Go Black Cats!

I’ve been taking some time off, for Thanksgiving and before, so I wrote no posts about the horrific events these past days in India. For an excellent summary of developments as they occurred, click here. As usual, most recent is at top.

But what I wanted to highlight here is a favorite current video of mine, a journalist describing the operation and one of the Bravehearts telling a bit about how events went down.

This is Operation Black Tornado: It’s a top-down approach, flushing out the terrorists floor by floor, starting at the top, working their way down. Away from Nariman House NSG commandos storming the Taj, the strategy deliberate operation. Sanitizing the hotel corridor by corridor, room by room, over three hundred in all. Wait. Observe. And then, shoot.

“There were only three to four terrorists at the time when we entered the hotel. But the firing and the grenades were being dropped from different places. So probably they were going from one place to the other…These people were very familiar with the hotel layout and it appeared that they had carried out observing it before.”

India’s National Security Guards, the men in the line of fire, the Bravehearts who put their lives on the line, fighting for you.

How I want to kiss that man!

What is broken in Nebraska?

I’m feeling a bit angry right now, and called my five-year-old in for a hug. I also feel really lucky because as high maintenance as he is, his hugs also have a healing power to them, something I needed in this moment of sheer dumbfoundedness.

Nebraska law since the summer has allowed for parents to drop off their child in a “safe haven,” a hospital, e.g., and there has been no shortage of people willing to take the state up on its offer. Intended, like other laws in other states, to stop the flow of babies left in Dumpsters, people have been leaving children of all ages owing to a “loophole” in the law.

Idiocy is more like it. Who drafted this law and who approved it? I feel like taking names and kicking arse at the moment, because even in my lack of knowing when it comes to lawmaking, I find it hard to believe that not only the law’s drafters, but also those who voted for it, could possibly miss that it was so broad. That it was meant to cover little babies, not a five-year-old boy and not a 17-year-old girl, two of the children deposited by parents who wanted them no more. The last I heard 34 children have been abandoned in Nebraska hospitals. One Florida father was willing to make the drive to take advantage of Nebraska’s “generosity.”

This is one of the hardest things I’ve written because I’m still reeling from the five-year-old boy. When I heard it on the radio I thought of my own boy, face still slightly chubby, missing a bottom tooth, feet not the tiny ones of his infancy but still so sleek, so perfectly formed, so astonishing to look at in the immediacy of them. It’s a word I ordinarily wouldn’t pair with feet–it makes no sense, really. But somehow those feet, whether they are pushing against the bottom of my own, or darting across the floor, or idly laying around while their owner reads a book, none of them aware they are being admired–those feet keep me in awe and I still, even five and a half years into this deal, I still rub them and kiss them. They are so there.

What really makes no sense to me is how someone can give that up. No, that’s not quite true. I don’t understand it, but I am aware of what can lead a person to that state of mind. I don’t know what a person needs to be equipped with–or what they are not equipped with–to push them over the line where they actually do what they contemplated, but I know that when they don’t get some sort of supplemental something, it happens. Five year old boys are separated from their mothers because the mother, who perhaps didn’t have the skills to navigate through society, agencies, triplicate forms, appointments, overburdened social workers, don’t have anyone else who can support or guide them.

I’m not making excuses for parents. I just know, from having a special needs child and enduring the ignorance of people who were clueless as to what he needed but willing to label and throw him to the dust heap of problem children, how difficult it can be. My state is imperfect (they probably all are) but does a fairly decent job of connecting families with resources. And I know a thing or two about research. But what about Nebraska? What on earth is happening there? Is something so broken in the system that when parents are given the chance to slip away they are so desperate they do it? What kind of place do you have to be in–literally and figuratively–to be able to drop a child off and never come back?

That five year old haunts me, and I can’t help but wonder if he or his family have problems they could no longer face together and the state seemed oblivious or uninterested. Not that I think the state is there to solve all people’s problems–I think it’s been discussed enough recently to know it’s absurd to believe that. Still, society ought to have some supports, some type of community outreaches that can enable parents to get information from people who know about the difficulties they have–even if it is “simply” lack of parental experience and coping skills. My own state, owner of the dismal statistic of highest child-abuse rates in the nation, has parenting classes scheduled for day and night, workweek and weekend, with leaflets, flyers, literature of all types displayed in many different places. From what I understand most are free, but there also are ones that award grants to be able to pay for materials. Attendance is both voluntary and court-ordered.

It’s not my intention to pick on Nebraskans. God help us maybe the same would happen here if the law allowed it. I want to say it wouldn’t, but it’s really hard to ever know what can happen in our own homes if breakdown occurred. But it’s there in Nebraska and fixing the disgraceful hole in the law is not the last stop for them. Now they know so many amongst them would–and have–abandon their own children given half the chance, they need to look at why this is. What are the common denominators between these children and what should they be doing to help parents and families position themselves for success.

Letter from a 48 to a 52: If you really mean it, you’ll read this and others like it

Whoever you are reading this, have you seen this? It’s a website called “From 52 to 48/48 to 52 with love.” I saw it a couple of days ago and resisted writing about it here because it brought such strong feelings in me, which I suppose is true of everything else I write about, but this was not the sort of strong I’m used to sharing with people, especially anonymous Internet surfers.

