What Would Our Great-Grandparents Say?

Posted on January 3, 2026 by Tom Balek Standard 1

If my grandparents and great-grandparents were alive, I’m pretty sure they would be embarrassed at what we have allowed to happen to our country. Their country.

My grandparents were workers. They were second generation immigrants from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Their parents came to America with no expectations that anything would be given to them. All they expected was freedom to work, live, and worship.

Income redistribution was the furthest thing from their minds. Why would one person work his or her ass off just to have the fruits of their labor go to somebody who refused to earn their keep? That just didn’t, and doesn’t, make sense.

My ancestors came to America because this country offered what no other country did – equal opportunity to be the best one could be. No American could be denied the right to own property they had paid for with their sweat, smarts and willingness to take a risk. And boy howdy, did they take a risk.

They entered America through Ellis Island and moved to North Dakota, where winters are long and cold, but the soil is rich and hard work is rewarded with bumper crops and fat livestock. Through wars, mosquitos and depressions, they just worked harder, fixing what was broken with bare hands, ingenuity and maybe some baling wire. There was no supermarket, no Home Depot, certainly no EBT cards or free school lunches. They repaired their own shoes, cut their own hair, and healed their sick cows. They gathered to play polka music on Saturday nights, and danced like there was no tomorrow. And they built a church down the road on their own time with their bare, calloused hands using stones they hauled from their fields.

They enlisted and marched off to defend liberty, laying down their lives for people they did not know because it was the right thing to do.

What would these tough, fearless, independent Americans think of us today?

Tom Balek, Rockin’ On the Right Side

(rough translation)
Where the wind wipes our noses, that’s where my first love lives,
Where the wind rubs our noses raw, that’s where my first love lives.
Even the horses knew how she rode ’em wild,
On the farm she wore out every single horse.

FARMER’S POLKA

January 6th – A Day That Will Live in Infamy

Posted on December 22, 2025 by Tom Balek Standard 3

It’s time. I can’t wait any longer to say this.

The following is going to sound a lot like President Trump when he repeats ad nauseum that the latest crime of our adversaries is “like nobody has ever seen before . . . “

There was a popular saying back in the 80s (when I still had hair) that somehow made sense at the time. “Shit happens.” Remember? If not, you are dismissed.

A lot of shit has happened over the last couple of decades. We elected the first minority president because he said, “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America, there is the United States of America.” He assured us that he would put an end to the type of politics that “breeds division and conflict and cynicism.” Then he proceeded to pit half of his nation’s citizens against the other half while we prayed that his ascendancy would destroy every remaining hint of racism in the most anti-racist nation in the world.

Obama fabricated a seemingly indestructible federal bureaucracy, weaponizing it to push us to the very extinction of the freedoms we were taught to cherish because brave patriots spilled their guts for future generations.

After eviscerating Trump 1.0, Biden and the remaining Obama insiders continued the carnage, highlighted by the recruitment and admission of 30 – 50 million illegal immigrants to our diseased nation, many of them among the most immoral people on Earth.

Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight, right? Our nation was gut-shot so many times during the Biden era that survival would seem a miracle, while our conservative leadership refused to defend their electors who clung to the faith that the contrived battle between Obama’s “liberal America and conservative America” would somehow end peacefully – or at least they would be re-elected.

One could point to a hundred horrific, unconscionable acts by the leftists in our nation in recent years. It was one bitch slap after another: DEI, transgenderism, open borders, stolen votes, coddled criminals, corrupt politicians who never face accountability, assassination attempts, trillions of dollars of waste and fraud in federal programs, the horrendous Afghan withdrawal, shameless dishonesty in media, the destruction of our critical institutions including education, health care, national defense and our security agencies.

But there is one despicable act by the left that tops them all and can not be forgiven. Not ever. Never. It tops the list of depravity, like nothing anybody has ever seen before.

That is the savage damage done by our own government to the innocent American citizens who patriotically attended a rally in our nations capital on January 6, 2021 for the sole purpose of questioning the integrity of our elective process, and paid for that privilege with their lives, fortunes, and families.

