These early weeks of winter in Ozarkansas have been so tolerable that I’m almost ashamed to talk about it. Note that I said tolerable and not pleasant — nobody is sunning poolside. But after a couple of atypically harsh winters here, we’re diggin’ the average.
Some days are bright, some are gray and some, like today, are a bit of both. The chill is real, morning and evening, but we’re two-thirds of the way through December and my Carhartt winter coat remains in the closet.
While Deb’s enjoying her new job (still training in Mountain Home), I’m not exactly kickin’ ass on The Mountain. And honestly, I’m okay with that. I have to be.
I still haven’t found my pace. I reach my limits more quickly than I’d like.
But all is well. So am I.
Oh, by the way, Mercy doesn’t wobble anymore. After today’s commute, Deb was happy to say that the problem has disappeared.
I ‘ve devoted some of my time lately to bringing myself up-to-speed on current events and ruminating on issues. Maybe you’ve noticed.
Today, for example, I learned that Colorado’s Supreme Court ruled that Trump must be removed from the state’s 2024 Republican primary ballot. According to the majority opinion, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution disqualifies him from serving as president because he “incited insurrection” on January 6th, 2021.
We’re told that it’s the first time that the provision has been applied to the presidency. No word on how often the Constitution has been cited to impose not a legal finding but a political narrative.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the unprecedented invasion of illegals at our southern border. With numbers as big as these are, often it helps to break them down with a little perspective.
As you know, The Mountain is situated six miles outside the small town of Yellville, Arkansas. Its population is around 1,200.
Criminal aliens are coming over the border at an average rate of 250,000 a month.
That’s seven Yellvilles every day.
My post yesterday deserves a follow-up. In light of my sympathetic treatment of The South and its People, along with a broader-than-expected (perhaps) understanding of Southern heritage, a couple of questions have bubbled up.
First, do I object to the flying of the Confederate battle flag?
The answer is no. That should be evident from what I said yesterday. I won’t run a man off The Mountain over it. And as long as what he stands for is consistent with Founding Principles, I’d be inclined to invite him back.
The second question: Will we raise a Confederate flag on The Mountain?
No, we won’t. That answer might benefit from a little explanation.
Though I appreciate what motivates some of my neighbors to display the Stars and Bars — Southern pride, anti-government sentiment, or simple defiance — I’m not a Son of The South, and nobody likes a poser. I don’t intend to impose my heritage on native Southerners; likewise, I wouldn’t feel right pretending that I was raised with theirs.
So what flags will we fly?
The American flag, obviously. Also, the flag of the state of Arkansas. Third, we’ll raise a Gadsden flag.
All of those banners represent, to us, the People, not governments or institutions. If we flew them properly, according to our principles, we’d run afoul of accepted practice — Gadsden on top, then Arkansas, Stars and Stripes below.
“The most important thing in this world,” said Robert Green Ingersoll, “is the Liberty of man.”
The inalienable birthrights of the individual trump the presumed authority of the collective. Don’t tread on me.
(I hope I don’t have to explain that.)
Well, as long as I’m playing catch-up here, maybe I should elaborate on a few drive-by shots I’ve taken at messages and symbols embedded in “Leave the World Behind.” Lately I’ve seen dozens of commentaries on the subject of these “easter eggs,” most (though by no means all) coming from the ideological Right.
When the executive producer is POTUS #44, I guess you’ll have that.
Conservatives, who have an annoying habit of obsessing about trees and missing the forest, have zeroed-in on a single line delivered by the young black chick to her father:
“If the world falls apart, trust should not be doled out easily, especially to white people.”
Personally — and because I knew that I was watching a movie — that racist jab didn’t raise my hackles. It was totally in-line with her character, representing grievance-fueled AYBs who see everything through the lens of race.
So it didn’t bother me more (or less) than hearing the same words spoken in real life. For there to be some sinister significance to the line, there’d have to be other examples of race-based messaging in LTWB.
Either in dialog or through visuals, I mean. Something concrete, unmistakable, right?
Okay, I’ll give you two.
One of the first cinematic signs that all is not well in LTWB is a runaway oil tanker coming ashore on a crowded Long Island beach. The name of the ship is visible in every shot of the scene: “White Lion.”
Remember, now, this is fiction. The folks making the movie (and directing the CGI crew) could’ve slapped any name they wanted to on the tanker. Why this one?
Because it’s become popularly accepted (if not necessarily academically so) that African slavery began in the New World in 1619 with the arrival of a certain English ship.
Its name? “White Lion.”
That’s one. Coincidence?
When the vacationing dad sets out in the family car to pick up a newspaper, he turns on the radio — nothing but static, save one station. The broadcast is impossibly garbled, but the frequency displayed is clear.
1619 MHz.
That’s a high frequency, one that no car radio I know of can receive. (This radio is tuned to the AM band anyway, which is in the KHz range. Whatever.) But that’s not the point — the not-so-subtle point was to drop another race-based grievance nugget on unsuspecting viewers.
And that’s two. You find the rest.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB