It’s time to Break It Down!

This is a vintage post, originally penned November 24, 2010, and subsequently edited and re-posted every year since 2013, including November 27, 2013, November 26, 2014, November 25, 2015, November 23, 2016, November 22, 2017, November 21, 2018, November 27, 2019, November 25, 2020, November 24, 2021, November 23, 2022, November 22, 2023, November 27, 2024, and today, November 26, 2025.

Still, it was not a given that I would re-share this post today. As I weighed recent events, numerous options presented themselves, including, the political divorce of Donald John Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene, the still red hot topic of six members of Congress making a video exhorting members of the military no to follow illegal orders, and the subsequent retort of DJT calling their actions traitorous, seditious behavior, punishable by death, the fact that gas prices, which Trump and Republicans have constantly touted as being greatly lowered from what they were under Joe Biden, are now virtually the same as they were on Joe Biden’s last day in office, or my personal favorite, the Party that claimed the rhetoric of the left led to the murder of Charlie Kirk (asserting that only the left used such rhetoric, and/or were incited by that kind of rhetoric), now responding to Donald Trump’s rhetoric with withering death threats aimed at the six Democratic Congress members whom Trump labeled traitorous and seditious. There are others, but, after earnestly deliberating the question of what to choose for today’s topic, I put the matter to a vote. It was unanimous; me, myself, and I decided to go with Thanksgiving. If you’ve read it before, congratulations; take the day off. If you haven’t read it, give it a scan…you might like it. Lastly, if you haven’t read it, and you don’t want to, that’s cool too. This is America, and you still have that right. At least, for now. 

As in the past, since it is Thanksgiving Week, this post will deviate from the standard fare. I know that travel schedules (in some cases impacted by weather events, and/or airport congestion), meal planning, family time, shopping, football, basketball, parades, and if there is any time remaining, relaxation, will be the dominant themes this week.

However, it is Wednesday, so there shall be a blog.

Those among us who have perfected humility, and ascended to a genuine Nirvana state, have no doubt also elevated giving thanks to an art form. The rest of us must fully invest in our appreciation of the notion, “That’s why we have Thanksgiving!”

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, which kicks off what we commonly refer to as the Holiday Season. Almost instinctively, Thanksgiving and Christmas come to mind. Yet, there is so much more than that to the Season.

Over the next 54 days, many of us will enjoy succulent feasting at Thanksgiving, exchange gifts and contribute to the needy during Hanukkah. We will buy, give, exchange, and/or receive, and (in far too many instances) return gifts at Christmas, eat, drink, and celebrate the 7 Principles of Kwanzaa, and party and toast the dawn of 2022 on New Year’s Day. We will honor the life and works of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on MLK Day. In addition, even in these tough (though improving) economic times, further complicated by stubborn inflation, this weekend, millions of Americans will pay (literally) homage to our most celebrated of shoppers’ holiday weekend, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday, by rising early, and proceeding to scour the aisles for those perfect gifts…and if not perfect, at least cheap, relatively speaking. There are even some precociously enterprising businesses that will start the shopping clock Thursday (though, fewer than in the recent past). Sigh!

In some previous years, I have recounted my reasons for being thankful. This year, like most, I find that I have more reasons than ever to sit contemplatively in humble repose, and affirm boldly, that I know, without caveat, not only the goodness, no the greatness of God, but also of his inestimable and inexhaustible beneficence. I thank Him for deliverance, and for imbuing me with the sense and sensibility to discern the distinction between Kairos and Chronos, Greek concepts for God’s time, and man’s time, respectively. 

In this the Year of our Lord and Savior, 2025, I have again been reminded, God really does have a sense of humor. We have survived 10 months of Donald Trump 2.0. I Thank you God, dearly and daily for your gloriously ineffable wit. Hallelujah, Amen!