The unthinkable actions taken by our federal government against its own people are the kind of perfidy we would only have expected from the evil, tyrannical governments that our nation fought with our blood and souls only a few generations ago. Our courts abandoned any responsibility for justice. Our news media and politicians shredded the truth, and continue to.

President Trump’s pardon for the J6 prisoners was a promise kept; a necessary and welcome start, but it is not enough. Until the victims and their families are made whole financially, and granted our nation’s full apologies for what they endured at the hands of our despicable government we should not, and can not, rest. Until those who lied and schemed in their vicious pursuit of innocent citizens are prosecuted, we should not, and can not, forget. And may any politician or member of the news media who ignores, supports, or refuses to remediate the injustices done by our nation on these people, face the wrath of his maker.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

You are the poster boy for how low one can sink
You slither by your lies and never even blink
You are a danger to the good left in the world
If only all your future words remained unheard

SHAME ON YOU – Richard Marx

This Just Doesn’t Make Sense!

Posted on July 15, 2025 by Tom Balek Standard 1

I live out in the boonies – a rural area in one of the poorest counties in South Carolina. And everywhere I drive out here I see big reels of fiber optic cable waiting for a crew to come along and dig trenches to install it.

Thanks, taxpayers, for ponying up the $50 billion plus to fund this misguided attempt to bring modern life to us hicks in the sticks. But your congressmen should have asked us before they wrote the contracts and checks to their big tech buddies.

When I carved out a spot in the woods for a new house and shop, I pondered how I was going to get internet and television service out here in the middle of nowhere. Satellite TV was and is available, of course, and we had been satellite customers before. But as the satellite carriers lose market share to streaming TV services they raise prices to stay in business, so satellite TV has become crazy expensive.

Unfortunately, the cable companies who pig out on taxpayer broadband funds have not reached our neck of the woods, and would not tell us if, or when, they would get here.

So we put a dish in our yard for TV, and a second dish for HughesNet satellite internet service. At the time HughesNet operated at the speed of dark – barely functional for email and maybe some web surfing, but forget about any kind of streaming. Another option was a cellular network hotspot, but we did not have towers close enough to make that practical either.

Then Elon Musk came to the rescue with his StarLink service – fast, reliable, and affordable. It replaced our cable and internet services with REAL high-speed rural broadband at half the cost of the fiber optic cable service our federal government is subsidizing. (Musk has donated Starlink devices to disaster areas all over the globe, providing free internet service in areas with no functioning infrastructure on the ground.)

SO WHY IS OUR GOVERNMENT STILL SPENDING SO MUCH OF OUR MONEY PUTTING IN OBSOLETE FIBER OPTIC CABLE WHEN STARLINK IS THE PROVEN FAST AND EFFICIENT MODERN WIRELESS INTERNET ALTERNATIVE?

Probably for the same reason they insist on replacing powerful, plentiful, affordable carbon-based energy with solar and wind electricity that can’t possibly meet our needs at any cost. Our government does not run like a business, continually maximizing profit and performance. No, our government officials only seek to pay off their lobbyists and campaign contributors. Once a spending program is approved by Congress, there is no turning back. Those dollars will be spent as allocated, regardless of whether it makes economic sense.

Now, take this senseless $50 billion broadband boondoggle and multiply it. How many more obsolete and nonsensical programs are burning through our limited tax dollars and exploding our debt?

Last year South Carolina’s Republican legislature gave $1.3 billion in taxpayer cash and incentives to VW to build an electric RV plant. The electric vehicle industry is flopping like a dying fish now, as it has become clear that even with taxpayer incentives electric vehicles will never be feasible. As obsolete EV production plants close all over the globe, new tech research shows hydrogen power may be the energy source of the future.

Godspeed to you, President Trump. You are the first president in many generations who looks at government spending from the taxpayer’s viewpoint, seeking real efficiency and transparency. And Elon’s DOGE effort was not wasted. It exposed, but failed to stop, the crazy wastefulness in our government spending.

