As that phone call wound down, the president reportedly mentioned to Pelosi that he had to hang up, because he needed to make an address to the United Nations.
Pelosi claims that Trump then made a statement to her along the lines of needing to reinforce that we are not in support of globalism, but instead are in favor of nationalism.
Immediately on hearing that word “nationalism“, the overwhelmingly liberal elite Washington, D.C. insider crowd on hand for Pelosi’s presentation immediately let out a collective moan.
And there we have one of the most fundamental differences between liberals and conservatives in America today.
Donald Trump is the President of the United States. His title and job is not that of President of the Globe, President of the Planet Earth, or President of North America.
It is President Donald Trump’s job to always act in the best interests of the citizens of the United States. It is his job to put our concerns first, and to make our needs preeminent. American lives. American businesses and jobs. American values and traditions.
Now, don’t get me wrong. It is not his job to act for America “only” – just to act for America “first” – every time.
There are many times when we will work with our allies in various efforts to help those nations. However, we should never act on behalf of those nations when it is going to compromise our own citizens with no benefit to the United States.
Democrats have been doing everything within their power to demonize this president throughout his entire first term. That is totally understandable. They hate him, and they hate that he holds the office and its power.
What they had best understand as well is that we get it. As Republicans, we fully understand their motivations, their tactics, and their agenda. We understand the direction they want to take America, should they gain full power.
You often hear Pelosi, as well as the Democrats running for their party nomination in the 2020 election, making statements along the lines of needing to “bring America together” and wanting to work “for all Americans.”
As Republicans, we fully understand that those statements are bold-faced lies.
The Democrats have no desire to come together with us, or to work for us. They want to gain power, and then install their liberal, progressive agenda as deeply as possible.
That agenda includes globalism, the planning of our economic and foreign policy on a global basis, as a fundamental principle. And if the United States as a nation, our citizens and their jobs, our businesses, our traditional way of life must suffer, so be it.
President Trump has done a phenomenal job in representing America’s national interests and upholding our traditional national values when dealing in foreign affairs issues, each and every time. That is, after all, his job. Whether liberals like it or not.
Justin Trudeau has been the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party since 2013 and Prime Minister since 2015
Liberal PC culture is trying to decapitate yet another national head of state. This time the victim is the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.
Unless you have been living under a rock the past few days, you have likely seen the pictures of Trudeau which have surfaced after nearly two decades.
Those pictures show Trudeau attending an ‘Arabian Nights’ theme party at the private school at which he was teaching back in 2001.
In the photos, as part of an old-style sultan/genie-type costume, Trudeau is wearing a robe and turban. He is also sporting dark makeup which covers his entire face as well as his neck and hands.
When the photos surfaced they elicited outrage from the usual suspects who are offended these days by anything which they consider ‘cultural appropriation’, almost always directed at a white person costuming as someone from another race or ethnic background.
Trudeau, whose father, Pierre Trudeau, had been the Canadian Prime Minister during the early 1980’s, was a 29-year-old teacher at the West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at the time that the photos were taken.
The revelation of the first photo immediately resulted in Trudeau issuing a public apology. When a couple of subsequent photos and a video also emerged, Trudeau apologized yet again.
Trudeau at the 2001 ‘Arabian Nights’ theme party
The following is an excerpt from a Time magazine piece published on September 19, 2019 by Anna Purna Kambhampaty, Madeleine Carlisle and Melissa Chan:
“Speaking to reporters Wednesday night, following TIME’s publication of the photo, Trudeau apologized: “I shouldn’t have done that. I should have known better and I didn’t. I’m really sorry.” When asked if he thought the photograph was racist, he said, “Yes it was. I didn’t consider it racist at the time, but now we know better.””
The video which surfaced and was published by the Global News in Canada appeared unrelated to the theme party. However, it also offered no context, nor was it entirely clear as to exactly what the person shown was doing or why they were doing it, if in fact it even was Trudeau.
However, news outlets have exploded with statements such as “stunning” and “racially charged” in their description of the photos and video.
Here is the problem with that apology and the underlying supposition.
Racism is defined as “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.”
It can also be defined as “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.”
Trudeau neither did or said, nor did he imply, anything back in 2001 which revealed any type of prejudice or discrimination or antagonism. He did not display any behavior indicating that he felt that his white race is superior to any other race.
Trudeau simply wore a theme-appropriate costume and makeup to a party at which many were attending in costume. Bottom line, Justin Trudeau has nothing for which to apologize.
I have seen a few of my fellow conservatives calling for Trudeau to resign in the wake of this revelation. That is nothing short of politically motivated idiocy.
