Good will prevail –

January 26, 2026

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words – Originally sent Dec 3, 2015

Picture of Jack Freed

“Don’t allow yourself to be overcome by evil. Take the offensive. Overcome evil with good.” (The Bible) I’ve been struck by the fact that so many shootings have happened at places or times where people were trying to help people…the disabled, planned parenthood, churches, schools. The response to terror, whatever that terror might be, is to overcome it with good. The Twin Towers were replaced with a building, even taller. If “helping places” are targeted, let’s take the offensive and be determined to make an even stronger effort to be “do-gooders.”;-)  Jack

I’m sure that Jack didn’t foresee what is happening in Minneapolis and in other places around America right now, but he could see evil continuing to exist in the world and the on-going need to overcome it with good. The evil that permeates and drives the actions of our current government starts at the top and quickly flows down through the cabinet level and ultimately to the brutish and lethally armed storm troopers on the ground carrying out the wishes of leadership.

Certainly both of our current political parties share the blame for the environment and situation that we find ourselves in as a country.  The Democrats championed the most incompetent President in the history of our country and presided over an unfettered influx of millions of illegal immigrants with absolutely no plan for what to do with them. The Republicans then championed the most narcistic, egotistic and vindictive leader ever elected (others like him usually seized power in coups) and then kowtowed to his every wish no matter how self-serving it might be. Few politicians on either side showed any moral courage to do what is right. It’s not so much that evil won as it is that cowardice and self-preservation prevailed.

There are few, if any, politicians on either side in Washington that deserve to be re-elected, based upon their actions over the last few years. They failed us and they failed themselves. Perhaps it is time to do what many states have done and enact term limits for federal-level legislators. There was once enough political will to enact an amendment to the Constitution limiting the number of terms that a President could serve. Now is the time to also limit the terms of our elected Representatives and Senators. Those who framed our Constitution envisioned citizens being elected to government service for a short time and then returning to private life. They did not imagine the rise of a professional politician cadre concerned more about staying in power that serving the needs of their constituents. Yet here we are.

How will good overcome this situation? The answer is found in the one safeguard that was built into our Constitution for just such occasions – the ballot box. There is an opportunity again this year for good to overcome evil at the ballot box; for sanity, fairness and honesty to prevail.  It is unfortunate that we will have only candidates from the two failed political parties from which to choose. We deserve better but we have to work with what we have. A good rule of thumb is to vote out any politician who has been in office for two or more terms. Just get somebody new in the office and don’t let the old guy just move up from Congress to the Senate – send them home. It’s probably also time to look at changing the terms for Congressmen from two years to four, since they currently spend most of their two-year terms just trying to get reelected.

Will term limits and real reform happen? Probably not, but what can happen is sending the current crop of professional politicians packing. So, get ready to exercise the one right that they cannot take away from you – get ready to vote this year. That is the most powerful way for you to protest what you see going on in our country right now. Good will prevail.

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Posted by Norm Werner

A Call for Moderation in Politics

January 20, 2026

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words – Originally sent Jan 18, 2016

“When you are right you cannot be too radical. When you are wrong you cannot be too conservative.” (MLK Jr)  Was King a conservative or a radical? Radical, in the sense that the civil rights changes he helped bring about were extreme. Conservative, in the way that change was accomplished…through peaceful marches. Too many permanently label themselves, conservative or radical, when certain situations call for a label that can be changed. In today’s world of conflict, we need to stop serving our labels and focus on serving our mission. 😉  Jack

The polarized condition that the country was in back in 2016 when Jack penned those words has only gotten worse. I saw the results of a recent poll in which respondents disapproved of the leadership of both parties. The case for the formation of a third party has never been stronger. The two major parties have coalesced at the extremes of the conservative-radial divide with no interest on either side in finding compromises. Fueled by hate on both sides the pendulum has been pushed to swing further out with each political change in power.

As a by-product of this anger and hate-driven environment politics has become so nasty that people who aren’t radical one way or the other have decided to avoid getting involved. The so-called moderates have been driven out of both parties by disgust or fear or both. The past year has seen the exit of some of the last few moderates in Congress who became frustrated by the inability to get anything done that wasn’t a part of the radical agenda of either side of the aisle. Instead of “reaching across the aisle” to find compromise.

Todays politicians choose to stay in their trenches and lob hand grenades at each other in the media. The two sides seem to be totally focused on undoing whatever the other side has done without any real plan (or policy)  to replace whatever it is with a new solution.

This polarized political environment provides the perfect setting for the creation of a new political party in the middle, a party without the baggage of hate and division of the current parties. Such a party could quickly rise if it had the right leader – a leader who could clearly and forcefully articulate a moderate path forward.

There are answers to the issues facing America but our current politicians have stopped looking for them as they fight with each other. A moderate leader would be able to acknowledge the issues/problems that are at the core of the current political divide but also offer a new solution, rather than just throwing out the old in anger.

Unfortunately, this will probably not happen. In the current political environment there is too much big money behind the extremes on both sides. Even strong moderates will stay out of the mudslinging fray for the good of their families. Things have already gone well beyond just muckracking, with death treats becoming the norm and even politically motivated (or encouraged) killings in the news.