So why write now? Well, because I am a big believer in free speech and being heard, and I want what I have to say to be out there, even if it means I’m repeating the same things others have already said–and said much more eloquently than I’m about to. I haven’t exactly let go of one of my initial responses, which was:

Fuck. You.

but I do have other things to say. I might not have been inclined to say any of it because I’m generally not in the habit of talking to people who aren’t listening to me, and I also often perceive these types of lovey-dovey websites as too “feelgood” to bother with. I’m a very emotional and sentimental person, to be honest, and yet I’m not at all. I keep my emotions to myself and those very close to me and don’t have a lot of patience for stickiness. So while I currently am willing to continue through the list of all these pictures (what I wasn’t willing to finish two days ago), you can be sure it’s with my guard up.

You’ll pardon me if I remain largely unimpressed with these pictures. I’ve read of some who give lots of credit for people having the “courage” to plaster their own pictures on the Internet; I don’t see it that way. Depending on the tilt or the message, facial expression or aura I sense in the picture, I see it on a continuum that goes from somewhere like juvenile exhibitionism to blatant condescension. Sure, somewhere in there probably are people who really mean what they say, and my reply is: I’ll believe it when I see and hear about it. In large doses. Well yeah, thanks a lot for patting me on the head and saying, “I’ll stick up for you,” but my first question when I see those messages is: Where were you a week ago? Where were you when Sarah Palin, who is my governor, was ravaged and accused and insulted and blamed nonstop by a media and bloggers who never let facts get in the way of their insistence to dislike and hate her? They (you?), with gleeful malice, jaunted their way through the Internet and other media, on about accusations that were later proven false, evidence they either ignored or replaced with the downright despicable. I mean really. Incest? Lies about who is whose mother? Where was your sense of decency then? Had it been one or two instances it might have been easily forgotten, but it was instead a constant, hate-filled assault, doodlebugs that caught us with their shrapnel.

Did you ever stop to think in the last year (with increasing ferocity in the last few months) how awful it is to try a rational discussion with someone who cuts me off, as soon as it is known I didn’t support Obama, with accusations of racism? What it does when time after time after time after time it happens, the names and expletives getting worse and far more frequent, and the faces twisted with anger started to make me wonder if this person really was shifting into a frightening lack of rationality? And then when the pictures started–guns at Sarah Palin’s head, fist slamming into her face–and celebrity endorsements of violence–Madonna saying she will “kick her ass” and Sarah Bernhardt ranting about Palin being gang raped? And, just like people repeat comedians’ lines or copy pop stars’ clothing styles, sure enough started the acts of aggression and violence against 48s from the camp of the 52s. Some neighborhoods couldn’t keep a McCain/Palin sign on their lawns–and they were the lucky ones, along with people such as one right here in Alaska whose sign on an overpass (we do that here) was ripped down by someone who didn’t like it, altered and replaced it. (And the person who did it bragged in her blog and was cheered for it.) Graffiti’d houses and cars, a small parade making its way through Manhattan being all but tarred and feathered, and for God’s sake a woman being beaten on the face with her own sign.

How do you think it feels when people say that I ought to be put into a mental institution for having religious ideas and beliefs? That because I dislike abortion I am against women? (Oh yeah, and after the treatment by mainstream feminists of Sarah Palin, that was really credible. But inconsistencies they selectively ignore.) And if I don’t support gay marriage–for reasons none of these people ever bothered to ask–I am automatically labelled a “hater.” A “Nazi supporter.”

How do you think it feels to have a guy twice my size get in my face and spit at me “O-BAH-MAH!!” while my five-year-old child stands right next to me?

Well just in case you never thought about it in a deeper level than, “Oh, that’s not cool,” let me tell you: It’s frightening, demoralizing, degrading, oppressive and humiliating. I’m pretty sure some of you had nothing to do with it, but where I come from silence = assent, and that assent was served in heaping spoonfuls. There was blanket nodding going on when the mainstream media twisted words and events, and in fact fabricated at least one in order to get their guy in the White House. And when that was proven to have likely been dreamed up by that vile “journalist,” who reported on it? Not the MSM, that’s for sure.

And none of this is even taking into consideration the differences we have re: how this country should be run. I won’t get into it in great detail here, partly because we will never agree 100% on all the issues. I expect this even in better times and to a certain degree even I almost prefer it that way. But some of the things this guy is proposing–how can you even tolerate this? How can you support diminishing our military and replacing it with some “civilian force” that is “just as well funded as the military”? No offense, but were you awake in history class the day–nay the weeks–they talked about the Gestapo, Stasi or any other brand of secret police?

Did any of you ever consider the potential consequences of such a force combined with the de-arming of a population along with forcing their silence by enacting the so-called Fairness Doctrine? Most people who own guns tend to be conservative and disagree with the main stream media, and talk radio gives them a place to get information and exchange it. I realise talk radio hasn’t been very successful for liberals, but it’s not because anyone has shut you down–it’s because the market simply doesn’t have the demand for it you would prefer. If it did, you would be free to establish a radio station and say what you want. And if listeners didn’t like it, they could put their finger on the dial and move it to one that talks about what they want to hear. Why is is OK to eliminate that option for us? Our “side” has largely been driven out of newspapers and television; is it not enough that Obama and Pelosi et al. have to take away from us what is left?

