The Epistle and Collect for today echo a similar theme. In the Collect we pray that: we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. And in the Epistle to the Romans, S. Paul writes: the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Living in a temporal world, with all its attractions, has a tendency to draw us away from eternal verities. At the same time, it’s clear that this world is broken. The pursuit of material pleasures is all around us, and may even include ourselves.

In writing to Christians in the Eternal City, S. Paul knew the temptations of Imperial Rome. He understood that any inordinate desire for wealth, comfort or security would prevent one from making a bold witness for the Gospel. This was true both for those living in ancient Rome and is true for those of us living in our modern, materialist culture. 

When we compromise with the culture, we shift our focus from the kingdom of heaven, and the principles that make up that kingdom. Looking at the contemporary Church presents ample evidence of this. As those in the Church seek recognition and affirmation from the culture, the Church loses her prophetic voice. The way in which so-called same-sex marriage has been embraced by large swathes of the Church for the sake of being accepted by the culture makes this clear.

Suffering for the sake of the Gospel was an increasing occurrence within the church at Rome. The early Christians were first persecuted by Jewish authorities throughout the Empire, as documented in the Acts of the Apostles. Once Rome began to view Christianity as distinct from Judaism, the protections they allowed for Jews to practice their faith were no longer applicable. Christians were increasingly forced to offer the pinch of incense to the Roman pantheon or else face confiscation of property, removal from positions of authority, or worse. 

In a similar way, we see an increasing intolerance and persecution towards traditional faith within our own nation. Witness the frequent attacks on Christian public figures and on churches as well. As secularism becomes more dominant, Christianity will be increasingly forced out of the public square.

In addition to the suffering that comes from the hands of men, suffering exists within creation itself. The entire creation has been distorted by the effects of sin. So we, who remain a part of the created order, will suffer the consequences of this distortion. S. Paul writes that the entire creation groans in painful travail (used in Scripture to refer to a woman in labor), awaiting its redemption, when Our Lord will come again to “renew the face of the earth.”

Suffering is universal. Even Our Lord did not escape suffering while on earth. But God uses suffering to mold our character and to strengthen our faith, and the Holy Ghost makes the suffering endurable. So while we can expect to experience suffering to varying degrees and in varying circumstances, we can also practice the virtue of hope – nothing we go through this side of heaven will compare with the glory to be revealed in us when we one day we “shall shine as the brightness of the firmament” (Daniel 12:3).

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Guilt, gratitude, and the American contradiction

The people who have the most in modern America are the ones most likely to want to burn it all down.

BY:          Christian Vezilj, The American Thinker (June 27, 2026).

In recent years, American politics has revealed a strange and troubling contradiction: the rise of radical ideologies among some of the most privileged segments of society. In certain districts, candidates who openly embrace socialism, Marxism, or other extreme frameworks have gained traction, not because these systems have ever succeeded anywhere in the world, but because they appeal to a particular emotional posture among voters—especially those who feel a deep sense of guilt about their own advantages. This dynamic has become increasingly visible in campaigns and elections, and its consequences are increasingly harmful.

The United States is the most prosperous, opportunity‑rich nation in human history. Yet some of its most privileged citizens—often highly educated, economically secure, and living in safe neighborhoods—are drawn to political movements that promise sweeping systemic upheaval. These voters are not responding to lived hardship. They are responding to internal discomfort. Their support for radical policies is not rooted in experience, but in emotion.

This became painfully clear during the early 2020s, when the “defund the police” movement surged across the country. In cities from coast to coast, crowds gathered holding signs demanding the dismantling or severe reduction of police departments. Among those crowds, a pattern emerged: many of the loudest voices came from people who lived in gated communities, low-crime suburbs, or affluent urban enclaves. They marched, they chanted, they demanded sweeping change—and then they went home to neighborhoods where police presence was strong, crime was low, and personal safety was never in question.

Meanwhile, the communities most affected by these policies were not the ones holding the signs. They were the neighborhoods already struggling with violence, instability, and limited resources. When police departments were defunded or demoralized, response times increased, crime surged, and vulnerable residents paid the price. The activists felt morally satisfied; the communities they claimed to champion suffered the consequences.

This is the essence of symbolic activism—political behavior driven not by practical outcomes, but by emotional needs. And at the heart of symbolic activism lies guilt.

Guilt is a powerful motivator. It tells people that because they have benefited from a system, they must distance themselves from it. It tells them that their prosperity is evidence of unfairness and that their moral duty is to support policies that appear compassionate, even if those policies are destructive. Guilt encourages dramatic gestures, sweeping condemnations, and ideological extremism. It pushes people toward solutions that feel morally pure, even when they are practically disastrous.

But guilt is inward‑focused. It is about relieving personal discomfort, not improving the lives of others. It is about self‑image, not stewardship. When guilt drives political behavior, the results are often harmful—because the goal is emotional absolution, not effective governance.

Gratitude, on the other hand, produces the opposite effect.

Gratitude is outward‑focused. It recognizes the opportunities that America provides—opportunities that billions of people around the world can only dream of. Gratitude acknowledges that while the country is imperfect, it is also extraordinary. It inspires people to protect the systems that create opportunity, not dismantle them. Gratitude encourages responsibility, moderation, and realism. It asks citizens to consider the consequences of their choices, not just the symbolism of their actions.

If the same privileged voters who feel compelled to support radical ideologies instead embraced gratitude, their political instincts would change dramatically. Gratitude would remind them that their prosperity is not a moral burden, but a blessing—one that carries the responsibility to preserve the conditions that allow others to prosper as well. Gratitude would make them cautious about imposing systems that have historically produced oppression, poverty, and suffering. Gratitude would make them aware that the policies they support affect real people, not just their own emotional state.

The tragedy of guilt‑driven politics is that it harms the very communities it claims to defend.

The tragedy of gratitude‑driven politics is that it is too rare.

America does not need more symbolic activism or ideological extremism. It does not need more voters who support destructive policies because they feel uncomfortable with their own success. What America needs is gratitude—gratitude for its freedoms, its opportunities, its institutions, and its extraordinary capacity for human flourishing.

Gratitude is not naïve. It does not ignore injustice or deny the need for reform. But it insists that reform must be grounded in reality, not emotion. That compassion must be paired with responsibility, and policies must be judged by their outcomes, not their slogans.

If more Americans embraced gratitude instead of guilt, the political landscape would look very different. We would see fewer destructive ideologies and more constructive solutions. We would see fewer symbolic gestures and more practical stewardship. And most importantly, we would see a nation more committed to protecting the opportunities that make it the best country in the world.

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‘Pride Month’ nothing to be proud of

Progressives now define ‘human’ by our inclinations

BY:          Everett Piper, The Washington Times (June 14, 2026)

What does it mean to be human? Is the individual person made in the image of God or the image of the animal?

The question of human identity is perhaps the most important question of our time.

Everything we talk about and argue over — whether it be politics, morality, justice or human rights — rests on how we respond to this one basic question: Who are we and what does it mean to be human?

The answer from progressives is clear. Their solution is to dumb down the definition of the human being to little more than what we are inclined to do. For the proponents of “Pride Month,” passions and proclivities define the person. Inclinations equal the individual. If you want to do it, then that is just who you are.

Reason and rationality take a back seat to emotions. There is no such thing as an objective definition of a man or woman or boy or girl. With apologies to Shania Twain, if a dude “feels like a woman,” then that is what he is. Desire defines everything.

Conservatives, on the other hand, believe human beings are more than this. Our appetites and desires do not determine who we are. We can and should rise above our instincts, our gut and our libido. We can and should choose to act differently. We can and should control ourselves and behave morally.

Conservatives know there are many things we may want to do that we simply should not do. Unlike the animals around us, we refuse to define ourselves by our desires.

For approximately 4,000 years, the Judeo-Christian tradition has affirmed all this. For several millennia, we have understood that people yearn for justice while our dogs, horses and cows do not. Throughout the annals of time, conservatives have known that issues such as tolerance, love, inclusion, equality and fairness are uniquely human.

We have acknowledged the obvious difference between good and evil: for example, that rape is wrong, slavery should be reviled and that greed is bad. For at least four centuries, conservatives have understood that while pigs and goats may not care about such things, people do, and although animals may be defined by their instincts and inclinations, human beings are not.

Defining what it means to be human is the necessary predicate for everything that follows. It is the starting point for all subsequent arguments for how we define government, build culture, manage our schools, establish our laws and raise our families. If we fail at this first thing — the definition of what it means to be human — then everything else collapses.

Gore Vidal once said, “There is no more such thing as a homosexual person than there is a heterosexual person. These are behavioral adjectives.” Michel Foucault added, “We are creating a false species; an hermaphrodism.”

Neither of these men was a conservative Christian. Both were secular atheists. Yet even they understood the difference between a noun and an adjective, between a man and a beast.

The former LGBTQ activist and now Christian apologist Rosaria Butterfield says this: “We are struggling in a world that has falsely declared sexual orientation to be a true moniker of personhood. … Those who have same-sex desires are really not a separate category of [people]. … The category of sexual orientation was really invented in the 19th century. It’s not a biblical category. Homosexuality and heterosexuality are verbs, what people do.

These are not nouns. These are not what people are or who people are. They’re adjectives, or they’re verbs.”

Glenn T. Stanton, author of “Marriage on Trial,” adds: “To identify people principally by their sexuality is to reduce people. … We should all reject this with great force. A person’s inherent and or undeniable value is rooted in his membership in humanity, not his particularity, sexual or otherwise, full stop. Your inherent value is not your sexuality, and it’s not your race. It’s not your gender. It’s not the color of your skin. It’s not whether you’re White, Black, Asian, or Native. It doesn’t matter. Your undeniable value is rooted in your membership in humanity. … There is only one race. It’s the human race.”

There is a world of difference between the progressive and conservative definitions of human. One worldview elevates human beings to the image of God himself. The other degrades people by suggesting that they, like their dogs, cannot control themselves.

The latter, my friends, is surely nothing to be proud of.

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How progressives obliterated their LGBTQ efforts

BY:          Billy Hallowell, The Washington Times (June 16, 2026).

The tides are turning when it comes to Americans’ views on LGBTQ issues, with decreases across the board on everything from support for same-sex nuptials to moral beliefs on attempts to change one’s gender.

Before we get into the “why,” it’s essential to understand exactly what’s unfolding. Though the majority of Americans (65%) still favor the legalization of same-sex matrimony, support is down 6 percentage points since its height in 2022 and 2023, according to Gallup.

