

Yes, yes, yes. Those poor American Indians. Let us give them their land back. Starting with Dearborn, Michigan.

“This Thanksgiving, I’m thinking of our neighbors with an empty seat at the dinner table.  Those with loved ones abducted & deported from their families.  Those we lost due to gun violence, mass incarceration, & more.  A more just America is possible, if we fight for it.”

–Representative Ayanna Pressley (D. Ma.), lamenting the absence of illegal aliens and criminals at Thanksgiving.

Did you enjoy turkey, ham, roast beef, duck, or some other meat at your Thanksgiving dinner?  If yes, congratulations, you are destroying the planet!  Yes, according to Bloomberg News, eating meat is unethical, irresponsible, unhealthy, and just plain wrong.  Then again, I do not read or view Bloomberg News.  Please pass the roast beef!

“Everyone at the dinner table today, especially MAGA, please give thanks to the undocumented immigrants that picked and packed the food you’re enjoying.  They deserve our grace.  Happy Thanksgiving!”

–Former San Antonio, Texas Mayor and Obama Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julian Castro (D.).

Forget the drain on the economy, social services, and the lawbreaking by illegal aliens.  Think hard about Julian Castro’s words.  He is grateful for people he views as indentured servants, a laboring underclass.  And he is not alone.  Democrats generally view illegal aliens as a source of cheap labor, and a vital and loyal block of support for their socialist income redistributive policies.  Got to get those lawns in Beverly Hills, Washington, D.C., and Martha’s Vineyard mowed, and the Chardonnay grapes in Napa picked! 

“Make your own dinner, MAGA, make your own sandwiches, wipe your own tears, troll among yourselves with Elon and leave us alone.  You’ve got your heart’s desire: the president you dreamed of, and worship, instead of Jesus.” 

–Former MSNBC host Joy Reid, who will never get over the fact that Commiela will never be President of the United States.  Just like Hillary.

President Trump pardoned the White House Thanksgiving turkeys, Gobble and Waddle. He did not use an autopen.

President Trump announced a pause on all immigration from Third World countries. It is a start.

The Treasury Department announced that tax benefits and the ability to wire money abroad would be denied to illegal aliens. Another good move. Why was this not done sooner?

“What gives me hope, and I talk to service members all the time.  They tell me that I don’t appreciate enough and the public doesn’t appreciate enough that while Congress is not a check on the president anymore, and the judiciary at the Supreme Court is hardly a check, military members have told me, ‘We can be a check.'”

–Representative and gubernatorial hopeful Eric Swalwell (D. Ca.), lying through his teeth in an effort to be considered relevant.

Eric Swalwell would not recognize a soldier if he were air dropped into a war zone.  The man is clueless.

How clueless if Eric Swalwell? He is suing the Trump Administration for pursuing criminal federal fraud charges against him, claiming it is a naked attempt to sabotage his gubernatorial campaign. No. It is because Eric Swalwell committed a crime. And now he is just making it easier to prove it.

“Donald Trump is going to be gone in a couple of years.  And if you’re part of the military that is going after sitting senators, sitting members of Congress, and part of the weaponization of government, there will be consequences, without a doubt.”

–Senator Ruben Gallego (D. Az.), as part of a profane rant in reaction to the news that Senator Mark Kelly was being investigated for possible violation of the Uniform Military Code of Justice.

Do you get that? Investigate and punish a Democrat, and we will get you when we regain power. The Democrats are behaving more like the Gambino family than a political party. Apparently some people are “above the law”.

Senator Elissa Slotkin (D. Mi.) called for the abolishment of the Constitution’s presidential pardon power. She expressed concerns that President Trump would “abuse” the power. You mean like President Autopen did? Where was Senator Slotkin when Hunter Biden was pardoned for all crimes he may have committed since China Joe became Vice-President?

The United States Department of Justice sued the State of California, alleging it is violating the United States Constitution, Amendment 14’s guarantee of equal treatment for all citizens. Currently, California colleges and universities charge out of state applicants significantly higher tuition and fees, while allowing illegal aliens to benefit from lower in State tuition and fee rates. California is wrong. Hopefully the courts, and the Golden State, will mend its ways.

Protesting union workers picketed at Los Angeles International Airport, and even blocked an airport entrance, forcing Thanksgiving travelers to abandon their cars, and walk long distances, with their luggage, to terminals to catch their flights. Is it any wonder the public generally looks upon unions with disdain?

