That phrase was coined by the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan in trying to show that a society has a limit in tolerating bad behavior before it has to start lowering its standards.  He also called it “moral deregulation”, that has eroded families, increased crime, and produced the mentally ill and addicted “homeless” population to expand it's tentacles.  The late erudite pundit Charles Krauthammer, expanded on Moynihan's phrase by proposing the reverse  -  that not only are we “minimizing what was once considered deviant”, but we were also “finding deviant what was once considered normal”.  Since the 1960's, the decline in ethical, moral behavior has steadily declined up to the present day where we have behavior that is not only crude in speech, but is dangerous in actions against our fellow man.  The disrespect, by some in our society, against our mores and traditions is manifested in the violent crimes that occur all too frequently today in our once safe venues like schools, shopping malls, theaters, houses of worship etc., it is a clear signal that something is amiss in our society today. There is an old expression that if you reward bad behavior you get more bad behavior.

Once we take out the “moral purpose” in life, a society cannot remain free and civilized as there will be no constraints and duties required in a fair and just society (ex: the fall of the Greek and Roman societies are an example). Anything goes. Faith, which is condemned in many of our institutions, such as in schools and in government, is not a threat to a civil society, it is vital for its survival, but it is eroding at a fast pace in our screwed up society.

The decline, which started in the 1960's with the passage of the “Great Society” promoted by then President Lyndon Johnson,  changed our tenet of self-reliance, to relying on the government to solve most all our problems, a form of socialism that is undermining our capitalist system that is promulgated by most of our professors and educators in our schools and by many in the Democrat Party.  The young people today have been indoctrinated into thinking that our culture and traditions are no longer valid, and that a “total transformation” (a phrase used by former Pres. Obama) is needed to achieve the “Nirvana” that has been pushed into their heads full of mush. Winston Churchill, in his infinite wisdom once said, “If a person is not a liberal (a/k/a Socialist) by the age of 20, he has no heart, but if he's not a conservative (a/k/a Capitalist) by the age of 40, he has no brains”.

Look all around us today.  We have taken God out of the schools and replaced it with sex education and free condoms and a “dumbing down” of the curriculum; we have mocked patriotism by banning the pledge of allegiance and national anthem in many of our venues; we have defaced and tore down statues of our past heroes and some non-heroes; we have reduced the concept of marriage, which for centuries was designated as between one man and one woman, to be any two (or more) loving people of any sex; we have expanded our welfare rolls, including illegal aliens, thereby making more and more people dependent on government handouts; we have made drug using acceptable, in some cases, while we have made tobacco using unacceptable (a noble gesture); and we have tolerated the total disrespect of the office of the president of the United States while overlooking the crimes of certain favored politicians of a certain party (a double standard of justice).

Today we have groups that shroud themselves in names that connote peace and tranquility, but are actually the opposite of what they say they believe, an example being ANTIFA (which stands for anti-fascist). They are the masked thugs that go around disrupting political rallies, and shouting down speakers at forums that they don't agree with, along with destruction of private and public property, and then join up with another militant group with a sweet sounding sobriquet called BLACK LIVES MATTER, who have chanted “Pigs in a blanket, fry'em like bacon” and “What do we want, DEAD COPS  - and When do we want it – NOW”.  Both of those groups are the antithesis of what their made up names are trying to signify. They both champion the Marxist/Socialist form of government. And, of course, we have the spectra of that insidious term “political correctness” which tries to stifle free speech and free movement by unelected busybodies who try to force their views onto everyone else.  A case in point, look what happened at a previous Winter Olympics.  For millions of Christians, it is unnerving to live in a world where the sister of a despot (she is the Communication Minister of Communist North Korea) is normalized and glamorized, but a man of faith (V-P Mike Pence) is considered “mentally ill”.  That comment was made by Joy Behar on that left-leaning show called “The View”, to laughter and applause by the audience.  How low can you go?  Just when you think Joy Behar can't go any lower she starts digging even lower.

All these examples I've listed above, seem to justify, unfortunately, what Sen. Moynihan and Charles Krauthammer tried to convey about what is happening in our society today, and not for the better. It is a case of “Defining Deviancy Down”.
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Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

One of the craziest things being proposed by the liberals, and their acolytes in ANTIFA and BLM (Black Lives Matter), is the attempt to “defund” or worse, “disband” the police.  What are they thinking?  Do they think our descent into anarchy would be lessened if their proposals came into fruition?