As far as weapons go, I know there are some, probably many of you who don’t like guns and don’t want one. And that’s your right. Nobody says you have to have one. But our constitution guarantees our right to disagree and choose to own one (or more) if we feel the need, which many of us do. The arguments like, “Why can’t you just use a baseball bat?” or “What do people need guns for anyway?” are not acceptable reasons to deny someone their constitutional protection simply because you are disinterested. We may have different mentalities about gun ownership, but I thought your party appreciated diversity? If for some reason I thought it was OK (and had the power) to shut down your right to free speech (the First Amendment being something I’m certain you value), I’m pretty sure you’d have something to say about that. As far as crime goes, I can’t urge you strongly enough to take an actual look at numbers: cities with bans have higher rates of gun crime and seizing weapons from citizens who follow the law will do nothing about getting guns out of the hands of those who don’t.

And so that brings me to a couple of other questions. To the young lady who wrote early on:

Dear 48,
I promise to listen to you
to fight for you
to respect you always
Love,
52

and another young lady a few pics down from that:

I may not agree
with what you have to
say…but I will fight
for your right to say it.
(REALLY)
[heart] 52

Really? Are you going to stand outside city halls and go to town meetings and write letters to Pelosi et al. and phone in liberal talk shows, pen editorials or letters to editors, and all manner of other places with the power and arenas who will pay attention, will you go or write or call to these places and fight for our right not only to say and hear views different from your own but also declare that shutting off media outlets only because they are conservative, or imposing limitations or extra requirements on them is unconstitutional and wrong? Will you vote against politicians who do that to us? Will you march with us to show support for our right to speak and be heard? Will you make a point to tell people–such as one blogger whose joy at the possibility of filibuster-proof Houses was exceeded only by her great hope it really happened–will you explain to these people that they have so much power already it is frightening and that this kind of majority was most definitely something our founding fathers despised and worked so it wouldn’t happen? Will you explain to them that this kind of joy doesn’t inspire confidence in others no matter the party, and that this kind of power is exceedingly dangerous and lack of checks and balances most often brings about oppression for a certain segment of the population? Will you do that and more?

To the grown up(s) who posed a little boy with these words:

To: 48
Will you play
with me?
Circle–yes no
[heart] — 52

Will you please consider the thought many of us 48ers hold that children should not be brought into this arena? I say this not because I want to dictate what your child should learn, but because I want to believe you will extend to me the same respect. There are far too many schools that allow or do nothing about teachers who subtly and over time pass the message to children (who respect their teachers and will often tell their parents, “But that’s what my teacher said!” and continue to do it teacher’s way) that what they are taught by their parents is irresponsible, backwards, foolish, wrong, stupid, something to be ashamed of, and slowly indoctrinate them into a belief system inconsistent with their families’ values.

Are you at all like some others who say they will fight for us? if so, will you pay attention to what your children bring home and even if you agree, get involved with the schools on behalf of the parents who don’t? Will you respect the values of those different from you enough to help delineate the distinction between forming awareness and crafting ideology? Will you speak out against this and this? After you watch the video with the teacher, you may have a better understanding of why I feel doubt and lack of confidence in your claims to support us. The teacher in the video asserted she said “Good” when people voiced their support for John McCain, when in fact she had clearly done the opposite, by muttering, “Oh Jesus” (as an expletive, something offensive to many people in itself) and berating a young girl who did no differently than what any of the other kids in that class did by repeating what she heard at home. And that teacher shouldn’t even be presenting that “lesson” in the first place. It takes a certain type of educator to talk politics without violation, and I can tell you most teachers don’t fit the bill.

And will you oppose assignments as in the link above? Will you recognise and point out to those in positions to do something that this child is being taught what to think and learning nothing at all about the mechanics of writing? Educators, social scientists and psychologists (amongst other researchers) are now aware that what children learn, and the way they are taught to learn, influences not just what they absorb but also how they interact with others and what skills they develop, such as ability to collaborate and make compromises with, say, a team of co-workers with whom they disagree on some aspects of a project. But what I see in this child’s paper–the fault of his teacher, not him–is an inclination to hate someone for beliefs he never investigated or found to be true, lack of critical observational and thinking skills, and condemnation for those whose lifestyles are different than his. That was just a bit of what I saw in that assignment; I wrote about it in a bit more length and you can read it here.

And by the way, will you speak up to save home schooling if it becomes a target in Barack Obama’s desire to “better” our school system? Will you support parents’ rights to put to use their expert knowledge of their own children and the right to choose not to send them to schools that are either failing or inconsistent with what parents want for them?

I am aware this post is very long and if you have gotten to this point I must say I really appreciate it, especially if you have read and watched all the links. I’ll never know if you did, really, but God or the universe or whoever or whatever you put your faith in I want to believe will somehow smile upon or reward you for making the attempt. I just hope you won’t forget about all this when you’ve turned your computer off.

