I just perused the headlines at a major online news source and if that was all the information I could obtain, I would have an extremely depressing day. I’ll admit there is enough bad stuff to dominate the front page or lead story of any news organization right now, but what really irritates me is the total omission of, or relegating to boilerplate status, anything uplifting or hopeful.

The coronavirus did not suddenly pop up on the city streets of the world, it didn’t get there by itself, it was carried in the body of a human being.

There may be controversy about the exact location at which it originated but it is a proven fact that its origins are somewhere in the city of Wuhan, China.

I am going to do my level best to aim this column straight down the middle, glancing neither left nor right, in what the politicians in DC call a bipartisan fashion.

It is an attempt to circumvent personal political preferences, step around the hyperbolic, the rhetorical and the prejudiced vendettas so firmly ingrained into our minds by media on the left and on the right.

There is no doubt that Easter will be celebrated in a way that will be so foreign to Christians this year as we shelter in place, practice proper social distancing, wash the first layer of skin off our hands, wipe down, clean up and do our individual bits to rid our beloved country of this plague that has besieged not only our nation, but Planet Earth at large.

What America has been going through the past few weeks has brought out the best, and the worst in our beleaguered nation.

To say that the last couple of weeks in America had been a trying time would be tantamount to referring to Lake Pontchartrain as a mud puddle, as our beloved nation has had to accept realities we’ve only read about in science fiction stories and put our lives, our jobs, our relationships and even our families on hold.

Since the advent of coronavirus, America has had little time, energy or interest in anything else.

Trying to keep up with the latest mortality rates, the number of infected, the spread and all the other moving parts associated with the virus, and I do mean moving parts because the situation changes so rapidly, sometimes on an hourly basis.

Our nation - and for that matter, every other nation on the face of the planet - is in a state of anxiety, confusion and bewilderment about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that has caught even the most technologically advanced nations on earth totally unprepared to deal with it.

“I want to tell you, Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Gorsuch, you have unleashed a whirlwind, and you will pay the price.”

Is this the statement of a rational man, a political leader who is charged with leading his party in the US Senate?

We have long heard the phrase “The dumbing down of America” to describe the effort of the Democratic Party to indoctrinate, under-educate, immigrate and acclimate, to influence the coming elections to favor the Democrat candidates.

At the writing of this column, it is a well-known fact that a billionaire from New York is trying to buy the presidency. His well-financed strategy is such that he is able to circumvent the heavy lifting of the smaller primaries while the other candidates are slugging it out visiting small-town gatherings, shaking hands in diners and walking the streets letting the folks get to know them.

If Americans are used to anything, it's hearing politicians make campaign promises that they forget about when they get in office and never fulfill.

The phrase “God Bless America” is the title of one of the most durable songs in our history and is a part of the lyrics in an unknown number of compositions by American composers in all genres of music.

I know it’s only a dream, and perhaps you’ll say an impossible one, but being an incurable optimist, I believe with the right leadership it could happen.
The scene is the chamber of the House of Representatives, the occasion, a specially called joint meeting of both houses, at the podium, the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House - Obviously not the two currently in office.

This week, the United States Congress will embark on a path that, though many are making predictions, nobody knows for sure where it will lead them and, unfortunately, the nation.

Almost every day for the last several years, I have tweeted “Benghazi ain’t going away” on my Twitter page.

There are a couple of reasons. First of all, I have met the three men who were fighting the mob from the roof of the embassy annex, getting shot all to hell in the process.

The fallacy that by severely restricting the sale and ownership of firearms as a means of curbing violence in America is easy to discredit, in fact, we need look no further than across our southern border.

I can understand political parties thinking they have all the answers while the other parties are lame and doing their best to raise money, choose good candidates and campaign hard drawing comparisons and pointing out differences to point out why their platforms and their candidates are much superior to their opponents.

*NOTE*

Charlie will be back with his first soapbox of 2020 on Friday, but in the meantime, here's a New Year's Soapbox Rewind from 2014.  Happy New Year from everyone at the CDB and Twin Pines Ranch. - TeamCDB/BW

2015

Well, for somebody born in 1936, the very numerals themselves sound like the title to some B-grade black and white science fiction movie, some cheesy tale about how in 2015 the two-headed minotaurs from Uranus came to earth and ate everybody's brain and turned the human race into mindless robots.

When I was a little boy, it seemed that Christmas would never get here, now it seems to come about every six months.

No matter, I love Christmas time, and at our house we celebrate heartily. Hazel decorates five Christmas trees, keeps us all well fed and every Christmas Eve we go to church and when we come home we are joined by a bunch of family and friends and we spend the evening enjoying each other’s company.

As we approach the end of another year I oftentimes turn my attention to the chorus of voices that are so plentiful this time of year, that proclaim, “Where did the year go?”

I have been on this earth for 83 years and I remember elections and political climates from the days of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration through the present day.

It is my firm belief that the United States of America entered a Danger Zone several years ago that it is still in and that the American Dream, our individual rights, our Sovereignty, and any real chance of pursuing life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, without interference from an all-consuming central government would become a thing of the past.

The gold standard of a democracy or republic is wrapped up in a simple phrase that most people attribute to Abraham Lincoln, although it goes much farther back in history.

“Of the people, by the people, for the people”

Congressman Adam Schiff has done something most unique, he has become judge, jury, prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, appellate court, and even an unwitting witness in his headlong, tunnel vision rush to remove a duly elected president.

Every time you go to a concert, whether it’s in a football stadium or a fifteen hundred seat performance hall, there is, has and will be heavy-duty work that started happening long before you took your seat and long after you vacate it.

“He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

1936 was not the most prestigious year in American history, although a few noteworthy things did happen.

It was a leap year, Franklin Roosevelt was President, the New York Yankees beat the then New York Giants in six games of the World Series and the Statue of Liberty celebrated 50 years of standing in the New York Harbor.

The advent of the twenty-four-hour news cycle and the amount of on-air time they devote to politics are - in my opinion - responsible for the American public’s seemingly insatiable appetite for all things political and the strong opinions that are encouraged and influenced by the obviously biased outlets.

This column may appear to be somewhat petty in some aspects, but as I believe that many times big problems begin as miniscule problems and, like microscopic worms, casually weave their way into the fabric of our lifestyles and in the conglomerate can have an overall effect on the quality of our lives.