There’s also been a decline in the percentage of those who believe gay and lesbian relationships are “morally acceptable,” with 62% fitting into that category — the lowest percentage observed since 2016. For context, that share was 40% in 2001.

The third issue — so-called gender reassignment — is now at just 38% moral acceptability, a decline of 8 percentage points over the past few years. In 2021, that percentage was 46%, showing a steep decline that cannot be ignored.

Digging beneath the numbers, it’s easy to see that the most notable shifts are being primarily driven by Republicans. On gay marriage, just 37% of GOP adherents support legalized gay marriage, down from 55% in 2021 and 2022.

The same Republican trend can be seen when it comes to the belief that gay and lesbian relationships are moral. Right now, just 35% of GOP adherents believe this, down 21 percentage points from 2022.

As for the moral acceptability of transitioning one’s gender, only 5% of Republicans believe such a move is ethical, showcasing a 22-percentage-point decline.

It should be noted that independents also have seen modest decreases when it comes to support for legalized gay marriage (6 points down) and the morality of gay and lesbian relationships (8 points down).

These statistics are important to understand for a plethora of reasons. For years, culture has been moving in a more progressive and relativistic direction, yet something changed during the 2024 elections as a litany of issues forced Americans to rethink this approach.

For many years, people had been told that an embrace of same-sex marriage wouldn’t change anything — that everyone else’s marriages and lives would be unsullied and untouched.

And, for many in the LGBTQ community, this was an authentic promise. Yet some activists had different plans. Once same-sex nuptials were legalized nationwide after the U.S. Supreme Court issued the Obergefell v. Hodges decision in June 2015, it seemed there was no end to the advocacy and cultural insanity that followed.

Soon, Christian bakers were being fined six figures for declining to make same-sex wedding cakes, photographers were being bullied into providing services for gay weddings, and anyone unwilling — due to their sincerely-held religious beliefs — to participate found themselves on the cancel culture chopping block.

Though some in the LGBTQ community rebuffed these efforts, others went full bore. As the debates percolated, it seemed the cultural headwinds were simply heading in an anti-Christian direction, with liberals taking the reins of control and punishing faithful business owners.

Then, the transgender movement’s power began to elevate. And with that, the presence of biological men in women’s sports became a major issue, with safety and fairness concerns raging. Many LGBTQ activists argued that biological men deserved to be in women’s sports, further sparking alarm.

With the issue then making its way into high school locker rooms, where males, again, were given presence in females’ spaces, that hysteria only swelled. Meanwhile, the public became aware of children being put on puberty blockers and undergoing “gender-affirming” surgeries — again igniting worries and horror.

Cancel culture attempted to silence those seeking common sense on child transitions and men in women’s sports, but this tactic failed. People such as President Trump and other public figures began speaking out, which gave ordinary citizens permission to voice their own concerns.

In many ways, the gender chaos shifted the 2024 elections away from progressives who were hostile toward these common-sense worries. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a Christian organization, says he believes the public shifts seen in the Gallup data are rooted in false promises that gay marriage wouldn’t impact any other issues.

“I think most Americans are pretty much laissez-faire …’Just don’t bother me,’” Mr. Perkins told CBN News. “And they were sold that this was not going to affect them, that this was just about two people who loved each other being able to marry.

“Well, here we are … about a little over a decade removed from that, and we realize it’s about much more. It’s about the policies that govern bathrooms all across America, it’s about what our children are being indoctrinated with in schools and the parents not being told about it.”

Mr. Perkins is right. If progressives are looking for anyone to blame for their losses on LGBTQ rights, they can safely grab a mirror and stare at the reflection of a people who vastly overplayed their hands.

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New York’s “non-gestating parent” label shows ideology trumps reality

Democrats take a sledgehammer to our moral foundations’ remains

BY:          Robert Knight, The Washington Times (June 14, 2026)

Just in time for Father’s Day and the traditional month of weddings, the New York State Legislature passed a bill to get rid of the terms “father” and “mother” in family court proceedings.

Now, dad will be the “non-gestating parent” and mom will be “gestating parent.”

How heartwarming is that? Can’t you just see the new, improved Hallmark cards?

It is quite a step down for Dad, who gets defined only by a negative.

Unfortunately, this proposed law is not a Babylon Bee satire. It is the work of an increasingly certifiable Democratic Party that is taking a sledgehammer to what remains of our moral foundations.

In the state Senate, which passed the bill June 2, all Democrats except three voted for the lunacy. Two opted out, and Rep. James Skoufis of the Hudson Valley was the lone Democrat voting no. (Bully for him, although I cannot imagine what “presents” the LGBTQ tolerance police will leave on his doorstep, on his voicemail and at his office.)

In the state Assembly, the measure passed on a 91-46 vote, with 86 Democrats and five Republicans voting yes. Nine Democrats voted no, and nine were absent. Of the 46 Republicans, 37 voted no, five voted yes, and four were absent.

That makes nine Republicans who refused to stand up for sanity.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has been coy, refusing to say whether she will sign or veto the bill. It might depend on how much she cares whether she and her state become even more of a punchline than they already are.

Right now, the spotlight is on Maine’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Graham Platner, best known for his Nazi tattoo, sexting, roughness with women and communist ideology. Remember when Maine was famous for lobster, pine trees, lakes and teeth-rattling nor’easters?

Then there is Texas, where Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico has referred to women as “neighbors with a uterus.”

For people at war with biology, the Democrats sure seem obsessed with identities based on bodily functions.

Meanwhile, the New York state Republican leadership, fearful of anything that might annoy LGBTQ activists, went into a familiar crouch over the “gestating” bill.

In a Fox News interview, New York Minority Leader Edward Ra seemed to complain only that it did not involve money. “We don’t think it does anything to make New York more affordable on a permanent basis, and that’s what New Yorkers are talking about, that’s what they care about,” he said. “They want to know what we’re doing to make their lives more affordable.”

Well, undermining nuclear, married families makes everything more expensive. For example, trillions of tax dollars have been spent on welfare and crime since the 1960s, when the Democrats’ Great Society began paying women to have babies out of wedlock.

Along the same lines as Mr. Ra, New York Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar criticized the measure as “an unnecessary and wasteful use of time.”

Providing some moral gravity, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, let the Democrats have it in a social media post reported in The Washington Times.

“In Kathy Hochul’s New York, ‘mom’ is now defined as ‘gestating parent,’” Mr. Blakeman wrote. “Not when I’m Governor! I’ll stand up for moms and dads against this insanity.”

Speaking of dads, they have received lousy press in recent years. A front-page Washington Post article on June 7 was headlined: “No letup in pace of domestic killings: Three fathers slay families in a week.”

Wow. Better keep clear of Dad. The Post article features studies showing an alarming increase in “family and intimate-partner killings.” As usual, the article does not distinguish between married and unmarried killers and victims. Yet, according to the FBI, “unmarried/cohabiting/dating partners” are responsible for about 55% of intimate partner homicides, while spouses account for only 45%, even though of the nation’s 80 million U.S. households, 58 million are married-couple households.

It is hard to find crime report figures that distinguish between married and cohabiting perps and victims. The government stopped highlighting that parameter, just as it stopped making it easy to find data on LGBTQ intimate partner violence.

I have a theory: Sheer numbers make the case that women and men in married households are far less likely to be perpetrators or victims of violence. This goes against woke ideology, which says marriage is either regressive, unimportant or infinitely open to redefinition.

In his book “What Really Matters,” Focus on the Family Vice President Tim Goeglein makes the case that marriage is indispensable to societal well-being and provides evidence that cohabitation is socially corrosive. Instead of providing a “starter” version of marriage, living together before taking vows correlates with a significantly higher rate of divorce.

“Couples who wait to live together until they are married (or at the very least engaged) are likely to have a higher respect for the institution of marriage and have some form of religious faith providing moral boundaries,” he writes.

Mr. Goeglein quotes James Q. Wilson, who wrote: “Marriage was once a sacrament. Then it became a contract, and now it is an arrangement.”

“Do you, non-gestating person, take this person with a uterus, to be your gestating partner for as long as you feel like it?”

That is not a marriage made in heaven.

GFK

“I have seen the rise of fascism and communism. Both philosophies glorify the arbitrary power of the state . . . But both theories fail.  Both deny  those God-given liberties that are the inalienable right of each person on this planet, indeed, they deny the existence of God.”

–President Ronald W. Reagan.

“The Communists are finally making their move.  I’ve been waiting and preparing for this for a long time.  It’s easy to be a Communist — All you have to do is say, ‘I’ll give you everything,’ but that means you’re taking it away from others that have earned it.  Over thousands of years, that Ideology has not worked once.  The game is on.  Enjoy watching!”

–President Donald J. Trump.

“How do you tell a communist?  Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin.  And how do you tell an anti-Communist?  It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.”

–President Ronald W. Reagan.

Democrats are not taking the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on immigration well at all. Governors Kathy Hochul (D. N.Y.) and Maura Healey (D. Ma.) held press conferences vowing “resistance” to federal officials enforcing the laws. Other high ranking Democrat officials issued similar statements. Others went on cable news, predicting mass deaths and suffering. It is the apocalypse! If even 1 alien is deported from the United States back to their sh**hole country, the world will end!

Democrat Congressional candidate and avowed socialist Clair Valdez (D. N.Y.) wants to abolish TSA pre-check, because it is not “fair” that some do not have to undergo the inconvenience of a full TSA vetting at the airport. Miss Valdez also wants to “nationalize” all the airlines, in order to make flying more “affordable” and “democratic”.

Think about this. If Democrats regain power, and actually do “pack” the United States Supreme Court, we will have more Justice Black Females. That is a very scary thought, portending nothing good about American legal jurisprudence.

Former Ambassador and U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton plead guilty to a criminal charge of mishandling classified information. Because he did it. Seventeen (17) other criminal charges were dismissed. He did those also. Mr. Bolton faces up to 5 years in prison. I doubt he will receive even 1 day.

Mission accomplished! Alligator Alcatraz is closing down, as all its illegal alien detainees have been deported. I’m going to miss it.

The Lancaster, Virginia Circuit Court enjoined the implementation and enforcement of the Democrats’ “assault weapons” ban. The right to keep and bear arms gets a reprieve in the Commonwealth.