Eons ago, when I was a college student, I pledged a fraternity. It is familiarly known as the Oldest, Boldest, and Coldest, but I digress. The point of this reference is that during the erstwhile pledge process, as prospective initiates, we were required to learn and recite several classic poems. There were many, each selected to convey a specific life lesson. In all honesty, being a man of a certain age, I learned a number of the poems in my high school literature class…a different time, to be sure. Some of the poems have stayed with me, but none more than Invictus, written by English poet, William Ernest Henley (1849-1903).

The Latin translation for Invictus is Undefeated. You may recall it, but just in case, see it below:

Invictus (Latin for Undefeated) By William Ernest Henley:

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

So, as you go about your way tomorrow, and all the tomorrows that follow, recognize that Thanksgiving, at its core, is not simply a day on the calendar, or of the epic epicurean experience. It is a spirit that dwells within each of us, an impulse that prompts us to thank God (for enabling us to be undefeated), and a level of insight that compels us to graciously share His blessings with our fellow men and women. Indeed, every day is “A Time for Giving Thanks, Redux ’25!“

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.”

Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box. Consult the links below for more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kairos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ernest_Henley

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invictus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwanzaa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year’s_Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr._Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)

A Time for Giving Thanks, Redux ’25

Break It Down!

As I sat and considered what to write about for today’s post, several options came to mind, including multiple variations of the Epstein saga…

President Trump’s last gasp reversal (because it was going to pass in the House anyway)

The House passing the measure 427-1

The Senate passing the measure by unanimous consent

Trump and Mike Johnson having fought tooth and nail to keep the bill from being voted on 

The rift between Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (MTG) and President Trump, due to her dauntless insistence on her support for bringing the question of releasing the so-called Epstein Files to a vote in the House of Representatives, which culminated with Trump calling her Marjorie “Trader” Green

The survivors of Epstein’s crimes, and their victory.

The latest episode of the on again-off again spat between Marjorie Taylor Green and Rep. Jasmine Crockett

Trump calling a reporter from Bloomberg Piggy, and telling her to be quiet 

The President hosting Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) at the White House. This was his first visit since before 2018, when the CIA under the first Trump administration concluded the Prince was responsible for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who worked for the Washington Post.

Trump suggesting ABC News should lose its broadcast license because one of its reporters asked MBS a question about Khashoggi’s murder  

Each of those 10 matters was an option worthy of consideration. However, at the end of the day, I decided to address an issue much closer to home (for me). Since last Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been conducting what it has dubbed Operation Charlotte’s Web in my town, Charlotte, North Carolina. According to DHS, the operational focus is, targeting undocumented immigrants with criminal charges or convictions.

And yet, at least one analysis found that two-thirds of the individuals targeted by DHS or stopped and harassed (my characterization, not theirs) by United States Border Patrol (USBP) were not undocumented, and/or had no charges or convictions. Moreover, as in many of the other cities where DHS, USBP, and the National Guard have been sent by the Trump administration, local officials, with the notable exception of Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Police Union, believe these agencies are actually implementing hostile and unnecessary incursions. The Mayor, Police Chief, and Sheriff were not commiserated with, in the lead up to “sending in the troops.”

This is not a comparative analysis, but I have an idea about why Charlotte was an inevitable target. More about that later. 

Trump likes to boast that these forays are about fighting crime. 

Really?

In Charlotte, profiling and intimidation seem to be leading bases for what, by most appearances, look more like assaults than interdiction.

Consider a few data points about the erstwhile rampant crime in Charlotte:

Key statistics for 2025 (first nine months)

Overall crime: Down 8%

Violent crime: Down 20%

Homicides: Down 24% (from 82 to 62)

Aggravated assaults: Down 19%

Robberies: Down over 20%

Property crime: Down 5% 

The above data certainty does not suggest crime is nonexistent. It does, however, make it clear that basic crime measurables are trending in a way that even conservatives would laud in a blind study.

