Tag: president joe biden

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

If you’ve watched the Left as long as I have, first off, I’m sorry. Second, there are some cues when they’re going to try to advance/distort a word, idea, or concept by what phrasing they use.

This past week, the word “competent” has been thrown around like Tom Brady throwing footballs at training camp. The Left and the media (but I repeat myself) have expressed everything from not-so-subtle exhaling to sycophantic gushing over their perception of the Biden Administration as being head and shoulders above the Trump Administration. They seem pleasantly surprised at how the Biden Administration seems to know what it’s doing.

But, as we’ve seen previously, the Left loves to play with the language to make themselves look smarter, faster, and better.

competent

What the Left thinks it means – mature, intelligent, and empathic leadership shown by political leaders

What it really means – a phrase that should rarely, if ever, used to describe any Presidency

Why, yes, my general cynicism about government is coming through! How could you tell?

Seriously, though, competence isn’t normally associated with government as a whole because we’re dealing with human beings in power. The chance we’re going to get a savant in a Cabinet role is less likely than Donald Trump marrying Rosie O’Donnell. Even when we get someone reasonably intelligent in a role (see Dr. Ben Carson), the fit might not be there, which will result in a litany of mistakes.

Now, imagine that same work being done by stereotypical WalMart shoppers. That’s closer to how competent government is these days. Frightening, isn’t it? Add to that the immense number of regulations, policies, procedures, legalese, and general ideologically-driven goals, and you have a situation where even the best of intentions gets turned into the worst of bureaucracies.

In spite of the media’s best attempts to prop up Joe Biden as a good President, most people just aren’t buying it. The policy wonks, like your humble correspondent, see an Administration tackling problems like Pee Wee Herman while making somewhat manageable problems worse. And a lot of these are unforced errors, meaning they could have been prevented if someone had just taken the President aside and said, “I know what you want to do here, but it’s like letting Hunter have Charlie Sheen as his rehab partner.”

Take the border crisis, for example. Before he came into office, Joe Biden laid out a pretty clear invitation for illegal immigrants from Mexico to come on in! Then, when people took him up on his offer, the Administration was caught off-guard. I mean, how were they to know an open invitation to come here would be accepted so readily? It’s not like the President was in office for nearly half a century or anything, right?

One of the legitimate knocks against the Trump Administration was the lack of experience in important roles within the government. It seemed like President Trump handed out these roles like Planned Parenthood hands out…well, whatever it is they hand out. Now, with a new Administration, we see…exactly the same problems as the Trump Administration, but with a lot more tolerance from the Left. Seriously, who was the genius to made Pete Buttigieg Secretary of Transportation because he likes trains? I liked trains when I was 7 or 8, but I don’t put that on my resume so someone in a future Administration would put me on a short list for the Department of Transportation, or any Cabinet post for that matter. Given the nozzleheads in charge, I’m surprised Hunter Biden wasn’t put in charge of the DEA.

It’s because of the unforced errors that the Left is talking about competence with regards to the Biden Administration. The idea is to persuade you with multitude (i.e. an appeal to popularity) than to get you to think whether the Administration fits the definition. As you might have guessed, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t, if only because Obama Administration failures…I mean holdovers like Anita Dunn, John Kerry, and Jen Psaki managed to find work again after screwing up so badly.

But at least there aren’t any mean Tweets, right?

Even if you set the lowest possible bar for competence, government finds a way to limbo under it with room to spare because there is no punishment for failure. If anything, people tend to fail upward. Want proof? Who is President and Vice President right now? A two-time Presidential candidate whose mental faculties are on the decline and a Presidential candidate who dropped out before the Iowa Caucuses due to a lack of support. And people expect competence out of these two?

I mean, aside from Leftists.

I have a saying that applies in this situation: “If you have to say it, you ain’t it.” If the Biden Administration or its stenographers in the media have to keep telling us the Administration is competent, it’s a clear sign it’s not (oh, and that the media are hacks). But don’t just take my word for it. Watch the Administration carefully and see if they perform at even basic levels of competency. Or you can do the DMV Test. If your local DMV works more efficiently and effectively than the federal government, there’s a problem, and Spoiler Alert it’s not a local one.

I know the Left wants to create a clear difference between the Trump Administration and the Biden Administration, but you can’t just slap a descriptor on the latter and call it a day. Government by its very nature doesn’t solve problems and expecting people who have spent a good chunk of their lives proving it and/or covering up for it to suddenly get it stretches reality like Mr. Fantastic, only less believable. When the Biden Administration does something right, I will be among the first to call it out because I’m good like that. Given what I’ve seen so far, though, I may be waiting a while. Good thing I packed a lunch!

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

The eyes of the world were on Minnesota earlier this year, and not because the Twins and the Vikings have been mathematically eliminated from the post-season on the same day. Former police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted on three counts related to the death of George Floyd, and the Left cried tears of joy because justice was served (according to them). Yet, there are some, including your humble correspondent, who don’t quite agree with the sentiment, thanks to people like Maxine Waters voicing opinions prior to the jury being sequestered to deliberate.