In Georgia, an appointed special prosecutor moved to dismiss all criminal charges against President Trump, arising from the 2020 presidential election. Fani’s folly is over.

“We cannot incarcerate our way out of violence.  We’ve already tried that, and we’ve ended up with the largest prison population in the world without solving the problems of crime and violence.  The addiction on jails and incarceration in this country?  We have moved past that.  It is racist, it is immoral, it is unholy, and it is not the way to drive violence down.”

–Chicago, Illinois Brandon Johnson (D.).

Mayor Johnson is just . . . wrong.  Chicago has tried leaving the criminals free to roam the streets, and that has not worked out.  Incarceration may not rehabilitate the criminals, but it sure will keep them from preying on innocent Chicago residents.

Cook County, Illinois has just established a permanent minimum income government guarantee for residents. This will surely cause more poverty, because it is a truism that if you want more of something, subsidize it. Mayor Johnson is wrong on this too.

The New York City Council is advancing an ordinance that would require property owners to notify the City government and a list of qualified non-profit organizations of their desire to sell real estate prior to putting the real estate on the market, giving the City government or the non-profit organizations first opportunity to purchase it. Communism 101.

Last Wednesday, 2 National Guardsmen were shot at 17th and I Streets, NW, just above The White House. One died on Thanksgiving Day, and the other remains in critical condition.

The immediate reaction of the mainstream media was to blame the National Guard and, of course, President Trump. MSNBC and CNN made it clear that the National Guard’s mere presence was a triggering event that caused the shootings. That is, of course, ridiculous.

The shooter was an Afghani, brought into this country by China Joe in the aftermath of the disastrous Kabul evacuation. He lived in Bellingham, Washington, initially set up at the expense of the American taxpayers.

The shooter then drove cross-country from Bellingham, Washington to Washington, D.C., for the purpose of executing his terrorist plot. He ambushed the Guardsmen, shouting “Allahu Akbar”, and would have assailed others, but for the quick work of 2 other Guardsmen.

In Washington, D.C., the National Guard has made the city far safer for its law abiding residents. A safety and calm have been restored. It is still far from desirable, but it is measurably better due to the willingness of these brave soldiers to lend their efforts to local law enforcement.

The shooter is an Islamist, a man who was not vetted, and never should have been let into this country. He betrayed this nation’s generosity, in a most vile, despicable, and evil fashion. Upon conviction, his punishment should be swift and severe, including the imposition of the death penalty if applicable.

The University of Minnesota has declared a “whiteness epidemic”. According to the University, white people are responsible for perpetuating “systemic racism” in Western Culture. Sigh.

NOTE TO THE GENIUSES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: Western culture was established by white people. It is not “racist”. Indeed, Western culture is the most tolerant, welcoming, and non-racist culture in the world. GET OVER YOURSELVES!

A Portland, Oregon State judge ruled that as a condition of keeping custody of her 12 year old daughter, she must not allow her to attend the mother’s Evangelical Church.  Other conditions imposed include the mother not permitting her daughter to read the Bible, meet with any of her old chapel friends, or attend any weddings or funerals held at any church whatsoever, not just her customary one.  The judge based her ruling on the testimony of an expert witness, Marxist sociology professor Dr. Janja Lalich, who testified that Christianity was a cult.

We wish we were kidding. We are not.

L’Auberge Provencale is a wonderful French restaurant in Clarke County, just South of Berryville, Virginia. In a brazen act, a couple stole $48,000.00 of wine, while pretending to be on a scouting trip for a wealthy Canadian client, a wine connoiseur, and wished to inspect the restaurant’s wine cellar. The woman was detained and arrested. The man got away with 6 bottles of very rare (and very expensive) wine, and remains at large.

As an aside, a regular and loyal customer was at the bar when the heist happened, and gave chase to the fleeing man, driving his $200,000.00 Porsche. The customer’s pursuit ended when he crashed his Porsche into another car, coming in the other direction on U.S. Route 340, thus allowing the man to make a clean getaway.

Kentucky Fried Chicken is introducing a “Gravy Flight” to its menu. Patrons can sample the chain’s Signature Brown, Southwest Cheddar, and White Peppercorn gravies.

