Inside President Barack Obama's rhetoric of "income inequality" and "attack the rich," used mainly to sway envy-driven, simple minds, was always a dangerous subtext: capitalism and entrepreneurs are bad.

Trump needs to get us back to our capitalist roots, cut government and start running government like a business.

Just 3.6 percent of 30-year-olds or younger own stakes in private companies. The figure was 10.6 percent in 1989, when government first started collecting data on this. Gumption atrophies in a generation expecting participation trophies.

Lost on this snowflake generation is the hypocrisy of Hillary Clinton, who vowed to take on the “excesses of capitalism,” and demanded $300,000 per speech from corporations. From the Vatican, the pope railed against capitalism in Prada shoes and a $5,000 robe. And actors, while getting $15 million per movie, call corporations "greedy."

Obama and other liberals presuppose the evils of capitalism and capitalists to sell their statist/socialist agenda. But the facts are clear: Free-market capitalism is a far more virtuous system than government — and has done far more to improve the lot of mankind wherever it is allowed to flourish.

To see the abundance that our historically free enterprise system has bestowed on us, compare the U.S. to the rest of the world. Travel to any third world country with a strong central government and a stranglehold on business, and witness the poverty, crime and misery spawned in places like Venezuela, North Korea and Cuba.

Politicians are bought and sold. Buying Democrats to vote for Obamacare with the “Louisiana Purchase” and “Cornhusker Kickback,” Obama proved this point.

Capitalism did not strap us with $20 trillion — and growing — in national debt, borrowed from future generations, to advance destructive dependency political agendas and buy votes.

Is that “moral and just?”

Businesses hire people, help provide health insurance and other benefits, pay taxes, advertise, support local charities and build the character of a community. Look and see who sponsors your town’s Little League teams; those are your town’s heroes.

The "evil" oil companies bring the fuel out of the ground and to gas stations, where they make 7 cents per gallon. Government takes about 50 cents per gallon for doing nothing, not counting the cost of regulations. Then government taxes the oil companies' 7 cents profit at 35 percent.

And liberals call oil companies greedy?

Capitalism has the mechanisms to enforce good behavior — quickly. Just ask Tiger Woods. His sponsor, AT&T, withdrew its support when he was caught in multiple affairs. If you get caught with a hooker or you fail at your job, a CEO or an employee is fired. There are consequences to bad behavior in business, but not in government. You just get more funding; case in point, the VA.

In Obama's O-merica, no punishment was meted out to Lois Lerner, his IRS operative who targeted his political opponents and “lost" her emails upon subpoena. He did not fire her; in fact, all the IRS folks involved received their full pay, retirement, etc. During an "investigation," government workers take the Fifth when called before Congress.

Neither Lerner nor anyone else involved in the IRS scandal, Benghazi-gate, the Secret Service hooker scandal, GSA, the VA mess or the NSA domestic spying revelations has paid any price. Capitalism rewards risk-taking, imagination, hard work, intellect and honesty; government does not. Under this president, government only rewards loyalty to him.

How, then, is government more moral than business? Government takes money by force from people who are productive and redistributes it to its allies. Government adds no value and produces no product.

Eighty-five percent of federal employee political donations went to Democrats, since they know their comfortable jobs will be protected. But there's a new sheriff in town, bureaucrats. Government employees know Trump is going to start running it like a business.

They are scared, and they should be.

Billionaire Trump made his daughter, Ivanka, and her family fly coach on Jet Blue; that should send the signal that he means business.

Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or tweet@RonaldHart.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Let’s make capitalism cool again

As President Obama and Democratic travelers in the media work down their checklist of excuses for being demolished in the election, Russian email leaking is the latest “dog who ate their homework.”

Liberals’ policies will not work, and their party is corrupt, so they blame the messengers of their defeat, those "racist" voters.

Their first excuse was also their campaign theme: to call Americans racist (a.k.a. “deplorable”). Moreover, they concluded, if you did not want more of all things Obama with Hillary, then the only answer is that you are sexist. All 52 cards in the Dems’ deck are the race card.

Then, after chiding Trump to accept the election results, the Dems lose “bigly.” They hypocritically orchestrate an expensive recount in Michigan and other Midwestern swing states.

