Truth or Consequences

Truth or Consequences, created by Ralph Edwards in 1956 was a popular television game show in which contestants who failed to correctly answer trivia questions had to perform stunts. This reminds me of what is currently happening in our legacy news and social media. The only problem is there never seem to be any consequences for lying or answering questions incorrectly. It doesn’t matter what form of media we use in our daily lives to keep us informed we never seem to be able to get the whole story. I’m not saying that there are not some but very limited news sources that actually tell the truth. As a whole the legacy and social media have become so consolidated that there are very few news sources that we can trust to tell us the truth.

Consolidation of Media in America: If we go back to say 50 years ago, we were able to pick up a newspaper or turn on a radio or TV news broadcast and actually hear honest reporting of what was happening in the world. We used to be able to listen to a diverse compilation of opinions from the various broadcasters and newspapers. This was because 90% of U.S. media was owned by 50 companies however that is not the case today because of the many mergers and acquisitions we now have only 5 companies controlling 90% of todays media. Much of this change took place because of deregulation by the Regan and Clinton administrations allowing media companies to own much larger portions of the market. The five companies who own 90% of the media market today are Disney, Comcast, AT&T, National Amusements, and News Corp.

New Age Propaganda: In case you haven’t noticed, “Or maybe you have” this consolidation of media has caused a serious problem in allowing the populace to have access to accurate information about what is actually happening in our country. I liken this to what happened in Germany after Hitler took power and installed Joseph Goebbels as Germany’s minister of propaganda. Goebbels envisioned an empire that would control schools, universities, film, radio, and propaganda. To quote Goebbels “The national education of the German people,” he wrote, “will be placed in my hands.” Goebbels controlled the media and arts, making sure that Germans were fed Nazi ideology while censoring other information. Is any of this beginning to sound familiar?

Censorship: Goebbels made sure that Any media that conveyed anti-Nazi ideas or even other ways of life, were censored. Censorship of newspapers, radio, cinema and the theatre was enforced. We have in recent months Americans have discovered that our government agencies such as the FBI and CIA have been intimately involved in the censoring 1^st amendment rights through the primary social media companies (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc.) “Do you see the paralles?”. In recent months our school and public libraries have come under scrutiny for the books they have been allowing into the children’s sections. Many of these books have delt with what most God loving parents would consider sexual perversions. Once again, we need to look back at Goebbels propaganda model to see that only books which agreed with the Nazi point of view were allowed. All other books were banned, and many were publically burned.

Religion: Hitler believed that religion was a threat to control of the state, so he broke up the Catholic youth league and arrested and imprisoned Catholic Priests as religious teachings were banned. He established the Protestant Reich Church complete with Nazi Bishops. Protestant Pasters who disobeyed such as Dietrich Bonhoffer were thrown into concertation camps. “Is it becoming clear to you that we are seeing the beginning of many of the same things happening today right here in America as were present in Nazi Germany.” What has happened to religion in our country. This is a quote from (www.theguardian.com) and are alarming statistics to say the least. Jan 22, 2023 A study by Pew Research found that the number of Americans who identified as Christian was 64% in 2020, with 30% of the US population being classed as “religiously unaffiliated”. In particular our youth have been leaving the church in alarming numbers. The question is why? About a quarter of the young adults who dropped out of church said they disagreed with their church’s stance on political and social issues. “Gee, do you think that taking God out of our public schools and pushing a Woke Socialist Agenda in our colleges had something to do with this problem?”

A Nation Under Siege for 2 Decades: If we look back on the past two decades it was at the turn of the century that we saw the beginning of more socialistic policies being accepted by the people that we elected to govern us. The socialist policies that have been instituted in our country have been a big part of changing our nation and theoretically you can’t make fundamental changes to a prosperous nation. We have seen Government controlled and administrated Healthcare, government Monopolization, Government controlled and administered Education and Government run Social Services and Welfare State. We have seen government work its way into just about every aspect of our lives and we are now seeing the advent of the puppet Biden administration government dictating what we will do and how we will do it. From requiring that we all drive electric cars by a specific date to what kind of fuel you can use to cook your hamburgers. They use absurd excuses like Climate Change to implement these rules and regulations forcing the governments will upon the people. The amazing thing is that this is all done through the various bureaucracies creating rules and regulations without the consent of the peoples’ representatives.

