Binghamton City Councils recent resolution affirming support of legal immigrants and refugees provides a teachable moment in understanding the culture of the politically correct, (PC) and how it serves to demand compliance while censoring dissent.

Caught up in the Trump era of addressing illegal aliens and not wanting to be shown up by the Ithaca City Council that recently adopted legislation affirming their status as a sanctuary city, a lone liberal Binghamton council member felt compelled to jump on the immigration bandwagon and drag Binghamton into that politically volatile bailiwick.

By putting a few dozen “fellow travelers” in the council gallery, making speeches about the history of immigration in the country, this lone, liberal voice managed to cow his fellow members into submission, for fear of violating the codes of conduct towards the PC, that being that the sentiment, the emotion, and the intent are core components of legislative resolutions, at the expense of logic, reason, and accurately measuring outcomes while holding people accountable.

Affirming that Binghamton supports legal immigrants and refugees is simply restating the obvious.  Who after all, does not support legal immigrants; it is clearly the illegal aliens that are the focus of the problem, not those here lawfully.  This is a case of hearing other voices in the wilderness and being unable to resist the temptation to say something, anything, so as not to feel left out, and just to hear the sound of their own voice.

Clearly, Binghamton leadership has much more pressing business when it comes to the actual tangible aspects of managing a city.  This senseless resolution, a total reaction to the world around us, offers a solution in search of a non-existent problem.

Unfortunately, once the proposed resolution gained traction with the media, the other six city council members, for fear of being labeled as racists, lent their support and endorsement of this silly statement when they should have counseled their junior colleague about the proper role of governance.  Isn’t crushing debt, the expense of debt service, high taxes, blighted properties, a dwindling population and the over burdened police department bigger and grander priorities than some senseless statement that affirms the obvious?

True statesmen would have had the backbone to not align themselves with this trite work of self-aggrandizement.  Furthermore, a real leader would have successfully counseled his fellow legislators towards greater goals, higher priorities and more noble endeavors that properly support those voters who elected them.

Manage a city that has little or no debt, crime under control, a bustling and thriving business climate, affordable taxes and a well-maintained infrastructure and then perhaps the more frivolous and erudite niceties like rose-colored resolutions proving to the world how enlightened city council members are might be a tolerable endeavor.

Another installment in what should be a long list of helpful articles in service to the women who so desperately need them when it comes to understanding men.  I can’t promise that I will author them all, but lets start with the topics that seem to be the most troubling to the women I know.  Although I have had this discussion in person with every single woman in my sphere of influence, my communication skills must be lacking because I’ve yet to see a break-through in this area, so I’m resorting to the written word and perhaps this will be more durable and understandable.

This is the classic case of a woman meaning one thing and saying another and then blaming the man for his misunderstanding of the inaccuracy of her statement.

This is how it goes, you can use any variation on the theme you would like, but this is the gist of it.  A guy asks a woman to go out with him on a date.  The woman says she can’t because she’s busy, or makes up some other excuse.  What the man hears is that the woman would love to go out with him except his timing is bad, she’s busy.  This almost insures that he will ask her out again in the future.  What the woman really meant was that she is not interested, not today and not tomorrow.  When brought to her attention the reality of how her excuse of being busy actually invited a future request for a date, she says that she doesn’t want to be rude or hurt the guys feelings.  Somehow, women have rationalized the lie that misleading the guy is better than being honest with him, all in the greater interest of not hurting his feelings.  Hey, if you’re that worried about hurting a strangers feelings, SIMPLY GO OUT WITH HIM, that will certainly sooth his feelings.

So, getting back to the point of simply being honest with the guy, to that they say that level of honesty is hurtful and therefore they won’t do it.  Again, it’s the all-or-nothing mentality that seems so pervasive in women when having this conversation.  Telling him thanks but no-thanks can be done very daintily, it doesn’t have to be, “are you kidding me pal, get the hell away from me…”how about,” thanks very much, but I’m just not interested.”