If only our Republican legislators would see the light.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Well, the blues jumped a rabbit and run him a mile
The rabbit sat down and he cried like a child
The blues said son you got to learn one rule
Don’t place no trust in a educated fool
Educated fool, educated fool
Educated fool, educated fool

EDUCATED FOOL – Boz Skaggs

Hey Moe! How About Them Tariffs?

Posted on April 7, 2025 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Today’s stock market activity looks like the work of three men: Larry, Curly and Moe.

This morning news reporters breathlessly claimed that President Trump has put a hold on his promised tariffs against imported goods. Then the markets went crazy as nobody could decide if the reports were accurate (no, he didn’t – yes, he did – wait, is this fake news or not?). Financial advisors and political pundits flip-flopped like catfish in the bottom of a boat. I saw the DOW and NASDAQ drop 3% and then bounce back to 2% gains inside of 15 minutes.

All of this gyration makes clear that the stock market is not a real economic indicator. And that the news and political folks play on our emotions constantly. And that our level of economic sophistication, not to mention our attention spans, have atrophied to something like the third-grade level.

In reality, nothing in the economy is different today than last month. But the mere mention of any Trump initiative is sure to send everybody into a tizzy. Those afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome believe that he is hell-bent on destroying our country (and the world), because he is a Nazi Fascist Orange Man who wants revenge for being treated so badly by so many for so long.

The fact is, our stock market has been wildly over-valued for a long time, and the recent downturn is no different from any correction before. Remember that nasty inflation during the Biden years that caused prices to go crazy? During all of that inflation, the stock market continued to float higher and higher. Analysts touted greater sales and profits by our domestic businesses. But sales were up only because of inflated prices, not because more units were being produced and sold – each dollar in the system was worth less. And profits were higher because sales were higher.

This disconnect between production and prices caused the stock market to blow up artificially, and sooner or later it had to pop.

Maybe the threat of tariffs scared some people into a doom-and-gloom selloff. But folks, it was going to happen anyway, just like it has many times before. And the market has always recovered before, usually in a matter of a few months.

Trump is just shaking things up and trying to drag the world economy back to some semblance of sanity where our debt doesn’t increase by a trillion bucks every couple of months, 20% of working-age men aren’t home on disability, and we don’t send checks to people who died 50 years ago.

Watching all this chaos, I can’t help but chuckle a little bit. Nyuk, nyuk nyuk.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Hey Moe! Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk!
We-be-be-be-be-be!
Oh, wise guy!
We never miss a chance to get up and dance
We’re doing the Curly Shuffle!
THE CURLY SHUFFLE – Jump ‘n the Saddle Band

Draining the Swamp – Trump 2.0

Posted on February 10, 2025 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

The first few weeks of Trump 2.0 has been exhilarating for long-suffering conservative Americans. Early reports of young brainiacs with their AI algorithms revealing mountains of waste, fraud and inefficiency are music to our ears. Volunteer auditor-in-chief Elon Musk and newly-confirmed director of Office, Management and Budget (OMB) Russ Vought hit the ground running – no, they hit the ground flying at hypersonic speed! They are determined to streamline performance, knock down the debt and deficits, and get rid of federal flab. As Trump would say, they are attacking the Swamp with a speed and ferocity “no one has ever seen before”.

So far, so good. Trump 2.0 has already:

eliminated DEI departments, programs and costs
attacked woke and politically weaponized practices
exposed inappropriate spending, targeting foreign and domestic outlays that taxpayers would never approve
required federal employees to show up for work and prove their merit
closed the borders to illegal immigration and started deportations
negotiated favorable foreign trade arrangements
promised to get rid of unnecessary and duplicative departments, unused buildings and unneeded personnel
identified opportunities for upgraded technology and efficiency

But all this swamp-draining optimism seems eerily familiar. I recall a similar feeling at the beginning of Trump 1.0, and found an old article I wrote about it eight years ago. My enthusiastic and well-intended predictions turned out to be embarrassingly inaccurate.

For one thing, my article focused on one of many less-than-stellar Trump cabinet appointees, Mick Mulvaney. Mick was plucked by Trump from his gig as SC legislator to seek and destroy federal waste and corruption via the OMB. It didn’t happen.

