It's why the bullies try to censor comedy. Comedy is the greatest way to defeat your enemy. And not let them get your goat. Right now I'm a huge fan of Santa Barbaran Karen Jones. I got to know her here on SB Current. I messaged her how disgusted I was by the way the Independent treated her after she was arrested for attending January 6 and said I'd be honored to be her friend. And you know what? She's having the last laugh. She's become a star stand up comedienne in Austin - the toughest comedy audience in the world right now. No less than Joe Rogan and Tony Hinchcliffe are fans. Here's a clip from her latest Kill Tony show. In her 1 minute set she riffs on her imprisonment. This is the show's Q and A they do with every guest. She killed. I just wrote Marianne Partridge and Nick Welsh with this link and this message “Great job - you drove away one more brilliant, talented person from Santa Barbara and California because the Democratic Party is so much more important to you than sanity.” Living well is the best revenge. Brava, Karen and Bravo, Brian.
Well done! I'll go out on a limb here and state that the Left is by and large humorless... unable to laugh at themselves...which is a little ironic in that much of their political theater/performance is really laughable.
I read this article titled "Don’t Show Them Your Goat" By Brian Campbell (i.e. Sheep)
I quote from same "They slandered, twisted facts, threw out accusations without a shred of evidence. And when that didn’t rattle me, they came after my family. They threatened my children—subtle at first, then more direct. Their education, their privacy, even their safety… all put at risk because I dared to challenge the local power structure."
Well, Well and Well ........ they threatened me, my family and my children.
Welcome to Corrupt California and Corrupt Santa Barbara.
As the old saying goes "Sticks and Stones will break my Bones but words will never hurt me"
But when Folks Get Shot, run over and blown up, I think we have more than a little problem in Santa Barbara and in the entire State of California. And this is not comedy hour in SB.
You are going to need more than a Bible Verse to Guard yourself against the pervasive evil
that will drop your family members into the Ocean of Corruption with no life preserver.
And memorize this article by Former FBI Executive Tom Parker>It is what is going down in SB>
This article is so easy to agree with on the surface and then there is the bullying that surely runs contrary to the very intention of this article.
The alligator Alcatraz is a disgrace to humanity.
To leave no comment on De Santis conduct is approval by silence.
lawmakers in some states, like California and New Jersey, are attempting to expose the conditions in ICE detention facilities, the Trump administration has gotten rid of the federal government’s immigration watch dogs. In March, the Department of Homeland Security effectively eliminated its Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman. In part, these offices were responsible for investigating complaints about immigration detention facilities and reporting on conditions to Congress.
So, no—I won’t hide my goat.
But I won’t flinch, either.
I’ll stand in the armor God gave me, and I’ll keep standing when others sit down.
Principle matters. Santa Barbara Current step up with truth. Our side needs to be clean.
Deterrence is one of several elements of criminal justice. Believe more in the power of personal choice. Not just perpetual victimhood. Don’t try to escape, and no one gets hurt. Not unlike the threat of Tasmanian devils eating one alive if escaping early Australian incarcerations. How does offering choices to any individual became “bullying? Enlighten us, please.
I re-read the original peice. Is it supporting the present regimes actions or a call to arms for decency, honesty, integrity. I am not sure which way the author intends.
People can have different opinions on that issue. It’s a different thing to dump people in the middle of a war zone in South Sudan or a flooded prison on U.S. soil surrounded by alligators and a swamp. That inhumanity is unconstitutional and should remain fundamentally un-American.
No, it is not inhumanity. Trying to avoid direct consequences for one’s life actions and choices is inhumanity. We shall differ on this essential fundamental. Remember, fate is what life hands you. Destiny is what one chooses to do with it.
Brian, your piece is amazing! I could not have said it better myself! The TRUTH will, indeed, set you free! Buddha is attributed with saying "3 things cannot long remain hidden, the moon, the sun, and the TRUTH." Every day reveals more and more the LIES of the current administration to "bring peace to Ukraine and the Middle East"; "lower the cost of living"; "preserve health care"; "foreign nations pay the tariff, not you"; "we are only going after the rapists and murderers"; etc. Meanwhile, masked, unidentified federal police ("secret state police" in German is GeStaPo) are arresting American citizens without warrants and shoving them into unmarked vehicles to be taken to undisclosed locations as the Grifter-in-Chief threatens jail or financial ruin on anyone who speaks out against him (sounds kind of like a "bully" to me!). So, how does one find the "TRUTH"? Well, you will not find it in a leader who consistently lies not only to himself, but also to us. Lying is intrinsic to Trump's nature. "When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44.
This problem has been created by previous administrations bothdemocrats and republicans.
ESPECIALLY the last administration that let in up to 20 million in 4 years to try to pad their voter rolls because they know that they can’t win on policy.
