Bill Kassel's Blog

Let the Tears Flow

November 12, 2024 By Bill Kassel Leave a Comment

KAMALA SUPPORTERS
ARE GRIEF-STRICKEN

As someone who does a blog, I understand the impulse to share opinions and vent feelings. So I’m not surprised at the grief pouring out online from Kamala Harris supporters over Donald Trump’s historic victory.

Now to be sure, Trumpers have criticized Harris and expressed their objections to the destructive Biden juggernaut. If Trump had lost the election, anger and dire predictions about life in Democrat hell would have flooded social media.

But MAGA frustration doesn’t come close to the level of heartbreak on display among Harris followers.

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They Can’t Satirize Trump

September 19, 2024 By Bill Kassel Leave a Comment

THE LEFT’S MOCKERY
ALWAYS FALLS FLAT

With two assassination attempts and a series of lawfare scams unable to derail the Trump Train, Leftists are increasingly reliant on mockery. The Anti-Trump cartoons, memes and jokes continue to flood social media.

But Leftists face a dilemma — a conundrum, if you will.

Yeah, sure, they’re stuck with Kamala. But that’s not what I’m talking about.

Their problem is more practical: They can’t satirize Donald Trump.

Think about it. You’ve seen all the snide references to “Orange Man.” And yes, The Donald has a ruddy complexion which gives his face an orange hue.

But cartoonists and memesters have never been able to use that effectively. More often than not, the attempts just come off as petty (not to say stupid), as the above image demonstrates.

Do Unto Others

August 25, 2024 By Bill Kassel 1 Comment

CAN CHRISTIANS CHANGE
PALESTINIAN HEARTS?

I’ve made reference to my friend, Jonathan Feldstein, an American-Israeli who runs the Genesis 123 Foundation, an international ministry devoted to strengthening ties between Christians and Jews.

Jonathan has launched several charitable efforts associated with defense and war recovery, since the Hamas terrorist network slaughtered and kidnapped hundreds of people in southern Israel last year. That vicious attack set off Israel’s drive to eliminate the Islamist threat to the Holy Land.

Now Jonathan is looking ahead to the end of the war and the need to reconstitute a devastated Gaza. And he’s launched his boldest project yet. He’s making an appeal for Christians to come and rebuild this war-torn region.

An Orthodox Jew, himself, Jonathan hopes that a demonstration of Christian love and service can have a positive effect, not just on physical restoration, but in altering the attitudes of Palestinian Muslims.

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Freedom to Think

August 12, 2024 By Bill Kassel Leave a Comment

SOCIETY MUST REJECT THE
CONCEPT OF “HATE CRIMES”

The world is currently transfixed by videos circulating online of riots in the United Kingdom.

Can this really be happening in gracious, civilized England, home of Shakespeare, Tennyson, Jane Austen, and afternoon tea?

Where are those hearty God-save-the-King Britishers who gave “blood, toil, tears and sweat” to save their precious isle?

Well, saving their precious isle is what this is all about, actually. Britain has endured an invasion of immigrants — mostly African Muslims, many of them illegals — who are changing the very character of this cradle of learning, culture and civility (and the occasional football melee).

Working- and middle-class Brits have borne up under a growing wave of immigration-related criminality, street violence, and desecration of British values. But patience reached its end with the recent stabbing of three schoolgirls aged 6, 7 and 9.

The attacker is alleged to be a 17-year old boy who was born in Wales of Rwandan parents.

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Filling Big Shoes

August 5, 2024 By Bill Kassel 3 Comments

A SCHOLAR TAKES OVER FOR
THE LATE, GREAT AL KRESTA

Catholic Radio suffered a profound loss recently, when Al Kresta succumbed to cancer.

Al was a true pioneer of religious broadcasting. Working with the philanthropist Tom Monaghan, of Domino’s Pizza fame, Al created the Ave Maria Radio apostolate.

He also hosted what has undoubtedly been the flagship Catholic talk show, “Kresta In the Afternoon.” It’s now heard on about 300 stations across the country, distributed by EWTN.

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July 4th Gloom

July 5, 2024 By Bill Kassel 2 Comments

LEFT AND RIGHT SHARE
A COMMON ANXIETY

It’s not necessarily obvious why particular Mass readings fall on particular days. I often scratch my head wondering, “Who planned all this?”

But sometimes the scripture selections can be unexpectedly pertinent. In fact, they can be so timely and on target that they have a prophetic feel.

Such was the Old Testament reading for July 4th.

The passage is a call for the Prophet Amos to be banished from Jerusalem over his prediction that King Jeroboam…

“shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be exiled from its land.”

As you would expect, this was a most unwanted message at the time…

“Your wife shall be made a harlot in the city, and your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword; Your land shall be divided by measuring line, and you yourself shall die in an unclean land; Israel shall be exiled far from its land.”*

Now that’s a real downer if ever there was one.

