Commentary

Shannon Safford wanted to serve her country as a member of the United States Army, but in order to do so, she was required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine that would ultimately end her active service. She received the shot on deployment to Kuwait and began developing strange symptoms: She had menstrual issues, digestive problems, an odd zapping sensation like a shock, numbness, muscles twitches, and extreme fatigue. All this was the more strange because prior to receiving the shot, Shannon had been in the best shape of her life, playing volleyball and doing CrossFit.

A new study has found that as many as 104 million people of faith are unlikely to vote this election season. Within that segment, as many as 41 million born-again Christians (as defined by their beliefs) and 32 million self-identified Christians who regularly attend church are expected not to vote.  These findings highlight the alarming number of projected uncast votes from religious Americans, whose participation is crucial this election. A September Pew Research survey indicates that 61 percent of Protestant voters support Donald Trump, whereas 37 percent of Protestants support Kamala Harris. 

It’s tomato season on our hobby farm. This year I planted an unprecedented variety of tomatoes since I got some for free from the local feed store. So into the ground they went. I figured if I got some fruit, great, and if not, it was worth a try anyway. I’m pretty relaxed about my gardening efforts due to limitations from the two autoimmune diseases I live with. I’ve been dealing with a flare- up for some time, which has led me to reevaluate how I’m eating in an effort to reduce inflammation. That’s where the homegrown tomatoes come in.

The American people believe the American political system is corrupt. This is alarming – but it also represents an enormous opportunity.

As the disastrous impact of Hurricane Helene reverberates through the nation and the southeast braces for the impact of Hurricane Milton, many Americans are calling out the tepid federal response from the Biden-Harris Administration even as billions of taxpayer dollars are ushered to foreign countries or into programs for illegal immigrants. Hurricane Helene, which devastated sixteen states in the southeast from Florida to North and South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, has taken the lives of over 220 Americans, and left millions without food, shelter, or power.

Unexpectedly, Pennsylvania’s Millennial and Gen X voters are poised to elect the next president of the United States.  No longer adolescents, Millennials are adults striving for families and homeownership in a world of uncertainty. For Gen X, 30-year mortgages locked in at 3% feel great, though the launch of MTV is now closer to the attack on Pearl Harbor than today. Life is coming fast for both generations.

If Donald Trump gets past Kamala Harris on Nov. 5, he’ll likely face a fiercer opponent in court – her campaign attorney, Marc Elias, who has vowed to fight the election outcome in every close state she loses. The longtime Democratic Party lawyer has already filed more than 60 preelection lawsuits to stop Trump from becoming president again by combatting what he calls Republican “voter suppression” efforts such as requiring voters to provide identification at the polls. Echoing a standard Democratic talking point, Elias maintains that such requirements are “racist” strategies designed to make it harder for minorities to vote.

Americans are like members of a quarrelsome family, so intent on arguing their petty grievances around the kitchen table that they don’t smell the rising smoke from the oven. As our nation fumes and the world burns, neither major party presidential candidate is addressing the lapping flames around us. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are not simply ignoring our frightening national debt – both vow to ramp it up. Neither candidate has a serious plan to respond to the threats posed by China, Russia, or Iran.

On the eve of a highly-anticipated live X “Spaces” conversation between Elon Musk and former president Donald Trump, the powerful European Union Commissioner Thierry Breton warned in August that authorities would be “monitoring” the conversation for “content that may incite violence, hate, and racism.”  While reminding Musk that the EU was already investigating X for alleged failures “to combat disinformation,” Breton said he and his colleagues “will not hesitate to make full use of our toolbox … to protect EU citizens from serious harm.”

The songwriter, actor, country/western singer, musician, U.S. Army veteran, helicopter pilot, accomplished rugby player and boxer, Rhodes scholar, Pomona College and University of Oxford degreed, and summa cum laude literature graduate, Kris Kristofferson, recently died at 88.

If you have been awake these last several days, you will know all about how the aspiring First Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, publicly slapped a former girlfriend so hard she spun around. I believe, but am not sure of the chronology, that that was after Emhoff inseminated the nanny he and his former wife had engaged to, well, possibly to help him in his task of “redefining masculinity.”

The 800-mile path of destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene to the southeastern United States has been massive. The scope and scale of the devastation are only now beginning to be understood. There are at least 200 dead, millions of lives disrupted, and many billions of dollars of damage. The tardy, callous, and insouciant response of the Biden-Harris administration recalled the famous New York Daily News headline from 1975: “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” “Drop Dead” was certainly the animating spirit for the lack of action by the Biden-Harris administration in the face of the tremendous suffering of Americans in those states.

The Biden-Harris administration is lying to the American public when they claim that FEMA is out of money.  Speaker Mike Johnson just posted on X that, "Last Wednesday, I led Congress to provide $20 billion extra dollars (available immediately) to FEMA so they would have operational funds right now to respond to Helene."

Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech last week to accompany the release of her 82-page economic planning document. While her words were intended to evoke optimism, the implications of the plan are troubling for America’s future. To begin with, the plan must be placed in context.

The United States is deep into a season of severe discontent. Our politics are polarized, our Congress is moribund, and our purchasing power has tumbled. A Gallup poll in early 2024 showed that only 20 percent of Americans are satisfied with the “way things are going.” Nearly 70 percent believe the country is on the “wrong track.” While innumerable failures of government factor into this public cynicism, evidence suggests that U.S. immigration policy is among its most powerful components. Despite our self-image as a “nation of immigrants” and our public celebration of “diversity,” a growing number of Americans sense that immigration, especially in its most frenzied illegal form of the past three years, is implicated in some of the country’s most vexing problems.