When did common sense become uncommon virtue?

What happened to common sense in our once-great nation? With all that’s going on, I’ve come to the conclusion that baseball great Yogi Berra was brilliant. His often-quoted opinions definitely seem to make more sense today than ever due to the current state of affairs in the United States.

“Half the lies they tell about me aren’t true.” — Yogi Berra

Al Sharpton, the same guy who orchestrated the Tawana Brawley hoax in 1987; called Jewish people “diamond merchants;” incited the Crown Heights riots in 1991; and also incited the arson of a store in Harlem in 1995 that contributed to the deaths of seven people; becomes a respected national figure with his own news show on MSNBC. Not only that, he becomes an important “unofficial” advisor to President Obama, having visited the White House more than 72 times since 2009. That makes about as much sense as having David Duke, the former Knight of the Ku Klux Klan, provide policy advice on improving race relations in the U.S.

“We made too many wrong mistakes.” — Yogi Berra

Caitlyn Jenner (a.k.a. Bruce Jenner of Olympic and Kardashian tabloid fame), wins the prestigious Glamour “Woman of the Year” Award despite living as a woman for less than a year and while being investigated as a manslaughter suspect in a fatal traffic accident. To make matters worse, Caitlyn had not undergone gender reassignment surgery prior to her winning the award. The reality is that a man won “Woman of the Year.”

“You can observe a lot by just watching.” — Yogi Berra

California implemented a policy allowing prison inmates to receive gender reassignment surgeries at taxpayer expense. These surgeries cost tens of thousands of dollars and require ongoing hormone therapy expenses. The first inmate slated to receive this surgery is Jeffrey Nosworthy, who is currently serving a life sentence for murder. I wonder how the victim’s family feels about that.

“If you don’t know where you are going, you might end up someplace else.” — Yogi Berra

“Birthing Tourism” is booming with 40,000 wealthy Chinese women flying to the U.S. each year to have their babies. The baby becomes a U.S. citizen, receives a passport, Social Security number, and all the benefits of U.S. citizenship. Mom and baby then fly back to live in China. See any possible national security issues here?

Sanctuary cities violate federal law, releasing illegal immigrants that have committed serious crimes from jail rather than turn them over to federal authorities for deportation. A number of these same violent criminals go on to commit horrific crimes such as the murder of Kate Steinle in San Francisco. Officials from the so-called “sanctuary” cities defend their actions, saying it would be inhumane to deport those individuals back to their own country. In other news, illegal immigrants in Oregon are suing the State for not issuing them drivers’ licenses.

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” — Yogi Berra

Although FBI Director James Comey testified that the government doesn’t have the resources to fully vet Syrian refugees, more than 100,000 Syrians have immigrated into the U.S. since 2012. Thousands more Syrian refugees are coming to the U.S. despite serious concerns brought forth by more than 70 percent of the nation’s governors and top law enforcement officials. While this was happening, 26 foreign nationals living in the U.S. were charged or convicted of terrorism in 2015. While billions of dollars is spent relocating refugees, social security recipients received a zero percent cost-of-living increase, many underprivileged students could not afford to attend college, and more than 47,000 veterans went homeless in 2015.

“I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia; let them walk to school like I did.”— Yogi Berra

A high school football coach is suspended for leading his team in prayer before games. A high school in New York bans the Pledge of Allegiance and replaces Thanksgiving and Christmas with new celebrations called “Harvest Festival” and “Winter Celebration.” The courts rule it unconstitutional to sing “Amazing Grace” in schools. However, a school in Huntington Beach assigned students to sing songs promoting Islam and Allah in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Rather than allow schools to make reasonable accommodations to meet the needs of transgender students, the federal government mandates that transgender students be allowed to use the girls’ bathroom, shower in girls’ locker rooms, and play on girls’ sports teams.

“You’d better cut the pizza into four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.” — Yogi Berra

The United States has more than 33,000 different criminal gangs with more than 1.5 million gang members actively committing crimes. They must need reinforcements because the federal government is releasing up to 50,000 prisoners from federal prisons this year. Black Lives Matter protestors chant “what do we want!” “Dead Police!” When do we want it? “Now!” and very few public figures denounce their rhetoric, contributing to police officers being violently attacked in communities across the nation. Not wanting the police to appear too militarized, the federal government begins confiscating important police equipment, such as armored vehicles used for hostage rescues and natural disasters. Within weeks of the decision, the same armored vehicles being confiscated were used to stop the suspects in the San Bernardino shootings.

“Pair them up in threes.” — Yogi Berra

The United States Marine Corps was directed to come up with a coed training plan for Marine recruits, thus doing away with highly successful training programs for both men and women that has, for generations, produced Marines that win wars. The USMC was also directed to make all military classifications “gender neutral.” In the near future, a Marine “rifleman” will be called a “rifle person,” and so on.

“You should always go to other people’s funerals; otherwise they won’t come to yours.” — Yogi Berra

We sign a nuclear weapons treaty with Iran; yes the same Iran that held embassy employees hostage, coordinated terror attacks on our troops in Iraq, sponsors terrorism in the Middle East, and routinely chants “Death to America.” We still actively pursued this treaty despite pleas from Israel, our strongest ally in the region, to do otherwise because it jeopardized their national security. Our leaders were surprised when Iran test fired an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and just days later, fired another missile near a U.S. Navy ship. The United States signed a similar nuclear proliferation treaty with North Korea in 1994. North Korea test fired another nuclear weapon last week.

“The future ain’t what it used to be.” — Yogi Berra

You are so right, Yogi.

Wade Engelson, of Post Falls, served in the United States Marine Corps before embarking on a 20-year career in law enforcement. During that time he held a number of challenging assignments, including SWAT entry team leader, undercover narcotics work, and as commander of the Special Investigation Bureau with the Fresno Police Department. Wade retired as Deputy Chief of Police with the Vacaville Police Department.

Wade has a Bachelor’s degree in Business & Economics; a Master’s degree in Public Administration; and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. He has taught at community colleges, the university level, and has written several articles that have been published in professional and academic journals.