This is a terrible mess and Trump had nothing to do with creating it.
One more thing.
This country has taken God out of the equation for decades.
20 million? Are you sure? Last I heard it was 11 million. Oh, and none of them can vote until they become U.S. citizens, which is probably why Republicans make becoming a citizen so difficult. As for deporting illegal immigrants, Obama deported far more than Trump 45, and Biden deported far more in his first 6 months in office than Trump 47 has. And both of them did so WITH warrants and due process; without the uninvited presence of the U.S. military in American cities; without the deportation of legal U.S. residents to foreign gulags; or building a concentration camp in a swamp. If it quacks like fascism and goosesteps like fascism, it is fascism. Jesus will save you from your own sins, but he will NOT save you from a fascist government, that is entirely in your own hands - unless, of course, you are one of the so-called "Christian" White supremacists who supports such unconstitutional and inhumane behavior. Try showing some empathy and compassion to your fellow man, just like Jesus did. Or you could just continue to use the Bible as a cudgel to beat up the "tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free; the wretched refuse of the teeming shore" and persist in ignoring that part of the Pledge of Allegiance that declares "Liberty and Justice for ALL"!
Please don't let your dear wife out of the house without you, or a copy of her naturalization certificate/U.S. passport. You would not want her to be shoved into a van by unidentified "law enforcement" and taken somewhere out of state to make it harder for you to find her. Several members of my wife's own family (Native Acjachemen descent), all born in California and U.S. citizens, were rounded up and forcibly deported to Mexico in the early 1930's simply because they were BROWN and spoke Spanish. This is NOT America's first xenophobic White supremacist "kick out the non-Europeans" rodeo, there have been at least FIVE.
As you say, bullies have been around forever, which is true and they probably always will, unfortunately. I know exactly when this started, the lying, the name calling, magas and crazies started crawling out of the woodwork. Pandora’s box was opened, June 16, 2015, when two-week taco announced his run for the presidency.
The minute he said “Mexicans are rapists” he set the tone for what is happening now, and the mess we’re in. As soon as he started with his name calling, and lying, speaking about violence, all the people that were hiding their racism, violence, and fascist thinking were given permission to act on it and ran with it and haven’t stopped. Someone commented here that two-week taco wasn’t responsible for any of this mess. He is the biggest reason we are in this mess. This is why me will continue in this mess, because many are under the spell of the two-week taco cult.
And a word for all maga Christians. You will no longer be able to call yourself Christians. If you consider two-week taco as your god, which most of you have. You want him on Rushmore, you want everything named after him , highways, boulevards, airports etc. two-week taco does not follow any of the teachings of Jesus or God I’ve yet to see him follow any of the 10 Commandments.
Also, someone please tell him to stop wearing that stupid hat. He wears it to official meetings and different events, Christian organization. He wears it to half of the events he attends, tell him he looks like someone’s grandpa suffering Dementia, who just happened to wander into whatever is going on. Also, tell him to learn to walk, he lumbers, tell him to learn to be a statesman.
And his faith department is another waste of money. hHalf the time they look like they’re conducting voodoo rituals. They are using God’s name in vain, they continue to say God saved two-week taco or Jesus wanted him to do this or do that. God and Jesus are not political. Also, and wouldn’t you think the faith department would work to unify people? Just watching C-SPAN and the woman in charge of the faith department is calling people names. Oh, right, she doesn’t work for God or Jesus she works for two-week taco.
The president is the bully and liar in chief. In fact, he and his attorney general, we’re just caught in lies on their last interview about the Epstein files and list.
Amen, Brian. Thank you for your own eloquent description of a life’s moment of enlightenment. Yea, though we walk through the Valley of Death……
Even from the pre-Christian era, these are familiar human interactions. Homer’s epic poem The Iliad included two personalities with life lessons that remain with us today: Achilles, the world’s greatest, virtually untouchable warrior, but cursed with a vulnerable heel his enemies learned they could exploit. And Cassandra, fated by the gods to always speak the truth, but also cursed to know, no one would believe her. But speak up, she continued to do.
The ancient fabric of human nature still plays out in so many predictable ways today when we finally live long enough, deeply enough, risk enough, and live out our consequences well enough to see that history does rhyme, as well as repeats itself.
Nice writeup Brian, you sound like a fair minded guy who likes to play square. Absolutely the wrong way to win at politics! What do you do with a bully? Punch him in the face! Trying to play right with them never works. Dig up dirt on them or maybe even get a bit 'creative' and let the world know about the skeletons in their closet.- it's the only way to counter those fools.
Sorry Brian, hate to hijack your post. But to my friends I don't usually agree with on National politics. . . Are you folks okay with what I saw today going down in Carpinteria? Lots of armed military-style people doing a search for something. . . something out of WWII in my opinion???