I really don’t want to keep thinking that I have so little trust or belief in you. As I went into some detail above, it’s been rather rough and I believe I am truthful and accurate when I say the party I’ve supported for this election cycle has never put you through what we have been subjected to–never. Yes there are stupid people on both sides and dumb things have been said and done in both corners. (Can you say corner when you’re only talking about two?) But in my lifetime it’s fair to say you have not been vilified, verbally harassed or degraded in the way we and our children have–children who have absolutely nothing to do with and know nothing about politics. Maybe not you in particular, but so many in your party or who supported your candidate behaved badly–that’s putting it lightly–and all of you need to take a serious look at all of this and contemplate why putting up these signs on a website comes off as condescending, patronising, superficial and shallow. Many of us equate you with abusers who pat their abused on the head and croon about how it will be alright from here on out; is it really going to be true after watching it happen time and time again?

Some reading this may even believe I or others are going overboard with posts as long as this or that our perspectives are exaggerated. Well, that’s your right, I suppose. But you should also remember that this country is seriously damaged at the moment: a financial meltdown, racism that doesn’t disappear because a black president is elected–and in fact was stoked during the course of his candidacy-and half the population strongly opposed to the radical and fearful changes Obama proposes, seemingly without care for what we say, based on other plans he states. And, after all, you are reaching out to us with your slogans and banners and signs and pictures. Forgive us if we are angry that you think making up is that easy after all that has happened, but if you want us to take your sentiments seriously, you are going to have to go beyond the blogs and show us in a big way that you mean what you say. Actions speak louder than words–and little signs on the Internet.

Read what other people have to say about it here and here.

Change

“I feel like we got a righteous wind at our backs here, but we’re going to have to work. We’re going to have to struggle. We’re going to have to fight.”–Barack Obama

“The ill wind of opportunism is falling, the righteous wind of socialism is on the rise.

By the end of this year the victory of socialism will be greatly assured. Naturally there will be many struggles ahead and we must struggle hard.”–Chairman Mao

That was the last step towards change before the election; the sheeple looked it in the face and said, “Yes.” Ah, devotees of the Ministry of Love.

Click here and here for more.

National holiday for President-Elect Barack Obama

And I bet you thought “Office of the President-Elect” was rich.

Every time I hear one absurdity I think it can’t get any more ridiculous. “What will they think of next?” I ask myself. And yet they always manage to outdo themselves. Via Michelle Malkin, to wit:

Plans are being made to promote a national holiday for Barack Obama, who will become the nation’s 44th president when he takes the oath of office Jan. 20.

“Yes We Can” planning rallies will be at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. every Tuesday at the downtown McDonald’s restaurant, 1100 Kansas Ave., until Jan. 13. The goals are to secure a national holiday in Obama’s honor, to organize celebrations around his inauguration and to celebrate the 200th birthday of President Abraham Lincoln, who was born on Feb. 12 1809.

At 7:30 a.m. on Inauguration Day, Obama Cake will be served at the downtown McDonald’s, and a celebration is scheduled for 8 p.m. to midnight Jan. 20 at the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center, 420 S.E. 6th.

For more information, contact Sonny Scroggins, (785) 232-3761, 845-6148 or at biasbustersofkansas@yahoo.com; Lamont Lassiter, McDonald’s general manager, 608-2739; Ava Chander-Beard, (785) 234-9138, ava.beard@sbcglobal.net; or Rhoda Carr, (785) 220-5883.

So what’s next, then? It will be a national holiday and we all have to go do some community service in the spirit of unity? We’ll all have to contribute various foodstuffs and picnic supplies for a giant, block potluck? Should I start anticipating the enormous murals and paintings of him (a la Ruhollah Khomeini) at intersections and on the sides of buildings? And when do we stop throwing newspapers that might have his name printed on them into such filthy receptacles as recycling or trash bins? (God Obama help me if the acolytes ever find out I used them to clean my windows.) Will there be a new, national religion in which canonisation means no less than twelve pilgramages a year to his shrine–long before he ever dies? Hell, if they can make a holiday for a president before he ever becomes one, why wait until he dies for the memorials?

Not to mention seeing his face in the wood on a park fence or tears dripping from the eyes of one of his millions of soon-to-be statues. (Wonder if they can be made to weep before they are created?) In fact, I’m waiting for the sightings to start and will be busy tonight trying to accurately predict which geographical locale will be lucky enough to be the first to experience the phenomenon.

You know what is perhaps the most interesting part of all? That despite this possibly being a prank, it’s so believable! And the idea has had its defenders.

Where and when will this insane, obsessive, cultish and hyperventilating worship of this man, who has yet done nothing for the United States, end? We’ll be taxed to fund the massive de-programming efforts, I’m sure, but by that time I will probably be so grateful the national nightmare is over that I’ll be canvassing for contributions myself.

In the meantime, American Pundit wants to know if everyone has practiced their goose-stepping. I guess for the parades.

Man arrested for wearing McCain/Palin shirt by Obama rally?

I always want to know what happened before the camera started rolling, so I’m not going to jump on this with fervor (note this restraint was not in evidence before attacks against Sarah Palin). However, I find it shocking and disturbing to say the least, and I don’t think it is unreasonable for people to wonder if this is the way things are going to be.