On a sad note, the Pizza Hut in Collinsville, Virginia is closing. There was hope that this restaurant would be one of those refurbished to its old glory. Not to be. Which is a shame. Memories of rather good pizza and very cold pitchers of beer are all that are left.

In Great Britain, a new law criminalizes any attempt by parents to prevent their children from “undergoing gender affirming care” (i.e. genital mutilation surgery) and other treatments to become “trans”. Insanity reigns across the Atlantic. And it is coming this way.

Denmark is moving to ban the public blaring of the Islamic call to prayer. Oh, please do! Good for the Danes!

Politico published an article outlining how “uncomfortable” Democrats were with the World Cup being held in the United States. They are “dismayed” that foreign tourists are enjoying their American experience, and learning how wonderful the United States truly is. And they are just as upset that the American soccer team is doing well. Can you imagine the horror if the U.S. wins the World Cup? Sigh. Democrats are not on your side. They hate America.

The New York Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza. It will not help.

Brendan Sorsby cannot win a bet. He bet on college football while playing college football. Like most gamblers, he lost more than he won. He bet that the BIG 12 and the NCAA would not challenge his status at Texas Tech. Nope. They did. And he bet that the National Football League would welcome with open arms when he put all the litigation behind him, and left Texas Tech. WRONG! There will be no supplemental draft for Brendan Sorsby. The NFL informed him that his failure to acknowledge wrongdoing, and his attempts to avoid accountability for his gambling ventures meant that he was not welcome in any supplemental draft. Brendan Sorsby might be drafted next Spring, and the NFL might let Brendan Sorsby play in the NFL. But for the present, Brendan Sorsby will be sitting on the sidelines. The Observations suggests that he delete the Draft Kings app from his iPhone.

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The topic of the day is socialism, given the increasing bent of the Democrat Party to its evils. Puddin’head and Senator Bernie Sanders salivate over the thought of confiscating all your money and dictating to you how you will live. This is not hyperbole. So today, we conclude with an article touching on the problems associated with socialism. Enjoy!

The other problem with socialism

The left’s long march through the institutions has created a culture that champions socialism under the misguided assumption that it is moral.

BY:          Chris Talgo, The American Thinker (June 25, 2026).

In 1976, Margaret Thatcher said during a television interview, “Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people’s money.”

Over the years, that quote has been whittled down to the renowned proverb: The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.

This is a powerful argument against socialism. Even better, it has been validated time and time again, most notably when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics collapsed in 1991. The Soviet Union was an economic basket case, and the whole world witnessed its demise.

But socialism has an even bigger problem: it is immoral.

Even if it did somehow work efficiently and effectively at an economic level, it would still be immoral.

A broad definition of “moral” is “conforming to a standard of behavior that is considered right and good by most people.” Morality is synonymous with truth, honor, honesty, fairness, righteousness, and virtue.

Immorality is the antithesis of morality. It is synonymous with wickedness, callousness, evil, sin, vileness, viciousness, darkness, and ruthlessness.

Socialism, in its depraved but effective way, appeals to people’s worst instincts and impulses. It presents the world as a zero-sum game in which there are winners and losers. It pits groups of people against each other based on arbitrary measures. For the narrow-minded, it makes sense.

It embodies most of the seven deadly sins.

Pride: Socialists have zero humility because they reject the fallibility of humanity. They can micromanage an entire society. They can create a centralized, one-size-fits-all, command-and-control utopia. They know all and know best.

Envy: Taking one’s property because they have too much to give to others who have less is not noble; it is theft. Stealing with state-sanctioned approval is unjust. The sheer resentment that some have more, better, or bigger material possessions is the driving force of socialist ideology.

Wrath: Socialist doctrine fuels anger, rage, violence, and a desire for vengeance against the so-called oppressors. Instead of mimicking the successful, the people turn their ire toward them.

Sloth: Because socialism is about passing the buck and the blame, it excuses idleness and promotes laziness. It allows one to shirk personal duties and retards personal growth.

The above is far from a comprehensive list of socialism flaws or features, depending on where one sits on the moral relativity scale.

For those who outright reject moral relativism, deconstructionism, postmodernism, and critical theory in favor of universal truth, reason, logic, and fairness, socialism is obviously not up your alley.

Alas, for millions of Americans, especially Americans born after the Cold War, socialism has been branded very differently. Socialism has been presented to them with a smile. For America’s youth, socialism is like a happy meal because it brings nothing but joy.

I know this from first-hand experience in several public schools over the years. It is no big secret that the K-12 education system leans left.

However, it is a well-kept secret that young Americans have been, and are being, indoctrinated that socialism is just, fair, and good in public schools. In the meantime, they are being purposely miseducated about American history, especially the nation’s founding.

Such is why young Americans are champing at the bit to vote for socialists.

The left’s long march through the institutions has created a culture that champions socialism under the misguided assumption that it is moral.

This is incredibly dangerous because these young minds are also unaware that socialism, as Thatcher said, leads to bankruptcy.

If socialism can be rebranded as morally wholesome despite its undisputed track record of mass murder, misery, and poverty, it can rise from the ashes in the United States.

It would be tragic if the United States, which fought on the side of freedom throughout the Cold War, succumbed to socialism in the end. I worry the rising tide of suicidal empathy, coupled with a lack of knowledge about socialism’s history and sheer immorality, could bring a socialist revolution to the United States. I hope I am wrong.

GFK

“Royalty is a government in which the attention of the nation is concentrated on one person doing interesting actions.  A Republic is a government in which that attention is divided between many, who are all doing uninteresting actions.  Accordingly, so long as the human heart is strong and the human reason weak, Royalty will be strong because it appeals to diffused feeling, and Republics weak because they appeal to the understanding.”

–Walter Bagehot.

President Trump enjoyed a big day, yesterday, at the United States Supreme Court. The Court handed down 3 decisions (all of them 6-3), to wit:

1. The Court ruled that the President could end Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Syrians who have been in this country since Moses crossed the Red Sea;
2. The Court struck down a Hawaiian law that criminalized the carrying of a concealed weapon onto private property without the express permission of the property owner; and,
3. The Court held that the federal government did not have to allow illegal aliens to enter the United States in order to present an asylum claim.

WINNING!!!!!!

Representative Ted Lieu (D. Ca.)–easily one of the dumbest members of Congress–is vowing to have acting Attorney General Blanche “disbarred”, “investigated”, “prosecuted”, and “imprisoned” when the Democrats return to power. Mr. Lieu made his vow immediately after the Justice Department announced that 455 Californians had been arrested and charged with criminal fraud in connection with the looting of the welfare system in that State.

“Algae, that’s all anybody talked at home this weekend.  They were outraged.”

–Representative Debbie Dingell (D. Mi.).

Now everyone but the CNN hosts to whom Mrs. Dingell was speaking, knows that that is a big fat fib. The only people obsessing about the recently renovated Reflecting Pool are Democrats who wish to criticize the President.

Democrat denials aside, Leftists did vandalize the Reflecting Pool. There is video footage showing the vandalism. Leftists also used acid to destroy grass on the National Mall. But it does not matter, because . . . Orange Man Bad.

The truth is that one of the Reflecting Pool’s biggest problems is that the water used in it comes from the Potomac River. The Potomac River is rather polluted, due to discharges, intended and unintended, from the District of Columbia’s sewage treatment plant. And who is it that runs the D.C. sewage treatment plant? Why, Democrats!

“These sentences are a travesty and totally unjustified, but that’s the point.  Americans hate the fascist Trump regime, so the only way they can try to cling to power is brute force.”

–Representative Rashida Tlaib, reacting to the sentences handed down to ANTIFA defendants convicted of the attempted murder of Alvarado, Texas police lieutenant Thomas Gross, who miraculously survived taking a bullet to his neck.

The Democrats are not on our side.

The United States Senate reversed course, and defeated a war powers resolution directing President Trump to cease hostilities with Iran. What a bunch of . . . .

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Constitution’s Second Amendment protects firearms suppressors. Oh, the howls of liberal outrage are loud!

Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R. Ga.) and Tucker Carlson have divorced themselves from the Republican Party. WHO CARES?

“I forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me.  vila Chevalier reportedly wrote in a now-deleted post.  This country is a f**king disgrace.”

–Democrat Congressional candidate and communist Avila Chevalier (D. N.Y.).  Miss Chevalier was backed by Comrade Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D. N.Y.).

Planned Parenthood–the country’s largest organized murderer of innocent unborn babies–endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D. Me.). In return, Mr. Platner thanked Planned Parenthood for its existence and operation. Mr. Platner explained that throughout his life, he has regularly gone to Planned Parenthood to be examined for sexually transmitted diseases. Disgusting.

“I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.”

–U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico (D. Tx.).

James Talarico blames “whiteness” and “masculinity” for limiting his religious beliefs and looks to self-described “TransQueer, Latinx” activist theologian Roberto Henderson-Espinoza as his “inspiration.”

In Portland, Maine, a mother missed her children’s middle school graduation, as she was more concerned about keeping out a “community watch” for ICE agents who might be in the vicinity of the event. IDS. ICE Derangement Syndrome.

Chicago, Illinois Mayor Brandon Johnson (D.) made the ridiculous claim that the city’s energy sources were 100% “green” and “renewable”. THAT IS A LIE! Chicago’s main sources of energy are natural gas, coal, and nuclear power. Less than 4% of Chicago’s energy sources are “green” and “renewable”.

There is a television advertisement promoting the American Civil Liberties Union and its work. It makes me chuckle. Why? Scene after scene shows Americans, mostly young, dancing and singing, as Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The USA functions as the soundtrack. The message is that the ACLU and its supporters are big fans of the United States. One problem; Born In The USA is an anti-American song. It denigrates our country.

Indeed, during President Reagan’s 1984 presidential reelection campaign (Morning In America), the song was played at rallies. Bruce Springsteen was outraged, and Democrats criticized Mr. Reagan for playing the song. The ACLU had attorneys go on CNN and ridicule Mr. Reagan for playing an “anti-American song”. But now? Sigh. These people are just too stupid for words.

Reverend Daniel McClain, an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Southern Ohio, was removed from his position, the disciplinary board citing an extramarital affair. It seems that Reverend McClain was in the middle of a divorce, initiated by his then wife, and subsequently Reverend McClain began a relationship with another woman, who he married once his divorce was finalized.

