Weekend reading guaranteed to make you smarter

Racing to criminalize race

In his recent column titled ‘Race Everywhere,’ Victor Davis Hanson exposes the rush to blame “systemic racism” for the horrific beating death of Tyre Nichols, an unarmed young black man. Nichols was murdered by five members of an elite — now disbanded — all black Memphis police unit, in a majority minority Tennessee city. Take time to read Hanson’s fact-filled column.

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Dennis Prager defines LGBTQ+ ‘Pride’ as Totalitarian

As those who have read his thought-provoking books and listen to his nationally syndicated radio show know, Dennis Prager is a reliable conservative voice. His biography ends with these words: “When Dennis Prager speaks, America listens.”

With this intro, Seeing Red AZ brings our readers Prager‘s most recent, enlightening column, “LGBTQ+ ‘Pride’ Is Totalitarian,” On occasion we have posted informative columns under the heading, “Weekend Reading Guaranteed To Make You Smarter.” The column we’re directing our readers to today is too timely and pertinent to wait five days to read.

Sex comes to the AZ legislature

Public schools are barely making the grade in imparting education to students in what is providing the left an easily controllable populace, short-changed on history and not even able to find China on a map. Cursive has been relegated to a relic and math is “too difficult” to bother with. We covered this educrat catastrophe recently in, ‘As Nat’l education report card reveals sinking test scores teacher’s unions support 4-day school week.’ Our children will be ill-equipped to be competitive in the international arena, but our boys can wear teal satin tights and girls will know the power of being known as Tom while at school.

Gaining prominence among educrats is the newly trendy “gender fluidity,” accompanying “preferred pronouns“ as teachers encourage Johnny to use feminine pronouns and Suzy is given the go-ahead to use male identifiers. Some classrooms have a closet filled with boys and girls clothing which the children are encouraged to wear in class as they take on a new sexual persona. This is all done without parent’s knowledge as the young students “role play.”

Fortunately Arizona’s state legislature has Sen. John Kavanagh, a Fountain Hills Republican, who has introduced SB 1001,bearing the reference title: “pronouns; biological sex; school policies.” It has just been introduced in the 2023 legislative session, so it will likely take a few days for the full text to appear.

Sen. John Kavanagh’s bio and answers to questions can be read in the pro-life, pro-family Center for Arizona Policy Arizona’s Voter’s Guide.

In the November 8, 2022 District 3 election, Sen. Kavanagh recently defeated his democrat challenger 61.0% to 39%.

Heart-tugging report misses its mark as “victim” caused her own woes

Misplaced sympathy encourages more government dependency

It wasn’t much of a surprise to see the local newspaper take up the cause of a “single mother” with three children who whines “the tuition tax credit isn’t frivolous for parents like me.” Karla Garcia is described as “parenting an 11-year-old, a four-year-old and a new baby boy alone while putting myself through college.”

Garcia is given aid and comfort by the newspaper as she describes the situation she brought about, worrying about putting food on the table. When she got pregnant three times, it’s a good bet she wasn’t thinking about feeding her growing brood. Why would she, when she gets benefits she can’t afford paid for by Arizona taxpayers who prudently limit their family size and opt to take a path where they earn money that is confiscated in taxes to subsidize her outside the mainstream lifestyle. The majority of those funding Karla Garcia and her boys, got educated first, found jobs, got married and then had their children. Garcia wants the rest of us to underwrite her risky choices. The children, none of whom have fathers mentioned in the report, are the innocent victims of their mother’s erratic decisions.

She deserves no sympathy, but her young children deserve a mother who acts responsibly.

Radical Sean Penn advocates for gov’t control, abolishment of liberty

It’s clear aging actor Sean Penn, a man lacking a moral compass, has seen better days as far as his career goes. An early supporter of Venezuela’s Communist dictator Hugo Chavez, now Penn has revved up his leftist political activism, still fueled by Trump hatred. He recently tweeted, “Hell hath no fury like a narcissist scorned,” attempting to link the events of January 6, 2021 to President Trump. He has also stated that being unvaccinated is “criminal” and “those people should not leave their homes and should lose their jobs.”

“It’s a “cowardice of conviction…I think there is an unwillingness to engage in a culture of common sense, but at this point it seems criminal to me. We’ve got to get everybody on the same page…I think the CDC should be much more clear,” says perpetually disheveled, chain-smoking, Penn. When he states,”This all started with leadership,” he’s not talking about Biden. He despises Donald Trump.

Movie goers have made Hollywood leftists incredibly wealthy. The pandemic closing theaters obviously had a negative impact on their incomes. These people revile us and our conservative values. Let’s not make them wealthier as a reward for despising us and President Trump.  The old classics on TCM are very entertaining, promote conservative values and are free.

Transgenderism goes mainstream via Mattel toy company

Today we take the unusual step of taking our readers directly another site. Red State’s headlined article is titled, “Iconic Doll Company Tells Children They May Need to Take Puberty Blockers” Taken from a another report originally posted in the U.K.’s Daily Mail, this information needs the widest of coverage as holiday shopping is underway. Discerning families should be aware of this outrageous incursion into manipulating children as young as three into viewing their bodies as fungible — able to have their sex altered.

