I had a piece already written about a lighter subject, but recent events out of Minnesota changed the best-laid plans of mice and bloggers.
When four members of the Minneapolis Police Department detained and eventually killed George Floyd for attempting to pass counterfeit money, it started off a chain of events resulting in property being destroyed, people being injured, and general discord around the world. And, as you might expect, politics got injected into the situation early and often.
Enter Representative Ilhan Omar and the other members of “The Squad.” The Minnesota Congresswoman took to Twitter to help promote donations to ActBlue.com, a Leftist website, under the auspices of racial justice. What is that? I’m glad you asked, otherwise I’m out a topic for the Lexicon.
racial justice
What the Left thinks it means – getting justice for disenfranchised people of color
What it really means – tilting the scales of justice to favor people of color at the expense of actual justice
There is a reason statues of Lady Justice wear a blindfold; justice is supposed to be blind. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been when it comes to police officers and black criminals. In the former case, sentences tend to be on the light side, while in the latter case, those sentences are harsher. And it’s been going on for far too long.
Hence, the Left’s renewed call for racial justice. This is another term the Left devised that combines a powerful word that appeals to most Americans (justice) and adds a politically-charged modifier (racial) designed to advance an agenda. In this case, the goal is to take any negative feelings about racism and apply it to the judicial system to allow blacks and other minorities a chance to experience what the Left thinks/knows whites have enjoyed for so long.
The scary part is the Left has a point. Blacks and whites do not have equal justice in America, no matter how hard we try to ignore it. And before you start throwing out statistics about what percentage of blacks commit what percentage of crimes, the fact it took days to arrest the officer who choked George Floyd and at least contributed to his death shows how screwed up our justice system is.
Having said that, the Left’s solution isn’t to fix the problems, but screw them up even more by using race as even more of a factor than it already is. Of course, that’s by design. One of the cornerstones of Leftist ideology is to undermine the American legal system and institute a global legal system, an idea most American Presidents have rejected. But, the Left doesn’t give up that easily and has made progress towards their goals. The very fact we have four Representatives on record advocating for racial justice in an attempt to raise funds is proof of how emboldened they feel right now.
By adding race into a court proceeding, it guarantees the results will not be just because it prevents the jury from doing its sworn job. It’s not to try to figure out what race deserves what punishment; it’s to determine guilt or innocence based on the law and the arguments presented by the attorneys involved. Any thought outside of those two elements muddies the waters, making actual justice harder to obtain.
Granted, I’m a white guy and have undoubtedly received preferential treatment because of it, even though I don’t want it. We are supposed to be equal under the law, so I prefer to be treated equally. No, that doesn’t mean I want to be treated as poorly as blacks have. It means I want blacks to be on an even playing field with me. Racial justice doesn’t strive to do that. Instead, it strives to make race a major factor in determining whether I go free if I’m found not guilty or punished more severely if I’m found guilty.
In trying to bring racial justice to fruition, the Left has made justice racist. Good job, I guess?
Meanwhile, we should not be scared to point out the disparities between how blacks and whites are treated. It doesn’t start with looting, violence, and vandalism. It’s starts with a conversation so we can learn from each other and build a stronger relationship as a result. And, yes, that means we white folk are going to have to be willing to listen and accept how blacks have been treated overall, but it will lead to a much greater result, one that will make The Squad’s call for racial justice obsolete.
Category: Politics
Political posts about the right or left and everyone inbetween
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
There are times when I have to really dig to find Leftist Lexicon subjects that will excite, entertain, and inform you, gentle readers. This week is not one of them, and I have former Vice President Joe Biden to thank for it! During an online interview on The Breakfast Club, Vice President Biden said “If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.” That’s bad enough on its own, but at the time he said it, he was speaking to a young black man, and his tone was, to put it mildly, scolding. After Biden’s campaign surrogates and members of the media (who are pretty much the same people) tried to convince people the former Vice President’s sentiments weren’t racist, he later apologized…to a completely different group of blacks.
The Left pins some of its hopes for 2020 Presidential and Congressional victories on the black vote, which has been predominantly Democrat for a couple of generations now. However, the 2016 Presidential election showed blacks moving away from the Democrats and warming up to the possibility of voting for a Republican, or at least voting for Donald Trump. With this key voting bloc being so important to the Left, it’s time we take a closer look at it.
the black vote
What the Left thinks it means – black voters who have been disenfranchised from society due to racism and classism, a key component to any campaign
What it really means – black voters who the Left thinks can be convinced to overlook their mistreatment from the Left by throwing money at them and giving lip service to their concerns
Before I begin, I realize I’m white (or Honkey-American, if you prefer). To many, that makes my commentary on blacks as valid as Elizabeth Warren’s claims to be Native American. If that’s what you think, that’s fine, but I think I have some insights that you won’t get anywhere else (mainly because I’m the only one crazy/stupid enough to advance them).
The Left has taken blacks for granted for quite a while now, and with good reason (at least to them). The Left’s default position is blacks, or any minority for that matter, need people to speak up for them within the current power structure. Barring electing people of a certain color who parrot the Left’s squawking points, that duty falls to…rich white Leftists. Funny how that works out, isn’t it? Either you have to be a rich white Leftist to speak for minorities or talk and act like one to get ahead.
Even for a Honkey-American dude like me, that’s messed up.
For all the talk from the Left about respecting a person’s agency, they simply don’t apply it. Then again, the Left doesn’t actually care about the plight of anyone outside of their cul de sac in their gated communities. Remember the Flint water situation? Still hasn’t been addressed yet, even though Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, is Governor. And who does that affect most? Blacks, unfortunately. Granted, the Right has been as effective as Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment of the President at attracting black votes, but in recent years we have seen black conservatives and Republicans become more visible, for lack of a better term. And, of course, white Leftists either pretend they don’t exist or call them racial sellouts.
But the Left is better on racial issues. Just ask them.
This may sound like a “not all X” statement, but black voters aren’t a monolith. They may tend to vote Democrat, but there are plenty who not only see through the Left’s high-minded rhetoric, but actively push back. And, much like their white counterparts, each has his or her own style. Whether you like sober and intellectual rhetoric like Dr. Thomas Sowell or the take-no-crap-nor-prisoners style of Candice Owens, you will find a greater diversity among black conservatives than you find among Leftists, let alone black Leftists.
That’s how Donald Trump was able to do better with black voters in 2016 than Hillary Clinton. Well, that, and she’s a horrible candidate. Trump not only reached out to the black community, but he offered them an opportunity to take a long, hard look at their environment to see if they wanted the change Barack Obama promised, but never quite delivered. In his time as President, it’s hard to overlook the strides Trump has made to improve conditions in the black community and act on some of the issues they’ve been talking about for years, like prison and sentencing reform. If black voters look at actions instead of words, they have the opportunity to put Donald Trump back in the White House.
And it’s that possibility that scares the Left. Even though Joe Biden walked back his comments and his fans and the media (again, pretty much the same people) are trying to turn this situation into a non-issue, it is an issue on a grander scale. Biden tried to wave it off as his being “cavalier,” but one has to ask why he felt comfortable saying it in the moment. And we can’t overlook the dismissive and scolding tone of the initial statement. Within the context of the moment, it doesn’t make a good case for black voters to pull the lever for Biden.
Also, this opens him up to a lot of scrutiny of his past statements. Spoiler Alert: Joe Biden has made some questionable statements about blacks, which will certainly be used as attack ads by the Trump campaign. Plus, there’s the snubbing of up-and-coming Leftist superstar and self-identified Governor of Georgia, Stacey Abrams. During a recent joint interview, Biden had a chance to introduce her as his running mate, only to ask others (read: white Leftist women) to be vetted for the position.
Looks like Abrams isn’t the only person who will be relegated to self-identified leadership in the near future.
An Inconvenience
The Covid-19 shutdown is an inconvenience not governmental oppression. That’s good to know because that means it’s necessary and not a violation of human or Constitutional rights.
So thank you for permanently closing 7.5 million small businesses. I’m sure those business owners will see it as the inconvenience it is at the loss of their livelihood, fortunes, and savings.
Thank you for pushing 130 million people worldwide into starvation during this inconvient economic shutdown. They understand it’s all for the greater good.
Thank you for the 900% increase to those calling the suicide hotlines. It’s just an inconvenience that they lost everything and see death as the only way out. Their families will take comfort in knowing it was just an inconvenience.
Thank you for letting us know that the psychological and other health issues suffered by the 10’s of millions who are now unemployed is just an inconvenience. Tell them to suck it up is the message of an inconvenience.
These are just some of the inconveniences of the economic and social shutdowns. I’m sure there are more of them. Such as the higher death tolls in states that have stronger lockdown measures in place vs the states that don’t. Even those Covid-19 deaths are just an inconvenience while the rest of us stay safe.
So again. Thank you for letting me know you think it’s just an inconvenience instead of oppression of rights by governmental overreach. That tells me all I need to know about your character.
Donald Trump: A Threat to the World
Ever since the 2016 elections there has been a very dangerous man in the White House. A threat to the status quo of the world. And that threat is named Donald Trump.
Donald Trump as President of the United States is dangerous to the new world order as envisioned by the United Nations. He is a game changer to their various programs in building a one world government under the UN.
Donald Trump is a political outsider. A business man who should have stayed in the boardroom where he could have dictated policy to any administration with donation funding. But in Washington, he is not part of the establishment and he cannot be bought by either Republicans or Democrats. He is a danger to the establishment.
He is hated by the globalists for putting America and American interests first. And for reminding the world why there is American Exceptionalism.
The Islamic jihad recognizes the danger of Donald Trump as the awakening force, and is labeled as a Great Satan. Especially for supporting Israel and actually moving the US embassy to Jerusalem. This is a direct attack against the false prophet Mohamed and the hopes of a new Islamic caliphate.
Even in America, Donald Trump beat the Clinton political machine. A miraculous feat by itself. He defied all the odds and talking heads and had a clear victory against Hillary Clinton in that 2016 election. This shows just how dangerous he can be defeating that leviathan of evil.
Leftists all over the world fear and hate President Donald Trump. For he has exposed them for the evil that they are and that they do.
Even Kim Jung-un, of the rogue state of North Korea, fears Donald Trump. So much so that he has agreed to talks with the President to bring a lasting peace to the Korean peninsula and region. No other President in US history has been able to make inroads here. Only Nixon before him was able to open diplomatic relations with Communist China.
And even China fears the power of The Donald. They folded in the great trade war game. Knowing that they could not beat him at the negotiations. To the Chinese leadership, Donald Trump is dangerous for he has collapsed their trade stranglehold on the United States. And is systematically dismantling China’s control over American interests.
Under the leadership of President Donald Trump, America has become energy independent and an exporter of oil and other energy sources. This takes away the power and prestige of the criminal OPEC nations, many of whom are Islamic fascists. Again proving that he is dangerous to the plans of having OPEC dominate the world through oil.
At home, his dangerous agenda has supported the Christian foundation of our nation. He had done a lot to protect Life and Liberty, although not enough and has failed in some areas. But without President Trump, things would be far worse today than they are right now if Hillary Clinton would have won in 2016.
Before Covid-19, the American economy was booming. The best it had been in decades. The downhill slope had been completely halted and turned around from the previous failed Administration.
And every year in office, the President has endured multiple attacks against his character, agenda, and even those who supported him. Everything about his Presidency has been attacked, delayed, or otherwise dragged through the mud by both sides. He is that dangerous to have establishment Republicans and Democrats working together to bring about his fall.
But over time, one by one, these accusations against Trump and his Administration are being proven false. Evidence is mounting that this has been an ill fated attempt to prevent Donald Trump from becoming President or removing him from office by a vengeful Leftist movement. Even an attempt at Impeachment has failed. As if Donald Trump is protected by armor that cannot have any harm reach him.
The scandals have failed. The impeachment has failed. The lies are showing who really was the liar. And President Trump’s first term is ending. And the world doesn’t want him to have a 2nd term.
In the United States, his election opponents for 2020 are mediocre at best. There is no way they could ever stop the Trump Train for 2020. And from the very beginning of the election cycle the Left talked about training to beat President Trump on the economy. But how can that be done with record employment of minorities and the best economy in decades?
Well we had a crisis. I will state that I doubt that the Covid-19 virus was created for this purpose. I don’t believe it started as an elaborate plot. But the Left has always stated that a good crisis shouldn’t go to waste. Thus the reaction to the virus has been used as a tool to change the 2020 election in America. For the betterment of the World.
The world lives in a state of Godlessness. Moral decay. A strong culture of Death. And America is the only place, the shining city on the hill, that stands in the way. That shows what the world could be like if they followed the same path. The only real republic. All others are firmly Leftist governments.
So the WHO, the World Health Organization, a body of the United Nations, issues their Covid-19 recommendations to the World with their false theories and unsupported science.
The World being what it is, shuts down. Panic rises. Economies of nations are fractured. People are isolated so no immunity can be strengthened during an outbreak of a new virus. Everyone is under house arrest. And now President Trump owns the worst economy in over 100 years. Unemployment has hit all time highs. Businesses are closing for good. Shortages of supplies are everywhere as production cant work. Churches are destroyed and abortions continue and suicides climb.
All of this is evil and wicked. All of this has been done to stop President Trump from being elected to a 2nd term. He is dangerous to the Left. The Left couldn’t win any other way. They have played their best hand. Now we pray Trump has his Trump card handy and will prevail through this man-made and false crisis.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
If there’s a figure in the Trump Administration that is a lightning rod of criticism (outside of the President himself), it’s Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Some of the criticism (she doesn’t have an education background) is legitimate, while some of it (she wants to take away victims’ rights on college campuses) is as valid as a Nigerian prince’s email. It’s not secret Secretary DeVos has been pushing for changes to Title IX that would give accused sexual assault attackers the opportunity to defend themselves against allegations.
Enter our good friends, the American Civil Liberties Union. For decades, they have championed rules of evidence and due process. What did they do? They…sided with victims’ rights group and filed a lawsuit against Secretary DeVos to try to prevent the proposed Title IX changes. Yes, you read that right. The ACLU came down against due process on college campuses.
If you’re still scratching your head over this, keep reading. I have a lot to unpack here.
ACLU
What the Left thinks it means – an organization whose sole purpose is to defend civil liberties against those who would seek to undermine them
What it really means – an organization whose commitment to civil liberties is spotty at best these days
Before we get into the specifics of the lawsuit against Secretary DeVos, it’s important to understand the ACLU isn’t what it used to be. Throughout much of its history in the 20th Century, it defended everyone from conscientious objectors to neo-Nazis. Their commitment to civil liberties was unquestioned, and justifiably so.
Even so, there were parts that would cause fans of civil liberties to take pause. Their commitment to the Second Amendment is weaker than Richard Simmons’ handshake. Their interpretation of the freedom of religion section of the First Amendment pretty much ignores the whole “Congress shall make no law” verbiage and comes down that any entity even remotely funded by Congress can’t express any religious sentiments (well, except for Islam because…reasons).
If these were the only issues, the ACLU could skate past any criticism. Yeaaaah, about that. There are a lot of issues beyond that. In recent years, the ACLU has decided to give up its commitment to civil liberties for everyone to whatever civil liberties the Left wants to promote this week. In other words, the ACLU has gone from the American Civil Liberties Union to Always Cucking to Leftist Underlings.
Which brings us to the situation with Title IX. Previous Administrations attempted to walk a tightrope between protecting equal treatment of male and female students and maintaining a common sense approach to enforcing that equal treatment. Then, President Barack Obama came along and decided due process on colleges campuses was best handled by letting people not in the legal profession hold kangaroo courts where the accused is presumed guilty even if proven innocent. But remember, President Obama is a Constitutional scholar and the smartest man to ever be President (without knowing what was going on without watching the news), so the Left thought it was okay. Besides, men are icky, amirite? How dare Betsy DeVos try to prevent colleges and universities from trampling on Constitutional rights in the act of sweeping bad press under the rug?
Although I have some misgivings about Secretary DeVos, she’s in the right here, and for the ACLU to ignore their previous stances in defense of due process shows how far left they’ve gone. Yes, there are scumbags like Brock Turner on college campuses, but there are also scumbags like “Mattress Girl” who invented sexual assault charges out of whole cloth and were rewarded for it by the same Leftists who tell us repeatedly victims tell the truth. The fact there is such a dichotomy in dealing with something as serious as sexual assault under the auspices of Title IX with the backing of a civil liberties group should have more people outraged than there are.
I’m sure no one from the ACLU will be reading this, but it has to be said: you have utterly lost your ever-loving minds (and I say this as someone who remembers when a couple of your members went to bat for NAMBLA). Civil liberties aren’t subject to ideological litmus tests; either you’re all in or all out. What’s truly scary is what impact this lawsuit will have on justice as a whole. Sure, your position is that relaxing the protections you say are in Title IX will undercut sexual assault victims and make them feel as though they won’t be believed, but there is another party in this equation that will definitely get the shaft if you get what you want. The falsely accused get railroaded under the current system precisely because their civil liberties are ignored. They don’t get to face their accusers, offer an alternate opinion of what happened, or even have an attorney to cross-examine the accusers (if they’re even allowed to represent the accused in the first place). At the risk of invoking the wrath of “whataboutism” from the Left, I would say you would be far less forgiving if this happened in a courtroom in, say, Alabama.
And that’s the problem.
When you base your commitment to civil liberties on what will get you more Leftist street cred, you erroneously conclude only the Left cares about civil liberties. News Flash for you, kids. They don’t care about civil liberties until they can find a way to get support and money for supporting it, and it seems you’re okay with it.
For the purposes of this point, I did a quick search to see how the ACLU responded to Senator Kamala Harris’ practices of mass incarceration of blacks while she was Attorney General of California. How many hits did I get? If you guessed 0, you’d be right! But I did find a lot of press releases praising her work in the Senate defending “protesters of color” from surveillance efforts. Just a bit of a disconnect there, kids.
The ACLU should no longer be considered the benchmark for the protection of civil liberties because they’ve long since given up any pretense of living up to the principles their name suggests they have. And with their recent lawsuit against Betsy DeVos, they’ve brought their own backhoe so they can bury the last remnants of their credibility.
Circular Firing Squad, Anyone?