Airbus grounded 6,000 planes, due to a software glitch that caused the planes to lose altitude in flight. Next time, buy Boeing.

Alibi Bar in Altrincham, England has established rules for its patrons. There is a dress code, including no torn jeans or baseball caps allowed, and no single patrons are permitted entry after 9:00 p.m. Some are outraged, but Alibi’s owner insists that it is part of establishing a safe and comfortable place for patrons. It is refreshing. Good for Alibi.

Great Britain’s Justice Secretary, David Lammy, has decided to abolish the right to a jury trial in most all criminal matters. The right to a jury trial is as old as the Magna Carta from 1215. It is central to the liberty interests of all Britons. But Secretary Lammy is not exactly British. He was born in England, but to Guyanese immigrant parents. He is a product of the Third World, and is seeking to impose Third World values on the oldest English-speaking country, and proponent of Western Culture.

The United States has closed Venezuelan airspace. Something bad is about to happen.

Jammie Booker won the “World’s Strongest Woman” contest in Austin, Texas. Jammie Booker is a man. Sigh.

Auburn University hired Alex Golesh to be its new head football coach. Coach Golesh was formerly head football coach for the University of South Florida. Surely he will be an improvement over Hugh Freeze.

Former NFL running back, and assistant University of Colorado football coach Marshall Faulk will become Southern University’s new head football coach. Good luck!

Oregon State named University of Alabama assistant football coach JaMarcus Shephard as its new head football coach. Good luck!

Texas stunned Texas A&M, denying the Aggies a trip to the SEC championship game. Ole Miss beat Mississippi State, despite Mary Hazen’s best efforts and enthusiastic cheering. Georgia beat Georgia Tech. Florida beat Florida State. Oklahoma got by LSU. And despite Auburn’s efforts in the Iron Bowl, Alabama prevailed. Alabama will now play Georgia in the SEC championship game.

Boise State topped Utah State. New Mexico edged San Diego State in 2 OTs. Fresno State beat San Jose State. Hawaii romped, ending Wyoming’s miserable season. UNLV beat Nevada. Boise State and UNLV will face off for the Mountain West Conference football championship.

SMU lost a heartbreaker in the last seconds, to Cal. Duke beat Wake Forest. UVA dominated VPI, mercifully ending the Gobblers’ miserable season. Notre Dame beat Stanford. N.C. State destroyed UNC, bringing an end to Season 1 of The Jordan Hudson Show. Miami pummeled Pitt. Clemson beat South Carolina in a most forgettable game. Virginia will now play Duke in the ACC championship game.

East Carolina won. James Madison won.

Navy beat Memphis. North Texas State won handily. Tulane also won, and will play North Texas State in the American championship game. Rocky will be flying down from New York to 1) escape the cold; and, 2) cheer on the Mean Green.

Indiana crushed Purdue. Ohio State snapped its losing streak against Michigan, and will now play Indiana in the Big 10 championship game. USC beat UCLA at the Coliseum. Oregon beat Washington. Iowa scored 40 points in beating Nebraska; normally it takes Iowa 5 different games to score a total of 40 points.

Arizona beat Arizona State. Texas Tech humiliated West Virginia, handing the Mountaineers their worst home loss since the late 1800s. BYU prevailed, as did TCU. Houston beat Baylor. Kansas State ended Coach Prime’s Buffaloes’ season.

LSU hired Lane Kiffin to be its next head football coach. LSU made a big mistake.

Lane Kiffin has no loyalty to anyone other than Lane Kiffin. He was horrible at Tennessee, Alabama, USC, and the NFL’s Oakland Raiders. He is the most narcissistic, self-centered, selfish SOB in coaching.

Having failed spectacularly at USC, Lane Kiffin was banished to the dregs of college football, but worked himself back up, and was given an opportunity by Ole Miss. By all measure, Lane Kiffin rebuilt the football program into an SEC winner. But there ends the good feelings.

With his team on the bubble of possibly making the SEC championship game, and making the College Football Playoffs, Lane Kiffin has publicly waxed and waned more than Shakespeare’s Hamlet. He publicly auditioned for the LSU job, and for the Florida job, before Florida lost interest in his musings. All the while, his team had games to play. School officials and alumni who strongly backed him were embarrassed.