Before anybody starts asking, “Why was he wearing a McCain/Palin shirt near an Obama rally anyway? please remind yourself that we are in the United States. People are allowed to walk along the streets and there are no laws about what style of clothing adults must wear. In the realm of anything being possible, it could be the guy went there with the intent purpose of antagonizing people. But it doesn’t look like it to me: he was asked to leave (which might have been for his own safety) and, according to the cameraman, he “refused.” If you listen closely you can hear the man trying to tell the officers he needed to get to his car (which was away from where they were pushing him). He’s not trying to hit or otherwise harm the officers (or anybody else) and didn’t even try to get on any kind of soapbox. It appears he happened upon the group of Obama supporters and attracted police attention because the crowd, civilized as they are, started booing and jeering him.

I’m trying to give the police the benefit of the doubt here. If they were just trying to get the guy away from a possible bad scene, why not just tell him that? Maybe they were intimidated by the camera; maybe they thought he was too drunk to comprehend their reasoning. He looked pretty sensible to me, though, and responded appropriately by trying to explain why he wanted to go the other way. At one point he had even put his hands behind his back.

And then one cop starting shoving and roughing him up. What the hell is that all about? He didn’t deserve that and there is no justifiable reason for doing that to him. He was no threat to those officers and putting up no kind of physical fight. Fortunately at least one of those cops had the good sense to stop the other one from hurting the guy, but then he was cuffed and put into the squad car.

You know what disturbs me just as much–or maybe even more? The Obama supporters whipped up into a crowd mentality in which they simply had to jeer the guy and shouting out in a way that would likely intimidate anybody. (And this had started before he was arrested and the crowd appeared to be egging the police on.) I’m sure there are some who are more than happy to call me racist for writing that, but it’s all there on the tape. Whatever their individual thoughts and beliefs on the whole situation, it is clear to see their frenzied hatred as they mock him and then cheer when he is cuffed. I really couldn’t make out much of what else they were saying, but it’s not difficult to imagine what it might be.

Is this what we are headed for? That freedom of speech and expression will be questioned and we will have to justify why we were in a certain place or wearing a certain slogan? Will we be penalized for being the individual amongst a mob mentality that seeks some sort of spoils, whether it be racially or politically motivated? Are we going to have to fight back against a system in which we are in the wrong because of the opinions we hold?

I want answers for this. I want to know what was going on before the camera started rolling, why he was arrested and what happened to him afterward. And I want to know why there was tolerance and support for mob intimidation and threatening behavior but no protections for that man’s First Amendment rights. Whether you Obama supporters like it or not, this smacks of 1939. I wonder what “52″ has to say about this? Are you guys going to support this man’s (and our) right to free speech now that you are all so keen to be “united”?

I’ll try to find out more as (if) the story gets some coverage. If anyone else gets details, I would sure appreciate knowing them.

Indoctrination 101

When you were in grade school, did you get 100% with that many spelling, grammar and punctuation errors?

Where shall I start? Let’s see:

*Is this the polite public discourse this kid is being taught? (“…some stupid person will not get in ofice.” [sic]) (emphasis mine)

*Already being indoctrinated to despise the wealthy. (“Obama is not an oil tycoon yay.” No he’s just a kickback king.)

*This youngster is learning the art of ageism. They start ‘em young nowadays, I guess. (“Some other advantiges [sic] are that he is young and not senile.” OK, what are the other advantages? And is it acceptable these days to define something by what it is not?)

*Selective observation. (“He is a good sport because he didn’t sue the Daily Show for that funny Obama thing.” Did his teacher forget to show them all the Tina Fey swipes at Governor Palin?)

*Listen, Pablo, this is how it works: Free passes for Dems. (“Why I don’t want Mccain [sic] is because he bombed Vietnom [sic].” Oh, it must be acceptable to have dubious connections to unrepentant domestic terrorists, then.)

*Conservatives are the big, bad wolf. (“…we are all DOOMED EVEN MORE.” Way to go with the scare tactics.)

*Being taught to hate instead of disagree. (“Why I hate Sara [sic] Paline [sic] is because she hunts animals.” They must all be vegetarians at that school.)

*Name-calling is an acceptable discourse when directed at Republicans, but racist when used to describe Democrats. (“Sara [sic] and Mccain [sic] are both oil monkeys or tycoons.” I guess they don’t have any problem with the George Sorros wealth, though.)

*If it comes from the mouth of a Hollywood star, it must be true! (“Sara [sic] Paline [sic] belives [sic] in the bible [sic] but it says they’re [sic] was [sic] no dinosaurs so. [sic] WHERE IS THE STUPID OIl COMING from?” Someone tell Pablo: Not from here.)

It’s not this kid’s fault he is being taught to say these things. But I can tell you there are a lot of educators who seem to be forgetting what they learned in teacher training about Horace Mann, John Dewey and freedom of thought. I am disturbed and disgusted, and as the mother of a kindergartner myself it scares the shit out of me that Barack Obama’s plans may include doing away with home-schooling, one of the only options we have against the brainwashing of our children, which takes place every day in our government schools.

We should also be concerned that regarding certain lessons we as parents may not have the “right” to remove our children from class. If you are a conservative parent out there and inclined to dismiss this as something that surely can’t happen, my advice to you as a teacher and a parent would be to watch and listen very carefully to what your children bring home with them.

