“Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.” Epictetus, Greek philosopher
November 12, 2025, And Every Wednesday
By Linda Case Gibbons, Esq.
There used to be a time when songs like “Pennies from Heaven” were popular. The “If you want the things you love, you must have showers,” sort of thing.
Now the penny’s days are numbered. After 230 years, the U.S. Mint has stopped making them.
One could make the argument that pennies are part of our cultural fabric. But “those that know” claim they are too expensive to make.
I think they’re the same people who told us Obamacare was affordable.
Or maybe they’re the government officials who gave more than $20 million dollars to fund a Sesame Street inspired show in Iraq.
The preservation of freedom is never easy.
During the recent government shutdown, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) didn’t take a paycheck, and he sponsored a bill that would stop Congressmen from getting paid during a government shutdown, the No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act.
But he got shut down.
“I don’t see missing paychecks or empty dinner plates as leverage or bargaining chips,” Kennedy stated in a November 4 press release.
“My bills ensure Congress feels the same pain as the folks we’re failing to pay – our troops, air traffic controllers and federal workers.
“If we can’t do our jobs and fund the government, we don’t deserve a paycheck, plain and simple.”
“It’s called shared sacrifice. It’s called leadership,” the witty, Oxford graduate said.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) voted to open the government, and was harshly criticized by his Party. But he didn’t apologize.
“It’s an easy, easy choice to pick my country over the Party, especially in circumstances like this,” Fetterman said in an October, Saturday in America interview.
“I refuse to weaponize SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans that rely on it for feeding themselves or their family. Or making flying in America less safe. I refuse not to pay our military and all of the unions attached to this,” he said in an interview on The View.
This is America leadership at its best. But so many actions by public officials have been anything but.
There’s the well-heeled guy from Uganda, who will spread Communism as mayor of New York City.
And the similar party line being pedaled by Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Bernie has been attacking the rich for years, while owning a couple of houses, and having a net worth between $2 and $5 million dollars, making him one of the multi-millionaires that he says he hates.
The hypocrisy is depressing.
It might be one of the reasons 100-year-old British World War II veteran Alex Penstone says he feels the way he does today about his own country.
Reflecting on his career in the Royal Navy, and his participation in the D Day landing in Normandy, he was dismayed.
“My message is, I can see in my mind’s eye those rows and rows of white stones, and all the hundreds of my friends who gave their lives, for what? The country of today?
“No. I’m sorry. The sacrifice wasn’t worth the result that is today,” he said on Good Morning Britain.
“What we fought for was our freedom. Even now, it’s a darn sight worse than what it was when I fought for it.”
He’s bloody right.
Today British citizens can face fines or imprisonment for certain types of speech.
Recently it was reported that local councils spent $100,000 dollars to combat “Operation Raise the Colours” campaign.
The governmental goal was to take down Union Jack and St. George’s flags that were being hung by ordinary citizens to show patriotism and opposition to mass migration.
That’s probably what Alec Penstone was talking about.
And, come to think of it, he might very well be talking about what Americans are seeing happening here in our own country.
The preservation of freedom is never easy.
Hold the line, America.
Stay strong, Patriots.