Whoops! Again not the results they wanted: Trump got even more votes, and massive voter fraud was discovered in (brace yourself) Detroit. Some Hillary votes were counted six times. A shocker, I know, after Obama told us there was no evidence of voter fraud in America — and he’s always right.

Then they cry about the FBI investigating Hillary for crimes she committed. Next, Dems shamelessly threatened Electoral College voters.

This leaves us with Obama's press conference, where he offers no proof but says Vladimir Putin influenced the election. Never mind that the purveyor of the WikiLeak-ed emails, Julian Assange, said, “Our source is not the Russian government.”

Sadly, I trust Assange on this more than I do Obama. America should thank Assange and Project Veritas for providing the only transparent press coverage in this election.

Obama glibly asserted “not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin.” Therefore, based on speculative and unsupported "facts," Russia did it, so Putin did it. The fact is Russian cyber-attacks have been going on for years (10 on U.S. agencies since 2012) well before Trump declared his candidacy.

However, someone (maybe from Obama’s IRS) illegally turned over Trump’s tax return losses. Then “Access Hollywood” illegally taped Trump making boorish remarks and made them public. No Obama investigation there.

The only proven election tampering was the DNC torpedoing Bernie Sanders.

To recap, Bill Clinton goes down after the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Hillary gets retribution for dissin’ Anthony Weiner in her assistant’s divorce, and Hillary gets caught screwing over Bernie Sanders in the primaries.

Putin is Forbes Magazine's most powerful person in the world, followed by Trump. Putin is sitting on his 95 percent Russian approval rating like it's a New York rent-controlled apartment.

If Obama or Hillary had the relationship of respect with Putin that Trump has, they would have five more Nobel Prizes by now. Somehow, getting along with a world leader is suddenly a bad thing for libs. Working with Russia is something that could be good for the USA.  It certainly worked in WWII. Teaming up with Putin in a “good cop, bad cop” way to fight ISIS could be a good thing. We can no longer be the sole police officer of the world.

Hillary said the Trump-Putin relationship could lead to Trump doing “favors” for Russia. Unless a 200-pound Miss Russia wins the Miss Universe Pageant, I don’t buy it.

Yet, inexplicably, Obama buddies up with murderous Communist dictators, the brothers Castro of Cuba, and it’s the coolest thing he’s done since shooting basketball hoops with at-risk kids.

Dems dubiously attribute the hacking of the Gmail account of John Podesta to Russia because the FBI said a while back, “Bad actors have repeatedly tried to hack us.” “Bad actors” does not necessarily mean Russia; they could be Iran, China, Nicholas Cage, Barbra Streisand in “Little Fockers,” or any of Miley Cyrus’ performances in “Hannah Montana.”

I’ve found a good slogan for Dems on my granddaughter’s romper: If at first you don’t succeed, cry, cry again.

Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Democrats desperately seek to delegitimize election

There’s a bright side to every loss. The Clintons can now spend more time “saving the world” with their Clinton Foundation, which in no way was a self-enrichment/pay-for-play scheme.

While Hillary was Secretary of State, about half of her meetings were with Clinton Crime Family Foundation donors. Her husband was a past president and de-facto head of the Democrat Party. And Hillary was, by The NY Times calculations, a 95 percent sure lock winner for the 2016 presidency. 

Therefore, what nefarious and despotic leader, country or businessman would not like to donate to the Clintons, bundling funds through Canada where they can get a full tax deduction?

This scandal has brought the Clintons closer. Hillary, Bill, Chelsea and her husband were seen Christmas shopping together near Chelsea’s $15 million starter apartment in NYC. They all stick together now, fearful that if one family member breaks loose, he or she might go to FBI Director James Comey and turn state’s evidence on the others.

As someone who had his assertions (that the Clintons enriched themselves around the Clinton Foundation) called “outrageous” by a liberal pundit on a CNN panel, I have a challenge for CNN and that liberal pundit, Bill Press. I will give $1,000 to the Clinton Foundation for every million dollars raised beyond their last official filing of $330 million in donations that year, if he will give to my foundation $1,000 for every million dollars less than $330 million the Clintons raise in future years.