In the end, Lane Kiffin was always leaving. But he did not go quietly into the night. Lane Kiffin demanded that Mississippi let him coach the Rebels through the season’s end. Ole Miss’s officials rightly denied his demand. Then Lane Kiffin showed exactly what he was about, threatening Ole Miss with poaching its remaining coaching staff and football players, and taking them with him to LSU if Ole Miss did not accede to his demands. Again, Ole Miss rightly said no. Enough.

Lane Kiffin did yeoman’s work at the University of Mississippi. But it no longer matters. Because Lane Kiffin no longer matters. He portrayed himself as a changed man, who had learned from his previous mistakes. His behavior the last several weeks unmasks him as an unrepentant narcissist. His word is worth nothing. He has no loyalty to anyone or anything.

Lane Kiffin is a big fake phony. LSU is about to learn that the hard way. Just as did those as USC, Tennessee, Alabama, . . .

Sarah Beckstrom has died at age 20. She was a member of the West Virginia National Guard, who volunteered to leave her home and protect the citizens of Washington, D.C. She died protecting people she never met or knew, all due to the crazed actions of an Islamic terrorist who had no business being let into this country. Sarah’s government failed her. But Sarah did not fail her country. She served honorably til her death. May God Bless her soul, and comfort her family and friends. R. I. P.

Frank Urban “Fuzzy” Zoeller, Jr., former Masters and U.S. Open champion, has died at age 74. R. I. P.

GFK

“At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart?  Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God’s own love and concern.”

–Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

“But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.  And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba, Father.’  Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child.  And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.”

— Galatians 4:4-8

Today is the First Sunday [and First Day] of Advent.  Advent is the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year.  It is a time of preparation and waiting for the birth of our Lord Savior Jesus Christ.  The preparation for Christ’s coming is observed in 3 instances: the divine Incarnation at Bethlehem, the perpetual sacramental presence in The Eucharist, and his Second Coming and the ultimate Day of Judgment.  This year Advent begins on Sunday, November 30, and runs through Wednesday, December 24.

May all our readers be moved to mark Advent in preparation for Christmas.  May all our readers be touched by the miracle of Christmas, and the promise it brings to the World.

GFK

Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of The Observations.  There will be no further publication until December 1, so that I might spend time with my family.  Please accept my best wishes for all of you and your families at this very special time of year.  May God Bless us all.

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.”

–Oscar Wilde

“ALMIGHTY God, who hast blessed the earth that it should be fruitful and bring forth whatsoever is needful for the life of man, and hast commanded us to work with quietness, and eat our own bread; Bless the labours of the husbandman, and grant such seasonable weather that we may gather in the fruits of the earth, and ever rejoice in thy goodness, to the praise of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

–Book of Common Prayer (1928)

“There is one day that is ours. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.”

–O. Henry

“If you think about a Thanksgiving dinner, it’s really like making a large chicken.”

–Ina Garten

“Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.”

–Erma Bombeck

“Over and over I marvel at the blessings of my life: Each year has grown better than the last.”

–Lawrence Welk

Thursday, November 27, is Thanksgiving Day.  It is a uniquely American holiday

The very first Thanksgiving was held at Berkeley Plantation in Virginia, on December 4, 1619.  Men who had suffered the difficulties of the sea voyage from England to the Virginia colony knelt in prayer as their first act in the New World.  They gave thanks to Almighty God for delivering them safely to this wilderness.  Some four hundred (400) years later, that first Thanksgiving is still celebrated and commemorated here in Virginia.

Of course uninformed Yankees still spread the lie that Squanto and the Massachusetts Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving.  Even the “new math” recognizes that 1619 occurred two (2) years before 1621.  Yet year in and year out, the Pilgrims get all the glory.  Sigh.

While Presidents from Washington forward often issued proclamations of thanks to God for his blessings upon our country, the first official national Thanksgiving proclamation was given by President Lincoln on August 3, 1863, setting August 6 as a national day of Thanksgiving, during the throes of The Late Unpleasantness.  America was engaged in a titanic struggle, and Lincoln sought the unification of all under Providence.  The President’s Proclamation read, in part:

“Now, therefore, be it known that I do set apart Thursday, the 6th day of August next, to be observed as a day for national thanksgiving, praise, and prayer, and I invite the people of the United States to assemble on that occasion in their customary places of worship and in the forms approved by their own consciences render the homage due to the Divine Majesty for the wonderful things He has done in the nation’s behalf and invoke the influence of His Holy Spirit to subdue the anger which has produced and so long sustained a needless and cruel rebellion, to change the hearts of the insurgents, to guide the counsels of the Government with wisdom adequate to so great a national emergency, and to visit with tender care and consolation throughout the length and breadth of our land all those who, through the vicissitudes of marches, voyages, battles, and sieges, have been brought to suffer in mind, body, or estate, and finally to lead the whole nation through the paths of repentance and submission to the divine will back to the perfect enjoyment of union and fraternal peace.”

