20191106: Rally Thread, Monroe, Louisiana

Say it with me….. “MUN-row”. Okay, now say it faster, “MUN-row”. That’s how you properly say, Monroe. Now, say “LWEEZ-i-ana”, with a soft “L” – almost ignoring the “L”. Very good, very good. Now, string it all together, “MUN-row…… LWEEZ-i-ana” and you’ve got it.  In New Orleans, the accent is more like Brooklyn or Boston, but in Monroe, the accent has a southern lilt ….. but faster. Excellent, now you’re ready for Sunday dinner with Aunt Bette after church. Welcome to Monroe!

Monroe is the halfway point between Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Shreveport, Louisiana, and so is their culture. Monroe is a cross between the ruggedness made famous by the Duck Dynasty guys in Shreveport – with a healthy dose of southern gentility from Vicksburg. If we widened our view, Monroe would be the halfway point between Atlanta, Georgia, and Dallas Texas, if we stayed on I-20.

Monroe is located in the NE part of Louisiana, and as we should know by now,………. a brilliant campaign stop for the Trump Team, to turn out the vote and get rid of incumbent Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards. This part of the country never receives any attention. A Presidential trip to Monroe is mind-numbing, people will bring their children to see this. Yet, if these voters turn out……. we could easily tip an election. Whoever is planning these Presidential stops deserves a LOT of credit. Expect to see a big turnout from southern Arkansas and Mississippi as well, but we’re here to elect Eddie Rispone the new Governor of Louisiana.

https://twitter.com/josh0410x/status/1190606726833344512

The MAGA/KAG Rally will be held at the Monroe Civic Center which seats about 7600, + more on the floor. Although it was built in 1965, it’s state-of-the-art now, and home to the Bayou Beast Indoor Football team and the Monroe Moccasins Hockey Team.

Monroe, Louisiana has a population of about 48,000, split by the Ouachita River (pronounced “WATCH-i-taw”) with West Monroe (about 13,000) on the other bank of the river. Population is declining, after reaching a peak of 57000 in 1980. The Monroe METRO area has a population of about 200K. When the factories leave for China, the youngest generation leaves for larger cities in search of opportunity. Any wonder they voted for Donald Trump?

As for the population demo breakdown, in 2010, the city was 63.9% black and 33.4% white, with about 1% of Latino or Asian. There is no Bloomingdales, Saks, or Tiffany’s, in Monroe, Louisiana, although they have a large University and a terrific hospital system. Don’t expect too much Twitter activity either. At this time of the year, the cotton crop is in, maintenance is being performed on machinery, and we’re all watching the annual migration of fowl down the Mississippi River (a wondrous site). We’re ready for cooler rainy days and getting prepared for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Fascinating History of Monroe and how regular Americans built America:

In 1894, Joseph A. Biedenharn moved from Monroe to Vicksburg to start a Candy Company. He figured out how to bottle a popular local sweet drink called Coca Cola. Until Biedenharn, the drink was only available at a soda fountain. Here’s the original machine.

Biedenharn was smart, however, he delivered bottled drinks to other stores, begetting distributorships, a bottling system which changed the world, and vast wealth for those who invested. For a while, in my youth, I dated a young scion of one of the families…. whose name was…. TAB. Sound familiar?

But that’s not the end of the story. Biedenharn’s son was named Malcolm. While dad prospered with Coca Cola, and the invention of the automobile made delivery and expansion easier, Malcolm was home managing the family farm. The entire region faced devastating losses from the Boll Weevil which wiped out the cotton crop…… and beget the migration of 1.5 MILLION Black Americans to northern cities.

One day, Malcolm ran into the local Ouachita AG Agent named Collett Woolman, who was testing insecticides at a local Agriculture Experimental Station. Probably with a little money from dad, the two men, Woolman and Malcolm Biedenharn came up with the idea of “crop dusting” from small planes ……. “Crop dusting” was born and the idea spread quickly, saving the fields, farms, and families.

Malcolm Biedenharn and Collett Woolman called their young company Delta Dusters

A few decades later, Delta Dusters, the guys who invented crop dusting, was so successful, it grew into Delta Airlines.

For YEARS Delta Airlines headquarters were in Monroe, Louisiana

Which is probably why you’ll never see a Pepsi product on a Delta flight.

Thus, the Biedenharn family changed the world as we know it. It started simply, “How do I enjoy this sweet drink at home or on a picnic?”, and led to a system of bottling and distribution which made the world healthier, saved lives. The son, Malcolm, had the same innovative spirit, “How do we stop the boll weevil?” With a little help from other like-minded fellows, he figured out a way to conquer the problem.

Doing nothing was easy…. but “doing nothing” isn’t ….. American, is it?

For years, we heard our leadership speak of the “managed decline” of the United States and the “inevitable rise” of China. Who thought that was a good idea? How did that happen? Why in the hell would Americans ever settle for a decline…… of anything? Yet, for decades, we did. We slept ….. and accepted our fate….. doing…. nothing.

Until this guy came along….. the son of Fred Trump.

Fred Trump was successful, like Joseph Biedenharn, and their sons could have basked in the wealth, married, had kids, and lived well. Yet, these sons didn’t rest on their parents’ successes. Something……. indeed, something sparked Malcolm Biedenharn and Donald Trump to go further, to surpass their father’s wildest expectations and change the world. What happened to these two sons?