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: the Left has no idea how to plan for the long term. Their nature is to gain quick victories that turn pyrrhic over time. Of course, I thoroughly enjoy seeing that because it reminds me of the Road Runner cartoons. Wile E. Coyote (suuuuuuperrrr geeeeeeniussssss) would always think he had the upper hand, but his plans to catch the Road Runner would always fail.
Aside from taking a walk down Old School Cartoon Lane, what does this have to do with anything? Well, the Left is back to the drawing board with another can’t-miss scheme that is sure to blow in up their faces yet again. It’s no secret the Left hates the wealthy, but usually their hate is dependent heavily on how heavily those rich people donate to their causes.
Recently, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have come under fire from the Left for straying a little off the Leftist reservation. Musk has been on record telling people the current shutdown due to COVID-19 needs to end and has even butted heads with Alameda County, California, because he wants to reopen his Tesla factory and allow any of his employees who wanted to go back to work to do so. On the Bezos front, it was reported he would be making one trillion dollars, which angered Leftists who a) don’t want anyone to have that much money, and b) use Amazon for just about everything they need during the COVID-19 situation.
To put it mildly, this is a puzzling situation. Musk is very much on board with electric cars and renewable energy and Bezos is a consistent donor to the DNC and Leftist causes. You would think Leftists would give these two the Golden Ticket for what they’ve done. Instead, what they’re getting is something that looks like chocolate, but sure doesn’t taste or smell like it. And we have people like the Socialist Socialite to thank for it.
Over the past 10+ years, the Left has convinced themselves they have the power to affect change (even if people like the Socialist Socialite can’t make it) and have installed themselves in positions that would allow them to do just that. Then, when these folks start coming up with wish lists of programs, funding, and the like, the people in power above them have two choices: push back or fold. And for the most part, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been folding like a poker player having a cold streak that can only be measured in degrees Kelvin.
This also puts less crazy Democrats in a rough spot. If they don’t at least sound like they back the more radical members of their party, they will get attacked by said radicals. If they do at least sound like they back the more radical members of their party, they will get shunned by people with the money to help their reelection campaigns, which will help more radical members get their seats. Then, the ousted members get tossed aside and forgotten, no matter what they accomplished or how much they advanced Leftist causes. It’s all about the now, baby!
And that’s what Musk and Bezos are experiencing right now. No matter how much money they give, no matter how closely they walk in lockstep, they are ultimately expendable if they don’t produce what the Left wants at a given moment. COVID-19 has given the Left a perfect opportunity to keep people under their thumbs. Having people like Musk and Bezos buck that trend by wanting to work or by providing a service during the outbreak works against the Left’s objective to keep people down as long as possible. Since they’re not on board, the Left has to destroy them by painting them as evil rich guys (unlike a similarly wealthy peer, Bill Gates, who continues to do the Left’s bidding under any circumstances). Gates is helping the world, while Bezos and Musk are only in it for greed and want to endanger the poor so they can get richer.
Although wealth envy works on a lot of people, what Bezos and Musk are doing should be seen not through the eyes of envy, but through the eyes of reason. Running a company like Tesla or Amazon takes more talent and knowhow than the Left possesses in economic affairs. Instead of believing the rich steal from the poor, we should recognize it’s people like Musk and Bezos who help keep the country going. I may disagree with their politics and business practices sometimes, but I won’t let that stop me from acknowledging their contributions to America under COVID-19.
On the other hand, we should question the Left’s approach to this situation because it makes no sense. Politically, it puts otherwise acceptable candidates who could get crossover votes in jeopardy to cater to niche candidates. Economically, it puts the Left in a bad position because they look, sound, and act like they want the economy to grind to a halt. Socially, Americans are getting tired of being in lockdown, especially when we’re moving from spring into summer. Medically/scientifically, the lockdowns are starting to negatively affect us to the point we may get sicker if we wait to “flatten the curve” even as the curve appears to be flattening as we speak. There is no way the Left comes out of this looking good, even if they manage to convince people to keep panicking. At some point, even fear and loathing will give way to a desire to go outside and live.
And not even the Left has the ability to overcome a good bonfire.
Sorry, We’re Open
To put it mildly, COVID-19 has put a strain on the world and its citizens. Whether it’s dealing with the virus itself, the stress of dealing with a new normal we hadn’t anticipated, having to spend more time inside than Boo Radley, or wondering how we will pay the bills with so many places shut down, we are all on edge. This tension has been heightened by recent actions and reactions from the government and the governed.
Let’s look at Michigan, for example. Governor Gretchen Whitmer has used COVID-19 as a way to shut down some businesses and keep others open under the auspices of what was considered essential. Once news started coming out about what was considered essential (selling lottery tickets) and what wasn’t (being able to buy car seats for children, which is a state requirement in Michigan), people started getting angry, leading to armed, but peaceful, protesters surrounding the state capitol building. Similar acts of civil disobedience also occurred from California to Florida.