Thanksgiving occurred on various dates until 1941, when Congress designated November’s fourth Thursday as a set date, which we celebrate today.  This official act codified President Roosevelt’s 1938 Proclamation which designated November 24 as America’s official day of Thanksgiving.  That Proclamation, issued during the Great Depression, read:

“Our Fathers set aside such a day as they hewed a nation from the primeval forest. The observance was consecrated when George Washington issued a Thanksgiving proclamation in the first year of his presidency. Abraham Lincoln set apart ‘a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.’ Thus from our earliest recorded history, Americans have thanked God for their blessings. In our deepest natures, in our very souls, we, like all mankind since the earliest origin of mankind, turn to God in time of trouble and in time of happiness. ‘In God We Trust.’  For the blessings which have been ours during the present year we have ample cause to be thankful.  Our lands have yielded a goodly harvest, and the toiler in shop and mill receives a more just return for his labor.  We have cherished and preserved our democracy.  We have lived in peace and understanding with our neighbors and have seen the world escape the impending disaster of a general war.  In the time of our fortune it is fitting that we offer prayers for unfortunate people in other lands who are in dire distress at this our Thanksgiving Season.  Let us remember them in our families and our churches when, on the day appointed, we offer our thanks to Almighty God. May we by our way of living merit the continuance of His goodness.”

In my lifetime, no President invoked more the Founders, our country’s mission and history, than did Ronald Reagan.  A great man, who sought guidance from divine Providence in tackling problems that others said could never be solved, he embodied the spirit of the colonists, Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt, in his own Thanksgiving Proclamations, some of which are excerpted below:

1981

“Thanksgiving has become a day when Americans extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. Long before there was a government welfare program, this spirit of voluntary giving was ingrained in the American character. Americans have always understood that, truly, one must give in order to receive. This should be a day of giving as well as a day of thanks . . . .”

1982

“I have always believed that this anointed land was set apart in an uncommon way, that a divine plan placed this great continent here between the oceans to be found by people from every corner of the Earth who had a special love of faith and freedom. Our pioneers asked that He would work His will in our daily lives so America would be a land of morality, fairness, and freedom . . . .”

1984

“This year we can be especially thankful that real gratitude to God is inscribed, not in proclamations of government, but in the hearts of all our people who come from every race, culture, and creed on the face of the Earth. And as we pause to give thanks for our many gifts, let us be tempered by humility and by compassion for those in need, and let us reaffirm through prayer and action our determination to share our bounty with those less fortunate . . . .”

1986

“One of the most inspiring portrayals of American history is that of George Washington on his knees in the snow at Valley Forge. That moving image personifies and testifies to our Founders’ dependence upon Divine Providence during the darkest hours of our Revolutionary struggle. It was then — when our mettle as a Nation was tested most severely — that the Sovereign and Judge of nations heard our plea and came to our assistance in the form of aid from France. Thereupon General Washington immediately called for a special day of thanksgiving among his troops . . .

Today let us take heart from the noble example of our first President. Let us pause from our many activities to give thanks to almighty God for our bountiful harvests and abundant freedoms. . . . And let us ever be mindful of the faith and spiritual values that have made our Nation great and that alone can keep us great. . . .”

1988

“Thanksgiving Day summons every American to pause in the midst of activity, however necessary and valuable, to give simple and humble thanks to God. This gracious gratitude is the “service” of which Washington spoke. . .

People from every race, culture, and creed on the face of the Earth now inhabit this land. Their presence illuminates the basic yearning for freedom, peace, and prosperity that has always been the spirit of the New World . . . .”

Despite the meme of the daily newsfeed from Washington and New York, and the utter incompetence emanating from our federal government, we are blessed to be able to gather with friends and family, and to celebrate and give thanks for all our blessings. 

