Just Be Kind

Just Be Kind by Daniel Gardner, Special to the Gazette Just be kind. That's what I've learned over a lifetime of trying to do the right thing. Being right is not enough.

Too many times, we believe battles are between right and wrong, or good and bad. President Trump is right to say the world cannot allow Iran to have nuclear weapons. His predecessors from both sides of the aisle all agreed Iran should not have nuclear weapons.

Nevertheless, none of the presidents before Trump went as far as he has in denying Iran the capability of building, buying, or otherwise appropriating a nuclear weapon. No issue is too small to fight over in the Middle East. The United Sta- tes of America is observ- ing its 250th anniver- sary.

Some citizens are celebrating and others are fighting. No issue is too small to fight over during a national birth- day in America. Being right is much more important than celebrat- ing a republic that has grown into the strongest and most prosperous nation on earth.

America's war with Iran appears to be winding down. Promises of lowering inflation and gas prices are more like- ly coming true, but fight- ing will continue whether they come down or not. The issues are not good or bad.

The winners are right and everyone will benefit equally anyway. Never- theless, those who opposed the winning side will never like the winners. There are only two sides for every issue, and each issue has mul- tiple sides.

It's compli- cated. In the end every- one will remember who won and who lost even if both sides cheat. In this election year a growing body of voters are favoring socialists and commu- nists over capitalists.

Why? Free stuff. Remember the Obama phones?

"I got me a Obama phone!" said one person who acted like she'd just won a prize at the county fair. People are like that! They'll pay $10 to try to win a $2 prize and then brag about their big win.

It's always about winning and losing. The Iranian lead- ers have been historical- ly mean and stubborn. They'll try to continue playing Trump like a chump.

But President Trump is a good man with good intentions, and if the Iranian lead- ers try to string him along, he'll likely make them believers. That would lower gas prices and stabilize inflation at least in America. Hope- fully, Israel's neighbors will get back into the spirit of the Abraham Accords enough to stabi- lize the Middle East for the holidays.

Meanwhile back at home the socialists/ communists/progres- sives in blue cities and states can run on "affordability" races pro- mising government-run grocery stores, busses, and government assist- ed housing. Homeless folks will charge $25 per signature on a ballot and pool their winnings for an election party later. After the afford- ability crash, Christmas will be tight in the big cities when government can't pay for all the free stuff, and billionaires move to Florida.

This will be one of those cases where nobody wins. We've seen it before. It'll be Trump's fault again.

Black Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will follow Thanksgiving and socialists will all have blue Christmases. Cities will hope to have enough police and fire- fighters to keep riots mostly peaceful. Honestly, if radi- cal socialists win in the fall, America will suffer more riots, looting, and lawlessness than we've ever seen.

When every- one blames everyone else, just remember to be kind.