When we first met, Mulvaney impressed me. He was very bright, had a real grasp of Tea Party conservative principles, and walked the talk as a founder of the fledgling House Freedom Caucus. And he hired Russ Vought, a friend and mentor from Heritage Action, as his right-hand man. But I got a chill when I asked Mulvaney if he could implement zero-based budgeting to get our spending under control. He said I should forget about reducing spending. “Our budget is so huge and complicated that nobody in government will even try to cut spending – ever.” Mulvaney said that the only way to reduce the debt, which was about $10 trillion at the time, was to outgrow it by revving up the economy and tax revenues. Tax revenues grew rapidly, but spenders gonna spend – and some of them will spend $2 for ever $1 taken in.

Needless to say, Trump’s success at draining the swamp was about as real as my photo-shopped picture of Mick wrestling an alligator. The swamp creatures from the left and right were bigger and badder than Trump 1.0 bargained for, and he got his nose – and ours – bloodied.

But nobody ever said Trump is a quitter. He recognized his errors, he listened to good advice, he meticulously studied and planned, he literally dodged bullets, and he returned victorious to implement Trump 2.0. The stakes are higher this time around as our debt has ballooned to $36.5 trillion and is growing by a trillion bucks every 100 days. We don’t yet know if our Republican Senate and House will support Trump 2.0 or prefer the fetid smell of the swamp.

Last November American voters peered over the edge of a steep cliff. At the bottom we saw the extinction of our freedoms, our prosperous and moral civilization, and the future of our children. We turned away from the edge and now have One More Last Chance before we’re through.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Give me just a one more last chance Before you say we’re through I know I drive you crazy baby It’s the best that I can do We’re just some good ol’ boys, a makin’ noise I ain’t a runnin’ ’round on you Give me just a one more last chance Before you say we’re through

ONE MORE LAST CHANCE – Vince Gill

January 20, 2025 – Mixed Emotions

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Tom Balek Standard 1

What a historic day as President Trump is inaugurated to be our 47th president. The story is Braveheart revisited – pushed to the edge of the cliff, we let out a primal scream, and charged behind our leader into the teeth of our evil enemy. To victory!

The last four years has been nothing less than an existential battle for those of us who are engaged in the war to save our nation and culture for our children and future generations. I find myself in a swirl of mixed emotions today and am recording them for future reflection.

THANKFULNESS – thanks to God for answering prayers and for His perfect plan. Salvation is there for those who will accept it and it is our responsibility and honor to preserve and share that good news.

CELEBRATION – Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble! We have taken a daily beating from the press, from our political adversaries, from every institution in society. But we kept fighting, knowing that truth and justice always wins out in the end.

BROTHERHOOD – We had to stick together and keep each other inspired, informed, and encouraged in the face of withering attacks from a relentless enemy. For some of us it was a four year battle, but many of us have been in the trenches since the Tea Party days almost twenty years ago. I am so proud of all of my brothers and sisters who have led – and followed – when the going was tough.

HUMILITY – Our battle isn’t personal, although the other side wanted it to be. It’s tempting to shame and embarrass our vanquished opponents as they did to us. But some of those who have not been on our team just didn’t know any better. We should celebrate today and then get to work for all of our fellow citizens, because we know better and we are better than the few evil ones that did so much damage.

ANGER – I will try to release the anger I have toward those evil ones and will cut their sheep followers some slack. But it will take a while because of all the personal carnage they caused. And justice must be meted out to those with evil intent, as a deterrent to future villains. It will be hard to forgive those who arrested innocent protesters like my nephew on January 6, 2021 at the cost of prison time, loss of careers, homes, and savings. I’m confident that TODAY President Trump will pardon them all. He promised me.

DETERMINATION – I doubt most people know how close we came to losing our precious American way of life. Let’s make damn sure we don’t get pushed to the edge of that cliff again.

