Bill Kassel's Blog

Occasional reflections on things that come into my mind — plus links to episodes of my radio show / podcast, “Free Expression”

The Elephant

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EVERYTHING’S JUST FINE
IN GOP LAND — OR IS IT?

I recently drove over to another county to attend a dinner at which candidates for the Michigan GOP gubernatorial nomination introduced themselves, laid out their programs, and made their pitches for support.

It was an interesting affair, with good food and a surprisingly tight band composed of party activists (musical talent is where you find it).

For whatever reason, one candidate didn’t show up. But the other four men and one woman competing in the primary were impressive: excellent credentials, fine public delivery. And the audience of party stalwarts received their appeals with enthusiasm.

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One Hand Clapping

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MAYBE VACCINES AREN’T
THE POINT AFTER ALL

My last post asked why the Coronavirus pandemic has “been treated differently from other public health crises.” Why the continuing talk of lockdowns, internal passports, and other extreme measures, when we know that…

“fatality rates for this plague are much less than for other serious diseases.”

In particular I asked why the passionate push for everyone to take vaccines that have shown they don’t protect us from either catching or spreading Covid, and which can have side effects that are seriously damaging, even fatal?

Commenters on that post offered a variety of theories, many having to do with “power,” “control,” “de-population,” encouraging “dependency,” and other Orwellian motives. “Money” was a recurring line of speculation.

(One commenter got metaphysical, suggesting that taking the vaccine is a prelude to accepting the mark of the beast.)

Relevant as any of those factors might be, none in itself seems completely to the heart of the matter. What’s the ultimate goal? How do such tactical purposes play into the long game?

Is there a long game?

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The Point

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WHY IS THIS “JAB” GETTING
SUCH A PASSIONATE PUSH?

Let’s begin with the requisite acknowledgments…

The pandemic is real. This is a serious illness with which huge numbers of people have suffered, and substantial numbers have died.

The virus is highly contagious. Members of my own family have caught it. I could catch it myself.

I could die with it.

Granted, these things might be said of other large-scale disease outbreaks. Nevertheless, the pandemic is not an illusion or a product of mass hysteria. It’s a genuine global emergency.

Okay. All true.

Still, the question must be asked: Why has this illness been treated differently from other public health crises? And why the continuing panic?

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High Anxiety

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CATHOLIC BUSINESSES SENSE
THE CANCEL-CULTURE DANGER

Assessing opinions among any group can be difficult.

Even if that group has a common characteristic — such as religious identity — there can still be wide variations in awareness and sentiment from individual to individual.

Sometimes, however, you get a strong feeling about the overall direction of their current thinking, collectively. Such an occasion was my recent involvement in the Catholic Marketing Network’s “Momentum” industry expo event.

CMN is the trade association of Catholic bookstore operators, publishers, and vendors of religious items. A wide array of apostolates and specialized faith ministries also participate in the organization. And as technology plays an ever-larger role in religious communication, so do broadcasters, video producers, and online media developers.

I was at this year’s CMN event representing Good Shepherd Catholic Radio, producer / distributer of my weekly talk show, “Free Expression” (for which I obtained a number of interviews while I was there). I also chaired a panel discussion on a timely topic: resisting censorship, cancelation, and de-platforming.

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The Real Terror

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DISAGREE WITH THE LEFT
AND YOU’RE A TERRORIST

In a tragically absurd miscarriage of justice — one you may not have heard about — a 21-year-old Michigan college student is under house arrest facing a possible 20 years in prison for posting a photo of a rifle on Snapchat.

Such cases always seem to be filled with irony, so let me point out that Lucas Gerhardt is the son of a Marine Corps colonel, he’s an Eagle Scout, he’s a Criminal Justice major at Lake Superior State University, and he’s the legal owner of the weapon in question, an AR-15.

Gerhardt is charged with making a terrorist threat. Prosecution of this apparently admirable young man was instigated by a student who took offense at the conservative views Gerhardt expressed on campus. The allegation was insanely pursued by his college administration.

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Praying in Brotherhood

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THE UNITY WE NEED NOW
FACES A POSSIBLE THREAT

Social Networks are abuzz with speculation that Pope Francis plans to impose restrictions on where, when, or under what circumstances the Traditional Latin Mass can be offered. While the specifics remain unknown, TLM devotees are bracing themselves for a serious blow to their spiritual lives.

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Free Expression

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THE FIRST AMENDMENT IS
AN INCREASING CONCERN

I’m pleased to announce that “Free Expression,” my radio show / podcast, is prepped to move from a monthly to a weekly schedule beginning the first weekend in July.

The premiere episode on this new timetable will be aired by Good Shepherd Catholic Radio at 9:00 p.m. Saturday, July 3. It will be rebroadcast at 9:00 p.m. Sunday, July 4. Those will be my broadcast slots each week.

While the GSCR coverage area is limited to south-central Michigan (FM 93.3 or AM 1510), “Free Expression” can be accessed online anytime from anywhere in the world at:

https://goodshepherdcatholicradio.org/radio-show/free-expression/

…where you’ll also find an archive of all past episodes.

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Laughing Amid the Gloom

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AMERICANS’ SENSE OF HUMOR
HASN’T FAILED US YET

I’ve been woefully deficient in keeping up this blog lately.

Most of my recent activities have focused on building a library of recorded interviews, in anticipation of my radio show going weekly. And I can say there’s some good stuff on the horizon.

Nevertheless, I beg your forgiveness and implore your patience.

Despite my distraction, history goes on. And it’s interesting to observe how attitudes have congealed around the Biden Administration and our march toward national destruction.

Polls taken in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election suggested that most Republicans, and as much as a third of Democrats, suspected that cheating had taken place. By now, with hard evidence emerging from the Maricopa County, Arizona audit and other investigations ongoing around the country, confidence in the integrity of the vote count is slipping rapidly.

Add to that our other accumulating woes — Chinese threats, renewed violence in the Middle East, accelerating inflation, growing unemployment, endless COVID lockdowns, the border crisis, etc. — and you can feel gloom pressing hard on daily life.

But Americans are nothing if not resilient. The tendency toward finding humor (so visible a feature of our national character) has been on display in a steady stream of memes and graphics circulating online. The not-too-subtle Batman homage at the top of this column is one example. Here are a few others to brighten your day…

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