See Arctic Fox for their take on it.

The Fourth Leaflet of the White Rose: Doubting the reality

It shouldn’t have had to come to this, but apparently a majority of Americans are determined to learn the hard way. May God only grant that it not be the same hard way millions of others have had to endure this lesson.

There is an ancient maxim that we repeat to our children: “He who won’t listen will have to feel.” But a wise child will not burn his fingers the second time on a hot stove. In the past weeks Hitler has chalked up successes in Africa and in Russia. In consequence, optimism on the one hand and distress and pessimism on the other have grown within the German people with a rapidity quite inconsistent with traditional German apathy. On all sides, one hears among Hitler’s opponents – the better segments of the population – exclamations of despair, words of disappointment and discouragement, often ending with the question: “Will Hitler now, after all…?”

Meanwhile, the German offensive against Egypt has ground to a halt. Rommel has to bide his time in a dangerously exposed position. But the push into the East proceeds. This apparent success has been purchased at the most horrible expense of human life, and so it can no longer be counted an advantage. Therefore we must warn against all optimism.

Neither Hitler nor Goebbels can have counted the dead. In Russia, thousands are lost daily. It is the time of the harvest, and the reaper cuts into the ripe grain with wide strokes. Mourning takes up her abode in the country cottages, and there is no one to dry the tears of the mothers. Yet Hitler feeds with lies those people whose most precious belongings he has stolen and whom he has driven to a meaningless death.

Every word that comes from Hitler’s mouth is a lie. When he says peace, he means war, and when he blasphemously uses the name of the Almighty, he means the power of evil, the fallen angel, Satan. His mouth is the foul-smelling maw of Hell, and his might is at bottom accursed. True, we must consider the struggle against the National Socialist state with rational means; but whoever today still doubts the reality, the existence of demonic powers, has failed by a wide margin to understand the metaphysical background of this war. Behind the concrete, the visible events, behind all objective, logical considerations, we find the irrational element: the struggle against the demon, against the servants of the Antichrist. Everywhere and at all times demons have been lurking in the dark, waiting for the moment when man is weak; when of his own volition he leaves his place in the order of Creation as founded for him by God in freedom; when he yields to the force of evil, separates himself from the powers of a higher order; and, after voluntarily taking the first step, he is driven on to the next and the next at a furiously accelerating rate. Everywhere and at all times of greatest trial men have appeared, prophets and saints who cherished their freedom, who preached the One God and who with His help brought the people to a reversal of their downward course. Man is free, to be sure, but without the true God he is defenseless against the principle of evil. He is like a rudderless ship, at the mercy of the storm, an infant without his mother, a cloud dissolving into thin air.

I ask you, you as a Christian wrestling for the preservation of your greatest treasure, whether you hesitate, whether you incline toward intrigue, calculation, or procrastination in the hope that someone else will raise his arm in your defense? Has God not given you the strength, the will to fight? We must attack evil where it is strongest, and it is strongest in the power of Hitler.

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors was power; but they had no comforter. Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive – ECCLESASTES 4

True anarchy is the generative element of religion. Out of the annihilation of every positive element she lifts her gloriously radiant countenance as the founder of a new world… If Europe were about to awaken again, if a state of states, a teaching of political science were at hand! Should hierarchy then… be the principle of the union of states?

Blood will stream over Europe until the nations become aware of the frightful madness which drives them in circles. And then, struck by celestial music and made gentle, they approach their former alters all together, hear about the works of peace, and hold a great celebration of peace with fervent tears before the smoking alters. Only religion can reawaken Europe, establish the rights of the peoples, and install Christianity in new splendor visibly on earth in its office as guarantor of peace. – NOVALIS

We wish expressly to point out that the White Rose is not in the pay of any foreign power. Though we know that National Socialist power must be broken by military means, we are trying to achieve a renewal from within of the severely wounded German spirit. This rebirth must be preceeded, however, by the clear recognition of all the guilt with which the German people have burdened themselves, and by an uncompromising battle against Hitler and his all too many minions, party members, Quislings, and the like. With total brutality the chasm that separates the better portion of the nation from everything that is identified with National Socialism must be opened wide. For Hitler and his followers there is no punishment on this earth commensurate with their crimes. But out of love for coming generations we must make an example after the conclusion of the war, so that no one will ever again have the slightest urge to try a similar action. And do not forget the petty scoundrels in this regime; note their names, so that none will go free! They should not find it possible, having had their part in these abominable crimes, at the last minute to rally to another flag and then act as if nothing has happened!

To set you at rest, we add that the addresses of the readers of the White Rose are not recorded in writing. They were picked at random from directories.

We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!

Not all of this, of course, should be taken as literal parallels. As I said in the beginning of this “series,” there are eerie similarities and now it seems some children indeed are determined to burn their hands twice. They, in their blind belief that rivers will suddenly flow with wine and money will grow on trees (or be delivered to them, perhaps), people who want everything done for them have voted in a government that has promised to rise them above their world degradation and every person can at last afford a simple glass of beer.

Is liberty that easily purchased?