The Observations does not condone Reverend McClain’s behavior. But that is not the point of this observation. What we find interesting is the treatment of Reverend McClain as opposed to the treatment of Reverend Eugene Robinson. Eugene Robinson left his wife and children, and began a homosexual relationship with another man. But that behavior did not seem to bother The Episcopal Church. Despite the fact that Eugene Robinson engaged in an extramarital affair, initiated the divorce from his wife, and engaged in homosexual conduct (which he does and brags about to this day), The Episcopal Church promoted Reverend Robinson to Bishop. And in the process, The Episcopal Church celebrated Eugene Robinson’s sinful conduct (and does to this day).

George Orwell’s Animal Farm posits a principle that “all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”. While Mr. Orwell was referring to the tyranny of communism, he could just as well have been writing of The Episcopal Church.

At the Red Horse Market in East Hampton, New York, lobster salad sells for $129.00 per pound. That is just ridiculous.

Powerful earthquakes rocked Venezuela, causing many casualties. Buildings in the city of Caracas collapsed. It does not look good.

Paul Ebert, who served 52 years as the Commonwealth’s Attorney in Prince William County, Virginia, has died at age 88. R. I. P.

GFK

“It is the classic fallacy of our time that a moron run through a university and decorated with a Ph.D. will thereby cease to be a moron.”

–H.L. Mencken.

The communists are coming! The communists are coming! The communists are coming! And unbelievably, voters are putting them into office. Democrat voters, that is.

The 1917 Russian Revolution brought the communists to power, and the establishment of the Soviet Union. The United States refused to recognize the Soviet Union. Because in the 1920s, people knew communism was evil. Indeed, people knew communism was evil in the ’30s, ’40s, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. It was a central tenet of American foreign policy to oppose the spread of communism. The Cold War, which lasted from approximately 1947 until 1991, was aimed foursquare at the Soviet Union and the threat of communism to freedom everywhere.

But now, in the United States of all places, the communists are gaining power. Once they achieve it, it will not be relinquished. History teaches that fact. Sadly, few in the United States seem to know any history.

President Trump warned the oil companies that the price of gasoline better come down quickly, or else face “price gouging” investigations. Sigh. One would think that a man who studied economics as The Wharton School would know that there is no such thing as “price gouging”.

Congressional Democrats are outraged that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has expired, and are demanding its renewal. Which is interesting, since it was Congressional Democrats who voted to block FISA’s renewal.

Representative Ilhan Omar (D. Mn.) was initially worth only a few thousand dollars. Then her Congressional financial disclosures showed her net worth at $30 million. Then she amended that disclosure to show a net worth of $125,000.00. BUT NOW, Ilhan Omar claims that she maintains a negative net worth, as she and her husband are in debt to the tune of about $30,000.00. What in the world . . . ?

“Well, I personally think the Electoral College is an abomination.  For obvious reasons.”

–failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Sigh. Will you just please go away? No likes you. No one ever liked you.

“But to me, I, going forward, cannot vote for a Democrat who does not pledge to end this relationship [with Israel].  This relationship needs to end.  This is a nuclear armed expansionist power.  They don’t need our money, and they definitely won’t get my vote.”

–serial liar, racist, and former MSNBC personality Joy Reid.

You know the relationship that needs to end? Joy Reid’s relationship with the United States. Her parents are from Africa. Perhaps she might be happier there.

“Austin Metcalf, the victim, the deceased, his father went on a podcast and listen to it for yourself but he called Karmelo Anthony a racial slur.  And also said the reason that black people weren’t on the jury is because black people are unable to hold bias from the trial because they don’t know their own fathers, have a bunch of baby mommas running around, living off of government assistance.”

—The View co-host Sunny Hostin.

She is lying.  None of that is true.  Someone should sue her into bankruptcy.

“We’re not letting them hijack the Bible to ‘take back’ the rainbow.”  The rainbow is about Pride.  It’s about our beautiful LGBTQ community.  And it’s about San Francisco beauty & joy.”

–California State Senator Scott Weiner (D.).

State Senator Wiener, an openly gay, radical activist, says he will not allow Christians to claim the rainbow as a symbol.  He announced on social media that the rainbow belongs exclusively to the LGBT community.

“I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.  This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh.”

–Genesis 9:11-15.

Sorry, Senator Weiner. You lose.

The State of Maryland is buying The Preakness Stakes, in order to ensure the race never leaves Maryland. I guess there is no limit to government action, or its spending of other people’s money.

“Virginia Budget: Despite a surplus, Virginia Democrats just passed a budget that raises taxes on working families.  It is fundamentally unfair to raise taxes on working families buying a rotisserie chicken, raise electricity taxes, and create new payroll taxes while the largest corporations in the world continue to avoid sales taxes on their data centers.”

–Virginia State Senator David Sutterlein (R.).

According to Readers Digest, Virginia’s best hamburger is at Repeal Bourbon & Burgers. In South Carolina, when in Columbia, go to Grillmarks.

The United States Senate voted to force President Trump to cease all hostilities against Iran, with the assistance of 4 Republican Senators. What kind of message does that send to Iran? Hmmmmm.

Now that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is on his way out, Reform Party leader Nigel Farage is calling for a snap election. He’s right; putting another Labour party official in power is not going to right the ship.

VPI announced that Florida Atlantic University’s Brian White would be the school’s new athletic director. Time will tell if this was a wise decision.

President Trump will be attending the World Cup finals. Cue the Leftist meltdown.

GFK

As promised, below is some analysis relating to the current negotiations with Iran. I have tried to provide some balance, with some criticism, and some praise. There are 4 articles in total. I hope that they put current events into some perspective. Enjoy!

America’s failure to understand totalitarian regimes could be fatal

Trump’s attempt at Iran deal a perfect example

BY:          Don Feder, The Washington Times (June 7, 2026).

President Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “crazy” in a phone conversation last week about Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah, Iran’s terrorist proxy in Lebanon.

To get a deal with an enemy, he insulted a friend.

Try to imagine Mr. Trump’s response if the cartels were raining missiles and drones on us from Mexico every night. Hezbollah’s strikes have depopulated dozens of communities in northern Israel.

Our president is piqued by Israel’s defensive action, which he believes gets in the way of his pursuit of a paper peace with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Despite his reputation as a hard-headed businessman, Mr. Trump seems not to understand that the art of the deal does not work with communists and Islamists.

As we wait for an illusory peace with Iran — as well as the outcome of indicting Cuban leader Raul Castro and the next chapter of our relationship with Red China — we need to come to terms with this reality: You cannot do business with totalitarian thugs. Their mindsets are alien to the citizens of free societies.

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s Munich mistake was a failure of imagination. He could not conceive of how someone who had witnessed the carnage of World War I could risk another global conflict for territorial gain. He did not understand the ruthless determination of Adolf Hitler.

For 47 years, Iran’s Islamist regime has shown itself impervious to reason and as much our enemy today as it was when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in 1979.

In the recent bombing campaign, which took out much of Iran’s leadership, the president believed that if he hit enough targets and offered sufficient inducements, the regime would come to its senses, surrender its fissionable material, open the Strait of Hormuz and unicorns would amble by.

If it came to a choice between sacrificing half the population or ending its nuclear program, Mr. Trump apparently believed, the regime would not hesitate in choosing the former.

Totalitarians have a different calculus than the rest of us. The trains that Hitler used to send Jews to death camps could have been used to transport troops and material, improving the prospects of a German victory in World War II. Yet killing Jews was a higher priority for the Nazis.

Cuba should be begging us for help and offering any reforms necessary to secure it. The people are starving, garbage is piling up in the streets, and hardly any fuel is left in the country.

Still, Havana does not care how much its people suffer. It will not accept any arrangement that imperils communist rule.

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini said, “Everything in the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” That encapsulates the totalitarian mindset.

For communists, the party is everything. At the Stalin purge trials, old Bolsheviks went to their deaths believing that if the party said they were guilty, then they must be guilty.

In Arabic, Islam means “submission” or “surrender.” Throughout the course of history, conversion to Islam was mainly by the sword.

When Mao Zedong came to power, his cadres did not ask the populace: “Hey, you want to be part of our people’s republic?” For totalitarians, it is always submit or die.

Negotiations with totalitarian regimes are a subterfuge. Iran and Cuba are playing for time. Both have histories of broken promises going back to their beginnings.

When he took power in 1959, Fidel Castro swore he was not a communist. After the Islamic Revolution, Khomeini said he looked forward to good relations with the United States. Both avowals were intended to avoid conflict while the regimes consolidated their power.

We fall for it every time.

It is Charlie Brown, Lucy and the football all over again. Despite fantasies of a deal, Iran will snatch away its fissionable material at the last minute, leaving poor Uncle Sam flat on his back.

In 1958, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover wrote a book about communism: “Masters of Deceit.” Islam has a principle called taqiyya, which allows lying to infidels to advance the faith.

Still, we go right on pretending that we can do business with ideological killers, whether it is Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or communist China. We think we can somehow change their essential nature.

Yet the only way to deal with our enemies today is the way the Allies dealt with the Axis powers in World War II: Accept nothing less than unconditional surrender.

____________________________________________________________________

Victor Davis Hanson dissects how critics completely misread the Iran deal

Historian details how crippling sanctions, severe infrastructure damage broke Tehran’s leverage

BY:          Madison Colombo, FOX News (June 21, 2026)

Historian Victor Davis Hanson called out critics of the newly signed U.S.-Iran preliminary agreement, arguing that they are misreading American leverage in negotiations.

Speaking on Jesse Watters Primetime, Hanson disputed what he described as misconceptions about the deal and said the military conflict dismantled Iran’s infrastructure, leaving Tehran with no cards to play.

“They’ve suffered probably a half a trillion dollars to their nuclear military industrial complex that took them 50 years to build,” Hanson said in response to what he called “unhinged” arguments that Iran is better off now than before the conflict.

The Trump administration’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran was released this week, laying out the terms of the deal reached by both parties for a 60-day ceasefire and a framework for negotiations.

The deal itself has drawn criticism from both sides of the political aisle, with critics arguing that it does not include aspects like an immediate dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure or the removal of enriched uranium stockpiles.

Hanson also pushed back against critics who have cited difficulties moving oil out of the region due to Iranian actions in the Strait of Hormuz.

“They keep saying, ‘Well, the strait was open before, and now it was closed, and now we had to negotiate to get it open.’ It was only open because they chose not to cause trouble,” he said.

“They chose to not cause trouble because the last seven presidents said, ‘We don’t dare touch you. We’re not [going to] interfere with your nuclear programs.'”

