Enforce The Laws? It’s About Time!

Those of you who know me well are aware I’m pretty much apolitical, sometimes anti-political. I believe strongly in freedom and the right of the American people to be themselves without government interference.

I do recognize that there are lowlifes in every sector of a society, those who will take any advantage they can, even if it hurts someone else. This is why we have laws. To have laws, we must have lawmakers, which, unfortunately, means politicians.

One of my biggest exasperations over the years has been lawmakers who see something going on they consider wrong, and so rush to pass yet another law to prevent everyone from doing that wrong thing … regardless of any other law that might already exist. My position is usually, “Let’s enforce the laws we have before we pass any new ones. Let’s enforce the laws we have or get rid of them.” Many years ago, when the Equal Rights Amendment was making a big splash, I thought that was one of the stupidest things ever – simply because we already have laws in place to guarantee what these amendment proponents wanted.

By the way, this stupid thing has been around since 1923; in 1972 it passed both houses of congress. 35 states of the 39 required actually ratified the amendment, but five states later rescinded their ratification. My opinion: we don’t need it – we only need to enforce laws we already have on the books. 

All this is a lead-in to the following YouTube video, in which a Representative from South Carolina says pretty much the same thing, although much more powerfully. I expect some among you will condemn him and what he says because of party affiliation, or because he attacks a sitting president that you like. But listen closely, and you’ll hear he’s calling for an omni-partisan enforcement of existing laws, regardless of party affiliation. I applaud his position.

I hereby stick my neck out to make this statement: if you don’t agree that all laws should be enforced (and not selectively), then you might want to take a closer look at whether you would rather live in freedom, or under a totalitarian or communist regime.

That’s all. Stepping down from my rare political soap box now. And yes, I’m open to discussion about this.

How To Host A Guest

In being a guest at many places – people’s houses and hotels mostly,  I have more often than not run into situations where it was just plain awkward to stay there. I can only think of a few instances where the stay was absolutely hassle-free.

When in someone’s house as a guest, this is more understandable; in a hotel room, it is neither understandable or acceptable.

If you will ever host a guest, whether in your private house or in your lodging business, here are a few things you might want to keep in mind as you prepare for them.

Continue reading How To Host A Guest

What Is Prejudice?

I was listening to the wives of some friends a few weeks ago, when one of them said to the other, with a snort, “Men! They’re all alike.”

Of course, this was said with a certain degree of levity, but also with a good measure of seriousness.

This brought to mind many similar generalizations I’ve heard over the years, expressing opinions – usually derogatory – about an entire grouping of people. Continue reading What Is Prejudice?