Now, in deference to the lovely women in my life, their defense is that men should be better attuned to nuance, reading between the lines, getting the hints and non-verbal suggestions.  One of my gal-pals described a situation where the same guy emailed her 7 times when she failed to respond.  She told me this as an example of how dense some guys are, and I think, to her surprise, I agreed with her, without question I told her, 7 emails with not a single response is ridiculous, obviously this guy is clueless, but then I asked her, doesn’t this situation help and make my point?  The words women use should be carefully chosen and leave no room for ambiguity or misunderstanding, especially when addressing the kind of moron that can’t understand why 7 emails is 5 too many.  To a guy like this you have to say, “Thanks but no thanks, I’m not interested.”  If you tell him, “thanks but I’m busy this weekend”, you’re inviting him to ask you out next weekend because what he heard you say was, “I would love to go out with you, but I’m busy on the weekend you have asked about.”

Perhaps I’m a slow learner when it comes to understanding the minds of women, matter of fact, I’ll stipulate to it, but it recently dawned on me that many of the women afflicted with the bad communications skills I have outlined above are not really lacking an understanding about what it is they are doing or what kind of signals they are leaving, but instead know exactly what they are doing and use the excuses as plausible deniability when called out on it.

Here is my theory about this sub-set of women.  Even when the woman has no intention of ever agreeing to go out with a particular guy, she nevertheless uses the language I am critical of, purposefully leaving a tiny shadow of doubt about her willingness to eventually accept his offer.  She does this for two distinct reasons.  Number one, in a small town like ours, she wants all of her options open, even if that option is as small as the likelihood that when she runs into this guy, he won’t hold her in distain, and if he continues to pay attention to her, it just might increase her currency socially, as others observe her ability to attract guys.

Second, just knowing that she has the attention of this guy, even if she doesn’t want it to go any further, is still an ego boast and allowing it to remain unsure in his mind, encourages him to keep pursuing her and this conveniently fuels her ego, convincing herself that she still has what it takes.

What I initially mistook as a woman’s lack of understanding about how men’s minds work is really a rather complete understanding of exactly how it works, and the brilliance of manipulating it to serve their own purposes.  That level of cunning is a little scary.

Abortion is to the 21st century what slavery was to the 19th., hopefully without a civil war.  With President Trump and the appropriately aligned Supreme Court, this stage 4 cancer on the American soul can be cured.

We can only ponder what else died with the 58 million American lives abortion has extinguished; cures to all diseases, a President, the greatest thinker of all times, inventors, poets, popes and paupers, all gone, we’ll never know.  And what about the poor mom’s with their scarred souls, in many cases lied to, forced into clinics, unwarned about the aftermath, kept ignorant of adoptive options, spiritual help and the grace of God.

The experience seers the soul of the woman and her family while extinguishing a life in this world, but souls survive the worldly, returning to their maker for an accounting.

When the biblical prophet Jeremiah questioned God about why he was chosen, God said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”  A few years ago, the letters WWJD suddenly appeared throughout pop culture, meaning, What Would Jesus Do?

Dare we ask what the Creator of life thinks about man extinguishing it?  Dare we stand for that accounting?

It’s so much fun to watch, the big government experts, expats, fresh off  careers courtesy of that big and bloated government, fat with pensions, living in socialist society abroad, chirping loudly against Trump; a simple request, ala Steve Bannon:  SHUT UP, you lost.  Time to sit back and let the adults straighten this cesspool up.  The society in which you worked your whole life and never made better is getting a much-needed makeover.  You’re welcome, stay offshore.

It’s so much fun to watch the snow flakes, crying, ranting, raving, frantically looking for their safe spaces, cuddle dogs, rescue toys, dildos, pacifiers, stuffed animals, rallying annoyingly against Trump;  a simple request, ala all the adults:  SHUT UP, you lost.  Don’t worry, we’ll make it better in spite of your ignorance and you’ll benefit as well.  You’re welcome cupcakes.

It’s so much fun to watch the main stream media, struggle with their relevance as they are outed for the scoundrels they have always been, benders of the truth, protectors of the propaganda, out and out liars in many cases, continuing to lie about Trump; a simple request, courtesy of all frustrated Americans:  SHUT UP, you not only lost the election, you lost whatever slim measure of credibility you had left with those fellow travelers of the twisted news you portray.  Good-bye and good riddance.

