Articles
Sometimes words fail us. In certain circumstances, no words are the right words. Grief, even wrenching grief that feels like a lead weight on your chest, has a tendency to be silent. Courage has a tendency to be silent too. In real life, the people who talk the most, are often the people who have done the least.
At too many Memorial Day ceremonies this week, local dignitaries and celebrities will give speeches while the veterans sit silently by contemplating friends who are now names carved on stones.
In case you somehow missed it, this isn't just a three day weekend that, in California, already feels like high Summer. This is Memorial Day weekend.
It is, perhaps, inevitable that too many people don't really understand that "Memorial Day" isn't just an excuse for mattress sales, traffic jams, and backyard barbecues. Some memories are hard to talk about.
When I was a little girl I asked the old guy who lived across the street from my parents why he didn't go to the Memorial Day parade like the other veterans. Mr. M was a World War II vintage Marine who'd fought in the Pacific theatre. On Memorial Day, like every day, he'd put the flag up in the morning, and bring it in in the evening, but he'd never go anywhere. In late afternoon he'd sit on his porch drinking two inches of amber whiskey out of a heavy glass, enjoying the sun.
His combat career had included some of the most vicious battles of the Island Hopping campaign. He'd already been in uniform when Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941. He was on a ship by New Year's Day 1942.
His answer, when I asked him why he didn't go to a parade, or a ceremony, was pretty simple. When he was nineteen he legitimately didn't think he'd live to see his twentieth birthday. Instead, he made it through the war, made it through the twentieth century, and lived well into the 21st century. On Memorial Day he liked to stay home, fly his flag, drink his whiskey, sit in the sun, and think about all his friends who didn't make it.
The soldiers of the First World War have all made their final march long since. There are, at most, a dozen Americans still alive who remember waving handkerchiefs at the departing doughboys.
Soon, most of the veterans of the Second World War will leave us. Korea, Vietnam, and our more recent wars, have all taken their toll. The children of the men who fell in Korea and Vietnam now have grey hair.
Words really don't mean much when confronting names on stones. But, every name on every stone represents some son, father, brother, husband, sister, mother or daughter, who didn't get to contemplate old age while sitting in the sun drinking whisky on a beautiful hot California day.
Rest in peace, Mr. M.
And please, if you have a chance, take a moment this week to remember & maybe try to find the words to talk to someone about what Memorial Day means.
~ Sarah Nagle
Posted on 04/06/2025 9:26 pm
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, as I had mentioned earlier, has had a series of podcast interviews and he’s selected conservatives. Charlie Kirk, Michael Savage, and others have been meeting with him.
Steve Bannon was the most recent and they’re asking him a series of questions, but none of them seem to really get to the heart of the matter. And that is to ask Gov. Newsom why this state is a dysfunctional and unsustainable project.
Coalition members Commit to collect 1 million signatures to quality statewide constitutional amendment in 2026 election--and advocate for its passage with voters
In December 2024, CA State Rep. Carl DeMaio – who also serves as chairman of Reform California – introduced the CA Voter ID Initiative to not only require
citizenship verification for voter registration but photo ID for casting a ballot. In introducing the measure, DeMaio said “too many Californians have lost trust and confidence in our elections – and we need to fix that immediately if we are to have a healthy democracy going forward.”
In January, President Trump endorsed CA Voter ID as a “condition” for continued federal funding to the state.
Both DeMaio and the measure’s co-sponsor State Rep. Bill Essayli have worked to convince Sacramento politicians to do the right thing and put the measure on the 2026 ballot – but the legislature has stubbornly refused to act.
DeMaio announced that a number of elected officials from across California and campaign committees are coming together as a formal coalition to support the qualification of and passage of a Voter ID Initiative in California in the 2026 election.
Several members of the coalition also released polling showing overwhelming bipartisan support for a Voter ID Initiative in California – with a super-majority of Republicans and Independents and a majority of even Democratic voters supporting the initiative.
Specifically, 68% of Californians support requiring an ID when casting a ballot to verify an individual’s identity. A whopping 72% support verifying citizenship for anyone wishing to register to vote.