The Left tells us the protesters are a public health threat and some have even called them terrorists (usually with the totally non-racist descriptor “white” in front of it). The Right tells us the government is overreaching in an attempt to use COVID-19 as a means to grab up more of our rights with no expectation of giving any of them back, not to mention cripple the economy to give Democrats a better chance of defeating President Donald Trump in November. So, who’s right?
They both are. They’re also both wrong.
This is an uncomfortable position for me as someone who not only sees COVID-19 as a legitimate medical threat, but also sees government overreach as a threat. Trying to reconcile the scientific facts and my libertarian leanings has been harder than Bill Clinton on a Viagra bender at the Moonlight Bunny Ranch after Hillary buys it (and I’m not talking cattle futures). Here’s where my head’s at.
COVID-19 isn’t a seasonal cold, nor a variation on that theme. It’s a virus we haven’t dealt with sufficiently yet, so we’re having to play catch-up. And we’re not doing a great job of it. I am someone in a high-risk category for various health reasons, so I take the warnings very seriously since I have a vested interest in avoiding contracting it. Beyond that, however, I feel a responsibility to my fellow citizens not to spread it if I can help it. It may be uncomfortable and keep me feeling hotter than a ghost pepper, but I wear a mask when I go into stores and other high-traffic areas if only to avoid having to deal with the guilt I’d feel if there was a chance I spread COVID-19 to someone else.
Yet, I cant sit by and agree that every government action is done with the best of intentions. Governor Whitmer alone has been an example of what Leftists do when they’re given limitless power. Other government officials from governors to local politicians have undercut the Constitution under the guise of protecting people. As much as these bureaucratic weasels want us to believe even being out in a public park while practicing social distancing will make COVID-19 spread like wildfire, the fact remains the survival rate is still in the high 90% range. Even if it’s asymptomatic, it’s not a definite death sentence and certainly not if you’re not in a high-risk group. Funny how the self-professed “Party of Science” ignores the actual science here.
Being a small-l libertarian, I have a general rule of thumb: leave me and my rights alone, and I’ll do the same for you. Even with COVID-19, I adhere to that. But with rights and power there are responsibilities, and both sides of the shutdown controversy have forgotten this. Yes, the Constitution says we have the right to peaceably assemble, but with what we don’t know about COVID-19, it’s important we assemble peaceably and safely. And, yes, we have to watch out for our fellow human beings, but enforcing the letter of the law to the point of absurdity isn’t helping anyone get or stay healthy.
The problem is we as a society don’t think on so grand a scale. We are stuck in the moment and what we want at any given time, regardless of who gets hurt in the process. Why else would there be a run on toilet paper when COVID-19 is a respiratory virus? Simple. People didn’t care about anyone but themselves. Although looking out for number one may seem good in the short term, it almost always backfires in the long run. Good luck with your 43 jumbo packs of toilet paper you can’t return. Hope you can find a use for all of it. One, maybe two trips to Chipotle?
So, maybe there is a middle ground to be had, but it’s going to take a lot of work on ourselves and society. You want to really help medical personnel right now? Don’t put yourself in harm’s way if at all possible. Exercise a bit of caution in public, and exercise your freedom of expression to let your elected officials know how you feel. Then, take care of yourselves and look out for others. A sense of community will go much further than armed protests and overbearing laws in ending the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week
Since Tara Reade came forward with allegations former Vice President Joe Biden sexually assaulted her, the Left has been in two modes: attack the accuser and the Right, and defend a man who in on video sniffing females’ hair. When people of all political stripes point out the Left’s double standard, the Left talks about “fake outrage” and suggests the people calling them out don’t really care about women, just scoring political points.
You know, like they did with Brett Kavanaugh?
However, it is interesting to look at how the Left uses outrage to achieve ideological goals. Before we do that, let’s define the term.
outrage
What the Left thinks it means – an expression of righteous anger over a grave injustice
What it really means – the rhetorical equivalent of holding your breath to get your way
Today’s society is an emotional minefield. Say something, do something, or believe something that offends a Leftist’s feefees, and you are subject to a world of hurt. If you’re lucky, they will stalk you, find out every piece of information they can about you and release it to the world, protest in front of your house, leave threatening messages for you and your family, contact your employer to get you fired, and make you look like Sybil’s crazier cousin. Just think of what they might do if you did something really bad!
This is only possible due to outrage. Leftists love mobs because they give the impression of popular opinion without the niggling little detail of confirming whether the mob actually represents popular opinion. The other aspect of this is volume, as in loudness. A mob can make a lot of noise, which underlines the impression of public opinion being on its side. It, too, fails to go the extra step to confirm whether the public agrees with the mob.