The Third Leaflet of the White Rose: The Supreme Law

Salus publica suprema lex

All ideal forms of government are utopias. A state cannot be constructed on a purely theoretical basis; rather, it must grow and ripen in the way an individual human being matures. But we must not forget that at the starting point of every civilization the state was already there in rudimentary form. The family is as old as man himself, and out of this initial bond man, endowed with reason, created for himself a state founded on justice, whose highest law was the common good. The state should exist as a parallel to the divine order, and the highest of all utopias, the civitas dei, is the model which in the end it should approximate.

Here we will not pass judgment on the many possible forms of the state – democracy, constitutional monarchy, and so on. But one matter needs to be brought out clearly and unambiguously. Every individual human being has a claim to a useful and just state, a state which secures the freedom of the individual as well as the good of the whole. For, according to God’s will, man is intended to pursue his natural goal, his earthly happiness, in self-reliance and self-chosen activity, freely and independently within the community of life and work of the nation.

But our present “state” is the dictatorship of evil. “Oh, we’ve known that for a long time,” I hear you object, “and it isn’t necessary to bring that to our attention again.” But, I ask you, if you know that, why do you not bestir yourselves, why do you allow these men who are in power to rob you step by step, openly and in secret, of one domain of your rights after another, until one day nothing, nothing at all will be left but a mechanized state system presided over by criminals and drunks? Is your spirit already so crushed by abuse that you forget it is your right – or rather, your moral duty – to eliminate this system?

But if a man no longer can summon the strength to demand his right, then it is absolutely certain that he will perish. We would deserve to be dispersed through the earth like dust before the wind if we do not muster our powers at this late hour and finally find the courage which up to now we have lacked. Do not hide your cowardice behind a cloak of expediency, for with every new day that you hesitate, failing to oppose this offspring of Hell, your guilt, as in a parabolic curve, grows higher and higher.

Many, perhaps most, of the readers of these leaflets do not see clearly how they can practice an effective opposition. They do not see any avenues open to them. We want to try to show them that everyone is in a position to contribute to the overthrow of this system. It is not possible through solitary withdrawal, in the manner of embittered hermits, to prepare the ground for the overturn of this “government” or bring about the revolution at the earliest possible moment. No, it can be done only by the cooperation of many convinced, energetic people – people who are agreed as to the means they must use to attain their goal.

We have no great number of choices as to these means. The only one available is passive resistance. The meaning and the goal of passive resistance is to topple National Socialism, and in this struggle we must not recoil from any course, any action, whatever its nature. At all points we must oppose National Socialism, wherever it is open to attack. We must soon bring this monster of a state to an end. A victory of fascist Germany in this war would have immeasurable, frightful consequences. The military victory over Bolshevism dare not become the primary concern of the Germans. The defeat of the Nazis must unconditionally be the first order of business. The greater necessity of this latter requirement will be discussed in one of our forthcoming leaflets.

And now every convinced opponent of National Socialism must ask himself how he can fight against the present “state” in the most effective way, how he can strike it the most telling blows. Through passive resistance, without a doubt. We cannot provide each man with the blueprint for his acts, we can only suggest them in general terms, and he alone will find the way of achieving this end:

Sabotage in armament plants and war industries, sabotage at all gatherings, rallies, public ceremonies, and organizations of the National Socialist Party. Obstruction of the smooth functioning of the war machine (a machine for war that goes on solely to shore up and perpetuate the National Socialist Party and its dictatorship). Sabotage in all the areas of science and scholarship which further the continuation of the war – whether in universities, technical schools, laboratories, research institutions, or technical bureaus. Sabotage in all cultural institutions which could potentially enhance the “prestige” of the fascists among the people. Sabotage in all branches of the arts which have even the slightest dependence on National Socialism or render it service. Sabotage in all publications, all newspapers, that are in the pay of the “government” and that defend its ideology and aid in disseminating the brown lie.

Do not give a penny to the public drives (even when they are conducted under the pretense of charity). For this is only a disguise. In reality the proceeds aid neither the Red Cross nor the needy. The government does not need this money; it is not financially interested in these money drives. After all, the presses run continuously to manufacture any desired amount of paper currency. But the populace must be kept constantly under tension, the pressure of the bit must not be allowed to slacken! Do not contribute to the collections of metal, textiles and the like. Try to convince all your acquaintances, including those in the lower social classes, of the senselessness of continuing, of the hopelessness of this war; of our spiritual and economic enslavement at the hands of the National Socialists; of the destruction of all moral and religious values; and urge them to passive resistance!

Aristotle: Politic: “… and further, it is part [of the nature of tyranny] to strive to see to it that nothing is kept hidden of that which any subject says or does, but that everywhere he will be spied upon,… and further, to set man against man and friend against friend, and the common people against the privileged and the wealthy. Also it is part of these tyrannical measures, to keep the subjects poor, in order to pay the guards and the soldiers, and so that they will be occupied with earning their livelihood and will have neither leisure nor opportunity to engage in conspiratorial acts… Further, [to levy] such taxes on income as were imposed in Syracuse, for under Dionysius the citizens gladly paid out their whole fortunes in taxes within five years. Also, the tyrant is inclined constantly to foment wars”

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The Second Leaflet of the White Rose: The extent of betraying a people in order to rule it

It is impossible to engage in intellectual discourse with National Socialism because it is not an intellectually defensible program. It is false to speak of a National Socialist philosophy, for if there were such an entity, one would have to try by means of analysis and discussion either to prove its validity or to combat it. In actuality, however, we face a totally different situation.

