Tag Archives: democracy

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Donald Trump is a cancer that should be removed from the political landscape and discarded forever. The majority of Americans are sick of his nonsense and ready for sensible leadership. DeSantis is the future of the GOP if it ever wants to return to sanity.

Democrats will do victory laps for not getting blown away, but if they can’t come up with real messaging that appeals to moderates and independents, we will have a Republican president in 24. Right now DeSantis looks like the frontrunner.

The most important issue that needs to be addressed and tackled is tribalism, this insane hamster wheel we are trapped on of never allowing the opposition to have a victory, to the detriment of the whole nation. I doubt that will get better in my lifetime because the schism keeps widening and neither side will move back to the center and compromise with the other.

The coming few weeks will really test the strength of our system. Will both sides accept the races they lost and concede, or will we have another January 6? That’s the salient question. If we can have a peaceful transition, maybe tempers simmer down. If not, things might get nasty.

As for me, I’ll keep doing my thing. Neither party represents me, so I don’t put my energy behind anything except opposing Trump and that culture of hate. America is at its best when we embrace diversity and allow fresh voices to innovate and renew our economy and our communities. We still have the potential for greatness if we are able to move beyond populism and nationalism.

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Thought Police Ramblings – 10/12/21

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I’m certain the thought police believe Jon Gruden’s resignation is a major victory in the long campaign for individual liberty. I’m also certain those same people would label me racist, homophobic, and whatever else for disagreeing with The Narrative, but this is simply another erosion of individual liberty.

First off, let’s be clear. Political policies that are targeted at specific ethnic groups to inflict pain are examples of racism. So are cops murdering unarmed black men. Gay people being beaten to death simply for their sexuality is an example of homophobia. People being denied opportunities because of their gender or threatened for their religious preferences are instances of hate. These actions must not be tolerated in a free society that seeks equality, and any expression that openly calls for these actions to be taken is clearly a form of hate speech.

However, mean words do not equate to hate speech. Saying a phrase that evokes a negative emotional response is not the same as calling for violent or discriminatory actions. If someone despises people with freckles, that person might come up a colorful expression to insult that group, such as “freckled face freak.” This saying, regardless of how distasteful, how emotionally hurtful, how ugly it might be, does not by itself call for any specific action to be taken against those with freckles. It merely expresses an idea of dislike. A dislike, even one couched in hate, should not be censored or restricted. It should be defeated by superior ideas.

In a nation defined by liberty, freedom of expression is paramount for a healthy democracy. Everyone needs to feel entitled to express their ideas, even unpopular, ugly ones in order for the best ones to rise to the surface. Censoring ideas and making certain words taboo doesn’t diminish hate or increase tolerance. In fact it often breeds resentment. Another way of thinking about is this: if you aren’t willing to afford those you disagree with the right to express themselves, how can you possibly expect to receive the same right yourself?

As far as Jon Gruden goes, I’ll close with this: I doubt very seriously that Darren Waller sees him as a racist. I doubt that the environment within the Raiders organization was homophobic because of Carl Nassib. Those emails contained some awful expressions that reveal immaturity and a foul mouth, but not discrimination or active violence against any group. And that’s an extremely important distinction that seems lost on the thought police.

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Wednesday Night Ramblings – 9/25/2019

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I’ve made a conscious decision to stay out of politics for the last couple of years, but I think we are at a moment of history when a few questions need to be asked of conservatives who still support Mr. Trump. For most of my life, the stances of Republicans that I have admired most are those on states’ rights, free trade, personal accountability, and fiscal responsibility. My biggest question for conservatives is: Do you believe in and adhere to your principles, or do you support the party regardless of what principles its leaders espouse?

Conservatives claim to believe in states’ rights. However, when the state of California attempts to maintain its own standards for vehicle emissions, the president revokes that authority. Do you believe in this principle or not?

Obviously, Democrats tend to be anti-capitalism, but conservatives have always maintained that they believe in free trade. This president has done more to damage free trade and restrict it than any before him. The trade war and tariffs with China are spiralling the world into a recession. Manipulating markets and pressuring the Federal Reserve to undo the damage the trade war is doing to the economy are NOT free trade fundamentals. Do you believe in markets or not?

For the eight years of Mr. Clinton’s presidency, Republicans railed against his immorality and dishonesty. Slick Willie he was called. Mr. Trump also regularly makes false and misleading statements. Typically outright lies. He also is a womanizer. Do you believe in personal accountability or not? Why are you not as outraged by this person’s behavior as you were Mr. Clinton’s? Is it blind devotion to the party?

When Mr. Obama took office during the Great Recession, conservatives screamed from every outlet possible that the sky was falling because of the national debt and the continuation of the bailouts begun during the Bush administration. Well, under Mr. Trump, in an effort to mitigate the damage done by the trade war, more money has been given to farmers than was used to bailout GM. The national debt has mushroomed to $22 trillion dollars. Where is the conservative outrage over lack of fiscal responsibility? Do you believe in this principle or does it only matter when a Democrat is in the oval office?

My final question for conservatives is this: is there anything this president could do that would make you stop supporting him?