There is no need for conservatives to jump on Trudeau, a publicly proclaimed and evidenced liberal where nearly every political and social position is concerned, simply as an attempt to exploit a “gotcha” moment.
The fact is that conservatives should be supporting Trudeau at this time, as incredible as that may seem. Why? Again, because Trudeau did nothing wrong back in 2001, and because this type of character assassination against anyone of any political persuasion needs to stop.
By apologizing, Trudeau actually did more wrong now than he ever did back then.
Most of us with common sense recognize that many folks these days, especially the snowflake contingent on the political left, are offended far too often and by far too much.
Here in Philadelphia, the local hockey team, the Philadelphia Flyers, completely overreacted back in the early spring when they first covered with a black tarp and then removed a statue of beloved franchise iconic singer Kate Smith.
Smith’s rendition of the song “God Bless America” had become a good luck charm for the team during their Stanley Cup-winning years in the mid-1970’s. It grew into a traditional staple, played before big Flyers games ever since.
In 1986, the Flyers erected a statue of Smith based on her performance of the song prior to the clinching game of the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals victory. The statue moved with the team from The Spectrum to its new home, and was sitting outside what is now the Wachovia Center.
But a story emerged that Smith had performed a few songs some 80 years ago which contained what were perceived by the snowflake crowd as racist lyrics and sentiments.
“The NHL principle ‘Hockey is for Everyone’ is at the heart of everything the Flyers stand for,” Flyers President Paul Holmgren said in a statement at the time per a piece at CNN. “As a result, we cannot stand idle while material from another era gets in the way of who we are today.”
Kate Smith, some 34 years after her death, as well as her song remains beloved by many Flyers fans. But she has been black-balled by the hockey organization.
It will be interesting to see how Justin Trudeau, a true liberal world leader and former media darling who is up for re-election next year, is ultimately treated by the press.
But if early reporting on the photos and the recent liberal track record are any indication, this may be the end of the 47-year-old’s political career.
While I hate to support any liberal politician, there is no other way to respond to this situation than with support for the Canadian P.M.
If liberals want to eat their own, that will usually be just fine with me. However, Justin Trudeau did nothing wrong in 2001. Lighten-up, snowflakes.
Yours truly, posing with two of New York’s finest during our visit to the WTC Memorial site in 2015
On September 11, 2001, the United States of America came under attack by Islamofascists who were representative of millions around the world who hated – who, in fact, still hate – our way of life.
Thousands of Americans were killed and injured. The iconic Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York fell. The eye of the Pentagon, the very home of American security, was blackened, with more than a hundred more killed.
And in a previously anonymous field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United Air Lines Flight 93 exploded into the ground. All 44 people on board were killed, including a number of brave passengers who rushed the terrorists who had overpowered the crew and taken command of their plane.
As with every September 11th since that fateful day, AmericanS remember. Just as with the attack on our nation that occurred on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, we will never, ever forget.
We watch on television and our devices as the President delivers a message to the nation. The roll of names will be read of those who were killed at the various locations in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. They are pictures and sounds that most of us have seen and heard in some version for 18 years now.
But there is another thing that I would recommend every American should do at some point. Actually plan a trip and go to the site of each of these memorials.
In late summer 2015, my wife and I undertook a trip to Manhattan. We stayed at the World Center Hotel, with a room overlooking the World Trade Center memorial site. We visited the memorial area, and went to the top of the new Freedom Tower.
The 9/11 memorial park itself, in the very footprint of the former Twin Towers, is a moving place of reflection adjacent to a beautiful, serene park.
Freedom Tower, formally known now as One World Trade Center, is a majestic, powerful symbol of America’s ability to recover and thrive after attack and disaster.
It was a trip that I am so very glad now that we took. I have not yet been to the Pentagon, or to the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. They are absolutely on my personal bucket list.
I would encourage all Americans to make a trip to each of these memorials. Being there in person, at the very place where so much death, destruction and carnage took place on that day, really brings it all home so much more powerfully than any television image.
Below are links to many of the official memorial sites and other valuable resources to help plan your trips.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Areas of the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial will be closed for lighting repairs and construction, due to be open fully again by late May 2020.
Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, and in the United States this is National Suicide Awareness Month.
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one’s own death. Mental disorders and substance abuse are often major risk factors, especially in combination with one another.
While some suicide attempts are impulsive, a response to major stressors in life, other attempts are well-planned, frequently as a result of depression, with sometimes dramatic staging involved.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated the annual suicide rate as 10.6 per 100,000 people worldwide as of 2016 numbers. It is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, with approximately 123 Americans committing suicide daily.