Onward! And may God continue to bless America!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Let’s grab the world by the scruff of the neck
And drink it down deeply and love it to death
So button your lip, baby, button your coat
Let’s go out dancing, let’s rock and roll
You’re not the only one with mixed emotions!

MIXED EMOTIONS – the Rolling Stones

Trump’s “To Do” List

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Tom Balek Standard 6

1. Resign from the United Nations and NATO.

2. Eliminate the FBI, Homeland Security, Dept. of Education, ATF, IRS, CIA, Dept. of Commerce, BLM, Dept. of Agriculture, HUD, and any other programs and departments that have become inefficient, unmanageable, corrupt, or obsolete. Merge their necessary functions into remaining departments and a reformed, streamlined Dept. of Defense. Task the Dept. of Defense with securing all borders and ports.

3. Establish a new federal Department of Technology and Efficiency (DOTE), headquartered in the former UN building, funded with recovered spending from the UN, NATO, and the eliminated departments and programs. The DOTE would research, develop, and implement new methods, procedures, devices and facilities with and for all agencies of the federal government. It would be directed by a board of carefully selected industry and government leaders under the authority and oversight of Congress via a workforce of world-class tech experts in engineering, defense and security, management, artificial intelligence, energy, and transportation. Priorities would include eliminating 50% of the federal workforce with efficient technology; restoring energy independence, and building modern infrastructure including a national satellite system for communication and security.

4. Push all federal functions not enumerated in the Constitution back down to state and local control, including health, education, agriculture, welfare, law enforcement, etc. Eliminate the federal taxes that were allocated to these functions and let states fund their own systems.

5. Challenge Congress to establish and maintain a balanced budget at the new, significantly reduced spending levels.

6. Restore integrity to our courts and system of justice. Enforce laws without discrimination with an intense scrutiny for corruption and fraud by government officials and employees.

Our federal government is so huge, with a budget beyond human comprehension, that corruption and inefficiency is inevitable. We have to make government smaller and eliminate politics as a source of personal wealth. That will take new thinking and big change for Trump and a rehabilitated Congress.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ on the Right Side

Someday, somehow
Something has to change

Am I ready for times such as these?
Emphatically no
Though I did see it coming
A long time ago

SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE – Rodney Crowell

Things Have Changed

Posted on January 11, 2021 by Tom Balek Standard 6

I haven’t written a blog post for two months. The stolen election and developments since then are so alarming that I have been unable to get my feet on solid ground – emotionally or intellectually.

The most difficult thing to deal with is that truth is no longer available to us. We have known for many years that we can no longer trust the mainstream news and social media. We now know that we can’t trust any political parties, institutions, or agencies. Only a very few elected and hired federal government officials are not corrupt. Corporations, educators, scientists, medical institutions, social organizations, sports/entertainment are all compromised.

My cynical worldview was once driven by the maxim “follow the money.” If things are not quite as they seem, it’s because behind the scenes are malevolent, unscrupulous people who are driven to personal profit at the expense of others.

That was before Americans (and, frankly, average folks all over the world) lost faith in capitalism and free enterprise. Now we know that governments can print as much money as they need to control events and individuals. At least temporarily. Debt is an obsolete concept in the twenty-first century.

The ultimate currency of exchange now is power. Control.

Oh, money is still part of the program. Those who have big money have control. And vice-versa. If the big reset continues on course, those on the outside will still have value, but will over time will become little more than a food source.

Last Sunday our pastor stridently preached the message in Luke 12: 29-31.

²⁹“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. ³⁰For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.

The first Sunday after the “riot” on Capitol Hill our pastor was admonishing us for all the time and money we spend worrying about politics and personal wants. I agree with him that we should not live our lives selfishly. If we are saved we can expect our individual needs to be met, now and forever.

But neither is this a time in history when we should acquiesce. Righteousness includes the duty to confront evil. Psalm 82 instructs us to

³Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked.

There seems to be only one place left to go for the truth. Things have changed.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

Things Have Changed – Bob Dylan

Trump’s Crazy Train

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Tom Balek Standard 3

See the source image During his first term President Trump survived defensive pressure that would make any quarterback less than Tom Brady wilt. It seemed that half of the time even his offensive line was working against him and his game plan.