“North Carolina is home to two of the safest cities in the country, a new report finds. Charlotte ranks No. 9 and Raleigh, No.10 on a list of places boasting lower rates of violent crime, traffic deaths and other dangers in comparison to other major cities, according to results updated on Sep 15, 2025”

So why, you may ask, was Charlotte inevitably deemed a prime target for a Trump-style DHS operation? As Shakespeare might have said, let me count the ways.

Consider the following about Charlotte:  

Black

Mayor

County Commission Chair

Sheriff

Police Chief

District Attorney

School Board Chairman  

Democrats 

City Council Members – All but 1 

County Commissioners – All 

Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board – All

Given the demographic and political profile of our fair city, and this administration’s avowed war on woke, DEI, CRT, affirmative action, voting rights, and civil rights, it was preordained that Charlotte would appear on the hit list, sooner, rather than later. The only real question, if ever there was one, is, what took so long?

The local and national news have been hooked on and reporting about the theater of Operation Charlotte’s Web for the better part of a week now. Businesses, schools, and life in general have been significantly altered. School absences appreciably up, business traffic, especially retail and restaurants, markedly down. Needless to say, many immigrants, some with the encouragement of their employers, are staying home.

Charlotte is resilient. We will survive this unwanted, most would say, uncalled for, intrusion. Team Trump will get extensive video featuring human cruelly that it will label success. They will move on to whatever locale they believe next most warrants the pleasure (and from the local’s perspective, pain) of their company. 

Reports are they’ve already gravitated to Raleigh and Durham, two other North Carolina communities, both with Democratic Mayors, one female, the other Black, respectively. I have friends and family in both cities. I pray they will be minimally inconvenienced, or otherwise impacted, by the operations in their towns. Meanwhile, we’re going through something over here…”Operation Charlotte’s Web: The 704 Is On The Clock!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

https://www.pressreleasepoint.com/dhs-launches-operation-charlottes-web-target-criminal-illegal-aliens-terrorizing-americans-charlotte

Operation Charlotte’s Web: The 704 is on the Clock

Break It Down!

Sir Winston Churchill was the first to use the phrase above, when in 1939, he described the complex and unpredictable nature of Russia’s actions at the start of World War II. Churchill conceded he couldn’t predict the future but asserted there was a key to discerning Russia’s motivation, and that was, in his view, Russia’s national interest.

I’m here to submit that Republicans have found the question of what to do with and about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, to be their personal riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Having watched a rather indelicate dance unfold over the last 15 and a half years, the metaphor that comes to mind is the dog who chased and caught the car and had no earthly idea what to do with it. Is there a key? If there is, the GOP has yet to find it.

President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law March 23, 2010. Republicans far and near boast of their rock-solid opposition to the bill. Their resolve and resistance were so undiluted, even to this day they gloat in retelling that not a single Republican voted for the measure. Not only that, but once passed, they immediately commenced trying to overturn the law. In fact, the House of Representatives and Senate when controlled by the GOP have considered  resolutions to repeal the ACA at least 70 times.

Suffice it to say, those efforts, all of them, failed. And frankly, no small part of the reason for the inability of the GOP to repeal and replace Obamacare is, they have never devised their own plan for what to replace it with. Not Mitch McConnell, not John Bohner, not Kevin McCarthy, not Mike Johnson, and definitely not Donald J. Trump. The next plan will be the first plan.

Clearly, the ACA has not been a panacea. However, Let’s be clear, the GOP opposition to the ACA did not just begin after the law passed. Republicans in Congress tried at every turn to kill the bill before it became law, and if they couldn’t kill it, to make it as ineffective as possible. Moreover, the rollout was shaky. However, despite an uneven start, as it became clearer, that shortcomings notwithstanding, the ACA was the best healthcare solution available, consumers satisfaction for the law increased…significantly. Two of the most popular provisions of the law are the elimination of pre-existing conditions and retaining children on their parents’ policies until age 26. To wit, the ACA currently enjoys an over 70% approval rating among Americans. 

