Signs of the Times

We've gotten so many things from Amazon and UPS lately that they ought to give us a Frequent Flyer rebate or something.

And just when I thought they would open the sardine can and let us out, I saw on the tube that Arkansas is going back to a mask-wearing mandate.

I swear, it's like an episode from 'Malcolm in the Middle,' with the 'Boss of Me' lyrics:

“ Yes, no, maybe I don't know Can you repeat the question?

You're not the boss of me now.”

Heaven help us. I feel like a worm, trapped in a yo-yo. Up, down, up, down… I mean, it's getting beyond the freakyteaky commies invading communities, to kill your dog, defecate on your lawn, give you a beat-down and burn your house.

Now, it's the wishy-washy Republicans who are turning into a problem.

I'm beginning to think that President Eisenhower's favorite philosopher, Eric Hoffer, had it right, when he observed his work, ' In Our Time:' “ Now there are all sorts of organizations that concern themselves with safeguarding the constitutional rights of the criminal, but the victims are ignored and forgotten.

The victim has no civil rights, no constitutional guarantees, no Civil Liberties Union to plead his case, no one to succor him in distress and no newspapers to chronicle his agony.”

His assertion should not be true.

We actually all have rights.

The problem is, they are being enforced unequally.

And that is because we have politicians in office who call themselves conservative; but when push comes to shove, they retreat into the shadows.

For instance, some so-called conservatives say we should not have tariffs on Chinese

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‘Wordaholic’

By Robert L. Hall ROBERT HALL (cont.)

goods?

Well, we could make a deal.

Only, what would that cost us?

What did it cost Faust?

His eternal soul.

But, what the hey, right?

We can dance with the Devil for a while, right?

Or until the Chinese Communist Party unleashes it's next batch of viral death upon the world.

But squishy conservatives are bending now, because big business is waving large donation bucks under their noses.

And how about the Defund the Police movement?

The left says it wants no police at all because it has a few bad apples.

And conservative politicians are shaking in their boots, because they think they might appear unfeeling if they don't agree.

After all, who doesn't want good police?

I want good police. I'm sure you do too.

That doesn't mean that they should all be punished for the sake of a few.

It's like, you go into a grocery store and buy a rotten apple.

Does that mean that all grocery stores in American should be shut down?

Or you get bad gas at a station that makes your motor knock.

Are we going to close all the gas stations for the sake of that one station?

I….don't…think…so.

But, it's not a matter of what I think.

As Ronald Reagan pointed out in his famous, '

1964 speech which resonates as true today just as much as it did back then, when he said these words: “ You and I are told increasingly we have to choose between a left or right. Well I'd like to suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There's only an up or down-( up) man's old- old- aged dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order, or ( down) to the ant heap of totalitarianism.

And regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this

Humanitarianism-with its 'relative truths.' Insincere motives and dishonest answers that purport to serve societal interests, such as communal ones like communism. Yet, really ignore the interests of the individual and their rights -unlike our representative democracy.

And when sunshine patriots, like fake conservatives who trade our freedom for the security of their jobs, betray their oath of office to defend and protect the constitutional rights of all citizens, they are doing all of us a disservice.

Indeed, they become a part of the problem instead of part of the solution.

And we need more solutions.

Robert L. Hall is a resident of Marion and has a Bachelor’s Degree in music from the University of Memphis and a Master’s Degree from Florida State University. He is the pianist for Avondale Baptist Church and a writer of fiction on Amazon eBooks.