To recap so even a liberal can understand: If the Clintons raise $350 million for their fine work next year, I donate $20,000 to their foundation. Should they raise, say, $310 million, Bill Press donates $20,000 to mine — i.e., a $1,000 bet per million over or under $330 million.

It sounds fair. If the Clinton scam was all about charity and not influence peddling (and now with all the time Hillary has to devote to "charity work"), logic would dictate that donations should skyrocket. The Clinton Foundation has already eradicated the Haitian earthquake victims’ trust in foundations and the real charitable work they do. But with our help, they can do more.

The Clintons ran their charity (ostensibly) out of the publicly-funded “Clinton Library,” since Arkansas has lower taxes than New York. This was the only non-stripper charity Bill did not fund in Arkansas, and his is the only presidential library with a "Ladies Get in Free, 2-for-1 Drinks" night.

President Obama has decided to put his presidential library in Chicago, the town where he taught a college law school class: "How to Circumvent the Constitution." Trump’s will be The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library, Golf Course and Casino.

WikiLeaks dogged Hillary. Leaking is historically an issue for folks approaching 70. It was how we learned that Bill and Hillary’s business model was to rake in the money personally. Clinton pimp Doug Band, who leaked email around the Clinton Foundation, said, "President Clinton's business arrangements have yielded more than $30 million for him personally, with $66 million to be paid out over the next nine years…"

The Clintons probably learned their self-enrichment techniques from Vice-Hypocrite Al Gore. When Gore ran for president in 2000, the federally-required filing of his net worth was $700,000. According to CBS News, his net worth now exceeds $200 million. Fellow career “public servants” Clintons are worth about the same. It’s a good thing they are libs and the money doesn’t mean anything to them.

Gore made his money by shaking down Silicon Valley and selling government-issued TV station licenses to that oil-rich/carbon emissions monster, the government of Qatar. Captain Crony Capitalist Al Gore set the model for the Clintons. Act like you are doing something noble like “saving the planet,” and then set about shaking down governments and corporations for money. It kinda feels like the way the Castro brothers got to a billion dollar net worth.

Shakespeare summed these two up best in Henry VI, Part II: “Virtue is choked with foul ambition.”

This reminds me of a great line from an Alabama Democrat congressman facing a challenge for his seat. He leveled with voters and told them he had been in Washington for 8 terms and had already stolen all he needed; this new guy would have to start from scratch, and it would cost them.

It’s a good thing Trump already has his money.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: My Clinton Foundation Challenge

It's easy to get tired of the same routine. We bring out the same old Christmas tree, same decorations and with almost the same holiday schedule.

For good or bad, though, Christmas is rarely exactly the same each year. Every Christmas brings a change.

Rarely will you celebrate Christmas with all the same people every year. Consider yourself fortunate if you do. In many households, someone will be missing. Sadly, the missing person is often someone who has been lost in death. Human life is frail and not much is required to eliminate us from living.

The human body is awesome but disease, old age and unfortunate events can take us out of this world easily. Your Christmas celebration may not be impacted this year but if you live long enough you will eventually celebrate the season without parents, siblings, a spouse or even a child. We don't like to think about such loss and grief, but every Christmas brings an empty chair or a reason to experience grief.

The people of Christmas are God's greatest gift to us. Our health and our family and friends are the best of life. Take time this Christmas to enjoy the people in your life. Hug on them, love them and be very kind to them. You may not have them next year and you'll be glad you cherished them.

Or, you may be the one missing next Christmas. Hopefully, everyone will sit around the table and talk about what a kind and loving person you were … or maybe they won't. Don't take the chance; turn up your kindness, love and thoughtfulness this year.

You don't have to shower people with gifts. Gifts are nice and it helps the economy, but most people just need a little love and a few kind words. A little affirmation and appreciation always go a long way. Make a list of people you need to call, send a kind email to or visit in person.

