Over the past three years – ever since President Biden took office – I’ve noted a significant change in my family’s spending habits. My family now shops at discount retailers rather than “specialty” markets. We also use a cellphone app to find the best place to purchase less expensive gasoline for our vehicles. When we do drive, we tend to “cluster” our trips to minimize the mileage. (Click on the above title to continue reading if necessary.)

I attended a Sunday morning church service on a recent cruise returning from Europe. The gospel reading included the words, “for I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me, I was naked, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came to me” (Matthew 25: 35-37). During the sermon, I and the rest of the congregation were harangued with the idea that collective social sins can be even more grievous than our personal sins. I was shocked by, but not unfamiliar with, this claim. (Click on the title above to continue reading if necessary.)

In the wake of all-too-common mass shootings, many members of our society have pleaded that we need to do something to control gun violence. As a conservative, I agree. But, as a conservative, I also realize that we shouldn’t let our emotions run away with us in the present situation. We need a well-reasoned response, not an emotional reaction. (Click on the above title to continue if necessary.)

In 1990, as the father of two young daughters, I realized that our public schools were becoming increasingly troubled. As my wife and I approached the time to enroll the first of our two daughters in kindergarten, we listened carefully as concerned parents noted with dismay what was happening in their children’s classrooms. First, there was the new math that hardly anyone could understand, including the teachers. The new goal, it seemed, was to teach why math worked the way it did rather than help students learn how to do it. Second, sight reading was adopted at the cost of phonics. Rather than sounding out words based on letters, students were taught to recognize whole words. Unfortunately, if students had never encountered a given word before and did not immediately recognize it, they might just as well have been looking at Greek. As a result, hardly anyone was learning how to read. Before long, cursive writing disappeared from the school curriculum because it was deemed too complicated. Cursive writing, once a common patrimony, became little more than hieroglyphics to the latter generation of students who could only read block letters. (Click on the title above to continue if necessary.)

Almost everyone knows what a pendulum is. In its simplest form, a pendulum is a weight attached to a string. The string is anchored firmly at some point above the weight. When the weight is set in motion, it freely oscillates left and right under the influence of gravity. The pendulum is a good analogy for analyzing politics. Let’s look at a hypothetical political pendulum and see what we can learn from it. (Click on the title above to continue if necessary.)

Until recently, it was easy to distinguish conservatives from liberals. Conservatives told us how to run our lives. They promoted self-dependence and self-sufficiency. They urged virtuous behavior and regulated vice. They told us that good things would come to us if only we worked hard. A characteristic saying might have been, “God helps those who help themselves.” Unfortunately, that wasn’t a popular message, and the number of conservatives began to shrink, as would be expected. (Click on the title above if necessary to continue.)

The great divide between Republicans and Democrats results from political extremism. A generation ago, both parties agreed about the goodness of America. Today, Democrats believe that the United States is a terrible country in desperate need of reform, while Republicans believe America is a wonderful place in need of protection. Issue by issue, the extremes of our political spectrum appear as far apart as the East is from the West, and “the twain shall never meet.” It doesn’t have to be this way. It is possible that we can find and share common ground to the benefit of all. (Click on the title title above to continue if necessary.)

Republican Party Chair Dennis Grundler: ‘Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lisa Holder White Delivered on Her Promise.’

Judicial Supports of the MCGOP
Judge Amy Lannerd, Justice Lisa Holder White,
Chairman Dennis Grundler, Judge Eugene Doherty

McLean County Republican Party leaders Dennis Grundler (Chairman) and Connie Beard (immediate past Chair) agree that Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lisa Holder White delivered on her promise to give an inspiring and informative presentation at the Party’s October 27 Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. Attendees strongly agreed if their strong ovation following Justice White’s presentation was any indication. Cities 92.9 FM radio personalities Cat Petersen and Ty Smith interviewed Justice White in an on-stage, sit-down setting. (Click on the title above to continue reading if necessary.)

By definition, an issue is something that people legitimately disagree about. A broken-down car or a cancer diagnosis are not issues; they are problems in need of solutions. Politics is the fine art of solving problems, many resulting from issues. Issues frequently arise because of differences in political, social, or moral values – something beyond the ability of politicians to resolve. Still, there is a two-thousand-year-old bit of advice that can help solve today’s nearly irreconcilable problems associated with issues of a political nature. (Click on the title to continue reading if necessary.)