Hanson argued that sanctions on Iran and its oil distribution efforts have put pressure on the Middle Eastern nation and given the U.S. leverage.

“They think time is on Iran’s side. Time is not on Iran’s side,” Hanson said, referencing the burden imposed by sanctions.

He suggested that Tehran is concerned about America’s upcoming midterm elections and the nation’s 250th anniversary.

Hanson argued that if the conflict goes past the midterms, Trump will be less constrained by electoral considerations.

“They are terrified that if he wins the midterms and the price of gas goes down, he’s got a free hand, and he already has a free hand now,” Hanson said.

“They are afraid that Donald Trump is [going to] drag it out because if he drags it out after the midterm, after the 250th anniversary, he’s [going to] have a lot more options than he does now when he’s worried about gas and the midterm. So the dynamic is all upside down. They are the ones that have the time clock.”

____________________________________________________________________

Trump achieved a historic victory in Iran. His deal risks squandering it.

His agreement is nothing like Obama’s, but it gives the regime an opening to recover.

BY:          Marc Thiessen, The Washington Post (June 19, 2026)

Former president Barack Obama has predicted that President Donald Trump’s deal with Iran would not be “significantly different or a significant improvement from the deal that we had in the first place.”

I can think of more than 13,000 differences: That’s the number of U.S. military strikes that Trump launched during Operations Epic Fury and Midnight Hammer. Unlike Obama, Trump buried Iran’s nuclear material so deep that, senior officials tell me, Iran has indicated the United States will have to dig it up because it can’t reach it to hand over. He also took out over 85 percent of Iran’s defense industrial base; sank its navy; grounded its air force; damaged its centrifuges; and decimated its ballistic missile capabilities, conventional military forces and infrastructure of repression. An Iranian journalist relayed to me that her mother was taken into a police station for questioning because of the journalist’s reporting on the war. Days later, she said, the station lay in rubble.

Before the war, Trump warned he would kill Ayatollah Ali Khamenei if he did not bend to U.S. demands. Trump delivered on that promise. The U.S.-Israeli combined force not only eliminated Iran’s supreme leader, it also took out dozens of other senior Iranian officials. That is in addition to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, Iran’s terrorist mastermind, whom Trump killed in his first term. Today, thanks to Trump, Iran’s top leadership has been annihilated, the regime can no longer project power in the Middle East and it possesses only a “nuisance” capability, according to Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command. No president in 47 years has done more damage to the Iranian regime than Trump has. He deserves enormous credit for this.

Because of these strikes, Trump’s memorandum of understanding with Iran — which sets in motion negotiations over how to fulfill Iran’s pledge to end its nuclear ambitions — is backed by the credible threat of U.S. military force. As Trump put it this week, “if [a final deal] doesn’t get done … we go back to bombing.” Obama, by contrast, failed to act after Syria repeatedly violated his red line against using chemical weapons on its people, responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by giving Ukraine blankets and meals ready to eat, and pioneered the concept of “leading from behind” during the U.S. war with Libya.

So, no, this is not the Obama nuclear deal redux. As former secretary of state Condoleeza Rice recently explained, “Iran is far weaker today than it was in February. No amount of Iranian propaganda can mask this reality.”

Here’s the problem: We need to keep Iran in that weakened state. The deal Trump signed this week does the opposite; it helps Iran get up off the mat. After weeks of bombing, Iran is debilitated, but it is not chastened. The regime is determined to rebuild what Trump destroyed. It knows that Trump is only president for another 2½ years, so it simply needs to survive long enough for Americans to elect another weak president like Obama or Joe Biden.

This MOU not only allows the regime to survive, it gives it the means to recover and rebuild — without having to do virtually anything in return.

In paragraph four, the U.S. agrees to “fully end the naval blockade within 30 days” while in paragraph 10 it agrees to “immediately … issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurances, transportation.” In other words, the damage done by the blockade will be immediately erased, as the regime will gain access to tens of billions in oil revenue just for signing the MOU.

Moreover, in paragraph 11 the U.S. promises to immediately “make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the implementation of this MOU.” Full implementation isn’t defined, but count on the Iranians to interpret it to mean they’re entitled to immediate access to all frozen assets — a $24 billion windfall — and are justified in closing the Strait of Hormuz again if they don’t receive it.

Finally, paragraph five implicitly authorizes Iran to impose tolls on ships transiting the strait by obliging Tehran to allow toll-free passage “for 60 days only.”

None of the money that Iran will receive can ever be reclaimed. The damage will be permanent and irreparable. Moreover, by giving Iran this immediate cash infusion and relief from the U.S. sanctions that have been in place for decades, Trump virtually guarantees that he will be unable to win meaningful concessions in the follow-on negotiations. By giving away his economic leverage now, he will have nothing left to offer Iran as he negotiates the dismantling of its nuclear program.

The longer-term damage is even worse. The MOU pledges that, as part of a final agreement, “the United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive, mutually agreed plan with at least USD $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and that the U.S. will facilitate the delivery of this reconstruction assistance by granting “all required licenses, waivers and permissions used for the relevant financial transactions.” This is like launching the Marshall Plan to rebuild Germany while the Nazis were still in power — except the Marshall Plan was worth only about $130 billion in today’s dollars.

Trump insists that, unlike with the Marshall Plan, the U.S. is not obligated to contribute a dime. It doesn’t matter. The money is part of an agreement signed by the president of the United States and possesses his imprimatur. Yes, Iran gets nothing if it does not reach a final deal with the U.S. But there is no concession Iran could make — even if it allowed the U.S. to come in and take all of its enriched uranium and centrifuges and fly them to Oak Ridge, Tennessee — that is worth giving $300 billion to the unrepentant Islamic terrorists who rule Iran. Moreover, Trump never delivered on his threats to destroy Iran’s energy and civilian infrastructure, focusing instead on military targets. So, what exactly does Iran need $300 billion to reconstruct?

Further, in paragraph seven, the U.S. agrees that as part of a final deal it will “terminate all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the United Nations Security Council resolutions, i.e., IAEA Board of Governors resolutions, and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, primary and secondary.” This includes sanctions related not just to Iran’s nuclear program but also its support for terror, ballistic missiles and human rights violations — none of which Iran will have agreed to give up. Trump will not be able to do most of this unilaterally. U.N. sanctions can only be lifted by action of the U.N. Security Council, and many U.S. sanctions — especially primary sanctions that limit trade with and investment in Iran by Americans — can be removed only by Congress.

The U.S. pledges in paragraph two to “refrain from interfering in [Iran’s] internal affairs,” which effectively gives Iran carte blanche to commit whatever heinous acts it wants against protesters. Trump promised the Iranian people that “help is on its way.” Instead, this deal puts a U.S. seal of approval on their continued repression.

Trump says if Iran does not agree to a final deal, he will bomb again. This threat is itself a violation of paragraph one, which obligates him “not to initiate any war or any military operation … and to refrain from the threat or use of force” against Iran.

That is the bad news. Here is the good news: I don’t believe that Trump will let Iran get away with stonewalling him in the final negotiations. Vice President JD Vance said in a recent interview that “if they don’t comply with the deal, the straits are still open, we’ve still done incredible damage to their nuclear program, and we can get on with our lives as a country.” High-level sources in the White House have assured me that this is not Trump’s position. His position is: They’ll comply or they will get blown up. Trump will insist that Iran either hand over or permit the supervised destruction of all its fissile materials — not just its highly enriched uranium — or he will resume military operations. Iran believes that the U.S. midterm elections give it leverage. But once the midterms are over, that leverage disappears. Trump will be free to resume military action.

I have been clear about my view from the start: Trump would be better off ending the war without a deal, with a final 10-to-14-day bombing campaign that completes the destruction of Iran’s military capabilities — and then declaring victory, ending combat operations and launching a covert effort to arm the Iranian people and help them overthrow the regime in time. Because so long as the regime remains in power, the incredible military gains he has made will be temporary and reversible.

Right now, the deal Trump signed not only allows the regime to survive, it helps Iran get back on its feet. He had a historic opportunity to reshape the Middle East for a generation. This deal risks squandering all the gains he made on the battlefield. It’s a mistake. But fortunately it’s not the end of the story.

____________________________________________________________________

Trump is showing the world, G7 leaders who’s the ‘boss’ and deserves respect for his deal-making

BY:          Miranda Devine, The New York Post (June 17, 2026)

“I’m the boss,” President Trump joked when he arrived a bit late to a meeting with G7 leaders in France Wednesday.

He is.

That’s what his detractors forget.

America is “the boss” again, the colossus.

Iran doesn’t bully us.

Israel doesn’t instruct us.

Europe can sneer at Donald Trump all it likes, but it’s a supplicant.

China respects us.

Canada bows.

Trump understands power, and it rests easy on his shoulders.

He joked about it at the G7 in his relaxed American fashion, and European leaders now get it.

They laughed along, but they understood.

By the time he had emerged from a glittering dinner at Versailles to fly home, he had signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran that has the great and the good worked up into a symphony of hysterical catastrophizing.

While they hyperventilate, Trump casually shrugs and says it’s just a framework for negotiations toward a deal, and if it doesn’t work, he’ll just bomb Iran.

“If I don’t like it, if they don’t behave, we’ll go right back to dropping bombs right smack in the middle of their head, OK?” he told the media on the sidelines of the G7.

What the naysayers don’t understand is that the 14-point memorandum Trump signed is not  a deal.

It’s a political document setting out terms agreed by both sides for negotiating a final deal that would result in Iran agreeing never to produce or procure nuclear weapons, with strict oversight.

In the meantime, the MOU gets the Strait of Hormuz open and gas prices down before the midterms, easing domestic political constraints on Trump.

The period of negotiation toward the hoped-for final deal is nominally 60 days, but senior administration officials agree it could take longer — in other words, until after the midterms.

GFK

“The reported MOU with Iran smacks of the kind of appeasement that we saw during the Obama years, the kind of appeasement that Joe Biden tried to accomplish and was ignored by the Iranians, and the kind of appeasement we categorically rejected during the first Trump administration.”

–former Vice-President Mike Pence.

The Observations has purposely avoided commenting on the “deal” with Iran. Largely because there is no “deal”. There is only a framework for negotiations to reach a deal.

