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

Just don’t accept it…

May 12, 2025

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words – Originally sent April 29, 2009.

“If someone offers you a gift and you decline to accept it, the other person still owns the gift. The same is true of insults and verbal attacks.” (Steve Pavlina) This quote caused me to do a double-take. I hadn’t thought of it that way before. Pavlina is a writer and speaker who helps people motivate themselves to improve their lives. To have the right attitude toward people is part of that process. There’s times to engage, and times to ignore. 😉 Jack

Insults and verbal attacks are generally expected to provoke a reaction. I’ve noticed that nothing blunts such and attack and frustrates the attacker as much as the attack being ignored. Acknowledgement of any sort is a form of engagement that just encourages the attacker to continue. Just don’t accept it…

A little Zen saying that I saw recently seems to apply to this topic – “Negative thoughts only have the power over me that I allow them to have”. The same applies to insults and verbal attacks. They only have power over you if you allow them to. Ignoring them takes away that power. Just don’t accept it…

Sometimes it is impossible to completely ignore a verbal assault. In that case a reply such as “It is unfortunate that you feel that way” serves to dismiss their attack and shifts the ownership back to them. Just don’t accept it…

If the person making the remarks is someone that you must continue to interact with in the future and ignoring the remarks does not seem like a solution, then perhaps suggest that you would like to discuss it further, once both of you have had time to cool down and think things over. Just don’t accept it…

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Posted by Norm Werner

Stop staring at your shoes…

April 21, 2025
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words – Originally sent April 20, 2021
“Always ask yourself what will happen if I say nothing.” (Kamand Kojouri) Each of us has probably been in a situation where we should have kept our mouth shut, or conversely, should have spoken up…but remained silent. One of my favorite Bible passages is Ecclesiastes 3. I like this interpretation: “There’s a time for everything. There’s a time to speak up…and a time to shut up.” One of my WW II heroes is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who spoke out against Hitler and lost his life because of it. When something is right or wrong, it’s our responsibility to speak up or to be complicit. Bonhoeffer is worth emulating. 😉 Jack


The news shows this weekend had stories about the mass protests that occurred over the weekend in various locations around the country. The video accompanying the stores showed hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people out on the streets protesting the actions of the current administration on a variety of issues, all of which boiled down to doing things that are just wrong.


Not everyone is comfortable taking up a sign and joining the protests on the streets and a part of that uncomfortable feeling is the realization that saying nothing against wrongs that need to be righted is a form of compliance or agreement with those wrongs. It’s not that they don’t agree that it is wrong, it mainly is that they fear being identified and perhaps retaliated against for expressing those feelings.
It is that fear of retaliation that the administration is promoting and counting on to keep people inline – especially the people in their own political party. Some in the ruling party have even come out and stated that they fear retaliation if they take a stand in line with their own conscious or convictions. How sad for America.


Sad also is the timid response and lack of leadership of the opposition party. As Jack pointed out, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was willing to risk his life to speak out against the atrocities for the Nazi regime. Many, if not most, of our current day politicians are not willing to risk their political lives (careers) to speak out against what they know is wrong. Instead, they stare down at their shoes in hopes that they can wait this nightmare out.


Politicians on both sides are being pummeled in town hall meetings when they go back home, mainly for their cowardice. The importance of the demonstrations in those town hall meetings and in the streets cannot be overstated. It is only through creating greater fear in the politicians about being voted out of office that these political cowards will be forced to take action to correct what is happening. They must fear the anger of the voters more than they fear retaliation from the administration for doing what is right.


So, ask yourself the question that Kamand Kojouri posed – “What will happen if I say nothing?” The answer to Kojouri’s question is that nothing will change unless you say something. Jack would be out there if he were here today. Stop staring at your shoes and join the protest in support of doing the right things.

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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

Are we that easily manipulated?