These anarchist groups, who profess to be Marxist/Socialist oriented, are emboldened by the lack of law enforcement in curtailing their felonious behavior in looting, burning of private and public property, and threatening law abiding citizens.  Much of this illegal activity was initiated with the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a black man, by a rogue white policeman.  In fact, the plot to “overthrow” the United States was in the works for a long time before George Floyd's death.  Those anarchist groups mentioned before, were just waiting for an emotional event, like Floyd's death, to mobilize by using his death as an excuse to cause mayhem and havoc in Minneapolis and around the country. The “modus operandi” of what these groups have used is just what was spelled out by how the Nazi's and the Soviet's used to come to power.  It's also what the father of community organizing, Saul Alinsky, advocated in his book, “Rules fr Radicals”, for how to undermine a government and a society they wanted to change.

This anarchist behavior has been sponsored by elitists in both the educational institutions and in the liberal media.  Their constituency is mostly made up of young people who have been inoculated and “sold a bill of goods” in our educational system, which instilled in the heads of these young people, that the U.S. was an evil, racist nation which must be changed.

It is a known fact that if you encourage and overlook illegal behavior  you will get more illegal behavior.  By trying to appease this bad behavior, the politicians have dug themselves a hole they will have difficulty getting out of.  This brings up the following saying that “Those who don't remember the past are bound to repeat it”.  These anarchists don't respond to weakness, they only will retreat when force is used to prevent their felonious behavior.

In case you haven't already noticed, most all the states and cities where the anarchists have run wild and invaded, are states and cities run by liberal Democrats.  Not only are these states and cities run poorly by being financially irresponsible, they have also been lax in enforcing the laws regarding crimes and criminals.  In many of these states and cities, the elected politicians have not backed up their police, they have let inmates out of the jails for dubious reasons, they have done away with bail, even for repeat offenders, and have let these offenders, some with violent backgrounds, back into society, many to resume their criminal behavior against law abiding citizens. 

When will all this nonsense stop and law and order prevail again? It is in the hands of the politicians who run these states and cities. These weak politicians must “grow a set of gonads” and exert their authority to bring common sense back by enforcing the law.  They can't let the “Animals run the zoo”.  That is a recipe for disaster.  President Trump has offered the help of the federal government to these state and local politicians in bringing law and order back into their communities.  It is up to them to work with the federal government to stem the flow of disruptive and illegal behavior from becoming worse than what has already happened.

So, let's not “defund” the police, let's “defund” the liberals.  That's the common sense we need in this time of turmoil and violent bad behavior.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

For those of you who do not know of Hattie McDaniel, she was the slave maid (Mammy) at the Tara plantation in the acclaimed movie “Gone With The Wind”, back in 1939. Why that needs to be said is that HBO has removed the movie from its offerings claiming that it had “racist” overtones mainly because it was located in the Confederate South, and the maid, Hattie McDaniel was black. How absurd that the “racial grievance crowd” has intimidated executives in various businesses, in this case HBO, to adhere to the “political correctness” line that those “self-proclaimed” anti-racist bigots can determine what is permissible and what is not, as to the content of an award winning movie.

Are we losing our minds? Many of these “racial arsonists” are white people trying to overcome their imagined “white guilt” for past injustices going back hundreds of years when slavery was legal. I resent the implication that I or my family and friends, are responsible for past racial injustices. We had nothing to do with that past, and we shouldn't feel guilty. We never owned slaves or did anything to bring grief upon the blacks or any other minority. Some citizens , like the White Nationalist and Supremacist groups, still foster bigotry, but why then paint the brush that all white people are racists? The people with an agenda like the “shakedown” artists, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, use “white guilt” in using that racial tactic in getting money for themselves and their organizations by shaking them down under threat of being called racist. Whenever a racial incident takes place , these “disciples of chaos” come out of the woodwork to go to the town or city where the incident occurred. It always seems that when Sharpton and Jackson go into a violent racially charged situation, they always seem to become part of the problem instead of being part of the solution.

These anarchist groups like ANTIFA and BLM (Black Lives Matter) are nothing but Marxist/Socialist social flame throwers whose main purpose is the undermining of our society and institutions. And recently, they seem to be gaining traction in the Democrat controlled states and cities. Anarchy reigns supreme in cities like Seattle, Minneapolis, Baltimore, New York City, Wash. D.C., St. Louis, Detroit, and Atlanta etc. The politicians in charge all seem to have abdicated their authority to these violent domestic radical groups, that are creating havoc and destruction in the various cities all around the country.

The tearing down of statues of Confederate soldiers, the renaming of military bases, the vandalizing of monuments of some of our great heroes and statesmen of the past, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the great explorer Christopher Columbus, is an abomination that should not be allowed to happen. I guess the old admonition of “those that don't remember the past are bound to repeat it” doesn't seem to make an impression on these desecraters, looters, and arsonists that are ravaging our cities and towns in the name of “racial justice”.