 We still live in the greatest country ever to grace the Earth’s face.  And despite problems that may seem daunting, we have within our power to reclaim and assert all that is decent and good about our country, our history, and our lives. 

Moreover, we are not facing the privations and struggles that our forebears faced on their arrival in the New World.  We are not beset by the possibility of starvation, hostility from American Indians, or the harshness of the elements.  We are not isolated more than a year’s travel from our homes.  We are home. 

Americans need to live our lives, and be grateful for our blessings, including living in the freest, strongest, most prosperous society to ever exist on this Earth.  Let us keep our faith, remember where we came from and realize that with God’s help, we can achieve everything with His Grace.

Please remember the purpose of this day, and keep it close to your hearts.   May God Bless us, each and every one.  May God always Bless this, our country, the last best hope for man on his Earth.  Happy Thanksgiving!

GFK

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”

–Winnie The Pooh.

Holland and I played golf yesterday. It was a beautiful day, and we wanted to get a round in before the rain projected for the rest of the week. We played well. We had fun.

Today, English and Dudley descend upon Chatmoss. We are very excited to see them both. Dudley even got a bath so that he is a pretty and clean dog for Thanksgiving.

“. . . life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws.  On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.”

–Frederic Bastiat.

Frederic Bastiat recognized that the role of government is to protect our natural rights rather than control them. Capitalism, grounded in liberty and personal responsibility, remains the greatest engine of opportunity the world has ever known. It is still the best path forward for our children, our communities and our country.

“But the early Church didn’t hide. It evangelized nations, shaped laws, established moral norms, and built a civilizational conscience.  Our ancestors weren’t ashamed of public faith; they knew a people’s beliefs always form their culture.  The real innovation is the modern idea that public life should be scrubbed free of Christianity, as if secularism were somehow holier, cleaner, or more neutral.  It isn’t.  It simply substitutes Christian order with whatever ideology shouts loudest.

And in America today, the loudest voices belong to movements openly hostile to the Church.  [Some ignore] the reality unfolding around us.  Mosques grow as churches empty. Imams speak with certainty, even open hostility, while Christian clergy apologize for daring to sound sure of anything.  Young men and women who once found purpose in Christianity now gravitate toward substitutes that promise meaning but rarely deliver it.

[An insistence that] ‘Jesus came to build a church, not a government’ sounds pious, but it ignores the obvious: governments always exist, and Christians always live under them.  The question is whether believers will shape the character of their nation or surrender it to secular elites who think faith is fine — as long as it stays behind closed doors.

* * *

Christian nationalism isn’t a threat to America.  A faithless America is a threat to itself.  A nation that loses its Christian roots will not float gently into secular harmony.  It will drift toward whatever force fills the void.  Today, that force is a mix of aggressive anti-Christian ideologies and a rising Islamic presence more united, more disciplined, and far more willing to shape the culture than we are.

Christian nationalism is not the problem.  It is . . . a reminder of what many of us seem to have forgotten.  A reminder that Christianity built this country.  That faith shaped its laws, its people, and its philosophies.  And now, in an age of decline, Christians must decide whether public faith is something to retreat from, or something to defend before it disappears entirely.”

–John Mac Ghlionn, The American Spectator (November 23, 2025), excerpts from “A Passionate Defense of Christian Nationalism.

From before our country’s founding, beginning at Roanoke Island, and then the 1st permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, to the Pilgrims arrival at Plymouth, Massachusetts, God and Christianity have been a guiding force in our society. Our rights come from God, and it is difficult to dispute that the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution were not the products of divine inspiration. Presidents from George Washington to Ronald Reagan, and even to Donald Trump (who is far more comfortable with Christianity than the “very devout Catholic”, China Joe) have recognized the importance of our country’s Christian culture. If we ever cede our Christian influence over government policies, and over our society’s culture, it will not bode well for our country’s future.

The Department of Transportation wants airline passengers to start dressing better. Sigh. Don’t we all?

Senator Mark Kelly (D. Az.) blasted President Trump’s reaction to the video put out by him and other Congressional Democrats, urging military members to reject illegal orders. Senator Kelly claims that the President’s condemnation “politicized” the issue, and could lead to violence against Democrats. Oh, please.

The Democrat video was nothing but political. It was an effort to undermine the President’s authority, and to foment mutiny among the ranks. Every Democrat in that video admitted that no illegal orders have been issued. So why make and release that video? POLITICS! Trump Derangement Syndrome rules The Evil Party!