The ICE lawful actions being carried out at the Glass House pot farm? Where Salud Carbajal interfered with a lawful ICE operation and is now playing victim? Where a protestor was reported shooting at a ICE agent, before ICE agents deployed non-lethal crowd control options? The one where protestors using a Mexican flag pole tried to puncture the wheels on ICE support vehicles. That one.
Two events at the sameGlass House pot farm operations, one in Carpinteria one in Camarillo. Sounds like prudent preparation for necessary lawful actions now being carried out in full public view and under lawful authority. FAFO comes to mind first.
Joan, be carful of using the FAFO thing. The BBB got passed with funds to triple ICE. I don’t think it will take too long for ICE to go from raiding businesses to raiding business, or celebrities known as MAGA.
Why is the National Guard in Carpinteria? Weren’t they brought in to “protect” ICE agents? I did not see one ICE agent in that farm area. So why were they there? Why are they in still in Los Angeles, period? It seems they are much more needed in Texas, that’s where two-week taco’s attention should be, where they’re really needed. This is another form of waste from the two-week taco government.
Great post Brian! given that we are at war (culture war, information war, spiritual war), it’s important that we all find our voice & fight the good fight, remembering that in the end, God wins!
So…Put on the full ARMOR of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full ARMOR of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all people.
"By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" Matthew 7:16. By his "fruits" I certainly know Trump! The "10 Commandments" have been his lifelong "to do" list: blasphemy, fornication, adultery, lust, covetousness, avarice, theft, bearing false witness, murder by proxy...you get the idea.
A first rate essay, one that calls out for a complimentary reply, not denying the excellent advice given but perhaps leavening it. There will always be bullies who will try to push you around, and they will always wilt away when their bullying doesn’t work, but it’s essential to realize that not everybody who opposes you, or who in your eyes seems to oppose you, is a bully. A line from Robert A. Heinlein’s book “Time Enough for Love” fits the situation well: “Your enemy is never a villain in his own eye. Keep this in mind, it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not, you can kill him without hate—and quickly.”
Bracketing out the mayhem suggested in the final sentence (it’s from a novel, after all), in everyday live we’re always going to encounter people whose ideas and beliefs differ from our own. There’s an old Gary Larson cartoon titled something like “The New Neighbor.” Two guys in their back yard watering the lawn and looking across a fence at each other. Each one has the same thought: “Looks like a pretty nice guy, probably a real weirdo.” Whether spiritual, political, economic, or whatever, we run into people with different viewpoints, beliefs, opinions, different understandings of the world. Heck, they might even root for a different sports team!
The point is that while it’s important to stand strong for one’s own positions, it’s also important to have respect for the positions taken by others—and even be willing to change, given sufficient reason to do so.
When it comes to politics and economics, pros and cons can be debated based on potential costs and benefits and based on what values are involved. There’s plenty of evidence that liberals and conservatives’ privilege different values: liberals care more about fairness and equity (valuing the individual); conservatives give more weight to loyalty, authority, and sanctity (valuing what binds society into a unity) [1]. If the values involved are not understood, it becomes difficult to reach any sort of mutually acceptable agreement. Recognizing another’s deeply held values leads to respect. In contrast, a person showing a lack of values other than personal aggrandizement, quickly loses the respect of others.
Respect for others who may have different beliefs and different basic values is even more important in religion. That goes to the essence of faith. Faith never means certainty! This is brought out by Socrates [2]. After describing a vision of the afterlife, he says, “No sensible man would insist that these things are as I have described them, but I think that it is fitting for a man to risk the belief—for the risk is a noble one—that this, or something like this, is true about our souls and their dwelling places, since the soul is evidently immortal….” Care of the soul is essential for a good life, but there are many paths that can provide that care and faith is simply a commitment to following a chosen path because it resonates with an inner sense of conviction.
Insisting that others must follow the same path, the same religion as oneself, be it Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, whatever, automatically dismissing the beliefs of others as false, signals a clear lack of faith. It is an attempt to replace faith by social agreement. Discussion of different beliefs, different points of view, different forms of spirituality is rejuvenating only when done in a spirit of mutual respect for differences and a search for deeper understanding, both of one’s own beliefs and of those of others.
The real question in relating to others is not what they believe, their religion, their politics, but what is their character. That is what separates the sheep from the goats. And regarding goats, the maxim can be extended with a non sequitur on the term goat: “Don’t let anybody get your goat but don’t insist that everybody must drink your goat’s milk.”
[1] Adam Waytz, et al (2019), Ideological differences in the expanse of the moral circle. Nature Communications.
[2] Plato, Phaedo, In Plato: Complete Works (1997) John M Cooper (ed.), GMA Grube (trans.)