That there is no deal has not stopped the President’s critics from condemning him. From former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R. Ga.) to former Trump Administration official Miles Taylor to talk radio show hosts Erick Erickson and Mark Levin, to NIKKI!, there is a long line ready to throw the President and his Administration under the bus. Never mind that Mike Pence, NIKKI!, and Marjorie Taylor Greene between them do not possess the spine to have launched the military attacks on Iran. Yet they feel entitled to condemn the President–the only President who has acted to tame Iran–for a “deal” that does not exist.

And then of course, there are the Democrats. What a shocker that they are condemning the President. After all, it is another day that ends in “y”. Former President Barack Obama said that the President would never achieve a “deal” as good as the one he negotiated with Iran. Hmmm. Wanna bet?

Tomorrow, The Observations shall share a variety of views, from criticism to praise, that actually contain substance. Until then, I suggest that you, dear readers, tune out the noise, be patient, and let us see how this all shakes out. Maybe we will all be pleasantly surprised. Maybe not. But right now is not the time for a definitive judgment.

Senator Ruben Gallego (D. Az.) used campaign funds for personal expenses, such as trips to Miami, Chicago, Disneyland, and Disneyworld. He also used campaign funds to pay more than $18,000.00 in child care expenses. Hmmmm. All of that is illegal.

“I do believe that once we take power, there has to be accountability.  There needs to be accountability for Elon Musk.  You know, they’re celebrating that he created 4,400 millionaires, but they don’t talk about the 4.5 million children around the world who he possibly sentenced to death by dismantling USAID.  He needs to answer for that.  He needs to be subpoenaed.  He needs to face investigation.  He needs to answer for what he did with DOGE.  That it’s not just, let’s move on.”

–Representative Ro Khanna (D. Ca.).

The Democrats will not rest until they destroy everyone with whom they disagree.

Representative Elaine Luria (D. Va.) spent 4 years in Congress. This year she is running to regain her old job. Small wonder, as in her 4 years in Congress, Elaine Luria’s net worth increased 2000%. How is that possible on a member of Congress’s salary? It is not possible. Elaine Luria is a corrupt politician.

Democrat members of Congress have been receiving millions of dollars in campaign contributions from Chinese military companies. How is this not corrupt? It is. How is this not illegal? It is.

The Democrat Socialists of America are committed to scrapping the U.S. Senate, “abolishing the carceral forces of the capitalist state,” defunding the Department of War, amnesty for all immigrants, and “replac[ing] the President and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.”  Huh.  Is this what Senator Bernie Sanders (I. Vt.), Comrade Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Puddin’head, and U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D. Me.) dream about at night?

The Obama Presidential Center opened in Chicago, Illinois. If there is an uglier building outside the old Soviet Union, I have not seen it. It is more Sci-Fi death star than presidential library.

The Obama Presidential Center went years past the expected construction completion date, and ran up millions of dollars in cost overruns. Typical Democrat incompetence. But the worst part is that the Obama Presidential Center has stiffed countless minority owned subcontractors out of millions of dollars. The Obama people made a big deal out of their outreach to minorities, giving them the opportunity to work on this massive project. But somehow, the Obama people are downplaying the fact that they have not paid these minority subcontractors. Again, typical Democrat incompetence.

At the opening of the Obama Presidential Center, a land acknowledgement was delivered, whereby the powers that be recognized that the Center was on “stolen land”, belonging to American Indians. There is a permanent display at the Center, discussing the theft of the land by the American government. Center CEO Valerie Jarrett and former President Obama both spoke of atrocities committed by settlers and the U.S. government against the Indians. Sigh. If that is really how you folks feel, why don’t you give the land back? Why not?

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Governor Gavin Newsom (D. Ca.) and his shrew wife. The investigation seems to be centering on Mrs. Newsom and her non-profit groups’ taxes and spending.

Of course, the Newsoms are accusing the Justice Department of targeting them because they are Mr. Trump’s political opponents. Poppycock! Even serial liar Senator Adam Schiff (D. Ca.) acknowledged that there might be something to the investigation. Not good news for Mr. and Mrs. Hair Gel.

California has never met a tax it did not seek to impose on its citizens. The State is poised to levy a new tax on those who procure a private health insurance plan through their employer. And the State is also going to levy a tax on “services” citizens receive when they purchase a digital product such as Turbotax, Microsoft Office, Quickbooks, and the like. This will be in addition to the sales tax already charged on those purchases.

A bill is moving rapidly through the California legislature that would permit children of any age to “divorce” their parents, for any or no reason. Parents would not be informed of the proceedings until well after the process was underway. THIS. IS. INSANITY!

Voters recalled Avenal, California’s mayor and city council, with 75% in support of the recall. Yet these politicians refuse to acknowledge the election’s results, and will not leave office. Is this a threat to “our democracy”?

Poetica Coffee, a coffee shop in New York City, does not serve “genocide enablers”. Stated differently, if you support Israel, or the Jewish people, you are not welcome to buy coffee there. Okay.

World Cup fans from abroad have fallen in love with ranch dressing. Go figure, but they absolutely cannot get enough ranch dressing. So Kraft has manufactured and released for sale Transportation Safety Authority compliant containers of ranch dressing. Now foreign tourists can take home as much ranch dressing as they wish, without running afoul of the TSA at the airports. WOW!

Can you believe that Hidden Valley did not think of TSA compliant ranch dressing containers first? Major fail!

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is stepping down. The man has made an absolute hash of his job, and now the Labour Party scrambles to pick up the pieces.

The Iranian national soccer team attempted to smuggle in Iranian Republic Guard officials, disguised as team staff, to Los Angeles for its 1st World Cup match. The Border Patrol alertly stopped the team, separated the IRGC officials, and sent them back to Mexico.

Music executive Clive Davis has died at age 94. R. I. P.

Economist and former Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Alan Greenspan has died at age 100. R. I. P.

GFK

“A golfer needs a loving wife to whom he can describe the day’s play through the long evening.”

–P.G. Wodehouse.

I am very fortunate to have English as a “loving wife”. Because she grew up around golf, occasionally plays golf, enjoys golf, and watched the U.S. Open with me over the last 4 days.

Congratulations to Sam Burns on finishing 2nd. Sadly, Wyndam Clark won by 1 stroke.

I do not endorse the rude fans who openly, and loudly, cheered against Wyndham Clark, no matter his sins. It is rude. You should do what I did; scream at your television against him. That is so much more polite.

Thank you to Tom Kim, Ken Mitchell, and Scottie Scheffler for making the tournament interesting. I wish you could have done better.

There have been more interesting U.S. Opens. Even the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach–which Eldrick Woods ran away with, winning by 15 strokes–was more interesting than this year’s tournament (maybe because I was actually at Pebble Beach with friends). But this one was enjoyable. I would not have missed watching it.

Holland fixed a lovely Fathers’ Day dinner. I requested tacos. Because she make her own tortillas. And her own guacamole. Served with homemade pinto beans. A very delicious meal. I feel very fortunate to be a father, and to have Holland as my daughter.

The President invoked the Defense Production Act to spur munitions manufacturing. Smart.

“For too long, NATO has been a paper tiger and a one-way street.  No more.  And that’s what the Hague Summit is all about.  That’s what defense spending commitments are all about.   Transforming NATO back into a real military alliance that’s focused on hard power and real deterrence.”

–United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

The failed drone and sniper attack planned for The White House? The ringleader was an illegal alien. The ringleader was a “Dreamer” that Obama’s lawless “Dreamer” program protected from deportation. Hmmmm.

The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the town of Evanston, Illinois over its plan to pay reparations to black residents. Evanston’s plan is racist and unconstitutional.

The U.S. Department of Labor is going to begin withholding unemployment insurance monies from States that refuse to crack down on unemployment insurance fraud. GOOD!

The United States Coast Guard confronted a boat off of Florida. When the boat refused to stop and permit boarding, the Coast Guard fired on the boat, disabling it. The boat was attempting to smuggle 25 nationals into the United States. All 25 were taken into custody, and will be repatriated back to China.

The United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the federal government could not deny marijuana users the right to keep and bear arms. FREEDOM!

Vandals have damaged the newly renovated Reflecting Pool, peeling the lining paint, and reintroducing algae to the pool. The vandals have been arrested, and include an American Olympian. Very sad. Who does stuff like this?

Are you successful? If so, the Democrats want to tax you out of existence.

Senator Adam Schiff (D. Ca.) actually called for the “confiscation” of Elon Musk’s wealth. He wants to “spread the wealth around”.

“If Elon Musk paid my ultra-millionaire tax, we could fully cover free community college in America.”

–Senator Elizabeth “Lieawatha” Warren (D. Ma.).

Senator Bernie Sanders (I. Vt.) wants to provide every American an annual payment of $1,000.00. The money would come from confiscating the equity of Artificial Intelligence companies. Socialism at its finest.

“You know how we can pay off all of this student loan debt? Tax Elon Musk! Tax the billionaires!”

–Representative Ro Khanna (D. Ca.).

As a result of the initial public offering of Space X stock, Elon Musk created 4,400 millionaires. All of them were Space X employees, from cafeteria workers to the executive suite. How many millionaires (other than their fellow politicians) have elected officials created? That would be zero (0).

Senator Chris Van Hollen (D. Md.) is considering running for President in 2028. Good luck with that, as your only accomplishment in office is having margaritas with an illegal alien in an El Salvadoran prison.

Failed presidential candidate Commiela called for Trump Administration officials should be held “accountable” by the next Democrat President, for pursuing prosecutions of Democrats. Huh. It is okay to pursue Republicans for pursuing prosecutions of Democrats, but it is not okay to pursue Democrats for pursuing prosecutions of Republicans. Rules for thee, but not for me.

In California, Alameda County Democrat voters replaced Representative Eric Swalwell (D. Ca.) with Aisha Wahab. She is the Puddin’head of Northern California. And she is an Islam! WOO HOO!

The Los Angeles, California City Council wants to permit illegal aliens to vote in local elections. Sigh. Why not just give them the keys to the city, and force all the citizens to leave?

The California State government has contracts set aside exclusively for LGBTQ++ contractors. That is a problem. But that is not all. In order to qualify for a set aside contract, the applicants must undergo an extensive process to prove that they are actually a homosexual or a “trans”. Sigh. I do not want to know.

 “There is nowhere that I feel greater honor, fraternity, and kindness.”

–Catholic Archbishop of Detroit Edward Weisenberger, praising the Imam Al-Hasanain Mosque.