Mattel, founded in 1945, has also undergone a transformation in the intervening years, culminating with a hike into promoting transgenderism as a natural choice for children to make. In response to its newfound “wokeism,“  its stock (abbreviated MAT) currently sports a “D” rating as it has dramatically plunged.

The best reaction to the once successful toy company is to put it out of its misery and boycott Mattel. This is the season when your shopping makes the largest impact. Speak loudly.

US Military falls victim to political correctness, crucial readiness lags

It’s imperative the US intensify military recruitment

Imprimis, the free monthly speech digest of Hillsdale College is dedicated to educating citizens and promoting civil and religious liberty by covering cultural, economic, political, and educational issues. The content of Imprimis is drawn from speeches delivered at Hillsdale College events. First published in 1972, Imprimis is one of the most widely circulated opinion publications in the nation with over 6.2 million readers. It recently published a shocking report, titled “The Rise of Wokeness in the Military,” adapted from a talk by Ret. Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr (bio included in link).

Fox News also covered the absurdity in “The Air Force Academy diversity training, instructing cadets to use words that ‘include all genders,’ and drop the terms, ‘mom and dad.”

As we approach Veterans Day, November 11, a day specifically set aside to honor our military veterans, this is a timely reminder of the need to keep our military at full capacity and readiness. Russia’s increasingly erratic Vladimir Putin is escalating his aggressions against Ukraine, provocatively detonating bombs. In this recent edition of the UK’s The Guardian newspaper, Putin was described as railing against a “satanic” west, in what was portrayed by observers as his most anti-western speech to date. He is growing ever more aggressive, warning, his threat to resort to nuclear weapons ‘not a bluff.’

When left-of-center NBC News headlines a recent report, “Every branch of the U.S. military is struggling to make its 2022 recruiting goals, officials say,” there is reason to be concerned.

Wokeness is not on the mind of tyrannical, aggressive dictators. It also will not keep us safe.   

Is civilization approaching crisis mode?

Seeing Red AZ has occasionally shared a particularly enlightening column we’ve encountered with our readers — posting it under the headline, “Weekend Reading Guaranteed to Make you Smarter.”  Today we upgrade our previous description as we bring you the genius of favored columnist, Victor Davis Hanson, and his most recent commentary titled, “The Thinnest Veneer of Civilization.” Appearing on Townhall, it embodies sheer brilliance. Reading it is sure to raise knowledge levels and possibly our IQs. 

Constitutional Freedom denied to AZ teams owner Robert Sarver

The United States is unique among nations in that our constitution guarantees freedom of speech via the First Amendment, which specifically states:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Nowhere do those words, drafted in 1789 — fundamental to the Bill of Rights by James Madison — a Virginia representative who later became the fourth U.S. president, specify that the speech must be agreeable to a specific percentage of the populace. They are guaranteed to the speaker, not to a specific audience.

Yet Arizona native, University of Arizona graduate and philanthropist Robert Sarver, the 18-year majority owner of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury, previously uttered words currently deemed sexist and racist, initially resulting in a one year suspension by the NBA and a hefty $10 million fine. Now he is being forced to sell the teams, though he has contritely stated, “As a man of faith, I believe in atonement and the path to forgiveness. I expected that the commissioner’s one-year suspension would provide the time for me to focus, make amends and remove my personal controversy from the teams that I, and so many fans, love.”

The speech police have ruled otherwise. Though Sarver is unique in owning major teams, we the hoi polloi, (Greek for “the masses“), have less to lose but can also suffer from not falling in line with the latest edicts of the authoritative language masters. Speaking to work associates about anything other than business is risky these days, giving enhanced meaning to the words, “Silence is golden.” The lesson is, saying nothing is preferable to speaking, which could cost you your job or more. There is no path of redemption.

“Women” erased by newly woke leftists

During the confirmation hearing following her nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court by Joe Biden, Ketanji Brown Jackson infamously told Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) that she was unable to define the word “woman.” Americans watched the exchange in disbelief:

“Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman?’” Sen. Blackburn asked. Jackson replied, “Can I provide a definition? No, I can’t.”

“You can’t?” Blackburn asked incredulously. “Not in this context, I’m not a biologist,” the nominee responded.

That foolish vantage point, with roots in the recently “enlightened” democrat party has gone mainstream. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary has now jumped onboard the newly politically correct, absurdity train. The dictionary definition of “female” has been changed to appease “trans” activists. Once defined as “adult human female,” the term now has a lengthy definition, including “having a gender identity that is the opposite of male.” Gender identity, or that “vibe,” or “internal feeling” of being a woman has now linguistically and by definition been intertwined with biological sex. Objecting to the change is now a chargeable offense.

Congress under the Biden administration has altered official documents to eliminate the word “mother” and replace it with “birthing parent” bizarrely eliminating women from their biological sex and their unique role in conceiving, carrying a pregnancy to term and giving birth.

On Dec. 30, 2010, SRAZ posted, “Orwell‘s 1984: Alive and well with journalistic word police,” which included a relevant news video, describing the then newly-approved language authorized by the Diversity Committee of the Society of Professional Journalists.

To say, “nothing has changed,” would be the height of foolishness. It has only worsened in the intervening years.