I guess this is what we get when the “virus of the day” just doesn’t get the masses in an uproar of weeping and whaling and gnashing of teeth. And what you get is a column of “much ado about nothing” to boot. Aren’t my random musings just so darn entertaining? Well, here goes another. You be the judge.

I must ask, aren’t you tired of it? I don’t think Jesus had these government-created emergencies in mind when He said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Then again, being omnipotent, maybe He did. After all, our government seems to be outpacing the Romans in using fact and fiction, and fact-based fiction for tyrannical control, thankfully crucifixions aside.

But let’s not give them any ideas. The government-crisis crosses we bear are bad enough. And yes, I know this all too well. Only thing missing are the holes in my wrists and feet. And no, this is in no way a comparison to my Lord and Savior, so don’t start typing. Well, except for you who only read enough to let your fingers do the talking regardless of what I write. I appreciate the affirmation I’m dead on for the subjects in my columns.

So, here’s where we are: The coming Ice Age didn’t work; the hole in the ozone didn’t work; Silent Spring didn’t work; running out of oil didn’t work; overpopulation didn’t work; global warming didn’t work; climate change didn’t work; “insert virus here” hasn’t worked except for, sadly, that Covid one did for a couple of years, hence the “hanta” dropping (see what I did there?) into our lives, which is being met with a collective yawn from folks who’ve simply had enough scat from the government rat pack.

I mean, if they really wanted hantavirus to work, wouldn’t they roll out the evil leprechaun known as Anthony Fauci and his gravel tones of our coming demise? After all, he’s been predicting the next virus, and he luckily has been developing a Mengele-potion cure-all for decades. But alas, hantavirus will only be a distraction. Seriously, it’s already got leftists double masking as I type. And have you seen the progressive minions blaming the “outbreak” cruising into our lives on Robert Kennedy Jr.’s firing of inspectors for the Love Boat? But hanta’s all pretty much over before it started, because our government has “Maverick up on ready five” with its latest version of the illegal-alien invasion: actual aliens.

David Hannum should have been referring to government when he said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” The fact that most folks think PT Barnum said that speaks volumes about how Abraham Lincoln did not say, “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

In case you are wondering, I identify with the last part. Strongly. Here’s why, and James Madison actually said it, “The truth was that all men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.” Now you know my starting point with anyone ever elected, even those I consider friends right here in River City, and I refer to this ditty, also not from Honest Abe for my reasoning: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Let’s be honest, the folks we elect anymore are flunking.

There was a pretty good Robert Redford movie that came out in 1992 called “Sneakers.” I don’t recall exactly what it was all about, but I do remember it was about computers, the Internet and the online, digital world and the dangers therein from government. But I do recall distinctly its main message: Too many secrets.

And for the sake of your Chuck Taylors, they meant the shadow government. You don’t really believe the government and the idiots speaking for and about it on talk shows and the floor of Congress are letting you really see how the sausage is made, do you? They have to keep that recipe a secret. It’s not just bad; it’s considerably worse.

Yup, I’m the kind of fool who believes government should have no secrets. The reasoning is simple. Anything the government keeps secret from the people is used for control. Why else would it go to great lengths to keep us from the truth, or in my case in publishing a newspaper, from the facts? It’s why we go to great lengths to quote and source and attribute as thoroughly as possible in every story in The Business Times. Facts matter. Attribution matters. The TRUTH matters.

After all, “The truth will set you free,” and that’s from a guy I quote all the time. He’s always worth quoting, and He never ran for office or sought power. He just spoke truth. It’s why He came. Not that it has much effect on the government He said that to, or on any government before or since.

But back to government, which is the real antagonist and always has been to those who desire freedom. It’s also the master when it comes to secrets.

Oh, you’d like some examples? OK, how about the Kennedy assassination files (or any assassination files), any mass-shooter information, closed congressional hearings, grand jury testimony, Vietnam (all of it), weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Watergate (a nothing burger at its core, but they could use it to get Nixon), the Clintons, the Epstein files, McCarthyism, Teapot Dome, anything Trump, 9/11 and Jan 6 (think about how they’re thought about), the aforementioned Covid, and pretty much anything else the government puts out nowadays, including the thousands of new laws passed in Colorado in just the past few legislative cycles along with so many River City follies here in Grand Junction?

Tell me you trust all of it. You can’t.

Fact is, the distrust of those we’ve elected is genuine. And that’s because it’s intentional. Which is the entire point when it comes to power. Power in politics can only be derived when the citizens are divided. And no one has perfected dividing the people like your local, county, state or federal politician. And yes, both parties thrive on it.

To reprise and paraphrase my favorite movie quote from Sonny Corleone, “There’s a lotta money in that political stuff, Pop.”

Now I’m not saying everyone elected is lying to the people or on a power trip or out to “get theirs” from the treasury. Well, I pretty much am federally and in most state positions, especially on the left where they are just more devout to the cause than the right. But what I am saying is pay attention to what they aren’t saying when they are saying all the other stuff, which is usually a bunch of stuff to change the topic from all the other stuff they were saying to divide the people barely a week ago.

In today’s case, it’s the aliens. Of which our federal government must consider illegal, with all the hiding of them at the super-secret (yet we all know about it) place called Area 51, which appears the feds are ready to 86. Honestly, I don’t know if aliens have the legs of a Covid epidemic, especially since they’ve been walking among us since the middle of the last century. Side note, do aliens even have legs, or did the government make that part up, too? And if there’s so many of them, why do all the drawings look alike and look like the ones in the movies, where they all have legs?

Regardless, it’s just another secret the government is letting us in on while creating more secrets about what’s it’s actually doing, which is always amassing more power while raiding the treasury. That’s all the government is good at anymore. And that’s the best-kept, out-in-the-open secret of all.

Trust nothing and question everything.

In Truth and freedom.

Craig Hall is owner and publisher of The Business Times. Reach him at 424-5133 or publisher@thebusinesstimes.com