Look at your watch, your device, your nearest clock. In the next 12 minutes, someone in the USA will commit suicide. That is the average. It takes the lives of nearly 45,000 Americans each year.
This year, the WHO has launched a “40 seconds of action” campaign in order to both raise awareness of the scale of suicide across the globe and to highlight the role each of us can play in order to help prevent it.
That 40 seconds figure was arrived at due to the fact that someone around the world loses their life to suicide an average of every 40 seconds.
While suicidal thoughts affect individuals of every age, race and sex, it is the second-highest cause of death in the world for young people aged 15-24. The CDC estimates that 20-25% of Americans age 18+ are affected by depression in any given year.
Depression and suicide also do not care about your or your family’s celebrity status. A decade after her 18-year-old son, Michael Blosil, committed suicide by jumping from the balcony of his eighth-floor Los Angeles apartment, Marie Osmond still struggles with the loss.
“I think God gives you respites. And then all of the sudden it will hit you like the day it did. The ripple effect is so huge, what you leave behind.”
We often think of police officers as some of the strongest among us. On an almost daily basis, officers experience the worst that can happen to people. Victims of crime and accidents, even direct threats or attacks on themselves. You need to be strong to handle that day-in, day-out mental, emotional and physical grind.
But as I learned both in nearly thirty years of my own law enforcement experience and specifically in teaching a course on law enforcement suicide for a couple of years as a Sergeant with the Philadelphia Police Department’s Training Bureau, police officers are far from immune.
Between 2003-2013, there were 17 Philadelphia officers who committed suicide. The numbers fluctuate each year, but continue to show that, on average, one or two Philly cops kill themselves each year. PTSD is a primary factor in the vast majority, perhaps in all, of these losses.
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has estimated that twice as many law enforcement officers take their own lives each year as die in duty-related assaults or traffic accidents. For each successful suicide by a police officer, there are up to 25 attempts, according to an IACP report on the topic.
Here are some of the suggestions the WHO makes for all of us to consider as part of their “40 seconds” program:
Are you struggling yourself with thoughts of suicide? Take just 40 seconds to “kickstart a conversation” with someone you love and/or trust. Tell them about how you are feeling and what you are considering.
If you know someone who has lost a loved one to suicide, take 40 seconds to start a conversation with them. Don’t text. Don’t send an IM or slide into their DM’s. Don’t drop them an email.
Call them. Listen to their voice. Let them hear your voice, the genuine love, compassion, and concern you have for them. In the first 40 seconds of the phone call, directly let them know you were thinking of them, and ask them how they are doing. Then…listen.
The WHO also recommends that those working in media take the time to highlight the “every 40 seconds” statistic, and point those who may be struggling to resources that can help. I will include many good ones at the end of this piece.
If you work in the arts, or have a platform for communicating (such as me with this website), take the time to communicate the “40 seconds” statistics and message.
You can at least take 40 seconds to put together an email directed at your local, state and national political leaders, imploring them to prioritize mental health and suicide awareness and prevention resources.
If you know someone, or are someone, who has made a prior suicide attempt, you should be aware that it is a major risk factor for a future suicide. Be sure to stay in touch with loved ones, and to reach out. Seek help. Be help.
All of us can at least do our small part to improve awareness of the significance of suicide as a legitimate health problem, both here in America and around the world. For instance, share a “meme” or other graphic found on the internet in your social media feed today.
We can all improve our own knowledge on the topic, help reduce the stigma associated with suicide attempts, and perhaps most importantly to let people who are struggling know that they are not alone.
The WHO considers that suicides are preventable. It just takes people who care. Care enough about yourself to reach out. Care enough about struggling loved ones to get and stay involved in their lives.
With as little as 40 seconds of action from all of us, we can begin to lower those averages. We can begin to make a real difference. We can begin to help save lives, perhaps our own, perhaps those of a loved one. Just 40 seconds.
Alright, the liberation to get back to writing political and social commentary! Perhaps I owe a debt of gratitude to the far left lunatics who tried doxing me in recent days.
Let’s start with what actually happened.
During Thursday night’s Philadelphia Eagles preseason game, backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld suffered a wrist injury, one that it was later announced would keep him out for awhile.
At the time, I was “live-Tweeting” a Phillies game for a site by the name of Phillies Nation” for which I had been the lead writer for more than a year. Basically providing updates of key moments in that game as they developed.
In reaction to Sudfeld’s injury, I began to see a number of folks interjecting commentary on Twitter regarding the Eagles possibly looking at bringing in controversial former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. There were many folks who were for this happening, and many against it.