BV: Today, I believe political differences are no longer values differences, but who gets their hands on other people’s money. Let’s start from that far more pragmatic view point and stop dressing up what is basically greed and ill founded class envy, as …….”fairness, equity and valuing the individual.”
I personally believe fairness, equity and valuing the individual are solid conservative values. I also believe our system of government was never intended to be an all encompassing nanny state in any reading of our original compact, as amended. Separating church and state …..personal spiritual values and practical but limited governmental administration needs ……may be the real issues we are exploring here.
Are you demonizing only liberals? Looking at politicians, you can ask who they are appealing to and how are they doing it, but that doesn't speak to their personal values, only to how they believe they need to behave to get elected. In that regard, it's the Republicans who seem to be appealing to some pretty base aspects of human nature. They're masters at it, the Democrats are second rate. As for personal values, there is a great deal of evidence supporting my comment. It doesn't say that conservatives don't support fairness, equity, and the individual, but it does indicate that conservatives give more weight to authority, loyalty, and sanctity. They favor a relatively homogeneous society. Your last sentence is getting towards what strikes me, also, as an important point. The question for the idea of limited government is "how limited" with a recognition that that's not an absolute--sometimes more limits are needed, sometimes less.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about “conservatives” from your own perspective. Here are some handy fundamentals from an actual conservative that does not sound in your own, and now repeated conclusions about conservatives:
1. Limited government
2. Protection of private property
3. Rule of law
4. Free and competitive markets
The meeting point we now both share is from my own long term and front line observations, it is the Democrats who are slaves to authority, put a huge weight on party/union boss loyalty, and the sanctity of party loyalty over any other independent or wider issue thinking.
Is that funny, or what? Good to talk about these things.
The thoughts were not from my own perspective. I gave a reference for the statement, and can provide a dozen or more additional ones. One problem is that the data relates to conservative vs liberal psychology, not to people who call themselves conservative or liberal. I do find your comment about Democrats a bit strange. Until recently I've always faulted them for being disorganized and unable to actually keep it together as they try to be open and inclusive. In contrast, the Republicans have for the most part seemed well disciplined and organized. I'm sure that Republicans and Democrats, or conservatives and liberals, would agree with your four points although they would argue about their meaning. I think we need more than a binary distinction. There are conservatives, reactionaries, fundamentalists; and, liberals, progressives, radicals. Perhaps even more on each side. And today we seem to be in a phase of populism where anything goes.
People vote their own self-interest. Which why the Democrat Big Government agenda is fundamentally ruinous to any other principle you continue to espouse. To the point of total dysfunction and unnecessary complication, I might add.
Gut feelings and self interests is as far as this exploration really needs to go. The Trump camp had a gut feeling something had gone very wrong in America over the past 16 years. Though they might not know exactly what had gone wrong.
Democrats salivated at 23 million government employees, last count and growing, they nearly had in their a final tipping point take over of this entire country. Much like they did to California.
Who best caters to self interests, which is fickle. And whose money is at stake to fund that self-interests. This analysis is not far from the original political divide between John Adam’s and Thomas Jefferson at the very founding of this country if you find this conclusion too cynical.
Big Government vs decentralized and limited government. The pendulum continues to swing, so Democrats need to drop their holy wars of mass extinction every time conservatives take their own transitory power away from them. GOP will self immolate on their own in due time, just like Democrats always do too in their own due time.
Thank you, Brian for exposing the Democrat Mean Machine in action. It needs a lot more sun-shining, if we are to ever retake this town from this sinister one-party death grip.
It is down right chilling to read what they did to you and your family for simply exercising your right to participate in our local political process.
We have watched this unfold with other candidates too, hit them early and hit them hard to both bankrupt their campaigns forcing to run defense early, and attaching a cheap shot negative a label to shut down any and all further public discussion.
The remaining local media carries a large part of the blame for this sorry state of affairs. And yes, smug and irresponsible SB Independent that means I am talking about you. Thank goodness for SB Currents for at last having an alternate local forum to start leveling the playing field.
It's why the bullies try to censor comedy. Comedy is the greatest way to defeat your enemy. And not let them get your goat. Right now I'm a huge fan of Santa Barbaran Karen Jones. I got to know her here on SB Current. I messaged her how disgusted I was by the way the Independent treated her after she was arrested for attending January 6 and said I'd be honored to be her friend. And you know what? She's having the last laugh. She's become a star stand up comedienne in Austin - the toughest comedy audience in the world right now. No less than Joe Rogan and Tony Hinchcliffe are fans. Here's a clip from her latest Kill Tony show. In her 1 minute set she riffs on her imprisonment. This is the show's Q and A they do with every guest. She killed. I just wrote Marianne Partridge and Nick Welsh with this link and this message “Great job - you drove away one more brilliant, talented person from Santa Barbara and California because the Democratic Party is so much more important to you than sanity.” Living well is the best revenge. Brava, Karen and Bravo, Brian.
https://youtube.com/shorts/ZWg3VLeqtso?si=HA-8rqf5nLrQ8SMa
Well done! I'll go out on a limb here and state that the Left is by and large humorless... unable to laugh at themselves...which is a little ironic in that much of their political theater/performance is really laughable.