In addition, a special kind of “up yours” to those 10% of counties who voted for Hillary thinking that simply winning the popular vote would do it.  You were out-smarted by those who understand the Electoral College.  Thank God for the wisdom of our founders in anticipating that the tyranny of the majority might overwhelm the wide-open spaces that make this great country tick.  It is especially gratifying to see your wide-mouthed amazement when the dust settled on the Hillary campaign and reality set in.  The condescension of big city liberals has always been a grin worth slapping off of their artificially whitened smiles.  Cry into your 8 dollar lattes over a copy of the New York Times.

Here is the new reality.  Political correctness is dead.  You’re feeling don’t matter a wit.  It is the truth that matters.  If that somehow affects your “feelings”, tough shit, adjust your feelings buttercup.  Today’s world will be defined by what is logical, makes sense, is thoughtful, practical, doable, not merely by the intentions of the actors.  It matters not a bit what your intentions were if you fail.  Failure is still failure in a thinking person’s world.  And today going forward, we will be thinking, reasoning, debating, discussing, and refining ideas, not singing Kumbaya around an imaginary campfire.  Reality awaits us.  You can awaken and join the conversation, or you can sulk, despair and linger in your safe spaces.  Good luck with that because we’re just getting warmed up.

The recent comments of Democratic Congressman John Lewis of Georgia declaring President-elect Donald Trump to be an “illegitimate President” perfectly demonstrates the tools of political correctness and censorship when used as weapons.  By threatening the branding iron of racist, and promising demonization and marginalization should one dare to have the temerity to challenge Lewis, liberals believe they have won the day by emboldening their weaker comrades while silencing the critics.

Taking a line from Trump himself:  WRONG!

Lewis is an illegitimate Congressman, a one-trick pony, courtesy of the civil rights movement.  He and others courageously staged their marches, sit-ins and other events in order to advance the concept of equality and for these acts of bravery they should be properly venerated, understood and appreciated.  Lewis was bloodied,  beaten and mistreated during those times, however those facts do not qualify him for high office or exempt him from criticism.  Quite the contrary, those repeated blows to the head in Selma 54 years ago might better have been a disqualifier to wiser voters.  No one should make elected office a career, especially offensive when Lewis, after 77 years on the planet and 30 years as a Congressman, has never held a private sector job in his life.  Armed with a BS in Religion and Philosophy from Fisk University, he is qualified for painfully little.  Had Lewis sat out Selma, he would have been bagging groceries at Piggly-Wiggly.

Lewis has marketed his early life in the civil rights movement into a political suit of armor in deflecting, defeating and delegitimizing his critics.  Even when proven a liar for alleging that Tea Party members used racial slurs against him, Lewis the Legend survived.  The Congressman might have taken a page for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s book that describes why Thomas majored in English as an undergraduate at Holy Cross.  Thomas, who also grew up in the deep south said, for him, majoring in English was, “like majoring in a second language.”  One thing literature had taught him was the value of clear communication.  Thomas said, “The court’s opinions should not be incomprehensible.”  In contrast, listening to Lewis speak is to get a quick lesson in Ebonics.  A sitting United State Congressman ought to have at least a basic command of the English language yet Lewis in incomprehensible.  How does one graduate from college and yet be barely understandable when speaking?  Lewis not only sounds like an uneducated street thug, he reads from a script clearly produced by others.  He is given a free pass because of his history and it’s about time he was called out on being a race pimp in a threadbare, empty suite, circa 1963.

John Lewis, Jim Brady and Gabby Gifford’s all serve the same thematic purpose to the Temple-Masters of the Politically Correct; optics over substance, feelings over reason and intention over outcomes, ceremonial hood ornaments adorning the political vehicle of the moment.

So Congressman Lewis, you go ahead and sit-out this inauguration.  Why don’t you and your courageous colleagues do what you did the last time you called for a temper-tantrum and have a sit-in on the house floor?  So much for the strength of Democrats convictions.  Back in June, 2016, House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi joined Lewis at the gun-control sit-in and promised that they would continue, “until hell freezes over.”  24 hours later the pity-party was over and the babies went home, after their photo-ops ran out of political value.

Hard to fathom that Lewis sees “illegitimacy” where it doesn’t exist but is clueless to the fact that his own Democratic party uses him as their lucky token, Congresses version of the family drunk uncle everyone pretends to like at Thanksgiving and laughs about the rest of the year.