Corrupt Government working in Concert with Corrupt Corporations: We have seen over the past two decades a merging of Government and the major corporations of our country that has been even more powerful in transitioning our country into a socialist state where the elite rule. You only have to look at how corporate America is accepting Drag Queen shows and acceptance of what is currently known as the Rainbow Coalition. From 2012 to 2022 Gallops survey of Americans self-identifying as LGBTQ has doubled from 3.5% in 2012 and 7.2% in 2022 with the largest increase taking place in the past two years. It should also be noted that corporations have been working in concert with the government in promoting the Rainbow Coalition Agenda. Does anyone really believe that this 7.2% of Americans should have the dynamic influence we have seen from the prominent corporations responding to acceptance of the LGBTQ community to the point of risking their reputations like Bud Light and Target? My question would be is the government behind this push to get corporations to back this 7.2% while telling the rest of America they don’t care about what you think. My guess would be yes there is a government push and yes, many major corporations are going along with them for fear of reprisals. What’s funny is that the Silent Majority is actually taking a stand and telling these corporations to “Go to Hell” we are not going to put up with your antics.

Corruption leads to more Corruption: Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. First and foremost is the enduring legacy of 9/11 and how it affected so many changes in how we live. America felt the harsh reality that we were vulnerable to an attack. This led to one of the most significant—and lasting—changes with the massive expansion of executive power. Along with the Patriot Act came the expansion of spying on Americans and the abuse of FISA courts. The executive branch of government now holds most of the power when it comes to what direction our country will take but just like a corporation if you have bad management, you will get bad results. It took 16 years of bad management to get a Donald Trump elected and boy did that cause a rift in the space time continuum. Trump was a very successful businessman who had acquired billions in wealth because he knew as they say in poker. “He knew when to Hold Emm and Knew when to Fold Emm. For the first time in 16 years, we had someone who knew how to run a business and let me tell you running this country is nothing more than a big business. We had four years of the best economy America had seen since Ronald Regan was in office but the opportunities for corruption were rapidly disappearing as Trump took control. He literally took away the punch bowl from those who used our huge bureaucracy to enhance their own fortunes. We are only now seeing the revelations of the corruption by the Biden family business of influence that has turned America into a third world country. We have open borders, an economy that is failing in just about every aspect, inflation running rampant, homelessness and crime in major cities at new highs and a government no longer trusted by most of the American People.

How to fix the Problem: Having spent 40 years on Wall Street I think I can speak with reasonable authority about the management of companies. I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to corporate managers and most really good managers were true leaders who were not afraid to get their hands dirty. The good ones did not mind controversary as they knew that “In Chaos there is Profit.” They knew that sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. As the head of a company, you need to have a lot of confidence in your decision-making process and in past history there have seen very few corporate heads who had that quality. Unfortunately, the new mantra of corporate management is management by consensus which is not management at all. Now a days no one wants to take responsibility for their decisions so if something goes wrong, they can blame everyone but themselves. Just look at the politicians we have elected to office who are scared to death that the next important decision they make will help drum them out of office. Donald Trump may brag a lot about his accomplishments but than again he actually had a lot of them compared to those who preceded him for the previous 16 years. If you want to have a successful country Economically, we need to get back to basics and install a corporate manager who is actually capable of turning our country around again. I don’t currently see anyone in the Republican or Democratic line up aside from Donald Trump that can fill that bill. We have a lot of “Wanabees” and even a couple of billionaires who would like to try but this is not a time for try outs this is a time for electing a proven entity who can get the job done an that is Trump.

In closing: let me just say that this next election is the most important in our history and I don’t want a person who is training for the job of president. I want a proven entity who has mastered the art of the deal and can bring back the prosperity and innovation that our country has been known for throughout its history. The question the American voters need to ask themselves is am I better off now than I was 4 years ago. The answer is a simple one. If you hate Trump and the way, he conducts himself think about how much farther your dollars went when he was president. Think about how our economy was growing by leaps and bounds as employment of all people grew to the highest numbers in 50 years. Think about how less regulation and lower taxes brought prosperity to all Americans not just the elite. And think about the fact that with Trump there were no wars and America was respected throughout the world.

Now Make Your Decision but remember We Get the Government We Deserve.