Great peace. Teach your children well. The truth will set you free. We are endowed by our creator. Onward Christian soldiers. Peace be with you.
Wonderful article! Thank you!
I read this article titled "Don’t Show Them Your Goat" By Brian Campbell (i.e. Sheep)
I quote from same "They slandered, twisted facts, threw out accusations without a shred of evidence. And when that didn’t rattle me, they came after my family. They threatened my children—subtle at first, then more direct. Their education, their privacy, even their safety… all put at risk because I dared to challenge the local power structure."
Well, Well and Well ........ they threatened me, my family and my children.
Welcome to Corrupt California and Corrupt Santa Barbara.
As the old saying goes "Sticks and Stones will break my Bones but words will never hurt me"
But when Folks Get Shot, run over and blown up, I think we have more than a little problem in Santa Barbara and in the entire State of California. And this is not comedy hour in SB.
You are going to need more than a Bible Verse to Guard yourself against the pervasive evil
that will drop your family members into the Ocean of Corruption with no life preserver.
And memorize this article by Former FBI Executive Tom Parker>It is what is going down in SB>
https://www.independent.com/2020/02/22/perceptions-of-political-corruption/
Howard Walther, Member of a Military Family
This article is so easy to agree with on the surface and then there is the bullying that surely runs contrary to the very intention of this article.
The alligator Alcatraz is a disgrace to humanity.
To leave no comment on De Santis conduct is approval by silence.
lawmakers in some states, like California and New Jersey, are attempting to expose the conditions in ICE detention facilities, the Trump administration has gotten rid of the federal government’s immigration watch dogs. In March, the Department of Homeland Security effectively eliminated its Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, and Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman. In part, these offices were responsible for investigating complaints about immigration detention facilities and reporting on conditions to Congress.
So, no—I won’t hide my goat.
But I won’t flinch, either.
I’ll stand in the armor God gave me, and I’ll keep standing when others sit down.
Principle matters. Santa Barbara Current step up with truth. Our side needs to be clean.
Deterrence is one of several elements of criminal justice. Believe more in the power of personal choice. Not just perpetual victimhood. Don’t try to escape, and no one gets hurt. Not unlike the threat of Tasmanian devils eating one alive if escaping early Australian incarcerations. How does offering choices to any individual became “bullying? Enlighten us, please.
deterence and cruelty are very different.
I re-read the original peice. Is it supporting the present regimes actions or a call to arms for decency, honesty, integrity. I am not sure which way the author intends.
People can have different opinions on that issue. It’s a different thing to dump people in the middle of a war zone in South Sudan or a flooded prison on U.S. soil surrounded by alligators and a swamp. That inhumanity is unconstitutional and should remain fundamentally un-American.
No, it is not inhumanity. Trying to avoid direct consequences for one’s life actions and choices is inhumanity. We shall differ on this essential fundamental. Remember, fate is what life hands you. Destiny is what one chooses to do with it.
Brian, your piece is amazing! I could not have said it better myself! The TRUTH will, indeed, set you free! Buddha is attributed with saying "3 things cannot long remain hidden, the moon, the sun, and the TRUTH." Every day reveals more and more the LIES of the current administration to "bring peace to Ukraine and the Middle East"; "lower the cost of living"; "preserve health care"; "foreign nations pay the tariff, not you"; "we are only going after the rapists and murderers"; etc. Meanwhile, masked, unidentified federal police ("secret state police" in German is GeStaPo) are arresting American citizens without warrants and shoving them into unmarked vehicles to be taken to undisclosed locations as the Grifter-in-Chief threatens jail or financial ruin on anyone who speaks out against him (sounds kind of like a "bully" to me!). So, how does one find the "TRUTH"? Well, you will not find it in a leader who consistently lies not only to himself, but also to us. Lying is intrinsic to Trump's nature. "When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44.
Please remember sir.
This problem has been created by previous administrations bothdemocrats and republicans.
ESPECIALLY the last administration that let in up to 20 million in 4 years to try to pad their voter rolls because they know that they can’t win on policy.
This is a terrible mess and Trump had nothing to do with creating it.
One more thing.
This country has taken God out of the equation for decades.
What did we expect to happen?!
There is NO hope without Jesus.