The inability of Trump and the Republican Party to replace the Affordable Care Act underscores the complexities of American healthcare policy and the difficulties of unifying a party around a single legislative solution. Deep ideological divisions, public attachment to key ACA provisions, and the practical challenges of crafting a viable alternative all contributed to the failure to deliver on Mr. Trump’s and other  GOP members’ signature campaign promise. The ACA remains a central feature of the American healthcare landscape, and the Republican struggle to replace it serves as a cautionary tale about the realities of governance and the importance of policy details. For now, the GOP challenge to repeal and replace the ACA remains “A Riddle Wrapped In A Mystery Inside An Enigma ACA-Style!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affordable_Care_Act

A Riddle Wrapped In A Mystery Inside An Enigma ACA-Style

Break It Down!

Yesterday was Election Day, and I decided I would amuse myself by viewing the Fox News Election Night coverage. Fortunately for me, the key races, the ones at the top of the coverage, New Jersey and Virginia Governors, and New York City Mayor, were over relatively quickly. A fourth race, Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia received a fair amount of coverage, as well. And finally, a ballot initiative in California was, due to geography and time zones, the evening’s finale.

The Virginia race was called before 8 p.m., the New Jersey race ended before 9 p.m., and in New York, where polls don’t close until 9 0’clock, the race was over before 10 p.m. Three races, three wins for Democrats. Normally, that notation would be followed by…and three losses for Republicans. However, over at Fox News, where they appear to take these things personally, it seems fair to say three L’s for Fox. If Virginia’s AG race is included, the sweep expands to four.

As I watched, much of the commentary was decidedly infused with negative energy and characterizations. While most of the harshest verbiage was reserved for Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist Mayor-Elect of New York City. Several  Fox commentators were hellbent on channeling their favorite overlord…I mean President, and they couldn’t resist labeling Mr. Mamdani a Communist. They had other less flattering things to say, of course, but suffice it to say, this is the same crew who led the charge to take mega umbrage when Hillary Clinton referred to a large swath of Trump supporters as deplorables. I wonder what that makes the supporters of the guy they call a Communist? Communists?

That is one of the ways in which Trump supporters distinguish themselves. They apparently do not believe the standard to which they hold others, applies to them. They have taken their cues from a President who has changed the rules, and where he hasn’t been able to change the rules, he’s bent them, and where bending them was insufficient, he often defied them. Numerous court decisions have been required to sort it all out. In too many instances, it comes down to the Red Team (Republicans) and the Blue Team (Democrats).

That brings us to a fifth item on the ballot; California Proposition 50. Make it 5-0, or 0-5, if you prefer. The Golden State ballot initiative was called instantly when polls closed. Across the country, Democrats won numerous other races of note, including in Georgia, and in Pennsylvania. The most ardent Democrats may consider this a flat-out repudiation of Donald Trump. After a decade of the Trump political era, I do not believe it’s nearly that cut and dried. Rather, I am of the opinion that TrumpWorld got caught up in the hype they created.

Trump placed a spotlight on every conceivable problem, and then he boasted he would solve each and every one of them…on day one. Nine months in, deportations are up, but so is unemployment, so is the price of food, so is the price of housing, and I could go on. In other words, many of the same issues that ushered in Trump 2.0 in 2024, ushered in Democratic Governors in New Jersey and Virginia, a Democratic Socialist Mayor of NYC, a Democratic AG in Virginia, and in California, an initiative to allow citizens to vote on a new redistricting plan, all opposed by Trump, and more than a few talking heads at Fox News. Today, it is a near certainty that the Trump-Fox coalition is “Seeing Red: Feeling Blue!”

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com. Find a new post each Wednesday.

To subscribe, click on Follow in the bottom right-hand corner of my Home Page at http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com; enter your e-mail address in the designated space, and click on “Sign me up.” Subsequent editions of “Break It Down” will be mailed to your in-box.

For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the link below:

Seeing Red: Feeling Blue