My wife and I love going to see a woman in our town. She is 95 years old and still very independent. She is a greeter at her church, gardens and drives wherever she wants to go. She visits people in the nursing home who are 15 to 20 years younger. She is an easy person to visit because she always inspires us and makes us laugh. She is always kind, never grumpy and has a sweet spirit about life. She exercises every day and eats her vegetables. We always take her a little something when we go to see her like a poinsettia or something simple. You would think we had taken her a bar of gold or diamonds because she is always so appreciative and grateful.

She is our mentor and we want to be just like her. Therefore, be kind, eliminate grumpiness and be sweeter. People might want to come and spend a little time with you.

We need people in our lives because life is not that exciting staring at walls for 24 hours a day. This is what happens to people in nursing homes so often.

Every Christmas has problems. Life is filled with problems. Mary and Joseph had lots of problems their first Christmas. No room in the inn, taxes to pay, an unplanned pregnancy, and eventual threats from King Herod, which caused them to flee into Egypt for safety.

People all over the planet will deal with problems this Christmas. What is your problem this Christmas? How are you going to deal with it and move forward? Sometimes there is no answer to life's problems except to work over or around them. Whatever your problem is this year, please try to not allow it to mess up your Christmas.

Finally, this Christmas, try to take a new look at the person of Christmas — a baby. Whatever your religious spin in life is, you can't feel too ill about the baby of Christmas. Years before Jesus' birth it was told that a babe would be born in Bethlehem and the government would rest upon his shoulders.

He would be called wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father and the prince of peace.

If you see or experience nothing else about Christmas this year, hopefully one descriptive word about the baby will penetrate your life and that is peace.

Also, be further blessed with routine.

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Enjoy some peace and a routine Christmas

President-elect Donald Trump must be successful in multiple areas, but the following are vital. Americans will be unforgiving in four years if he fails in these key areas.

Keep Social Security solvent. America is getting older. Fewer Americans have pensions they can count on because factories closed early. Unfulfilled promises were made to many Americans who worked for companies for years.

Unfortunately, and sadly, America currently cannot survive without monthly Social Security payments. Millions, getting large payments at early ages, have abused the system. This abuse must stop. New efforts must be made to stop lawyers, doctors and of course citizens from cheating the system. However, the elderly who have paid into the program all their lives expect it to be there and it should be.

Get rid of Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act is not even close to affordable. Medical insurance costs are rapidly rising all the time. Deductibles are increasing and, once again, Americans are suffering from medical care.

Allow insurance companies and citizens to buy and sell across state lines. Make Medicaid available to the very poor and allow those with pre-existing conditions to buy into Medicare. Hospitals and doctor bills are ever increasing and, sadly, this is the biggest part of the problem. As long as the government and insurance companies will pay the medical community, they will gladly bill them excessively.

The cost of medications and all forms of medical suppliers have gone out of the roof. Making medical insurance accessible and affordable to all will not happen if those who are billing the companies have free reign to gouge them.

Beef up national security: A wall is not the answer, but it is part of the formula. I've seen walls separating America's highways and suburban subdivisions. Many of these are taller and more formidable than what can be found on parts of our border with Mexico. We need to at least construct something of this nature.

Raise the numbers in our military. Trump should add 50,000 troops to our military his first year in office. Morale in the military is at an all-time low. Promote those who have been in for several years as new ones are brought into the service.

Promote freedom to bear arms. Everybody carrying a gun and banning all Middle Easterners from entering the country will not prevent attacks like the one that recently happened at Ohio State University.

Unfortunately, some people spend too much time on the computer watching too much crazy stuff and then act crazy. We can only be thankful that a university police officer was able to shoot the attacker before he stabbed anyone else with his butcher knife. Too bad a student didn't have a gun and could have shot the attacker more rapidly.

I'm not excited about college students being allowed to carry guns on campus, but as long as there are crazy people in the world, everyone should have the chance to protect themselves. A strong police force, military and the freedom to protect ourselves are all vital in this nation.

Bring jobs back home. The announcement that Carrier in Indianapolis will keep approximately 1,000 jobs in Indiana is terrific news for Trump and for our country. He must also deliver the lower tax rate he promised to corporations.

I'm not excited about paying more for anything made in Mexico, Vietnam or China. However, if we start adding a small tax to these goods coming into the country with a lower corporate tax rate here, more corporations will find it cheaper to make their products in America and will come home.