20 million? Are you sure? Last I heard it was 11 million. Oh, and none of them can vote until they become U.S. citizens, which is probably why Republicans make becoming a citizen so difficult. As for deporting illegal immigrants, Obama deported far more than Trump 45, and Biden deported far more in his first 6 months in office than Trump 47 has. And both of them did so WITH warrants and due process; without the uninvited presence of the U.S. military in American cities; without the deportation of legal U.S. residents to foreign gulags; or building a concentration camp in a swamp. If it quacks like fascism and goosesteps like fascism, it is fascism. Jesus will save you from your own sins, but he will NOT save you from a fascist government, that is entirely in your own hands - unless, of course, you are one of the so-called "Christian" White supremacists who supports such unconstitutional and inhumane behavior. Try showing some empathy and compassion to your fellow man, just like Jesus did. Or you could just continue to use the Bible as a cudgel to beat up the "tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free; the wretched refuse of the teeming shore" and persist in ignoring that part of the Pledge of Allegiance that declares "Liberty and Justice for ALL"!
I guess I’m in the clear then because I’m married to a Mexican woman who came here 20 years ago.
God bless you and thank you for showing what a good person you are.
Please don't let your dear wife out of the house without you, or a copy of her naturalization certificate/U.S. passport. You would not want her to be shoved into a van by unidentified "law enforcement" and taken somewhere out of state to make it harder for you to find her. Several members of my wife's own family (Native Acjachemen descent), all born in California and U.S. citizens, were rounded up and forcibly deported to Mexico in the early 1930's simply because they were BROWN and spoke Spanish. This is NOT America's first xenophobic White supremacist "kick out the non-Europeans" rodeo, there have been at least FIVE.
As you say, bullies have been around forever, which is true and they probably always will, unfortunately. I know exactly when this started, the lying, the name calling, magas and crazies started crawling out of the woodwork. Pandora’s box was opened, June 16, 2015, when two-week taco announced his run for the presidency.
The minute he said “Mexicans are rapists” he set the tone for what is happening now, and the mess we’re in. As soon as he started with his name calling, and lying, speaking about violence, all the people that were hiding their racism, violence, and fascist thinking were given permission to act on it and ran with it and haven’t stopped. Someone commented here that two-week taco wasn’t responsible for any of this mess. He is the biggest reason we are in this mess. This is why me will continue in this mess, because many are under the spell of the two-week taco cult.
And a word for all maga Christians. You will no longer be able to call yourself Christians. If you consider two-week taco as your god, which most of you have. You want him on Rushmore, you want everything named after him , highways, boulevards, airports etc. two-week taco does not follow any of the teachings of Jesus or God I’ve yet to see him follow any of the 10 Commandments.
Also, someone please tell him to stop wearing that stupid hat. He wears it to official meetings and different events, Christian organization. He wears it to half of the events he attends, tell him he looks like someone’s grandpa suffering Dementia, who just happened to wander into whatever is going on. Also, tell him to learn to walk, he lumbers, tell him to learn to be a statesman.
And his faith department is another waste of money. hHalf the time they look like they’re conducting voodoo rituals. They are using God’s name in vain, they continue to say God saved two-week taco or Jesus wanted him to do this or do that. God and Jesus are not political. Also, and wouldn’t you think the faith department would work to unify people? Just watching C-SPAN and the woman in charge of the faith department is calling people names. Oh, right, she doesn’t work for God or Jesus she works for two-week taco.
The president is the bully and liar in chief. In fact, he and his attorney general, we’re just caught in lies on their last interview about the Epstein files and list.
Amen, Brian. Thank you for your own eloquent description of a life’s moment of enlightenment. Yea, though we walk through the Valley of Death……
Even from the pre-Christian era, these are familiar human interactions. Homer’s epic poem The Iliad included two personalities with life lessons that remain with us today: Achilles, the world’s greatest, virtually untouchable warrior, but cursed with a vulnerable heel his enemies learned they could exploit. And Cassandra, fated by the gods to always speak the truth, but also cursed to know, no one would believe her. But speak up, she continued to do.
The ancient fabric of human nature still plays out in so many predictable ways today when we finally live long enough, deeply enough, risk enough, and live out our consequences well enough to see that history does rhyme, as well as repeats itself.
Nice writeup Brian, you sound like a fair minded guy who likes to play square. Absolutely the wrong way to win at politics! What do you do with a bully? Punch him in the face! Trying to play right with them never works. Dig up dirt on them or maybe even get a bit 'creative' and let the world know about the skeletons in their closet.- it's the only way to counter those fools.
I have plenty of skeletons in my closet - happy to loan a few.