King Andy is at it again, giving away other peoples money and bragging about it.  Hitching his liberal cart to the tired socialist plow horse Bernie Sanders, His Eminence tells New Yorkers that his free-college give-away will only cost $163 million.  Really Andy?  Sixty-four campuses, hundreds of thousands of eligible students, a SUNY combined budget of some 30 billion dollars, more like a billion plus taxpayer dollars dumped into a corrupted system run by corrupt men, all to buy votes.

Andy is so trust-worthy, look at his handpicked leader of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, currently under federal indictment for fraud, Alain Kaloyeros, or close personal assistant and loyalist Joseph Percoco, also facing federal corruption charges.  And Andy knew nothing?  Claiming so makes him either stupid or a liar.  Andy is not stupid, but he is a snot-nosed rich brat who has never had a job outside of the public arena, happily riding the slimy, liberal coattails of his father and former New York Governor, King Mario the Pious, who also never worked a private sector day in his charmed life.

The only calluses on Cuomo’s hands came from begging for money from the blood-sucking lobbyists who control him.  Nothing is free.

Four black youths in Chicago kidnapped, beat and tortured a white, mentally handicapped, teenage boy, streaming their crime live onto Facebook.  Managing to escape, the victim was found by Chicago police, wandering the frigid streets of Chicago in a tee shirt, shorts and flip-flops, dazed, exhausted, injured and confused.  The four attackers cut the victims scalp, tore off his cloths and forced him to drink from a toilet, while beating and berating him for about 5 hours.  The video shows them laughing and screaming about hating white people and Donald Trump.

Had this been a white on black scenario, complete with the racially charged remarks, Chicago would be on fire right now and looting would be justified in the name of social justice.

Posted on dozens of websites are the mug shots of these criminals.  The belligerence, the attitude, especially from the two boys is palpable.  Their photos indicate not only a total lack of remorse, but instead an arrogance of prideful boasting.  The back-story here that few outside of the legal or social work fields understand is that in their communities, these thugs are heroes to many.  While normal people see this video and flinch with revulsion, many of the folks representing the communities these sub-human felons come from are watching and laughing right along with the perpetrators.  These criminals didn’t enter the world this way, they were taught this behavior.

This video is a microcosm of the same reaction and mind-set perpetrated in larger groups, like the rioting in Ferguson, Charlotte, Milwaukee and Baltimore, nothing more than an excuse to commit mayhem while citing some vague rationalization for doing so.

In the case of this horrific crime in Chicago, it was clearly articulated by the thugs about a hatred of white people and more specifically Donald Trump.  In the case of the riots, again, hatred towards white police officers, the false accusation of “Hands Up Don’t Shoot”, which never happened, and the false, repeating narrative that white cops routinely and unjustly kill black men.  Even when almost all of the law enforcement involved were black, as was the case in Baltimore, the narrative simply changes from white police to police in general because truth be told; the underlying issue for black criminals and their supporters is a distain for authority of any kind.  These animals have never followed rules and they spit on the ones society lays down.  That is the definition of a criminal.  Clearly, a large component of the criminal element of the black community is perpetrating a continuous hate campaign against white people, neatly wrapped in the ongoing, lying assumption that blacks are routinely mistreated by the police.

Now it appears that the new, expanded excuse for criminal deeds is the election of Donald Trump.

The four pieces of garbage that committed this barbarous act are the product of a culture and criminal society that is larger and more insidious than most Americans can fathom.  I fear that United State of America is on the verge of a race war the likes of which no country has ever seen.  To those who embrace this sub-culture of anarchy I offer this single prognostication.  The vast majority of civil society will not lay down and take a beating, especially to cowardly, gutless cretins who can only find success when beating down the weak.  The day of reckoning is long overdue.

In January I put an ad in the local newspaper reading;  Wanted:  Canoe or Kayak.

Being a single dad with two teens at home, my thought was that with a canoe and a kayak, the three of us could go paddling together, sharing the outdoors as well as each others company.  The strategy was to buy one of those sturdy, aluminum canoes along with a sleek little light-weight kayak.  I reasoned that the little used canoes littering hundreds of family’s barns and garages would be gladly exchanged for some unexpected income, especially in the middle of winter.  What middle class family can’t use a few found dollars right after Christmas and before the taxes are due?  Hopefully thoughts of paddling would seem so far away as we negotiated price.