Illegal immigrants pouring into the country must stop. And we must stop hiring them. The only problem is who will work our jobs? I see Asians, Hispanics, Indians and Middle Easterners working all over America. Possibly all of these people are legal. I don't know. If some of them go home, will Americans show up to take these jobs? They probably won't if they can sit home and draw government assistance without working.

Trump has to do a lot more than this, but these are areas where he has to start.

Finally, I am concerned about all the names circulating for Trump appointments. Gen. David Petraeus? Sarah Palin? She resigned as the Alaska governor. How could we ever count on her? Mitt Romney? He's a backstabber. Would Jesus have made Judas the chief disciple after he led the mob to his very place of prayer? I do realize Peter went on to do great things after denying he even knew Jesus. However, Jesus understands forgiveness and restoration better than Americans do. Putting past failures into positions of leadership is not a great formula for success.

People will not be forgiving of Trump if these appointments fail, resign or backstab us, even though any appointment has these capabilities.

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 7 vital ways to improve our country

I went to Cuba in February and observed that, while Cuba is realizing the futility of central command-and-control government, President Barack Obama was embracing it.

Like Obama, Fidel Castro — Cuba’s 90-year-old communist dictator who recently died — held grudges. A Yale professor in our group was denied his visa at the last minute because he wrote decades ago that Fidel overstated his baseball prowess. Castro remembered.

Castro took over this once economically vibrant island in 1959, pretending to be selflessly for the "people" and for "democracy." It turned out that he, and his family, were just out for themselves. Castro later decided that socialism/communism was the way to go; that way he'd be in power forever.

Castro seized assets from landowners, corporations and Mafia casino operators. He lived longer than anyone could expect for a man who stole hotels and casinos from gangster “Lucky” Luciano.

After 55 years of rule — and a personal net worth stolen from his people of about $1 billion — he felt that, at age 85 and with his government pension, he had enough money to get him to the barn. Just imagine how much more Castro would have been worth had he not been a "share the wealth" communist.

Fidel Castro realized he was not going to live forever; he's not Larry King. So he appointed his brother and closest family confidant, Raul, to rule.

Desperate for a positive legacy item, Obama set about normalizing relations with Cuba. This means that soon they will have nukes and we will get a box of cigars. In that island nation, Obama is more popular than Castro. When Obama visited Cuba, murals of Obama, Che Guevara and Fidel were everywhere.

My main takeaway: Cuba is a political and economic lesson not taught well enough to our schoolchildren. With the rise in popularity of Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein, it's clear that Americans do not understand the dire lessons of socialism's poisonous ideology and the devastation it brings to every country that has fallen prey to its hollow temptations. In a troubling Pew Research Center survey, 49 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds had a positive reaction to the word "socialism."

U.S. teachers, who generally lean left, romanticize Marxist revolutionaries. Kids today wear iconic Che T-shirts, unaware of the 3,000 political murders he committed and economic devastation he caused.

Fifty years of Cuban socialist rule have turned a prosperous country into an impoverished one. Cubans earn $20 a month. Everything is "free" — it's just that there is none of it. Store shelves are empty; even toilet paper is scarce. All the "evil" businesses were run out of Cuba. Seventy percent of the people work for the government, so there is no one left to tax.

Trump should stick with Obama’s stance toward Cuba and see what happens. 

Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Look to Cuba, see socialism's perils

As an American veteran who has served my country for many years and in many roles, I know there is an indisputable connection between energy security and national security.

I feel strongly that we should be doing everything in our power to reduce our reliance on energy sources from foreign countries — many of which are unfriendly to the United States.

For more than 25 years, we have been sending our service members to the Middle East to engage in combat operations and security missions (costing us dearly in American lives), partly due to the free world’s dependence on energy resources located there.

It troubles me that we are putting lives at stake to secure this area because of our reliance on foreign oil and natural gas when we have untapped energy resources in our noble USA.

Earlier this month in Fort Walton Beach, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a hearing on its draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Gulf of Mexico Geological and Geophysical Surveys. This was the only hearing they held in Florida and I felt compelled to take part in it because of the impact it could have on our nation’s energy policy.