August 9, 2019

A story on the evening news recently documented how Russian agents operating through Facebook and other social media outlets have been trying (with surprising success) to manipulate the American public by fomenting unrest and divisions within the devilpopulation. They tactics used by those agents aimed at increasing racial tensions and heightening fears about the impact of immigration. They were successful to the extent that Facebook and other sites have had to take specific actions to limit their access to accounts and monitor their attempts to plant fake news or to slant the coverage of real news.

The sad part of all of this is unfortunately the answer to the headline question. Are we as a people really that easily manipulated? The answer is apparently – yes. At least there is a large portion of the population that seems to believe what they see and read on social media sites without taking the time to evaluate the message or the sender. Perhaps that comes part and parcel with the shortened attention span that has couple-looking-at-phonesevolved in modern times. We have become an audience accustomed to sound-bites, tweets and YouTube posts. There seems to be no time to stop and evaluate the content, so we just accept it and sometimes act upon it. We re-tweet or re-post or take to the streets with signs because we read about a threat on social media. Never mind that the national news outlets or the big newspapers may be debunked the false reports or posts. Anyway, We are told that they are purveyors of “Fake News”; so, let’s believe a Facebook post from someone that we don’t know, instead.

What fun it must be in Russia and North Korea and Iran and in ISIS and Al Qaeda camps around the world to work at manipulating such a gullible population. They never have to question whether many Americans will believe some outrageous story or claim; rather they just have to figure out the best social media places to post it. I’m reminded of the old cereal commercial where the older kids who were leery about the taste of cereal said, “Let’s give it to Mikey, he eats everything.” Perhaps that’s the bad actors view of the American public – “Let’s feed them this false report, they believe anything.”

Still, I believe that there is a “silent majority” of Americans who have not joined the extremists who are manning the barricades of hate, prejudice and ignorance that thesedeviil-and-angel bad actors thrive upon exploiting. There is still a strong sense of right and wrong within the hearts of most Americans and a desire to do what is right, rather than acquiesce to what we know is wrong. We may be frustrated that we cannot seem to resolve some of the big issues that are facing us as a society, but that does not mean that we will drift off to the edges of reason and join the bigots or zealots that define the extremes in today’s political and social environment.

Are we that easily manipulated? I tend to think not; however, we are not happy with the status quo. Every few years we get the chance to do something about that and 2020 is one of those years. Let’s not let the Russians or anyone else manipulate us and our system of government. Make up your own mind and get out and vote for the people that you believe will make the changes that are needed. I don’t think that you will find them out on the fringes and you shouldn’t look to Facebook or Twitter to tell you who they are. listenJust listen closely for the voices of reason and compassion and concern amongst all of the shouting and accusing and finger-pointing of modern politics. Centrists exist in both political parties and they deserve your attention and support.

We need not become an isolated, bully nation nor a socialist state to resolve the current issues that face our country; we just need to return to the rule of civility, reason and compromise and reject the hate, prejudices and fears that foreignflag agents are trying to use to manipulate us. We are a better people than that. We can make up our own minds – thank you very much. Let’s get ready to vote in 2020.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Choose to vote…

November 5, 2018

The quote on the Jack’s Winning Words blog today is “Your life is the result of your choices.  What will you choose today for your tomorrows?  (Robert Allen)

Jack used that quote to talk about voting or at least not whining about the results if you don’t vote and you don’t like the outcome.

While we may not agree on anything else about this election, I think all of us can agree that we’ll be glad when it’s over and those obnoxious political commercial cease ruling (and ruining) the airways. If the ads are to be believed, we have choices between the debaterssleaze-bags and the dirt-bags; between fanatical, bigoted storm troopers on one side and Communist sympathizers on the other; between those who would stand by and watch your sick child die and those who would steal the future from that same child. The party colors may be blue and red, but the political contrasts stand out in stark black and white. The only reaching across the aisle being done here is to reach out in anger for the throats of the opponents.

Lost in all of the rancor and bombast is the welfare of the people of the country. Taking care of the nation’s crumbling infrastructure or providing for the health and welfare of those less fortunate and in need takes a seat at the absolute back of the political buses of both parties, which are focused almost solely on gaining or maintaining political power. Of course, both sides claim to be protecting America from the ravages of the other side’s radical politics.