Really?  Not even in your own Church?  Or in your relationship to Jesus Christ?  Or perhaps in a sanctuary whose sacred book doesn’t instruct the faithful to convert, enslave, or kill infidels (everyone else)?

In Chicago, Illinois, ICE agents were in pursuit of an illegal alien, who suddenly ran into a private gymnasium. When ICE agents attempted to follow him, they were blocked by gym personnel. The delay was enough to permit the illegal alien to escape through the rear exit. Meanwhile, someone is looking at jail. Care to guess who?

Spotsylvania County, Virginia Circuit Court judge William Glover refused to enjoin Virginia Democrats’ gun ban laws. Judge Glover acknowledged that the plaintiffs would suffer irreparable harm if he did not rule in their favor, but . . . the Commonwealth was trying to keep Virginians “safe”, and that was more important. Sigh. Judge Glover is a nimrod.

Jose Hernandez–an illegal alien–was arrested in Prince William County, Virginia for sexual assault against a 5 year old. The magistrate judge set his bond at $5,000.00 secured. ICE pleaded with Governor Abigail Spanberger (D. Va.) to intervene, and to honor an ICE detainer, which she refused to do. So now sexual predator, pedophile, and illegal alien, Jose Hernandez, is walking around free in Northern Virginia.

Make Abigail Go Away.

A Florida State appeals court has ruled that a State law prohibiting concealed carry of a firearm by citizens 18-20 years of age is unconstitutional. WINNING!

U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico (D. Tx.) now claims to be a champion of the State’s oil and gas industry. Yet as a member of the Texas State legislature, he partnered with a Leftist organization to eliminate–eliminate!–the Texas oil and gas industry, calling the effort “the most important work” confronting Texas. Huh.

Mars is eliminating the use of artificial food dyes in M&Ms. The elimination may cause Mars to cease production of blue and brown colored M&Ms.

Taco Bell is introducing fajita chalupas. For a limited time only.

Buc-ee’s is soon to open its 1st store in North Carolina, located in Mebane, which is between Burlington and Hillsborough. It is close enough to Chatmoss that Jason can run down and pick up some Beaver Nuggets for Will, Robert, and me.

Did you know that more Europeans die from a lack of air conditioning during hot weather, than do Americans from “gun violence” the entire years?

Congratulations to Darrell Kraft on winning the Virginia State Golf Associations Senior Stroke Play Championship. That is quite an accomplishment, given the strong field.

The York Revolution minor league baseball team forfeited its game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, because its players refused to wear their special “Pride Night” jerseys. The players refused out of conscience, refusing to endorse the homosexual lifestyle. The team cancelled the game, but still held the scheduled “Pride Night” celebration at the ballpark. Because that was what management considered important; not baseball, but sodomy. Sigh.

“I think when you’re a player and you come into this environment, it’s your responsibility to know just how sensitive this city is in regards to that cultural freedom and religious freedom, and just the way that you live your life.  And I think they were in for a rude awakening with the response, and it wasn’t just from the gay community; it was from the Northern California community that supports the gay community.”

–San Francisco Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow, criticizing players for not properly honoring “Pride Night”.

Mike Krukow threw a fit over Giants players writing Bible verses on their hats on the occasion of “Pride Night”. Because sodomy is more important than baseball, or the players’ religious beliefs. The LGBTQ++ agenda is more important than anything!

“This is why we need Pride.  We need to lean in and we need to keep educating people, even here in San Francisco.  It was a rough night, but one that we need to learn from.”

–San Francisco, California Mayor Daniel Lurie (D.), criticizing Giants players who wrote Bible verses on their “Pride” hats.

Educate them on what exactly?  On why The Bible is “wrong”?  Or the safe way to engage in sodomy?  What?  What exactly are we discussing here?

It used to be the pushback from the LGBTQ++ folks was that what people did in the privacy of their bedrooms was nobody else’s business. GOODNESS, I long for those days, when it was supposedly confined to the privacy of bedrooms. But nowadays, it is in your face, all the time, demanding acceptance and tolerance. I SAY NO!

In Boston, Massachusetts, Scottish soccer fans attending the World Cup drank local bars out of beer; all except Bud Light, which the Scots will not drink. So regional distributors had to make emergency runs of beer to restock the bars, after which the celebration went on.

The Scots, like many foreign tourists attending the World Cup, have thoroughly enjoyed their time in America. They marvel at our geography, amenities, food, and the friendliness of the American people. And the Scots also like to sing, belting out largely American tunes, including the Star Spangled Banner. What a contrast to the street celebrations in New York City after the Knicks won the NBA championship.

Phil Mickleson is now claiming he resigned from his club, as opposed to being kicked out. Phil, some free legal advice; SHUT UP!

Television director James Burrows, who was behind the production of series such as Cheers and Friends, has died at age 85. R. I. P.

Gene Bess, the all-time winningest coach in college basketball, has died at age 91.

R. I. P.

GFK

“Here’s irony for you . . . The driver goes the shortest distance when you throw it.  The putter flies farthest, followed by the sand wedge.”

–Tommy Bolt, winner of the 1958 U.S. Open.

Eighteen (18) holes to go. After 3 rounds, Wyndham Clark still leads. I do not wish him to win. He behaved like an a$$ at last year’s Open at Oakmont, and I have not moved on.

Others are within striking range. Scottie Scheffler is 2nd. Sam Stevens surged, faded, and then just sat there. Theegala, Kim, and Schauffele are close. Rory McIlroy surged again, faded again, and is done. Stick a fork in him.

We shall see. When Sunday dawns, it will be Wyndham Clark’s tournament to lose. Let;s hope he does. And let’s hope also that no locker rooms must pay the price.

____________________________________________________________________

Having completed the Octave of the Sacred Heart, we now enter the longest season of the Christian calendar, the Sundays after Trinity, in which we shift our focus away from the events of Our Lord’s life to the dogmatic teaching of the Church.

But first, a word or two about the traditional numbering of Sundays after Trinity might be in order. In much of the Church, these Sundays are numbered after Pentecost. However, in the English tradition, well before the 16th century reformation, these Sundays were numbered after Trinity Sunday. While each Sunday celebrates Our Lord’s Resurrection, each Sunday also celebrates the creation of light (thus the beginning of creation). The Resurrection of Our Lord, and our new creation in Him are the work of the Holy Ghost as well. So each Sunday reinforces the work of the Holy and undivided Trinity in creation as well as our salvation.

Historically, the Proper Preface (said after the Sursum corda and before the Sanctus and Benedictus) on these Sundays was that of the Trinity, and in the Office, the canticle Quicunque vult (The Athanasian Creed) was read, again reinforcing the importance of the Blessed Trinity in the life of the Church. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer continued the traditional English practice whereas more recent liturgical alterations numbered Sundays after Pentecost, emphasizing the work of the Holy Ghost. While this is not wrong, it does seem to place an undue influence on the Spirit, and may explain some of the more egregious doctrinal innovations of the past fifty years or so.

The Epistle for today is from the first general epistle of S. Peter, marking a shift from those of S. John read over the past several weeks. Those who recite the office of Compline will find a familiar passage: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith. These verses found in the service of Compline remind us that when we sleep, we open ourselves up to the spiritual world unrestrained. When we slip into unconsciousness, we let go of control over our thoughts. 

S. John Climacus in his “Ladder of Divine Ascent” discusses the various reasons we sleep (natural state, too much food, prolonged fasting, demonic temptation), as well as the things that might happen to us in a state of sleep (dreaming, experiencing angelic visions or demonic phantasies). The best way in which to prepare oneself for a restful night is to fall into sleep with prayer and meditation.

Our adversary endeavors to derail any spiritual progress we make during the day through unfettered access to our imagination at night. However, through the discipline of prayer and the invocation of our guardian angel we can be confident that as we fall asleep, we will be protected spiritually. Notice that S. Peter advocates that we resist our adversary “firm in our faith.” That is, we cannot simply wish Satan away. Only as we grow in a life of disciplined virtue can we have victory over his advances.

The goal of this Trinity season is to grow not only in our knowledge of the faith but in the life of virtue. By informing the will and participating in the grace of the sacraments, we will become more earnest and vigilant as we progress towards our true end, eternally transfixed upon the Beatific Vision and participating in the life of the Divine Nature.

___________________________________________________________________

Today is Fathers’ Day, and I hope that all fathers are properly feted and appreciated.  Fathers are important, and unfortunately, our society increasingly  dismisses their importance, as the traditional family model of a father and a mother is judged to be not sufficiently “inclusive”.  What poppycock! 

Whether a daughter or a son, a father has much to impart to a child’s upbringing.  I know that in my own case, I am inspired and guided by my own Father’s example.  Though he left this Earth 17 years ago, there is not a day I do not think of him, wondering how he might address the issues I face.

Not all children have the luxury of having a father in their lives, or that the man in their lives is a good father.  But it is my hope that the day comes soon when our society returns to the basics, the belief and understanding that all children are best prepared for life by living in a loving home with their father and mother.  Children—all children—deserve no less.

GFK

“I’ve never had a coach in my life. When I find one who can beat me, then I’ll listen.”

–Lee Trevino, winner of the 1968 and 1971 U.S. Opens.

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is a founding member of the United States Golf Association (1 of 5). It is the very first incorporated golf club in American, and has hosted 6 U.S. Opens, and was the 1st club to permit black and American Indians to play its course. It also permitted women members from its first day in existence 1891.

Wyndam Clark still leads after 36 holes. Which is good for the men’s locker room. Still, there is a crowd chasing him, including Tom Kim, Xander Schaufele, and Matthew Fitzpartick. Scottie Scheffler and Colin Morikawa are lurking. Rory McIlory surged, faded, surged again, and then faded again. There is a lot of golf yet to be played.

TOMORROW IS THE SUMMER SOLSTICE, THE LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR.  IT IS THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER, A MAGICAL TIME WHERE ANYONE AND EVERYONE CAN BE A CHILD AGAIN.  SO GO.  LEAVE WORK EARLY.  DRINK A LIMEADE.  BUY A SOFTSERVE ICE CREAM CONE.  SLICE INTO A COLD WATERMELON.  LIE IN A HAMMOCK AND READ A TRASHY NOVEL.  JUST FOR TODAY, REMEMBER WHAT IS LIKE NOT TO HAVE A CARE IN THE WORLD.