Included in this draft environmental impact statement are restrictions that would reduce the number of seismic surveys performed in the Gulf of Mexico. Seismic surveys are almost like an ultrasound or MRI of Earth’s crust. They use sound waves to help scientists map the ocean floor and geology beneath it. Compressed air released into the water creates sound waves that bounce off rock layers beneath the surface to help create 3D maps of what energy resources lie below the ocean floor.

Seismic surveys are a proven, environmentally sound technology. They are needed in the Gulf of Mexico to gather updated and more accurate information. The information we are working off now is more than 30 years old and wasn’t generated using the latest technology.

While seismic surveys are a necessary prelude to the development of offshore oil reserves, they’re not a commitment to development. They’re simply a means of gaining information we need to make informed decisions and save lives. Using more advanced technology to better understand our options is only a first step, but it’s an important first step we must take.

The federal government is seeking feedback on seismic surveying. I urge other veterans and all Floridians to get involved by voicing your support for this technology that will enable us to see exactly what resources might be available to our country.

Becoming energy independent through cutting-edge, safe technology will strengthen our country and ensure a better quality of life for the good of all: our families, communities and humanity.

Lt. Col. Dennis Freytes, United States Army (Ret.), is co-chair of Florida Vets4Energy, a group of volunteer veterans who serve America as advocates for energy policies to sustain national security.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Use seismic surveys, all energy resources to improve lives

This presidential election’s big losers were the leftist mainstream media. They were willfully disconnected from reality and touted the Clinton campaign to the end.

They were so confident of their win, always asking Donald Trump if and how he would concede and what he would do about the inevitable riots in the streets by his supporters. Tellingly, they never asked Hillary the same question.

Now the media continue to blame Trump. From Oregon to New York, their side riots, destroys others' property and disrupts life. The media blame it all on Trump, even though Project Veritas and WikiLeaks showed us that the DNC and other liberal operatives hire demonstrators and orchestrate such violence.

TV news tells anecdotal stories about racial harassment by supposed Trump supporters. Yet they never show video of a white Trump supporter beaten up and robbed (Reginald Denny style) in the street by Chicago thugs yelling, “Trump voter…”

The left has one argument in their arsenal on which they have “cried wolf” for years: If anyone disagrees with them or President Obama on policy and the direction of this country, that person is a racist. One cannot sort laundry without being called racist by the left. They look for it in everything.

They are race-baiting, one-trick ponies, which keeps them from having to discuss the real issue: Their policies demonstrably do not work. They shut down debate by hurling insults and labels at people with a genuine difference of opinion. America is tired of it.

Media polls had Hillary up by 5 to 7 points (or, as the New York Times thought, 57 percent). One has to wonder: If the leftist pollsters and intelligentsia missed the election results this much, just how accurate and honest are their projected numbers on global warming?

The hubris of the left, with their demeaning comments like “deplorables” and “irredeemables,” caused this election’s backlash. We get tired of always being presumed racist.

The arrogant disdain that northeastern and left coast liberals have for the rest of the country reached record levels. With no basis in fact, they presume untrue things about us by creating false narratives. Late night comics, TV commentators, celebs, etc., advance these falsehoods of the white hood-wearing hayseed, to make them feel better about their own shallow lives.

Vapid celebs said they would move to Canada, New Zealand or Australia if Trump won. So they are fleeing our "racism" to almost all white countries? Weird.

Behind gated communities and offices with security guards, elitists sniff at our desire to own a gun for our own protection. Hampering cops by calling them racist has increased crime in such areas. Although a Democrat-run “gun free zone,” Chicago was safer when Al Capone ran the city.

While spending their time dividing Americans into their various classes of "victims" who support them, and presuming they had blacks and Latinos in their back pockets, liberals were shocked to find that they had misread the anger of the electorate.

The red map of the vast land Trump won versus the small areas Hillary won looks like a Verizon cell coverage map.

“Hey, Washington, can you hear us now?”

Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart  on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Hey, Washington, can you hear us now?

In reference to the Big Red Machine playing “Amazing Grace” at the end of Crestview High football games, I’d like to quote the “Bad News Bears” by saying, “Let them play!”

