Author: Jane Chastain

How to Stay Happy in a Deeply Divided Country

“If it bleeds it leads” is an axiom of television news.  Therefore, if one regularly watches the nightly newscasts, you come away feeling that our country is going to hell in the proverbial handbasket.  This is particularly true of the cable news channels which are filled with shootings, car chases and stories of racism, sexism, violence and hate-filled rants directed at our president, our elected representatives and anyone with whom the host or network happens to disagree.

Facts don’t seem to matter.  Even the major networks often run stories without verification.  Sadly, many get their news from opinion shows where the participants hurl outrageous charges that have no basis in fact.

This emotionally-charged rhetoric has turned neighbor against neighbor.  Some family members are no longer speaking simply because they aren’t on the same page politically.  How does one keep one’s head in this deeply divided country? Continue reading “How to Stay Happy in a Deeply Divided Country” →

SOTU Exposes Democrats Soft Underbelly (A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Insincere Words)

As State of the Union speeches go they are usually yawners.  This one, with few exceptions, was a barn burner.

If you missed it, don’t worry; you will see its most dramatic moments replayed over and over in Republican 2020 campaign ads.  Trump deftly used this address to expose the Democrats soft underbelly of open borders, devoid of bipartisanship and reason.

The president set the tone when he invited Democrats to “Choose between greatness or gridlock, results or resistance, vision or vengeance, incredible progress or pointless destruction.”  Clearly the Democrats, with few exceptions, decided on, gridlock, resistance, vengeance and destruction.

Democratic women, led by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, did themselves no favor by wearing white, which they said was to express solidarity with working women around the country.  They want us to believe Continue reading “SOTU Exposes Democrats Soft Underbelly (A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Insincere Words)” →

Why all the Fuss over NY Abortion Law (There is a bigger Tragedy)

When I arrived at church for a mid-week Bible study, the place was abuzz with the news that New York had just passed a horrendous abortion law that would allow the practice up to the actual moment of birth.

My heart sank.  Not because of this new law, but because that has, in effect, been the law of the land since 1973 when the Supreme Court handed down Roe v Wade and its companion case Doe v Bolton.  Could it be that the majority of the people in my church and other churches are ignorant of this terrible stain on our nation?

This law in New York broke no new ground in terms of when a fully-formed, viable pre-born baby can be legally killed. Nothing has changed.  Let’s be clear:  The United States has one of the most permissive and barbaric abortion laws of any country in the world.   Continue reading “Why all the Fuss over NY Abortion Law (There is a bigger Tragedy)” →

The Party of Line Breakers and Gate Crashers

As children, we don’t know much about politics, but we understand the need for rules, laws if you will, and discipline for those who break them. Without rules there can be no order, no classes, no learning.

Children also understand the need for lines.  You line up for lunch, for treats, for sports equipment, etc.   It is first come; first served.  As adults we line up to get into concerts, sporting events and amusement parks; to board trains, buses and airplanes.  At the airport we have lines to go through security.  No one likes a line breaker.  We didn’t like them as children and we don’t tolerate them as adults.

So how did the Democratic Party, the party that built its reputation on fairness, become the party of line breakers at our southern border?   How do they get away with defending a practice that is despised by virtually everyone Continue reading “The Party of Line Breakers and Gate Crashers” →

The News Media’s Groundhog Day

The movie classic Groundhog Day has made this popular tradition, celebrated each February 2, synonymous with something that is intolerably boring.   However, Groundhog Day has come early this year.

Instead of a surly weatherman caught in a time warp, it’s the network nightly newscasts’ coverage of President Trump and his effort to protect this country from those determined to circumvent our generous immigration laws that are boring us to death.

Those of us truly concerned about what is going on in this nation keep tuning in each night hoping to see something different, but it’s more of the same.  Democrats call his efforts to secure the border “racist” and “immoral.”  They rail against his plan to build more walls, barriers, or whatever you want to call them, in areas where people and drugs are pouring into this country and overwhelming border agents.

Where are the interviews with the border agents who say they need these barriers?   Continue reading “The News Media’s Groundhog Day” →

The Day after Christmas Blues (The Cause; The Cure)

While Christmas is the “Hap, hap, happiest day of the year,” the days after Christmas can be real downers.  Even if your Christmas was picture perfect — and few are— the day after is a harsh reality check.  It’s that emptiness under the tree, the piles of paper and boxes, the sink full of dirty dishes and the clutter of toys.

Since Christmas fell on a Tuesday this year,  many will awake to the jarring sound of the alarm and the reality of getting to work on time after all that holiday celebrating.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we simply could keep that Christmas spirit going for a few more days, a few more weeks.  Better still, throughout the year?   Continue reading “The Day after Christmas Blues (The Cause; The Cure)” →