Let’s look at ANTIFA, for example. This group of happy-go-lucky miscreants make a lot of noise and come out in droves, and the Left uses them to justify their positions on social injustice. It’s a win-win for them…until ANTIFA starts breaking the law and the Left has to pretend they don’t agree with ANTIFA’s methods (Spoiler Alert: they do). And all of this is made possible through outrage.
And, unfortunately, outrage works. Humans have a natural desire to be accepted by a community, and anything that threatens that makes us defensive. Imagine a bunch of blue-haired pink pussy hat wearing Leftists appearing outside your house saying you were Adolf Hitler. The most obvious response is to deny it and try to persuade others (and possibly the mob) you aren’t. Some will believe you, but most will either keep quiet or agree with the mob to avoid having the mob come after them. Or at least to try to get the blue-haired pink pussy hat brigade to stay out of their begonias.
Here’s the funny thing: the Left is always outraged about something, which is as close to a perpetual motion machine as we will see in our lifetimes. As a result, the world outside of their ideological bubble will tick them off at the drop of a microaggression, and we will all have to walk through the resulting minefield while wearing clown shoes. It’s not a matter of if we’ll offend them; it’s a matter of when.
This brings us back to fake outrage, which is a way for the Left to defend themselves against those who see what they do as fake. The Left believes all of their motives are noble and anyone who doesn’t agree is ignoble. Therefore, all of their fake outrage is real and all of our real outrage is fake. And, yes, I realize this makes no sense, but the Left don’t care about facts and logic, only feelings.
Oddly enough, that is exactly how to overcome the Left’s outrage. They need to feel it, but we don’t. If we accept what they believe to be true, we surrender the rhetorical high ground to them. If we don’t, all they have to fall back on is their outrage, which inevitably escalates and makes them seem a lot less persuasive and a lot more cray-cray. Eventually, the line between true outrage and abject insanity gets so blurred as to be non-existent, and the Left is pretty much tap-dancing on the line as it is. As a result, it’s easy to turn their outrage against them by denying them the oxygen for their outrage bonfire.
This isn’t to say the Left is completely full of bullshit when they get outraged. Most of the time, yes, but sometimes they do bring legitimate points to the table, albeit couched in layers of bullshit. I do believe there is a stigma around victims of sexual assault and it needs to be called out no matter who it is maintaining the stigma. On the flip side, there are also people who are unscrupulous enough to make up sexual assault allegations for any number of reasons, which furthers the stigma. I observe Tara Reade’s allegations with the same critical eye I used with Christine Blasey Ford’s: there may be something there, but we need a full investigation to be sure to make sure we move forward with the right course of action. One based not on outrage, but on facts.
The Left doesn’t agree. Whether it’s male college students, a Supreme Court nominee, or a former Vice President, their course of action is the same: protect the Left, no matter how absurd it makes them look. Knowing this makes it possible to see the Left’s outrage for what it is: a temper tantrum designed to get people to knuckle under to whatever they want, only to have them throw another one the next time they want something. As any parent who has had to deal with this from their children will tell you, it never ends well.
The President or someone else?
There seems to be a lot of confusion when it comes to the job qualifications and description of the President of the United States. So let’s get this cleared up.
Our nation’s founders were brilliant men. And they wrote out the qualifications needed to be President and what the job description was. So we don’t need to guess or make it up as we go.
All of the details can be found in the Constitution. Anything else added or taken away is your own personal preferences. So your opinion is logged and noted. But irrelevant when it comes to the facts.
Article II, Section 1 is where it lists the qualifications to become President of the United States. You must win the election through the Electors, that is the Electoral College and take the oath of office.
But before you can win the election and take the oath of office you must also have these qualifications: One must be a Natural born citizen of the United States, be at least 35 years of age, and lived within the United States for at least 14 years immediately prior to being elected.
That is it for qualifications to be President. No lengthy resume of public service. No skill in oratory. No tests of morality or divulging ones tax history.
As for the job description and duties of the President, again the Constitution clearly tells us that too. The President is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces. The President proposes bills to Congress, this is so his agenda can move forward. And since the President is the executive power, it is his job to enforce the laws.
Another part of the President’s job is to give a state of the union report from time to time to Congress.
Many of the duties of the President require the US Senate to consent. This is used for the enactment of any Treaty and the appointment of officers of the United States government.
That is it. That is the end of the job qualifications and the job description for the President of the United States. Anything else is opinion or tradition. These are the facts written in the Constitution.