The banning of that much acclaimed film, “Gone With The Wind”, is an example of common sense going out the window. By the way, Hattie McDaniel won an Academy Award (the 1st black person to do so) for her performance in in the film, which shows the stupidity of the “politically correct police”.

Let's hope, in this coming election, we don't elect more Marxist/Socialists as it would mean the end of our great republic as we know it. That is all the more reason to re-elect President Trump to a second term in November. He's a man who says what he means and means what he says, the kind of leader that some of the states and cities are desperately missing.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

That phrase in the headline is a play on what Shakespeare said in his play “Hamlet”. The full phrase of Shakespeare was, “The lady doth protest too much, me thinks”. The meaning of that phrase is that some person or group is insistent about something, to the point where the opposite is most likely true. That phrase by Shakespeare could and should be applied to the anti-Trump Democrats who are complaining about the same tactics they used in trying to impeach the president. Imagine the phony outrage of them complaining that both Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Chuck Grassley have issued subpoena's to many of the former Obama officials in trying to get to the bottom of the ill-fated attempts to illegally drive President Trump from office. Yes, they doth protest too much.

The Democrats scream that they want more openness and transparency when it comes to Republicans, but when it comes to exposing the “dirty deeds” of Democrats they cry and wail that the Republicans are pursuing a “witch hunt”. Does that sound familiar? That was the cry for 3 years by President Trump and the Republicans as the Democrats used KGB tactics in trying to impeach a duly elected president, Donald Trump.

The Democrats used their majority in the House of Representatives to attempt a “bloodless coup” to unseat the president. Yet, they still won't accept the fact that all the testimony and self-serving statements, especially by Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, accusing President of treason, conspiracy with the Russians etc. were all found to be bogus. The anti-Trump haters in the “Deep State” and in the higher echelon of of the FBI, was a black eye on our
government law enforcement agencies.

Who would've thought that those government agencies would use illegal tactics of spying on a presidential campaign and after Trump was elected, trying to entice innocent members of that campaign and his administration, to lie so they could be charged with a crime (Gen. Michael Flynn, Carter Page, George Papadopolous etc.), leaking confidential information to the press, and otherwise conducting themselves in other anti-American activities.

Most all of the subpoena's to be issued by the Senate committees are issued to former members of the Obama administration. Yes, that's the same administration that claims that not one scandal happened during their entire 8 years of its presidency. What facts show so far and are dribbling out, is that the Obama administration was one of the most corrupt administrations in modern history when it came to crimes and illegal activities.

The expression, “What's good for the goose is good for the gander” can be applied to the actions of the sanctimonious Democrats, by them protesting the same procedures they used against President Trump in their attempts to drive him from office.

The Democrats and their lackey's in the media are “crying like stuck pigs” because, I believe that they don't want the public to know the extent of the illegal activities used by them in their “faux” investigations of the president.

Yes, they “doth protest too much” and they must be “outed” so that future presidents are not confronted with this type of illegal behavior in the future. So, I implore the Senate committees to continue its investigation, even in the face of intense criticism by their opponents.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

What occurred on May 25th in Minneapolis was not a crucifixion, but an evil deed by a dirty cop, that cannot be denied from the footage seen on television by millions of viewers. 

The seconded crime is trying to make George Floyd appear a martyr, to be used by those who need something to further their own personal agendas, exacerbated by leftist media, to fulfill their own biases.

I am much older than most who may be reading my words, if media has not squelched attempts to air them because of  my cynicism in believing no justice will come out of all the havoc created to bring justice.

I have seen this scene repeated many times in the past in my lifetime, to no avail, because each side in the game wants a bite out of the apple, spurred on by their leaders, who want to maintain importance among their flock of sheep.

To keep the issue alive sustains power; to find a solution diminishes it.

Society, being what it is, made up by human beings, is flawed and will continue to create incidents that benefit some and bring misery to others. It started in the Garden of Eden and will not end with promises by charlatans.

Conservative Commentary by George Giftos

Since the unfortunate killing of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, we've heard a cacophony of rhetoric claiming that black people are systematically being killed by the police. Is that a fair, honest statement? During hysterical times, unsubstantiated charges are made to heighten the emotions of certain people looking for a cause to advance their agenda.

Police officers and local businesses seem to be the target of organized, violent, anarchistic groups (like ANTIFA and BLM), by using the unfortunate killing of an unarmed black man by the police. Most people seeing that video of George Floyd being held down, which caused his death, unanimously condemn that police action. But, is that “systematic racism” on the part of the police or is that a rare instance of police misconduct?