Is a new party of moderation needed? Yes. Is it likely to happen? Unfortunately, no. What can we do? Well, there is another election coming up and another opportunity to swing the pendulum back the other way. Maybe you think that it won’t be any better at that political extreme than where we are right now. You are right, but there may be a brief moment when the pendulum swings back through the middle that the few remaining moderate politicians can get some good things done. Hope springs eternally.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Chose to do the right thing…it matters.

April 16, 2025


The Best of Jack’s Winning Words – Originally sent April 6, 2016.
“The only alternative to co-existence is co-destruction.” (Nehru) There’s been some scary talk lately about the use of nuclear weapons. This world is better served by leaders who seek ways to co-exist with diversity than to work toward eradicating any way but “our” way. In any relationship there has to be give and take (bargaining) to make it work. The healthiest families have learned this. Even God bargains: “If you will be my people, I will be your God.” 😉 Jack


I suspect Jack would be appalled by today’s political environment in the United States. I know that if he were still alive he would not be silent about his displeasure with and opposition to the things happening here in America and around the world in places like Ukraine.


I am reminded of the words of Martin Luther King when he said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. There are lots of things that matter under attack right now. Many politicians (usually of a specific party) have chosen to remain silent about what is happening. Not so, obviously, for members of the other political party.


A key thing to watch and understand is why these politicians are remaining silent (or in some cases even defending the wrongs that they see happening). Just like children, they are succumbing to bullying. They are afraid, and in that fear their cowardice and sense of self-preservation overcomes their basic sense of right and wrong. Indeed, some have even convinced themselves that what they see happening is right and good.


Let me stop here and state that I do not disagree that there are many things that need to be fixed or corrected. The issue for me and I suspect many others is the approach that is being taken to solving those problems. That concern about the approach is also what seems to be driving so many of the judicial restraining orders and temporary halts to actions being taken to solve the problems.


Can federal employees be fired or laid off? Certainly, just not in the capricious ways that are currently being employed. Can illegal immigrants be deported? Of course, just not without some level of due process ,as we are currently seeing. Can people disagree with what is happening and voice that disagreement, whether in peaceful protest or in news articles or broadcasts. Yes, that is a fundamental right in the Constitution.


So here we are. People are being rounded up, shipped off to holding facilities thousands of miles from their family and friend or put on planes and flown to foreign prisons all without due process. Major decisions that should be considered, debated and voted upon by our elected representatives are now made by decree. And the restructuring of the federal bureaucracy, which certainly can be defended as being justified and long overdue, continues at a chaotic and destructive pace with no thought or plan in evidence.


While the current politicians in power appear to have chosen the co-destruction option, there is still hope that sanity and some latent sense of right and wrong will prevail. However, we cannot just sit on the sidelines and hope for the best. We must not be silent about things that matter. It is up to each of us and all of us to resist what we know is wrong, even in the face of the bullying that we know will come as a result. What form that resistance takes is also up to each of us. What will you do? It matters.

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Posted by Norm Werner

No other option…

September 26, 2024

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words 9/3/24 – Originally sent August 30, 2021.

“Everything is going to work out; there’s no other option.” Kari Miller) Kari is amazing! She lost her legs in a car accident caused by a drunk driver and took a bad situation and made it better by joining the American Paralympics Sitting Volleyball Team. Try playing volleyball while sitting! I have a hard time while standing. But when you have no other option, you do what you can do. All of the Paralympians give us encouragement that things will work out for those who don’t give up…like Kari. 😉 Jack

It is amazing how many of us (and I include myself in this group) spend (read that as waste) time mentally exploring or wishing for some option to the situation that we find ourselves in at the moment. In my last post I implored people to never stop dreaming; however, dreaming is different from the denial that leads to regrets or wishing that things were different.  Dreaming is about things in the future, while most time spent looking for options to the present are about the past – past decisions, past relationships, past mistakes that cannot be undone.

In truth there are no other options. The catch phrase, “It is what it is” best explains the situation. Mulling what might have been traps us in the past. As Jack wrote, “But when you have no other option, you do what you can do.”  Accepting what is allows us to move on to what yet may be.

Most of us will never face a situation like Kari Miller or anywhere near as drastic a change in our lives as she faced. Kari could have spent the rest of her life wallowing in self-pity or anger; however, she chose to do what she could. How do you handle the curve balls that life sometimes throws at you?

Do you spend your days thinking about what might have been different had you only made a different decision or chosen a different path? Do regret and remorse rule your life? Are you stuck in Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda land? How’s that working out for you?  Isn’t it time for a change?  

Here’s a way to start “A new way forward”, to steal a campaign phrase from Vice President Kamala Harris.  A key is to put things in perspective and put the past where it belongs – in the past. One way to help do that is to write down the bad thing or things that you have been hung up on. Then, fold up that paper and put it in an envelop and label the envelope “The Past”. Put that envelop in a drawer and walk away from it.

Now that you have put the past behind you, you can focus on your future and doing what you can do. You may be surprised how much that is and how much happier you will feel once you start doing it. You may not realize it at the time, but an important thing that just happened is that you stopped blaming yourself and beating yourself up for what happened in the past.

To help you with the future it is important that you let go of the thought that you can control it. You will be able to react to it (hopefully in a better way than in the past), but you cannot control it. I have found that, for me, the little prayer “Not my will, but thy will be done” allows me t let go of the pressure of the false belief that I can somehow control the future.

There really is no other option. So, let go and accept what has happened, acknowledge that it is in the past, and focus upon doing your best in the future.

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Posted by Norm Werner