Still, if you listen carefully, there are a few voices of reason out there among the candidates that give us hope. Sure, they are running under the banners of one party or the other; candidates have to do that to have any chance at all in our political system. voteHowever, some of these more reasonable candidates have expressed their independence from the platforms and leadership of the party under whose banner they are running. They have shown that they are more in tune with the needs and desires of their constituents than the just being toadies to the party line. In itself, that is enough reason to get out and vote on Tuesday. Make the choice about your tomorrows by voting on Tuesday.

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Posted by Norm Werner

Now they’re just insulting the people…

October 20, 2018

Our American political system seems to be slipping ever deeper into the hyper-partisan hole of hate, bigotry and distrust into which it has dug itself. The campaign ads get more and more hateful and sleazy as voting day draws near. The gloves come off (if they were ever on) and the last vestiges of truthfulness and integrity are lost in the stampede to sling mud towards the opponents, no matter how outrageous or hurtful the messages ugly face.pngmay be. This is the ugly face of politics.

The politicians and their advisers think that they are “stirring up the base” by playing to the hate and fear messages that seem to resonate with the radical groups on either side. Rather than insulting the opposition, what these hate ads really do is insult the intelligence of the probable voters. They reduce the process to one of trying to pick out the least sleazy candidate to vote for in any election or the least likely to lead us into doom.

samuel Taylert ColeridgeI’m reminded of a quote that I saw in the Jack’s Winning Words blog – “Experience informs us that the first defense of weak minds is to recriminate.” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)

I suspect that Coleridge would have found many weak minds among the slates of candidates in modern politics.

I will be glad again this year when we get by the election and can return to the more pleasant experience of the TV ads informing me over dinner about all sorts of medicines to help with gross bodily functions or diseases. Those are less likely to turn my stomach than the current crop of political attack ads. It is probably too late to save most of the politicians, but another piece of advice from the Jack’s Winning Words blog also comes to mind –

(Mark Twain) “Never lie to someone who trusts you, and never trust someone who lies to you.” Mark Twain

I wonder what Twain would write about our current political scene if he were alive today. I’ll bet it would be a fun read.

Heaven help us all to get through this mess we call an election.

 

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Posted by Norm Werner

Choices, choices, choices…

July 30, 2018

The primary elections are coming up in a little over a week and the choices ae hard to figure out. Do I vote for the homophobic bigot or the gay socialist? How do I choose between the scallywag and the scoundrel? What is the difference between the near-do-well and the do-nothing candidates? Is one candidate less of an opportunistic professional liar than the other is? So many questions and so many bad answers.

For some, I suppose, the sleaze factor in our modern politics is just an accepted part of the game; although I have a hard time imagining that one wakes up one morning and decides to enter a profession where character assassination and mudslinging aredebaters required skills. The allure of power is very compelling and apparently sufficient to overcome common sense, personal morals and a sense of good taste in most of the political candidates. One almost feels sorry for those unwilling to lower themselves into the pit that is our current political arena. There is no way in this era of dark-money, PAC-based, mudslinging that their good names will not be dragged down to the level of their opponents.

We do not have a political environment that is necessarily based upon the voters making educated and considered choices; but, rather one that is highly susceptible to appeals to emotional messages based upon our fears and insecurities. The electorate tend to seek arrogantout and vote for those candidates with whom we can best identify in the never-ending “Us vs. Them” battle of self-interest. Since those battles are almost always based upon fear, the candidates who can best feed upon and amplify those fears often get our attention and our votes. The poor candidate espousing doing what is “right” is seldom heard above the shouts of “protect what is ours.”

There is, of course, a case to be made that this system has been with us from the beginning of the country. Political battles from the very beginning of our nation wereThomas Jefferson often filled with unsubstantiated accusations that one of the candidates was somehow unfit to serve. The Chicago Tribune did an interesting article about the history of political mudslinging during the last presidential election – see http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-campaign-mud-slinging-history-flashback-perspec-1002-md-20160930-story.html.  Somehow, the nation has survived a long procession of elected scoundrels (at least that’s how the winners were characterized by their opponents during the election cycle).