Let's look at some of the facts regarding the cry of “police racism”. Do the facts back up this cry? Here are the facts (as reported by the FBI and Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute):

1) According to the FBI, the police kill somewhat more than 400 people a year, 1/3 of them black.
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2) In New York City, blacks are 23% of the New York population, but they commit 75% of all shootings, 70% of all robberies, and 66% of all violent crimes.

3) Whites are 33% of the city's population, but they commit less than 2% of all shootings, 4% of all robberies, and 5% of all violent crimes.

Those disparities mean that every time the police in New York are called out after a shooting, they are summoned to a minority neighborhood looking for minority suspects ( in Chicago there are approximately 500 killings per year, mostly all black on black shootings). The black death rate is a function of the black crime rate.

The national rate of homicide committed by blacks is 8 times of those of whites and Hispanics combined. Black males between the ages of 14-20 commit homicides at the rate of 10 times the rate of white and Hispanic teens.

The local and state leaders have denounced widespread “white racism” as if every white American killed George Floyd. Apparently, individual liberty and responsibility have been replaced by group guilt. Peaceful protest is a right according to our Constitution, and is a method to be utilized by all to allow their voices to be heard. But, no one has a right to destroy the community because of a perceived wrong by an individual. We have elected officials and law enforcement who seem to be missing in action. They have abdicated their authority to maintain law and order in their communities, and then have the audacity of blaming President Trump for their failures. The reports about the “alleged epidemic” of “widespread” and “race
based” police brutality against blacks and the lack of confidence in justice, in that justice will not be done in the Floyd case. The trouble with those assertions are that they are false, and not supported by the data.

In 2019, there were 9 unarmed black victims of police shootings which represented 0.1% of all African-Americans killed during 2019. By contrast, a police officer is 18 1⁄2 times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to killed by a police officer. Is that black racism?

So, rather than being a blanket indictment of all white people being racist, the facts don't back up that incendiary charge. In fact, if you paint all white people with the brush of racism, you could also paint the brush of racism against all black people. Neither charge would be correct, no matter what the ”racial arsonists” proclaim to the contrary.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

Our Declaration Of Independence was produced as a road map for the beginning of our great country, leading up to our Constitution, the greatest document ever written in the free world. But it seems that the Democrats want us to forget the Declaration of Independence and in its place, the “Declaration of Conformity”. This past week Democrat candidate for president, Joe Biden, proclaimed that if black people supported Trump over himself, then they “ain't black”. This is the same guy who has called President Trump a racist. I guess if he is looking for a racist, he should look in the mirror to see who the real racist is. What a dumb thing to say, but what else is new when Biden opens his mouth. He seems to be afflicted with a terminal case of
“foot in mouth disease”.

It seems the Democrats and Biden's attitude reflects a larger problem on the left. The view that race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other identities are more important than individual liberty. Biden thinks that being black means that that person should support the Democrats and therefore should support him. Doesn't that sound like “Massa Joe” running the plantation? Many blacks, both liberal and conservative, have condemned that flippant remark as totally racist and inappropriate. But, in order to try to save face, Biden gave a lukewarm apology and his fellow flunky's in the Democrat Party and in the “fake news” media, are scrambling to soften the damage done by his racist remark. I must remind them that, no matter how hard you try, you can't polish horse manure.

You have to wonder why, during a presidential campaign, that the party out of power is almost exclusively campaigning against President Trump on a personal basis rather than challenging him on the policies that he has had passed during his 3 1⁄2 years in office. They don't seem to have a plan for the betterment of the country, except to pass ridiculous legislation furthering their Marxist/Socialist agenda, mostly which has nothing to do with alleviating the financial horrors brought about by the pandemic. They know it will not pass the Senate, but they think it will appeal to the people by giving them goodies from the federal treasury. That largess they propose, which amounts to another $3 trillion in debt, will be seen as another boondoggle by a desperate party looking to regain power with a flawed candidate.

Should we become a nation of conformists or should we follow what our founding fathers gave us, a nation of citizen governance with emphasis on individual liberty? We must never put ourselves in boxes as to race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual identification etc. Our Declaration of Independence gives us the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, not the “guarantee” of happiness. The only conformity we should express is in following the dictates of the Constitution. We must not let those who want to fundamentally change our society into a Socialist hell hole return to power. This election in November will determine whether we go on to greater victories or will we become another Cuba or Venezuela. Remember, we didn't elect a Pope, we elected a leader, and President Trump is that leader, with all his warts and petty foibles. We must re- elect President Trump in November for the good of the country.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann