Common Sense 101

During the Revolutionary War a Philadelphia newsman, Thomas Paine, wrote an influential pamphlet called “Common Sense”. His publication coalesced nuanced principles and political opinions that encouraged the oppressed colonists to fight for an independent, egalitarian government. Given the current chaos that observant Americans are witnessing in the first five months of the Biden-Harris regime, the Nation needs another strong dose of “Common Sense”. 

The prominence of BLM (Black Lives Matter) burst on the national scene with the tragic death of career criminal, George Floyd, as the result of an arrest gone bad.  Initially the nobility of the concept was lauded, marches were held from Newport Beach, California to Charleston, South Carolina, as the outrage over a nine-minute video of a cop with a knee on Floyd’s neck was played endlessly.  Riots ensued, businesses were destroyed, and citizens died. Here’s where common sense kicks in a year later.

Rashad Turner the founder of BLM in St. Paul, who now leads the pro-school choice group Minnesota Parent Union, stated "I believed the organization stood for exactly what the name implies - Black lives do matter. However, after a year on the inside, I learned they had little concern for rebuilding Black families.” As reports have trickled out, Co-founder Patrisse Cullors came under fire after it was discovered that she bought four homes for more than $3 million in the last year. BLM has collected over 90 million dollars in contributions with no accounting from the founders of where the money has gone. Because of increased scrutiny of her and her ideas, the self-described "Marxist" has resigned from the organization. As Turner implies, there was no money spent to improve the lives in the Black community. Common sense would indicate a giant scam has been perpetrated. 

One year ago, the horror of Wuhan Flu gripped America.  President Trump stated that he believed the virus originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, reputed to also be the location of the Peoples Republic of China’s Army Biological warfare research facility. When Trump disputed the Wuhan “Wet Market” origin of the virus, he was roundly derided by the press. He had already been labeled as xenophobic after banning travel from China and other countries. Utilizing common sense, one would wonder why the press didn’t notice that prior to the widespread movement of the virus into Western Civilization, the Chinese sealed the city of Wuhan from other cities in the country but not the world. British intelligence sources are convinced the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab.

Common sense would also demand that one wonder why, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, or Zhengzhou (where iPhones are manufactured), never reported massive outbreaks of the “flu”. Anyone read about a shortage of Apple products during the Great American Shutdown? Fairly certain that extended research will reveal no such crises occurred in Apple world. 

Using common sense when asked to do a commencement address is a must.  Let’s start with Vice President Kamala Harris, who gave the graduating Midshipman at the Naval Academy an address for the ages. In a word, Harris laid an egg, telling the cadets to use "wind energy" for "combat power." Seriously? Or even worse, a woke joke about how a female Marine would rather carry a rolled up solar panel rather that 20 pounds of batteries for power. Cadets groaned as Kamala cackled awkwardly alone onstage. 

Not to be out done, Joe Biden’s commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy featured a badly mangled joke that President Reagan uses nearly 40 years ago. Maybe the teleprompter malfunctioned, as his delivery of the plagiarized joke, landed with an enormous thud.  To compound the screw up, Biden then scolded the cadets for not laughing or clapping when the joke tanked. He told graduates "You're a really dull class. Come on man, is the sun getting to you?" No common sense seen. In both speeches the coverage was overwhelming fawning, as who would dare to point out such a lack of propriety.

The current leftist anger about the Republican party seeking to repress the opportunity to vote by requiring Americans to show a valid ID at the polls, is one of the most outrageous examples of common sense missing in action.  Everyone knows that regardless of race or ethnicity, folks need valid identification to board an airplane, cash a check, drive a car or buy a firearm.  Why in the world wouldn’t you need a valid ID to prove that you are eligible as a citizen to participate in the greatest free elections on the planet?  Maybe some elements want to encourage fraudulent voting.  

Yet the greatest absence of common sense in the Nation, is the “Defund the Police” movement, championed by assorted elected progressive numbskulls.  Do these naïve loons believe that having less policemen on patrol will lower the crime rate? Crime rates are up in all the Democrat controlled metropolitan areas. Who wants to go to New York, Portland, or San Francisco? There are more cities, but, hey are too numerous to list. Civilization as we know it is under assault because of this utter stupidity.

Then there’s the southern border crises, makes no sense, common or otherwise.

The cultural nihilism advancing through this Nation, like the plague, is aided and abetted by a co-opted media that makes a resurgence of “Common Sense” an absolute necessity for the long-term survival of the Republic. 

The brief examples cited demonstrate that Americans need to remain clear eyed, skeptical, and trusting their native “Common Sense” when it comes to politicians and media blather. 

Trust your instincts.