Ah, prayer in school: the hot-button topic that has set a legal precedent in favor of the separation of church and state. Only, in this case, we’re not talking about prayer. We’re talking about a song; one that is played at military and first responder funerals as well as memorials throughout the country.

I know one BRM parent who has said that people come for the game and stay for the band. Most stadiums empty at the end of a high school football game; but not Jack Foster Stadium.

To me, this is where I draw the line for political correctness. I know I’ve fanned the flames of the last few religious topics, but on this issue, I must put my foot down and say enough is enough!

No one is forcing these kids — I’ll say again: kids — to play this song. Every member of the Big Red Machine is a willful participant and is proud to play in a nationally recognized band. I’m sure if the time came where a student was uncomfortable playing “Amazing Grace” that they would have the option to stand aside while the rest of his or her band mates respected their decision and continued to play.

When I went to school, we had “see you at the flag pole” days that continue to this day. Some of my classmates would sport a T-shirt saying, “I broke a rule, I prayed in school.” I always thought that the saying was out of place because, as far as I knew, willful prayer in school has never been forbidden. What was forbidden was a public school requiring prayer — respecting one religion while keeping out others.

This brings me back to a conversation I had with the Crestview Bulldogs’ “unofficial” chaplain on the sidelines at the Kickoff Classic. The school could not fund having a chaplain for a team to any official capacity, which to me was understandable, considering taxpayer dollars were involved.

My solution to that was having the boosters cover the cost. As far as I know, the boosters for the Bulldogs are private citizens who can make suggestions on how money is earmarked. It’s not tax money and it’s coming from a private fund, and the team can continue to have their tradition of faith without getting any courts involved.

Another example is when I cover the Baker football games (as a freelance writer for the News Bulletin). At the end of the game, the players, cheerleaders and coaches all say the Lord’s Prayer. They are all willing participants, and I’m one of them.

At the end of the day, those in opposition of these traditions — BRM playing “Amazing Grace” going for 25 years — are lumping them in with religious imposition, and it’s not.

No one is twisting the arms of these kids to participate. Let them play and let them pray.

Johnny C. Alexander is a Crestview resident and freelance writer, photographer and videographer.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Let Crestview High’s band play — and let them pray

Looks like I’m grabbing a Snickers, because it doesn’t look like we’re going away from the topic of religion for a while.

Now to the new topic of the week: invocations at city council meetings. So long as the city is willing to be open to other faiths outside Christianity, I don't see anything wrong with opening with an invocation. It doesn't take up that much time in city council meetings and I can imagine the vetting process doesn't pull that many resources as Freedom From Religion claims.

That being said, the city only allows faith-based institutions within a 5-mile radius of the city to conduct invocations. The Crestview area — not necessarily in the city limits — lists over 50 Christian churches, 16 of which are Baptist. No mosques or synagogues exist north of Eglin Reservation.

As you will probably remember, Pensacola — a city housing many different non-Christian faiths — did, in fact, allow someone from a satanic establishment to lead an invocation. As expected, the invocation evoked deplorable behavior from those present in the building — not from Satanists, but from Christians who continually disrupted proceedings.

Here’s a much better example of acceptance of other faiths.

As a member of three chambers of commerce, I participate in every invocation — I’m not atheist or agnostic; I do have faith in Christ — and in one of those chambers, I stand next to a good friend who is Jewish.

More times than not, the prayer ends with the leader saying, “In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen,” in which my friend and I both repeat, “Amen.”

My friend doesn’t protest or get offended; after all, as private institutions, chambers of commerce are allowed to have invocations exclusive to any faith they choose. My friend, instead, joins his fellow business owners in fellowship in praying for the prosperity of their livelihoods.

So, to put out the fire of controversy set by Freedom From Religion, I challenge the Crestview City Council to forego the convenient policy of having only those institutions within a 5-mile radius of the city be represented.

Invite the rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Fort Walton Beach to lead in a Jewish prayer for an upcoming invocation.

Baby steps.

Johnny C. Alexander is a Crestview resident and freelance writer, photographer and videographer.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview City Council should change prayer policy