Like Brady, Trump’s results are stellar. If you don’t believe it, listen to any Trump speech – he will make sure you know every detail. Unemployment down, economic growth up, energy independence, improved foreign policy, small businesses thriving in the sweet air of less government interference, and – perhaps best of all – a functioning judiciary that doesn’t appear to be on hallucinogenic drugs.

That’s what drives the “never-Trumpers” nuts. Yes, he enjoys winning. Yes, he brags about it. He has to, because Americans will never hear about Trump’s or our nation’s progress anywhere else. Imagine ESPN and Sports Illustrated reporting only Tom Brady’s incompletions and interceptions without mentioning his touchdowns. Or worse, making up crap that didn’t happen.

I got a note from a neighbor friend the other day. He didn’t get the Trump thing at first. Or at second. But defending the loony Democrats and their anti-American socialist nonsense just got to be too much after a while. He is now aboard the Trump train.

About the leftist news media, he says: “They perpetuate EVERYTHING I’m against. You never hear about strong family values on those garbage networks (CNN, MSNBC), just elements of division that ultimately destroy the construct of the traditional family. Which invariably leads to poverty and crime. I’m just sick of it, and sick of having to explain to my friends that this is all deliberate and that they are being used.”

All aboard the Trump train!

Tom Balek, Rockin’ On the Right Side

I’ve listened to preachers
I’ve listened to fools
I’ve watched all the dropouts
Who make their own rules
One person conditioned to rule and control
The media sells it and you live the role

Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne

Bit O’ Honey Accountability

Posted on October 26, 2019 by Tom Balek Standard 3

Seems like nobody is accountable for anything any more. Pundits and politicians throw accusations at each other all day, every day, claiming to have irrefutable proof of some dastardly crime but nothing ever seems to come from it. No perp walks, no convictions, no jail time. No accountability.

In a spirited debate at Politicon today, conservative pundit Sean Hannity went toe-to-toe with Clinton campaign heavyweight James Carville and seemed to be getting the upper hand. Hannity listed the crimes by Carville’s boss Hillary Clinton. Carville didn’t deny anything, but claimed that Trump would be impeached and lose the upcoming election. Hannity challenged Carville to name an impeachable crime. Carville couldn’t do it. But he topped Hannity by saying [paraphrased], “If the Republicans have all this proof of crimes by Democrats, why don’t they do anything about it? Why aren’t they in jail? You have the Department of Justice!” Boom.

Carville basically admitted that the Democrats have no fear of getting caught in criminal acts because the Republicans don’t have the guts to prosecute them. And he admitted that the Democrats will throw all kinds of baseless accusations at the Republicans because they know they will never have to prove them. No accountability.

In real life, unlike in political bizarro-world, there actually is accountability. I have twin 9-year old grandkids and I even require accountability from them.

They were in my office a couple years ago and discovered my stash of Bit O’ Honey candies. They politely asked if they could have a couple the first time and maybe the second. But then I noticed over time my stash was getting hit pretty hard. And it couldn’t be mice, because they are stored in a glass jar.

So I created an “inventory control” system, by which either of the twins could appropriate up to two Bit O’ Honeys any day without asking, but only if they sign and date each withdrawal on a count sheet and calculate the remaining inventory. Of course I have to account for any Bit O’ Honey withdrawals I make too, and so does Grammy. So the twins know if there are any discrepancies in the Bit O’ Honey inventory, Grandpa knows who is accountable!

I wish Hillary had been raised to be accountable. She would never have deleted 30,000 or more emails, and smashed her cell phones, after they had been subpoenaed by the FBI. The media and the FBI aren’t being held accountable for letting Hillary get away with it. And the DOJ isn’t being held accountable for letting the FBI get away with letting Hillary get away with it. And the President isn’t being held accountable for letting the DOJ get away with letting the FBI get away with letting Hillary get away with it.

Just between you and me, a little grandfatherly advice – never trust a Democrat with your Bit O’ Honeys!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side