Things were bad in the Kingdom of Israel. They were going to get worse. And bringing it up made no one happy.

Somehow the passage captures a feeling shared widely on this Independence Day. A pall of gloom hangs over our nation.

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The Ploy

June 29, 2024 By Bill Kassel 1 Comment

NOW EVERYBODY KNOWS
THE DEBATE WAS A SETUP

Okay, so the ploy worked.

All week long we heard about how Joe Biden was firmly on task prepping for the debate, honing his responses, getting ready to dazzle us with his keen grasp of administrative detail and a clear picture of all the great things we could expect in his second term.

We’d be surprised at how sharp this old guy really is.

The idea — obvious now — was to set Joe up for a total collapse under the Trumpian onslaught. Which, if things worked out right, might have the secondary benefit of demonstrating how nasty and cruel The Donald really is.

And the point of this charade?

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Trump Alert

June 3, 2024 By Bill Kassel 1 Comment

GUTTING OUR CONSTITUTION
TO SAVE US FROM THE DONALD

Trigger Warning: This blog post is about the former President (you know, that orange guy with the severe comb-over). If such a discussion would be too upsetting to you, skip it and go check out some Facebook animal videos.

____________

Reaction to Donald Trump’s conviction on charges nobody seems to understand has been extreme on both sides — whether for him or against him.

After the jury’s decision was announced, Trump’s fund-raising website crashed under an avalanche of online campaign contributions. To date some $200 million has been raised.

But Trump support pales in comparison to the frenzy on the anti-Trump side. Everyone from Robert De Niro, to Hillary Clinton, to those charming crones on “The View” experienced their greatest collective thrill since the introduction of Lume whole-body deodorant.

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Israel Standing Alone

May 27, 2024 By Bill Kassel Leave a Comment

DRUNK ON ANTI-SEMITISM
THE WORLD MUST SOBER UP

I’ve only ever posted the work of guest writers on a couple of occasions, when I thought what they had to say was better expressed than anything I would have contributed at the moment. This is such an occasion.

I’ve interviewed Jonathan Feldstein on my radio show, “Free Expression.” He’s president of the Genesis 123 Foundation, an international ministry that works to promote relations between Christians and Jews.

Jonathan has been living through Israel’s war against the Hamas terrorist organization that had controlled Gaza, turning it into a base for murderous assault on the world’s only Jewish state. He has two members of the Israel Defense Force in his immediate family, so he’s directly touched by the action, as well as by the global reaction to this struggle for survival of what Christians call the Holy Land.

His thoughts, distributed to Genesis 123 supporters around the world, are worth contemplating at this pivotal moment…

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Somebody Really Hates You

April 29, 2024 By Bill Kassel Leave a Comment

THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
REVEALS LEFTIST ANIMOSITY

An article on Axios puts forth the proposition that a lot of the divisiveness we see in America today is concocted (or at least magnified) by the media, and doesn’t necessarily reflect actual conditions on the ground. Citing a recent poll, the piece asserts that there’s…

“compelling evidence we’ve been trapped in a reality distortion bubble — social media, cable TV and tribal political wars — long enough to warp our view of the reality around us.

“Yes, deep divisions exist on some topics. But on almost every topic of monthly outrage, it’s a fringe view … amplified by the loudest voices….”

I suppose I should take comfort in that. After all, I don’t want to see the country torn apart by fellow citizens seething with rage.

Still, I keep coming across all these memes on Facebook and other social networks.

Most of the graphics are probably created by paid web designers beavering away with their artificial intelligence software in politically subsidized art shops.

But the images get shared and re-linked by real live people, some of whom are my online “friends.”

It’s obvious that decisionmakers on the Left have committed themselves to divisiveness as a strategy — specifically to churning out an endless stream of insults toward Trump supporters.

Well, that’s to be expected, I guess. Leftists have no coherent theory of governance to offer, and so rarely rise above the petty (or even the stupid).

Trouble is, ordinary folks are eagerly taking the bait.

I’ve observed the most demeaning claims over the past few elections (such as the meme above, which appeared during the 2020 race). And in this current campaign, the anti-Trump cabal appears to be doubling down.

Whether or not current divisiveness is truly national, somebody really hates you. And their sentiments are infectious.

Here are a few examples…

Faith & The Donald

March 25, 2024 By Bill Kassel 10 Comments

TRUMP’S SUPPORT IS BASED
ON GUTS AND PRACTICALITY

In case you haven’t been paying attention, Christian Nationalism is the big media bugaboo just now. Secular news people (the word, “secular,” covers most people in the journalistic trades) are convinced that, should Donald Trump return to the White House, compulsory church attendance and a new Inquisition will surely follow.

How could it be otherwise, when he appears to have a lock on the hearts — and votes — of most people with serious faith commitment, especially Evangelicals?

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