I always thought the United States was a child of the “Age of Reason.” This intellectual and cultural movement emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith in the eighteenth century.  Rational decisions and thoughts are based on logic rather than on emotion. Using our minds in a disciplined and coherent fashion is the way to superior results. Our Declaration of Independence and Constitution with its Bill of rights are examples of this truth. 

Maybe you, too, have found yourself looking at or hearing something and thinking, this argument or action makes no sense. A queasy stomach or a headache may accompany your confusion. Several tummy turners have occurred recently.

Because of vaccine mandates, many people must take shots they don’t want and may not need or lose their jobs. This situation comes at a time when we are experiencing a severe labor shortage. With supply curtailed, inflation is a real problem. The first responders and health workers pushed out of their jobs make us less safe. The theory behind the mandate is to protect the vulnerable.

The mandate people point to the death of the elderly and severely immune-compromised Colin Powell to prove everyone needs to be vaccinated. An unvaccinated carrier infected and killed Powell. The only way we can protect the compromised is to vaccinate everyone.

This theory is nonsense. We know even the vaccinated can carry Covid. The compromised are in the most danger, even though they’re vaccinated. They may be unable to maintain a strong antibody response. This problem was why Gov. DeSantis of Florida blanketed the state with Monoclonal Antibody centers to provide immunity-boosting infusions.

Tackle the situation where it is. Discussing the vaccinated Powell’s death on CBS’s Face the Nation, former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden proposed we infuse those on immune suppressants and with other immune problems prophylactically. I know if I couldn’t preserve enough antibodies, I’d take this option.

Unintended consequences don’t mean unpredictable results. The drive among developed nations to replace fossil and nuclear power with renewables has had political support. Windmills and solar panels dot the landscape. Leaders and the media tell us these are the power sources of the future. Given these forecasts, only fools invest in fossil fuels. Everyone knows Nuclear power is so dangerous people have to be crazy to operate a reactor of any kind. The sooner we get rid of these relics of our unenlightened past, the better.

Nowhere has this Green mantra taken hold with more incredible speed than Western Europe. Coal mines and power plants abandoned ghosts. After the flooding of the Japanese Fukushima nuclear power plant, Germany decided to close all its nuclear plants. The world was made aware of how virtuous these nations had become. They may spend a little more, but it’s worth it to save the world.

Of course, the spoilsports asked what would happen if the sun didn’t shine or the wind didn’t blow? Not to worry, the greens answered, we’ll have backup batteries and some natural gas plants to tide us over. 

Murphy’s Law states, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” This summer, the sun didn’t shine, and the wind didn’t blow in western Europe. What’s the result?

According to CNBC, “Wholesale gas prices have spiked across the region, with the U.K. being hit particularly hard.” U.K. power companies are facing collapse. The batteries don’t exist. How do you cope with a 250% rise in natural gas prices?

Pay up or close down is the stark choice facing many companies. Consumers are startled by soaring prices. Now everyone asks how we got in this fix?

Another week and we find more signs of incompetence destroying confidence in our institutions. Indeed many of our institutions are crumbling. A group of mounted border patrol agents just doing their job of turning back Haitians illegally entering the U.S. found themselves vilified and suspended. The president, vice-president, and the DHS secretary all have accused them of abusing the lawbreakers. The president promised, “they will pay.” Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer tweeted, “The images of inhumane treatment of Haitian migrants by Border Patrol—including the use of whips—are unacceptable.” Arizona Republic columnist Greg Moore went so far as to say, “Haitians flee a disaster-stricken island for the promise of stability in Texas, but they’re attacked by white men on horseback like slaves who don’t know their place.”

Of course, these agents never did whip anybody. They never had whips. Most of the Haitians came from South America and hadn’t been in Haiti for a decade. Hispanics, not whites, are the largest ethnic group in the Border Patrol, and likely, the horse patrols reflect this composition. An ugly rush to judgment that can only cast the Border Patrol in an unflattering light. Just how were they supposed to stop people from illegally entering our country?

Forgotten are the lessons of the similar Nick Sandmann circus. Pictures can appear to show one thing when the opposite is true, especially when it fits your political narrative. Blasted for harassing a Native American, it turned out high school student Sandmann was entirely innocent. Several news organizations reluctantly contributed to young Nick’s financial future.