The Observations today is foregoing the news in favor of reprinting one of our favorite columns from the late columnist, author and editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Paul Greenberg.  Mr. Greenberg is most famous for giving then Governor Bill Clinton the moniker, “Slick Willie”.  His column below contains wonderful advice on how to beat the summer heat.  Enjoy.

”It’s definitely that time of the year again. The summer heat is starting to cover the country like a horse blanket. It’s time to update my annual list of heat-beaters. Feel free to clip and save, mix and match, and add your own:

1. Delete all unwanted emails without opening them. Especially if they’re from types who are always a little hot under the collar anyway. If you must open any, under no circumstances reply. Soon you’ll be on their heated level.

2. Forget talk radio and 24/7 television news. Tune out National Progressive Radio and switch to the classical station. Vivaldi is a comfort, Dvorak about as stirring as you need, Beethoven’s symphonies much too bombastic, and Mozart’s perfect — as always. Like looking up at the clear night sky somewhere out in the country and listening to the music of the spheres. Or get out Miles Davis and John Coltrane’s ‘Kind of Blue’.  (I hereby nominate Miles Davis — along with Gershwin, of course — as the greatest American composer of the 20th century.)

3. Recall the lightest, most elegant, interesting dessert you ever had. Mine is zabaglione over half a perfect peach. Italians know what they’re doing in matters of style in the summer. Or any season for that matter.

4. To borrow a line from the late great Robert Benchley, get out of those sweaty clothes and into a dry martini.

5. Think on the pure, crystalline beauty of the Pythagorean Theorem.

6. Don’t try to figure out the infield fly rule one more time; just settle back and watch a game. Linger over the replays in slow motion.

7. Avoid watching sit-coms, playing rock ‘n’ roll, listening to TV shout shows, worrying about the future or regretting the past. ‘Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.’ –Satchel Paige. (Epictetus the Stoic might have said something like that, but not half so well.)

8. Decorate with green, leafy things, but not kudzu. Turn your back on it for a minute and it’ll cover your house.

9. Take siestas; arrange to live in the early morning and after twilight.

10. Don’t hurry back, or anywhere. ‘Nothing can be more useful to a man than a determination not to be hurried.’ –Henry David Thoreau. He may have been a Massachusetts man, but he had to be a Southerner at heart.

11. Park in the shade.

12. Key lime pie.

13. Wear a hat. With a broad brim.

14. Give the kids a nap. Take one yourself. Or watch an old Mister Rogers show with a small child; it’ll soothe both of you.

15. Sit on the front porch. In a swing. Under a fan. Especially if it’s glassed-in, air-conditioned, in the shade, and surrounded by cool greenery inside and out. If you must go out in the noonday sun — like mad dogs and Englishmen — stick a handkerchief in the back of your collar. Adopt seersucker as protective coloration. Breathe deeply.

16. Read last January’s weather reports, with special attention to blizzards and ice storms. Contemplate Iceland and wonder if Eyjafjallajokull will erupt again. But under no circumstances attempt to pronounce it. Too much effort is involved.

17. Take a thimble-sized cup of hot soup before supper to whet the appetite.

18. Switch from big band to chamber music, red to white wine, gin to tonic, cornbread to beaten biscuits, humor to wit. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and erase from your mind all thoughts of Anthony Weiner and John Edwards, AIG and Goldman Sachs, Eric Holder and Chris Matthews, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck … and any sure-fire, guaranteed ways to beat the stock market or roulette table. (Or do I repeat myself?) If such thoughts pop up anyway, lie down and apply a cool cloth to the forehead till they pass.

19. Go fishing. Early in the day. Without fancy lures, rod ‘n’ reel, and other impedimenta. Pack a picnic breakfast, choose an unfrequented spot off the beaten path, lie down, breathe deep, close your eyes and clear the mind.  (‘Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.’ –Thoreau again.)

20. Have a tall cold one. With a hot dog. At a minor league ballpark.  Luxuriate in the nostalgia. See what baseball used to be like and still is out in the minors. Don’t get involved in who’s winning or losing. Just root for the team in the field. And never, never refer to it as the Defense. That’s heavy, sweaty, bruising football talk.

21. Think tomatoes, the real kind. Homegrown. Ripe, sliced thin, maybe on toast. With just a hint of a smidgen of a drop of olive oil.

22. Wear white linen and play Great Gatsby to beat the band. Hide your ties till winter.

23. If you get the urge to exercise, lie down at once. If you absolutely must, swim. In cool water. Never run, seldom walk, stroll if you must. Remember Paige’s Law No. 2: ‘Step lightly; do not jar the inner harmonies.’

24. See the movie version of ‘Dr. Zhivago’. Stay to see snowy scenes twice.

25. Sweet tea. If you must attend a political rally, make it one sponsored by the (Iced) Tea Party.

26. Contemplate the coming of the next ice age.

27. Read up on the culture of the Eskimo.

28. Plan an expedition to the South Pole. Read a biography of Shackleton.

29. Stock up on watercress and cucumbers.

30. Carry a bandanna. Maybe two. Mop your brow even when it doesn’t need mopping.

31. Walk on the shady side of the street. Whoever designed those treeless parking lots around shopping malls should have to park in one. Every day. In August. Let the punishment fit the crime.

32. Sigh now and then over the follies of men. Do not judge lest you get all worked up. (Isn’t that in Scripture somewhere?)

33. Read ‘Gorky Park’ or some other detective story set in a cold climate. Check out Howard Hawks’ arctic and antic sci-fi classic, ‘The Thing From Another World’. The scary scenes are particularly funny.

34. Send the kids to visit the grandparents.

35. Grandparents: Send ’em back after 24 hours, then take a week off by yourselves. You deserve it. You’ve already raised your kids. Alaska would be nice this time of year.

36. Think what Stockholm must be like. Also Spitsbergen.

37. Go for a walk at dawn, preferably without having to get up at an early hour.

38. Peaches. Served with a little vanilla ice cream.

39. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.

40. Don’t fret. Why worry about things till you have to? You may never have to.

41. Cold salads.

42. Wonder about the Laplanders.

43. Go ahead, try the waterslide.

44. Think on not having to put up the Christmas decorations, cook the turkey, or build a roaring fire.

45. Smile in the sure knowledge that the damper on your fireplace is closed.

46. Inspect the refrigerator. At length.

47. Consult the atlas for the location of Novaya Zemlya and the Bering Strait. Read about penguin population patterns. Study up on the Aurora Borealis.

48. Re-read Jack London’s ‘To Build a Fire’.

49. Be nice.

50. Take the columnists with an extra grain of salt.”

GFK

“Don’t play too much golf. Two rounds a day are plenty.”

–Harry Vardon, 6 time British Open champion, and winner of the 1900 U.S. Open championship.

The first day of the U.S. Open was an overcast, windy affair, with cool temperatures. There was a 2 hour delay due to heavy fog. Though the USGA set up the course as easy as possible, the scores were high. Because Shinnecock Hills is a very difficult golf course.

Wyndam Clark, Dustin Johnson, and others top the field. An amateur led the field at 1 point, and 2 are within striking distance. There is a lot of golf to be played.

Today is Juneteenth, a made up federal holiday about nothing. It was a racial sop by the Democrats to black folks, to make them think that Democrats actually care about them. They do not.

On June 19, 1865, Union troops entered the city of Galveston, Texas, assembled all the black slaves, and read to them The Emancipation Proclamation, which was written in 1862, and effective on January 1, 1863. So more than 2 years later, the commanding U.S. officer informed the enslaved people in Galveston that they were free. AND THEN, he instructed them to return to their masters, and remain until further instructions. In other words, you people are free, but . . . you are not. Sigh.

Senator John Cornyn (R. Tx.) was a big supporter of establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. So my apologies to Senator Cornyn. Previously I suggested that he had accomplished nothing in his long tenure in government. I was wrong.

Personally, I dislike Juneteenth. It is bad history. It is a racial, performative event, injecting politics where it does not belong. But the worst is that the banks, post offices, and courts are closed, making it impossible to conduct business. AND, The Wall Street Journal does not publish. I find that irritating. But The Observations does publish! Take that Dow Jones & Company!

“What do you like doing best in the world, Pooh?”

“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best-” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called. And then he thought that being with Christopher Robin was a very good thing to do, and having Piglet near was a very friendly thing to have; and so, when he had thought it all out, he said, “What I like best in the whole world is Me and Piglet going to see You, and You saying ‘What about a little something?’ and Me saying, ‘Well, I shouldn’t mind a little something, should you, Piglet,’ and it being a hummy sort of day outside, and birds singing.”

“I like that too,” said Christopher Robin, “but what I like doing best is Nothing.”

“How do you do Nothing?” asked Pooh, after he had wondered for a long time. “Well, it’s when people call out at you just as you’re going off to do it, What are you going to do Christopher Robin, and you say, Oh, nothing, and you go and do it.” “Oh, I see,” said Pooh. “This is a nothing sort of thing that we’re doing right now.” “Oh, I see,” said Pooh again. “It means just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear and not bothering.” “Oh!” said Pooh.”

“Then, suddenly again, Christopher Robin, who was still looking at the world, with his chin in his hand, called out “Pooh!” “Yes?” said Pooh. “When I’m–when–Pooh!” “Yes, Christopher Robin?” “I’m not going to do Nothing any more.” “Never again?” “Well, not so much. They don’t let you.” Pooh waited for him to go on, but he was silent again. “Yes, Christopher Robin?” said Pooh helpfully. “Pooh, when I’m–you know–when I’m not doing Nothing, will you come up here sometimes?” “Just me?” “Yes, Pooh.” “Will you be here too?” “Yes Pooh, I will be really. I promise I will be Pooh.” “That’s good,” said Pooh. “Pooh, promise you won’t forget about me, ever. Not even when I’m a hundred.” Pooh thought for a little. “How old shall I be then?” “Ninety-nine.” Pooh nodded. “I promise,” he said. Still with his eyes on the world Christopher Robin put out a hand and felt Pooh’s paw. “Pooh,” said Christopher Robin earnestly, “if I–if I’m not quite–” he stopped and tried again– “Pooh, whatever happens, you will understand, won’t you?” “Understand what?” “Oh, nothing.” He laughed and jumped to his feet. “Come on!” “Where?” said Pooh. “Anywhere.” said Christopher Robin.

So, they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.”

–A.A. Milne, The House At Pooh Corner

Summer is nigh! Get an early start. Do nothing today. And enjoy yourself.

GFK