“Politicians and the media will keep denying the fact that California has real problems with election integrity, but the message from the public is loud and clear in support of requiring Voter ID as the best way to restore public trust and confidence in our elections,” says Carl DeMaio, State Assemblymember (District 75) and Chairman of Reform California.
"Thirty-six states in the U.S. have implemented some form of voter identification requirement. Similarly, every country in Europe mandates that in-person voters present photo ID to cast their ballots. This practice is also standard in Canada, Japan, South Korea, India, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, and many other nations worldwide, spanning both developed and developing democracies," said Julie Luckey, Director of Californians for Voter ID. "Support for voter ID laws transcends party lines—it’s not a Republican or Democratic issue. Polls consistently show that majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and independents favor these measures. Nor is this unique to the United States; it’s a global norm. Voter ID is simply a common-sense policy. California needs to modernize its elections to align with the vast majority of the world’s democracies. While our state leads in so many areas, it lags behind on this issue. It’s time for California to catch up and enact voter ID laws."
“There is a cancer growing in our democracy where too many people have lost confidence in our elections – and enacting a Voter ID law should be seen as the best bipartisan solution to this problem,” says Bill Essayli, State Assemblymember (District 63) and Chairman of Common-Sense California.
“Voter ID is a common sense step that improves election security, which is why it receives broad support among Democrats, Republicans and independents throughout California. By passing a Voter ID initiative in California we can give voters increased confidence in our elections without unnecessarily restricting access to voting,” says Ken Calvert, US Representative (District 41).
“There is wide-spread support among the donor community for enacting common-sense election integrity reforms through the Voter ID Initiative and we look forward to helping get this important reform qualified and passed in 2026,” says Teresa Hernandez, Chair, Orange County Lincoln Club
Reform California has already begun recruitment of volunteers to collect signatures to qualify the initiative. To volunteer, sign up at www.VoterIDVolunteer.org
To commit to sign the petition when it is ready for circulation, visit: www.VoterIDPetition.org
Read the polling memo here
Contribute HERE.
Critics of Trump are hysterical over his promise of reciprocal tariffs, and fundamentally disagree with his positions on the economy. They blame Trump for the price of eggs, the Russia/Ukraine war, DOGE and Elon Musk, and decry cuts to the federal government and federal employees. Much of this criticism is Trump Derangement Syndrome, but a lot of it is because of a lack of understanding of basic economics.
What many Americans are not aware of is that tariffs funded the American economy prior to the income tax, which meant that Americans did not have money taken from their paychecks – they kept everything they earned until they decided to spend it.
The National Pulse Analysis, March 5, 2025
Just six weeks into his second term, President Trump has implemented sweeping changes across immigration, the economy, foreign policy, and government efficiency. With a focus on border security, economic nationalism, and bureaucratic accountability, his administration has already delivered major policy reversals and aggressive enforcement measures.
With his Joint Session of Congress speech beginning at 9PM EST tonight in mind, here’s a breakdown of what has been accomplished so far.
By JOHN YOO AND ROBERT DELAHUNTY
Democrats and pundits have exaggerated Vice President J.D. Vance’s remarks into a ‘constitutional crisis.’
Under the Constitution, “the President is invested with certain important political powers, in the exercise of which he is to use his own discretion.” For his decisions, “he is accountable only to his country in his political character, and to his own conscience.” His choices cannot be questioned in court because “the subjects are political. They respect the nation, not individual rights, and being entrusted to the executive, the decision of the executive is conclusive.”
Who penned these outrageous words? Democrats and many pundits might answer Vice President J.D. Vance. Over the weekend, Vance provoked an onslaught of criticism for suggesting that federal district judges “aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.”
But the usual suspects would be wrong. The right answer is John Marshall, the greatest chief justice in Supreme Court history. And he did not squirrel this view away in a private journal. Instead, Marshall publicly explained that courts could not review presidential decisions on “political” subjects “entrusted to the executive” in a Supreme Court opinion.