As parents, we often wonder how to guide our children. We juggle our emotions between the love and comfort of our children or the decision to stop, let them fail, teach them how to rebound, excel, fight back, learn, and develop resiliency. It’s a tough call as a parent. Yet, how do we instill in our children that magical spark, spirit, determination, curiosity, and persistence, of someone like a Malcolm Biedenharn or a Donald Trump?

What would be THAT formula? If we could figure it out, and “bottle” it…… it would sell.

But …… maybe we didn’t need a magical formula after all. For a few decades, the globalists and media worked on us. They gutted the heartland, changed our school systems, sent our children to endless wars, added debt load, and made families unimportant. As President Trump said in Kentucky (thank you A Fort):

Before my election, our leaders used the great American middle class as a piggy bank to fund their delusional global projects. They decimated American manufacturing to promote economic growth in foreign countries.

President Trump, Lexington, KY, November 4, 2019

Little by little, we became sullen, even downtrodden. We saw America slipping away, which justified some to grab what they could while the getting was good. Cheaters never win…

It’s not too late for America. As hard as it’s been for President Trump, turning America around has been surprisingly easier than we thought…….. which means the “decline” was NOT INEVITABLE.

The solution has always been right in front of us. The answer…. is …… America. Look around you. It’s everything we believe in. We’re Americans. We’re don’t sit down and passively accept defeat. We just needed to be reminded of who we are.

We needed to regain our magical spark.

Well, America is back, and we’re picking up steam!

  • #1 Economy in the world
  • #1 Oil and LNG producer in the world
  • #1 Military in the world, rebuilt as never before, and we’ve removed the hamstrings from our soldiers.
  • Lowest unemployment in recorded history for Black/Asian/Hispanic/ the Disabled/ Those without a highschool degree/ and our YOUTH
  • Lowest unemployment for women in 65 years, Lowest overall unemployment in 50yrs.
  • Lowest CO2 emissions since 1969, over 40 Superfund sites cleaned up.
  • 6.7 million jobs created. Number of job openings is higher than number of people looking for a job, 500K manufacturing jobs created
  • 10.5 TRILLION in wealth added to the stock market
  • Wages up 9% in a few years after decades of stagnation
  • ISIS is dead.
  • ISIS leaders are dead
  • ISIS source of funding, the oil fields, are confiscated.
  • Our southern border, despite the Dems opposition, is being protected.
  • Our border wall is being built
  • Opioids deaths are down for the first time, saving thousands of lives
  • Costs for prescription drugs dropped, for the first time, ever
  • Indexes for manufacturing, biz confidence, and consumer confidence hit all time highs.
  • Over a TRILLION dollars repatriated to the USA from companies doing biz overseas.
  • Historic tax cuts, doubling the child tax credit, opportunity zones for cities, increased exemption for family farms and small biz, 9/10 workers saw increase in paychecks, 100 utilities lowered rates, 89% of companies raised wages.
  • BiPartisan Criminal Justice reform
  • After losing over 60K factories in 25yrs, we gained 10K factories in 3yrs.

Need more? Here’s an old list of 289 accomplishments. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/trumps-list-289-accomplishments-in-just-20-months-relentless-promise-keeping

America is Winning, Winning, Winning. We’ll see you at the rally!

End.

Dear KAG: 20191106 Open Thread

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Time to get out the leaf blowers and REALLY annoy the neighbors. Some people still rake, but there are many who prefer the efficiency of a motor…or they just like talking frogs.

Let’s see…mood music…what to play, what to play….

Admit it, you clapped along.

Okay, so here’s the deal. This is the open thread. This is where we all come to get the news that other Q tree inhabitants think is worth knowing and sharing. Please, post links to any “news” stories quoted, and ask for help if you are stumped as to how to do that. We’re a friendly lot. Someone will be with you shortly, and there is no reason to have to press one for English.

Free speech, and the open exchange and hashing out of ideas is not only allowed, but encouraged. If we all don’t use it, we’re going to lose it. A little incivility goes a long way, though. Everyone here has closely held convictions and values. Stepping on them might result in something like this:

There is absolutely no reason for infighting to result in burning down the tree, house up in the branches and all. Please, keep the tail feathers tucked and avoid lifting legs on the fire hydrants.

And now for some house keeping:

There are a few rules here in the branches of the Q Tree. Our host, Wolfm00n, outlined them in a post on New Years Day. Please, review these rules from time to time, like when waiting for the hot water to hit the shower two floors away.

Fellow tree dweller Wheatie gave us some good reminders on the basics of civility in political discourse:

  1. No food fights.
  2. No running with scissors.
  3. If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.

Steve suggests – to be accurate – no shooting at the nuclear weapons, but to be safe about it, don’t event point firearms toward them. I, Deplorable Patriot, bossy chick that I am, request no teasing the animals, pets and wildlife alike.

Teasing and trolling the lefties and their bastions, on the other hand is a moral imperative.

__________________________________________________

In the eternal fight against the forces of evil and darkness, unceasing prayer is always needed.

Today’s Gospel reading tells us what Our Lord and Savior asks from us in preparation for the fight. From the Gospel According to St. Luke, Chapter 14:25-33.

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.

Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?

Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.

In the same way,
everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”

As always, prayers for the fight against that which seeks to enslave us are welcome.

And now, on to the day’s news…..