The Chicks Have Come Home to Roost
Remember when the Left went crazy over leaked audio of President Donald Trump talking about grabbing women by a part of the body referred to by a nickname for a cat? They still talk about it today (while leaving out important details of the audio that add context…funny thing, that). Now, we have former Vice President and current presumed front runner for the Democrat nomination for the 2020 Presidency, whose history contains a lot of weird and pervy incidents that could normally be brushed off as “Joe being Joe.”
Enter Tara Reade. No, not the co-star of the “Sharknado” franchise, but a former staffer who worked with Biden who is now claiming he not only grabbed the part that is a nickname for a cat but put his fingers in there. And the Left’s response? They’ve been recycling the same defenses they used for President Bill Clinton when he was accused of harassing Paula Jones. Good thing it was Earth Day recently!
This isn’t shocking to me because if the Left didn’t have double standards they wouldn’t have standards at all. Even after the #MeToo, #TimesUp, and #BelieveAllWomen became a thing for all of a few weeks, I knew it would only be a matter of time before the Left would have to address the sexual skeletons in their own closets. When that happened, we would see their commitment to protecting women from sexual assault by powerful men was as solid as pre-chilled Jello.
Further complicating matters is the latest hashtag, #DropOutBiden, which is a movement to get Mr. Biden to drop out of the 2020 Presidential race because of Ms. Reade’s allegations. In other words, the Left wants a do-over after agreeing to the rules of the game and watching their team get crushed like grapes at a wine-making marathon. On its face, it makes some sense because it allows the nomination process to reflect the will of the voters (or at least the voters whose will it is to make someone like Biden President) while simultaneously allowing Reade’s story to be heard and digested.
Hey, Leftists? Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh would like a word. Take a seat. In fact, take all of them. He’ll bring the beer.
I would be dishonest if I didn’t mention there are holes in Reade’s story that have yet to be adequately explained. I would also be dishonest if I didn’t recognize the Left’s scrutiny of her story far exceeds the scrutiny paid to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s story, which had as many holes as Reade’s story has, if not more. By asking Joe Biden to drop out of the race, it gives the Left some cover for its hypocrisy while attempting to shore up the votes of more progressive voters who wouldn’t back Biden if he were the last candidate on Earth.
Put simply, they’re treating alleged sexual assault as a political issue. Again.
In fact, the Left makes sex political whenever they can. From gay rights to how to address allegations of sexual assault, the Left sees each issue through the prism of how it can be used to gain or retain political power. They want to beat President Trump in November, so they are willing to overlook the fundamental flaws of a candidate, even if those flaws involve backtracking on their previously stated ideological positions. Believe All Women becomes Believe All Women Who Agree With Us and To Hell With Anyone Else. But, hey, at least you can kill your babies in the womb, right?
To me, both the defense of Joe Biden and the call for him to resign show the indifference the Left has for women specifically and minorities in general. They honestly believe people won’t notice the change in stance and approach, and when dealing with many of their ideological allies, they’re right. They would rather be hypocrites for the sake of achieving a favorable political aim than to be consistent and risk losing power. The people directly impacted by sexual assault are merely pawns in the game with no chance of ever being a Queen. And now the Left is trying to play both sides of the board so they can’t lose.
Of course, this only works if people continue to play the game the Left is. As with any and all accusations of sexual crimes, I want them investigated fairly and honestly because a failure to do so undercuts the legal process and subjects victims to further hardships. This isn’t a political game, kids. People’s lives are ruined by real and falsified allegations, and no amount of political power gained will make that okay in my book.
As far as whether Joe Biden should drop out, I think it’s too late. The Democratic National Committee had their chance to vet their candidates and they opted to punt, even when the former Vice President’s escapades were well-known for decades and have been circulating on this little thing the kids call the Internet for a while now. The Left can’t plead ignorance here, nor can they redo the nomination process now to allow someone else to get it. The soonest they would be able to change the nominee without creating a massive schism would be at their convention this summer.
Provided, of course, COVID-19 doesn’t prevent either party’s convention from convening. I’ll admit I’m a bit of a parliamentary procedure geek, so this isn’t something that most people would pay attention to. In order for any business to be conducted at a meeting where officers are elected, there has to be a minimum number of voting members, called a quorum. Without that, there’s no nominee and no way to adjust the rules to choose a new one. (Of course, this plays into the fear-porn the Left is trying to peddle that President Trump will suspend the 2020 elections, but that’s a delusion and a blog post for another time.)
The Chinese curse “May you live in interesting times” is apropos for America right now, but for none so much as the Left. As they tiptoe around the allegations against Joe Biden while holding President Donald Trump to a different standard for just talking about what the former Vice President is accused of doing, the Left is banking on people not seeing the double standard or the political motivations behind their actions and reactions. Unfortunately for them, their action and inaction don’t pass the smell test.
To borrow a hashtag, Leftists, Time’s Up.