At my personal Twitter feed (@MatthewVeasey), I put out a message that stated if the Eagles were to actually sign Kaepernick, I would find it offensive and would stop watching and following the team until he was gone.
My feelings had nothing to do with race, and in fact, very little to do with football talent. I could care less that he hasn’t played in three years.
What I do care about is that Kaepernick has publicly come out against American police. As a three-decade law enforcement officer, supervisor and training instructor, one who still has family and many friends in the profession, I find his messages offensive.
Socks depicting pigs wearing police hats, framing police shootings as “lawful lynchings“, reactions to police shootings with statements such as “there are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
Kaepernick is no social justice warrior as he refuses to stand and respect the American flag and our national anthem. He is an anti-police, far-left radical activist. Here in America, I have a right to publicly stand against him and his positions.
That opinion did not go over well with those who support Kaepernick. Some among that group looked at my profile and saw that I was a retired police supervisor, which I am sure raised their ire even further.
Someone among the group chose to do a little research on this personal blog of mine. They dug up a few old articles that I had written, highlighting what they felt were controversial snippets pulled from pieces on race and sexual preference issues, most of which I had written a decade or more ago.
No context was provided on these snippets, of course. They simply began an online campaign to brand me a homophobe and racist. A hater. They spread the message to many of their lefty friends, and hundreds began to pile on.
Phillies Nation became a target, with the attackers threatening to continue bombarding them with negative comments, as well as to go after the advertisers, if this “hater” was allowed to continue with the site.
Needless to say, Phillies Nation caved. I am no longer associated with that site. So, that is what happened.
Now, to address the issues.
The fact of the matter is that I hate no one. Well, I have always half-jokingly said that I hate no one except “Nazis, Islamofascits, and the Dallas Cowboys.” I have no problem sticking with that statement.
This situation highlights perfectly, in fact, why I have a hatred for those Nazis and Islamofascists.
Fascists of any type want one thing, to impose their agenda on society, and to not only stifle, but to destroy all vestiges of dissent. If you aren’t with the program, then you are a threat, and you must be silenced.
As anyone who knows me well already already realizes, you aren’t going to silence me. I don’t cow-tow to fascists, far-left or otherwise.
There are things that I personally believe involving political, social, religious, familial and more issues. There are things that I feel are right, and things that I feel are wrong.
Here in the United States of America, at least to this point in our history, I am fully entitled to those beliefs, and am fully entitled to write about those issues and opinions. That is, as long as I do not advocate violence against anyone else.
And also as anyone who knows me is well aware, and as I have already said, I hate no one. I do not advocate violence against anyone for their political, social, sexual or religious beliefs or practices.
I served for nearly three decades as a Philadelphia police officer, detective, and supervisor. I interacted with many members of the community of every race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religious affiliation. Never had any complaints in these regards, few at all in my entire career, none sustained.
My website has existed in this form, right here at this location on the web, for 15 years. That includes more than 13 during which I was with the PPD. My writing was well known, read by many officers, known of by the department, and was never the subject of an investigation or discipline.
If you should ever run across someone trying to share one or two sentences or columns from one of my pieces while attempting to frame me as racist or bigoted, I would challenge you to find the full piece and read it in its full context.
If you want to start your own blog and write in support of the issues and positions that you believe in, and against the things that you feel are wrong, go right ahead.
So, that is exactly what I will be doing. I will continue to write regularly about the Phillies, baseball, and Philly sports. But I will also be getting back to something that I had set aside, writing on political and social issues. Anything that I write will be linked at my social media feeds.
This blog is sorted into topics at the above tool bar. There is an opportunity to search the blog with a search box at the right of that tool bar. At the bottom of each piece are “Tags” which link to other pieces containing that subject matter.
Nothing ever written here at my blog has been deleted, hidden or blocked. While I might not phrase something today as I did back in 2009, neither am I ashamed or embarrassed or afraid of anything that I have ever written.
Feel free to search for and read any that you want. You will find my opinion, my viewpoint. What I challenge you to find is hate, or calls for violence.
Just as importantly, feel free to not read. Or simply choose what to read or not read. If you like my baseball or sports writing but disagree with my political or social views, stick to reading my baseball or sports pieces. If those don’t interest you, but you do like my other topical writing, enjoy that instead. Your choice. No one forcing you to read or care about what I write.
Looking forward to the freedom and liberation to get back to writing about those broader topics once again. So again, a hearty “thank you” to the lefty doxers and anyone else who helped nudge me back in this direction. God bless America.