At its very inception this movement depended on the deception and betrayal of one’s fellow man; even at that time it was inwardly corrupt and could support itself only by constant lies. After all, Hitler states in an early edition of “his” book (a book written in the worst German I have ever read, in spite of the fact that it has been elevated to the position of the Bible in this nation of poets and thinkers): “It is unbelievable, to what extent one must betray a people in order to rule it.”

If at the start this cancerous growth in the nation was not particularly noticeable, it was only because there were still enough forces at work that operated for the good, so that it was kept under control. As it grew larger, however, and finally in an ultimate spurt of growth attained ruling power, the tumor broke open, as it were, and infected the whole body. The greater part of its former opponents went into hiding. The German intellectuals fled to their cellars, there, like plants struggling in the dark, away from light and sun, gradually to choke to death.

Now the end is at hand. Now it is our task to find one another again, to spread information from person to person, to keep a steady purpose, and to allow ourselves no rest until the last man in persuaded of the urgent need of his struggle against this system. When thus a wave of unrest goes through the land, when “it is in the air”, when many join the cause, then in a great final effort this system can be shaken off. After all, and [sic] end in terror is preferable to terror without end.

We are not in a position to draw up a final judgment about the meaning of our history. But if this catastrophe can be used to further the public welfare, it will be only by virtue of the fact that we are cleansed by suffering; that we yearn for the light in the midst of deepest night, summon our strength, and finally help in shaking off the yoke which weighs on our world.

We do not want to discuss here the question of the Jews, nor do we want in this leaflet to compose a defense or apology. No, only by way of example do we want to cite the fact that since the conquest of Poland three hundred thousand Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way. Here we see the most frightful crime against human dignity, a crime that is unparalleled in the whole of history. For Jews, too, are human beings – no matter what position we take with respect to the Jewish question – and a crime of this dimension has been perpetrated against human beings.

Someone may say that the Jews deserved their fate. This assertion would be a monstrous impertinence; but let us assume that someone said this – what position has he then taken toward the fact that the entire Polish aristocratic youth is being annihilated? (May God grant that this program has not fully achieved its aim as yet!) All male offspring of the houses of the nobility between the ages of fifteen and twenty were transported to concentration camps in Germany and sentenced to forced labor, and the girls of this age group were sent to Norway, into the bordellos of the SS!

Why tell you these things, since you are fully aware of them – or if not of these, then of other equally grave crimes committed by this frightful sub-humanity? Because here we touch on a problem which involves us deeply and forces us all to take thought. Why do the German people behave so apathetically in the face of all these abominable crimes, crimes so unworthy of the human race? Hardly anyone thinks about that. It is accepted as fact and put out of mind. The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals; they give them the opportunity to carry on their depredations; and of course they do so. Is this a sign that the Germans are brutalized in their simplest human feelings, that no chord within them cried out at the sight of such deeds, that they have sunk into a fatal consciencelessness from which they will never, never awake?

It seems to be so, and will certainly be so, if the German does not at least start up out of his stupor, if he does not protest wherever and whenever he can against this clique of criminals, if he shows no sympathy for these hundreds of thousands of victims. He must evidence not only sympathy; no, much more: a sense of complicity in guilt. For through his apathetic behavior he gives these evil men the opportunity to act as they do; he tolerates this “government” which has taken upon itself such an infinitely great burden of guilt; indeed, he himself is to blame for the fact that it came about at all! Each man wants to be exonerated of a guilt of this kind, each one continues on his way with the most placid, the calmest conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!

It is not too late, however, to do away with this most reprehensible of all miscarriages of government, so as to avoid being burdened with even greater guilt. Now, when in recent years our eyes have been opened, when we know exactly who our adversary is, it is high time to root out this brown horde. Up until the outbreak of the war the larger part of the German people were blinded; the Nazis did not show themselves in their true aspect. But now, now that we have recognized them for what they are, it must be the sole and first duty, the holiest duty of every German to destroy these beasts.

“If the people are barely aware that the government exists, they are happy. When the government is felt to be oppressive, they are broken. ” “Good fortune, alas! builds itself upon misery. Good fortune, alas! is the mask of misery. What will come of this? We cannot foresee the end. Order is upset and turns to disorder, good becomes evil. The people are confused. Is it not so, day in, day out, from the beginning? ” “The wise man is therefore angular, though he does not injure others: he has sharp corners, though he does not harm; he is upright but not gruff. He is clear-minded, but he does not try to be brilliant.” – Lao Tzu

“Whoever undertakes to rule the kingdom and to shape it according to his whim – I foresee that he will fail to reach his goal. That is all. ” “The kingdom is a living being. It cannot be constructed, in truth! He who tries to manipulate it will spoil it, he who tries to put it under his power will lose it. “

“Therefore: Some creatures go out in front, others follow, some have warm breath, others cold, some are strong, some weak, some attain abundance, other succumb. ” “The wise man will accordingly forswear excess, he will avoid arrogance and not overreach.” – Lao Tzu

Please make as many copies as possible of this leaflet and distribute them.