As the calls mounted, I heard all kinds of offers.  Eventually, a gentleman called me with what sounded like a really good deal.  Jim introduced himself as the manufacturer’s representative that sold and distributed Old Town boats to regional dealers.  Old Town is a fine maker of canoes and kayaks and has been in the business since 1859.  He had a kayak that was sporting a manufacturing blemish and Old Town did not want it sold via their traditional sales route, so he offered it at a significant savings.  I agreed to meet him at his home.  My son and I arrived there early the next evening after supper.  The kayak was just what I had been hoping for and the price was so reasonable so I accepted without haggling.

The next day, I received a call from a man with a Grumman aluminum canoe, exactly what I had been waiting for.  After getting directions I arranged to meet Doug at his home late in the afternoon.  I arrived at his modest trailer park just before dark.  I knocked on the door of his seventies vintage single wide trailer and Doug quickly ushered me out to the back yard as he pulled on his hunting coat.  We struggled to unfreeze the canoe from the ground as we turned it over and swept away snow covering ice covering leaves forming a stiff carpet of the bottom of the canoe.  Obviously anxious to make the sale, Doug talked up what a good boat it had been and how his kids had lost interest after he bought the “big boat”, which he proudly gestured toward.  “I’ll throw in the paddles and I’ll even deliver it”, he said.  “As a matter of fact, I’ve got another canoe, and old wooden one, that I’ll throw in, no extra charge!”  I was happy to take just the aluminum canoe and I told Doug that I was not interested in the other.  He said, “Come on, just look at it,” as we started to walk towards a broken down shed.  As we swept away even more debris that we did on the first canoe, I saw the words Old Town on a brass placard.  “I just want to get rid of it.” Doug said.  “I’ll deliver them both for free.”  We shock hands as I gave Doug directions to my house.

Doug dutifully arrived at my house, on time, with both canoes precariously perched on the roof of his old pickup, pointing up and over the windshield, the whole family crammed in the cab. As I helped him pull the boats out of the truck and into my yard, I paid him the $100 promised and he happily accepted.  I dragged the aluminum canoe behind my house and tipped it on its side, against the fence.  I went back and looked more closely at the decrepit old wooden canoe.  The seats were woven cane, badly damaged with more holes than seat.  The frame work was basically all there but many of the small wooden parts were chipped or broken.  I took digital images of the boat and the brass placard and called Jim, the Old Town representative.  After exchanging email addresses, I sent Jim the images of the old canoe.  My phone rang later that evening and Jim was excited.  Old Town keeps very good records it seems as Jim was able to tell me when the canoe was built, what the customer had ordered that was special, who the dealer was, when it was delivered and what it cost.  The canoe was custom ordered in 1961 and was hand-built by Old Town.  In 1961, that canoe sold for just over $800.00!  Jim told me that without doing a thing, a collector might pay $500.00, maybe more.

The next morning, I placed a personal ad in the Boating Section of the newspaper.  My phone sprang to life with calls from collectors.  The following day, the high bidder loaded the canoe from the exact spot it was delivered to me not a week earlier and I was $600.00 richer.

I had paid $200.00 for the kayak and $100.00 for the aluminum canoe, both terrific deals.  I thought about Doug, his trailer, his family and his old truck as I drove towards Doug’s home.  One of the kids opened the door and I asked for Doug.  His wife recognized me and asked if something was wrong or if I was looking for a refund.  I assured her no and at the same time, Doug appeared from another room.  I explained to Doug the gist of what had happened and then I gave him $300.00, reasoning that I had everything I wanted at no cost.  It only seemed fair.  Doug and his family were on the verge of tears as Doug hurried me into the kitchen.  He said, “You won’t believe what I was doing when you knocked on the door.”  Doug showed me a notebook.  The pencil entry was entitled, Wish List.  In columns were items Doug explained were for the “big boat” that he knew he couldn’t really afford, but was wistfully hoping for.  Doug told me that he didn’t think there were people “like that” anymore.  I told Doug I was only doing what was right.  As I was about to leave, Doug’s wife asked me if I were a Christian.  I told her yes.  She said, “I thought so.”  As I trudged towards the car, through the crunchy snow, it troubled me to think that doing what is right is now sadly relegated to only Christians.  Is that what we have become in this country?  I sure hope not.