Sorry Brian, hate to hijack your post. But to my friends I don't usually agree with on National politics. . . Are you folks okay with what I saw today going down in Carpinteria? Lots of armed military-style people doing a search for something. . . something out of WWII in my opinion???
The ICE lawful actions being carried out at the Glass House pot farm? Where Salud Carbajal interfered with a lawful ICE operation and is now playing victim? Where a protestor was reported shooting at a ICE agent, before ICE agents deployed non-lethal crowd control options? The one where protestors using a Mexican flag pole tried to puncture the wheels on ICE support vehicles. That one.
Two events at the sameGlass House pot farm operations, one in Carpinteria one in Camarillo. Sounds like prudent preparation for necessary lawful actions now being carried out in full public view and under lawful authority. FAFO comes to mind first.
Joan, be carful of using the FAFO thing. The BBB got passed with funds to triple ICE. I don’t think it will take too long for ICE to go from raiding businesses to raiding business, or celebrities known as MAGA.
Why is the National Guard in Carpinteria? Weren’t they brought in to “protect” ICE agents? I did not see one ICE agent in that farm area. So why were they there? Why are they in still in Los Angeles, period? It seems they are much more needed in Texas, that’s where two-week taco’s attention should be, where they’re really needed. This is another form of waste from the two-week taco government.
Isn't Trump's threat to increase tariffs on Brazil to a higher level if it doesn’t stop the Bolsonaro trial bullying at the highest level?
Great post Brian! given that we are at war (culture war, information war, spiritual war), it’s important that we all find our voice & fight the good fight, remembering that in the end, God wins!
So…Put on the full ARMOR of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full ARMOR of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all people.
Have faith in Humanity.
Have faith in Yourself.
Have faith in God.
The Great Awakening…
"By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" Matthew 7:16. By his "fruits" I certainly know Trump! The "10 Commandments" have been his lifelong "to do" list: blasphemy, fornication, adultery, lust, covetousness, avarice, theft, bearing false witness, murder by proxy...you get the idea.
TDS…you are under a spell…sad to see another lost soul…
Unhealthy prurience also comes to mind.
Do you have a mirror in your house?
Just curious
Yes, but it doesn't do me any good since I can't see my reflection in it : )
Steve won't get that....
A first rate essay, one that calls out for a complimentary reply, not denying the excellent advice given but perhaps leavening it. There will always be bullies who will try to push you around, and they will always wilt away when their bullying doesn’t work, but it’s essential to realize that not everybody who opposes you, or who in your eyes seems to oppose you, is a bully. A line from Robert A. Heinlein’s book “Time Enough for Love” fits the situation well: “Your enemy is never a villain in his own eye. Keep this in mind, it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not, you can kill him without hate—and quickly.”
Bracketing out the mayhem suggested in the final sentence (it’s from a novel, after all), in everyday live we’re always going to encounter people whose ideas and beliefs differ from our own. There’s an old Gary Larson cartoon titled something like “The New Neighbor.” Two guys in their back yard watering the lawn and looking across a fence at each other. Each one has the same thought: “Looks like a pretty nice guy, probably a real weirdo.” Whether spiritual, political, economic, or whatever, we run into people with different viewpoints, beliefs, opinions, different understandings of the world. Heck, they might even root for a different sports team!
The point is that while it’s important to stand strong for one’s own positions, it’s also important to have respect for the positions taken by others—and even be willing to change, given sufficient reason to do so.
When it comes to politics and economics, pros and cons can be debated based on potential costs and benefits and based on what values are involved. There’s plenty of evidence that liberals and conservatives’ privilege different values: liberals care more about fairness and equity (valuing the individual); conservatives give more weight to loyalty, authority, and sanctity (valuing what binds society into a unity) [1]. If the values involved are not understood, it becomes difficult to reach any sort of mutually acceptable agreement. Recognizing another’s deeply held values leads to respect. In contrast, a person showing a lack of values other than personal aggrandizement, quickly loses the respect of others.
Respect for others who may have different beliefs and different basic values is even more important in religion. That goes to the essence of faith. Faith never means certainty! This is brought out by Socrates [2]. After describing a vision of the afterlife, he says, “No sensible man would insist that these things are as I have described them, but I think that it is fitting for a man to risk the belief—for the risk is a noble one—that this, or something like this, is true about our souls and their dwelling places, since the soul is evidently immortal….” Care of the soul is essential for a good life, but there are many paths that can provide that care and faith is simply a commitment to following a chosen path because it resonates with an inner sense of conviction.
Insisting that others must follow the same path, the same religion as oneself, be it Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, whatever, automatically dismissing the beliefs of others as false, signals a clear lack of faith. It is an attempt to replace faith by social agreement. Discussion of different beliefs, different points of view, different forms of spirituality is rejuvenating only when done in a spirit of mutual respect for differences and a search for deeper understanding, both of one’s own beliefs and of those of others.