So, on August 7th, we will once again hold our collective noses and vote for the candidates whom we found to be the least onerous. Admittedly, it is sometimes hard to votesee the good that is within those for whom we vote, since their opponents and their PACs have covered them with so much mud. And, remember that this primary election is like one of the undercard matches at a WrestleMania extravaganza. We haven’t seem anything yet. Wait until the main event, when the real fireworks start going off. You want mud? We got mud. Let the real mudslinging  begin!

Ahhh, politics. Choices, choices, choices. Get out and vote on August 7th. At a minimum you can then sport one of those bumper stickers that reads, “It’s not my fault. I voted for the other guy.”

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Posted by Norm Werner

Let’s make US bigger…get out and vote…

May 9, 2018

In a recent post to the Jack’s Winning Words blog, Jack uses this quote – “All the people like us are, WE, and everyone else is, THEY.”  (Rudyard Kipling)

Recently, as a people, WE have let the differences that we use to differentiate WE from THEY dominate our conversations and our lives. We have let differences, whether real or perceived, split us into camps and set those camps at war with each other. Along the way, accountabilityWE lost the ability to find compromises; the desire through give and take to find enough common ground to allow for peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence. Instead, we have retreated further and further away from compromise and into heavily armed and fortified positions; our fortifications made up of hate, bigotry and arrogantdistrust and our weapons those of hateful speech and actions.

WE have even let that distrust and hate creep into our religions, where Jesus’ Great Commandment to “Love one another as I have loved you” has devolved into “love only those who practice the same religious beliefs as WE do”. WE allow ourselves to distrust and hate Them – those who don’t practice our Christian faith. We become religious bigots and believe that our God is somehow different from the God that THEY pray to, just because they use a different name for Him. We allow the hand of man to get in the way of the hand of God.disagreement2

In reality thee is only US – the busy little creatures walking, riding and flying around on this little, insignificant ball of rock that is floating in the endless universe. If WE screw this up and destroy or home through pollution or wars or hate there is no THEM to blame, only US. If we are to save it for future generations, it will be US who make the changes needed and find the ways to live together in peace and harmony. That process begins when WE, in this camp, decide that WE need to find a way to reach out to THEM and seek compromise and peace. That starts by going back to the commandment predjuicesto love one another.

As with most things, the needed changes start with each of US. We must break away from the positions of hate and distrust that may have led us into one of the camps and start implementing Jesus commandment to love one another as He has lived us. Do not fear what you do not understand. Rather try to see what you can learn from that different point of view. You may never “understand”, but perhaps you can better appreciate the perspective on life from that point of view and find a way to compromise with it in peace and harmony. No good can come out of fear or hate because of the other person’s ethnicity, or color, or sexual preferences, or religion, or anything else that sets them apart. The enrichment of our lives comes from accepting and learning from those differences. We need not embrace their lifestyle to be enriched by it; but we do need tohands-across-the-gap love them and accept them as Jesus loved us. We need to include them in our US.

WE can all make US bigger this year by listening for and voting for those candidates who truly understand the concept of US rather than spouting venomous defenses of their positions against THEM. Both major parties have lots of WE vs THEM candidates. In fact, both parties have developed “litmus tests” for their potential candidates to help them “purify” and strengthen their positions of distrust and hate. Fortunately, there are still rational voices of moderation and compromise to be found. Seek them out and support them, no matter their party affiliation, for they are the only candidates who may be able to coalesce into a big enough US in the political middle to save US all. They will probably not have the strong support of their own parties, since they likely don’t cow-tow to the extreme party lines; but that is a good testament to their ability to do the right things to find compromise and achieve some level of harmony that is currently sadly lacking.

voteThis election season, let us all try to avoid the WE vs. THEM candidates and find the champions of US that are out there. Get out and vote for US.

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Posted by Norm Werner

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