“If this [investigation] is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work.  I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.”

–Senator Mark Kelly (D. Az.).

The Department of War has initiated an investigation into Kelly, who was a Navy Captain, over this seditious video. Senator Kelly faces a possible court martial. His actions warrant an inquiry, and likely require his court martial, and dishonorable dismissal.

The Observations is familiar with Senator Kelly. He is a blowhard, and a pompous ass. He can bluster all he wants, but he knows that military members, even retired military members, cannot behave has he has done.

Representative Eugene Vindman (D. Va.) demanded the release of the transcript of a 2019 telephone call between President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salem. Mr. Vindman wants to dredge up the past in another effort to attack the President. More TDS. More politics.

Why not demand the release of the transcript of the conversation between General Grant and General Lee at Appomattox? The terms were awfully generous. Was there a quid pro quo? Let’s launch a Congressional investigation. Representative Vindman, the corpulent member from Ukraine, can lead the charge.

A federal judge dismissed the criminal cases against James Comey and Letitia James, ruling that the interim Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia was not properly appointed. I have yet to read the opinion, but have serious reservations about the ruling based upon what I know of the law. But assuming arguendo that the ruling was correct, this raises serious questions about Attorney General Pam Bondi’s competence. The Observations called for her resignation earlier this year. We have not changed our minds.

Democrat Attorneys General sent a letter to the Trump Administration, demanding that food stamps be provided to illegal aliens. Uh, no. No way, Jose!

Georgia is considering eliminating its State income tax. Testifying before the Georgia legislature, Arthur Laffer (he of the “Laffer Curve”) told lawmakers that since 1960, every State with an income tax has seen both its domestic private production and its total tax revenue decline. There is a lesson here, both on the State and federal level. What you tax, you get less of. Economics 101.

The “moderate” Virginia Democrats are again revealing who they really are. First, the Democrats want to permit felons to vote as soon as they exit the prison doors. Second, they want to sue gun dealers and manufacturers if someone uses a firearm to commit a crime, involving bodily harm or not. Third, they want to ban “assault” weapons (whatever they are). Because it is the gun’s fault. And felons are just who we need to involve in order to achieve a better society.

Virginia Democrats also want to require a photo ID when making a gun purchase. Huh? Isn’t that “racist”? Virginia Democrats insist that it is “racist” when a photo ID is required for voting!

The Observations predicts that the Spanberger governorship will bring longing for the days of Governor Coonman. We hope we are wrong, but things do not look good at the present.

In downtown Chicago, Illinois, more than 300 people violently rioted. At least 8 people were shot, and 1 killed. There were numerous violent assaults on responding police. In response to the riot, many Chicago residents are demanding that Mayor Johnson (D.) “bring Trump in!” Hmmm. It surely cannot hurt.

In North Dakota, it will now be a felony for doctors to perform abortions, except to protect a pregnant woman’s life or health, or in the case of rape or incest in the first six weeks of pregnancy. Patients are protected from prosecution, but doctors who violate the ban could face up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

“No man ever went broke overestimating the ignorance of the American public.”

–P. T. Barnum.

“Many people are gullible, and we can expect this to continue.”

–P. T. Barnum.

Rainbow Wool is partnering with the online homosexual “dating” app Grindr, to sell sweaters made with wool from homosexual sheep. Of course, in the animal kingdom there is no homosexuality, as it is a choice made by humans, but still, you have to admire the creativity of the business. Selling something that really does not exist to people who refuse to acknowledge their own free will and actions. It is a perfect statement on the depravity of a large part of our culture.

In Thirsk, North Yorkshire, England, a man was fired from his job, after it was reported that he hoisted the Union Jack flag in the town. Please understand; it is perfectly acceptable to fly a Palestinian or LGBTQ++ flag in Great Britian, but the British national flag? It is verboten! Too exclusive and nationalistic! Sigh. Great Britian is doomed.

Florida State decided to bring back head football coach Mike Norvell next year, rather than pay him a $54 million buyout. That is a lot of money to endure another losing season.

“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.”

—Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“I am grateful for what I am and have.”

—Henry David Thoreau.

“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.”

—Meister Eckhart.

May we always remember to practice gratitude, in everything we think, speak, and do.

GFK