The real question in relating to others is not what they believe, their religion, their politics, but what is their character. That is what separates the sheep from the goats. And regarding goats, the maxim can be extended with a non sequitur on the term goat: “Don’t let anybody get your goat but don’t insist that everybody must drink your goat’s milk.”
[1] Adam Waytz, et al (2019), Ideological differences in the expanse of the moral circle. Nature Communications.
[2] Plato, Phaedo, In Plato: Complete Works (1997) John M Cooper (ed.), GMA Grube (trans.)
BV: Today, I believe political differences are no longer values differences, but who gets their hands on other people’s money. Let’s start from that far more pragmatic view point and stop dressing up what is basically greed and ill founded class envy, as …….”fairness, equity and valuing the individual.”
I personally believe fairness, equity and valuing the individual are solid conservative values. I also believe our system of government was never intended to be an all encompassing nanny state in any reading of our original compact, as amended. Separating church and state …..personal spiritual values and practical but limited governmental administration needs ……may be the real issues we are exploring here.
Are you demonizing only liberals? Looking at politicians, you can ask who they are appealing to and how are they doing it, but that doesn't speak to their personal values, only to how they believe they need to behave to get elected. In that regard, it's the Republicans who seem to be appealing to some pretty base aspects of human nature. They're masters at it, the Democrats are second rate. As for personal values, there is a great deal of evidence supporting my comment. It doesn't say that conservatives don't support fairness, equity, and the individual, but it does indicate that conservatives give more weight to authority, loyalty, and sanctity. They favor a relatively homogeneous society. Your last sentence is getting towards what strikes me, also, as an important point. The question for the idea of limited government is "how limited" with a recognition that that's not an absolute--sometimes more limits are needed, sometimes less.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about “conservatives” from your own perspective. Here are some handy fundamentals from an actual conservative that does not sound in your own, and now repeated conclusions about conservatives:
1. Limited government
2. Protection of private property
3. Rule of law
4. Free and competitive markets
The meeting point we now both share is from my own long term and front line observations, it is the Democrats who are slaves to authority, put a huge weight on party/union boss loyalty, and the sanctity of party loyalty over any other independent or wider issue thinking.
Is that funny, or what? Good to talk about these things.
The thoughts were not from my own perspective. I gave a reference for the statement, and can provide a dozen or more additional ones. One problem is that the data relates to conservative vs liberal psychology, not to people who call themselves conservative or liberal. I do find your comment about Democrats a bit strange. Until recently I've always faulted them for being disorganized and unable to actually keep it together as they try to be open and inclusive. In contrast, the Republicans have for the most part seemed well disciplined and organized. I'm sure that Republicans and Democrats, or conservatives and liberals, would agree with your four points although they would argue about their meaning. I think we need more than a binary distinction. There are conservatives, reactionaries, fundamentalists; and, liberals, progressives, radicals. Perhaps even more on each side. And today we seem to be in a phase of populism where anything goes.
People vote their own self-interest. Which why the Democrat Big Government agenda is fundamentally ruinous to any other principle you continue to espouse. To the point of total dysfunction and unnecessary complication, I might add.
Gut feelings and self interests is as far as this exploration really needs to go. The Trump camp had a gut feeling something had gone very wrong in America over the past 16 years. Though they might not know exactly what had gone wrong.
Democrats salivated at 23 million government employees, last count and growing, they nearly had in their a final tipping point take over of this entire country. Much like they did to California.
Who best caters to self interests, which is fickle. And whose money is at stake to fund that self-interests. This analysis is not far from the original political divide between John Adam’s and Thomas Jefferson at the very founding of this country if you find this conclusion too cynical.
Big Government vs decentralized and limited government. The pendulum continues to swing, so Democrats need to drop their holy wars of mass extinction every time conservatives take their own transitory power away from them. GOP will self immolate on their own in due time, just like Democrats always do too in their own due time.
Brian, have you read the book "The KGB'S Most Wanted" by Joseph Bondarenko? Author lives here in Santa Barbara/Goleta
Thank you, Brian for exposing the Democrat Mean Machine in action. It needs a lot more sun-shining, if we are to ever retake this town from this sinister one-party death grip.
It is down right chilling to read what they did to you and your family for simply exercising your right to participate in our local political process.
We have watched this unfold with other candidates too, hit them early and hit them hard to both bankrupt their campaigns forcing to run defense early, and attaching a cheap shot negative a label to shut down any and all further public discussion.
The remaining local media carries a large part of the blame for this sorry state of affairs. And yes, smug and irresponsible SB Independent that means I am talking about you. Thank goodness for SB Currents for at last having an alternate local forum to start leveling the playing field.