We’re going to be dealing with some lofty concepts here, kids, so grab a cold beverage and strap in.

justice

What the Left thinks it means – an outcome that reinforces our collective societal will and punishes those who try to subvert it

What it really means – an outcome where the process and the verdict support a fair result

To make things perfectly clear, I happen to agree with the verdict. What Derek Chauvin did on camera crossed the line between securing a suspect and police brutality. It’s hard to argue that (although I’m sure there are plenty of people willing to try). If the case were tried purely on the evidence, the result would be the same.

Ah, but there’s the rub. This case wasn’t tried purely on the evidence. The Court of Public Opinion, which has a track record that makes the 9th Circuit Court look like Solomon, has been trying and retrying this case pretty much on the daily. Whether it’s elevating George Floyd to heroic/deity levels or using the case as a means to promote everything from defunding/abolishing the police to rooting out white supremacists en masse, the Left has been milking this situation for all it’s worth. Judging from the recent home purchase of a Black Lives Matter founder, it’s worth quite a bit.

Even with the video evidence, there is still an important step to consider: ensuring both sides get a fair hearing. The Court of Public Opinion typically isn’t the venue for such discourse, so it falls to the actual court system. And that’s where the Chauvin verdict goes off the rails like Gary Busey driving an Amtrak route. Thanks to Leftists like Maxine Waters, Ilhan Omar, and President Joe Biden, the environment surrounding the trial made a fair hearing impossible. There is some question of whether the jury was sequestered to the point they wouldn’t have heard the aforementioned Leftists’ comments, so we can’t be sure one way or the other.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is how you plant the seeds for an appeal.

Leftists were so hellbent to get a conviction that they didn’t take into consideration what they were doing to deny justice, the very thing they claim they wanted out of the Chauvin trial. Although lack of self-awareness isn’t a bug in the Left so much as a feature, it took an amazing amount of blockheadedness to agree to the idea to let some of the most divisive politicians in modern history and Joe Biden weigh in on what the jury “should” do.

Speaking of which, Speaker Pelosi? Call your office, provided you’ve extracted your feet from your mouth after thanking George Floyd of “taking one for the team.”

Anyway, the Left’s approach to justice, real or whatever make-believe version they want to promote today, is based on their general approach: the ends justify the means. In the Chauvin case, the Left wanted a guilty verdict so they can continue to perpetuate the notion police officers are killing innocent black victims constantly. (Of course, actual data shows that’s not happening, but Party of Science, kids!) As long as this perception is considered to be reality, the Left can keep bringing it up as a means to get money and power without actually doing anything about it.

Think about that last part for a moment. The Left needs these problems to continue for their own purposes. And if it takes people dying to make that happen, so be it! Who would have thought the party that supports abortion on demand would have such disregard for human life?

Meanwhile, the Left keeps slapping “justice” on everything to the point the word loses its meaning. You know, just like they did with racism! Environmental justice, social justice, economic justice, racial justice, about the only thing they haven’t touched on is actual justice, and let’s be glad they haven’t or it would get screwed up worse than it already is. And if the Derek Chauvin verdict is any indication, they may have their sights set on it.

The issues they face, however, are a bit deeper than they are. For all the times they’ve taken up for convicted cop killer Mumia Abu Jamal and the number of lawyers in their midst, you’d think they’d have figured out the American criminal justice process. Just because you hold your breath and stomp your feet doesn’t mean you get the verdict you want. There is still a matter of evidence and procedure that have to be followed or else you get a conviction that gets overturned faster than a pancake at IHOP. And that’s by design, my Leftist friends. Actual justice doesn’t begin and end with the judge’s gavel; it begins with following the steps to ensure all parties involved have a chance to be heard and present a case. I know that kinda puts a crimp in your “execute first and ask questions…well, never, really” approach, but it does make things a lot handier when it comes to, you know, actually getting a legal ruling that won’t get overturned due to a lack of procedural integrity?

In other words, if you follow the rules and don’t let Maxine Waters say something incredibly stupid about an ongoing trial, you don’t have to worry about the verdict you want getting thrown out. Granted, that may be a hell of an ask from the Left, but we can hope.

Regardless of how you feel about the Derek Chauvin verdict, it’s hard to say whether justice was actually served. On the one hand, he has been convicted of contributing to George Floyd’s death. On the other, the environment surrounding the trial made the conviction all but certain, but not in a good way. When that happens, it’s a good thing Lady Justice is wearing a blindfold or we’d be due for a series of rampant scale-whippings.

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

I know we just talked about conspiracy theories last time, but something has come up recently that might make them seem more credible, and we have COVID-19 and Leftist power grabs to thank for it. I’m speaking of vaccine passports, not the ones that allowed coronavirus to spread here like cream cheese on a bagel.

What the Biden Administration and its fluffers…I mean media supporters have suggested is to require people who have gotten vaccinated to be able to provide proof of such so businesses and the general public know. Seems pretty innocuous, doesn’t it? Wellll…let’s just say this one is going to be fun to digest.

vaccine passports

What the Left thinks it means – a necessary measure to ensure public safety

What it really means – totalitarianism with clown makeup as to not scare the kids

One of the biggest problems we’ve faced since COVID-19 became the viral equivalent of “Baby Shark” is we don’t know a lot about it. Even after a year of “two weeks to flatten the curve” we’re barely scratching the surface of what it can do and whether our medical responses are adequate. We don’t even know for sure whether the vaccines developed will do anything to it or us.

Before we go any further, though, let me clarify. I am not anti-vaccine by any stretch of the imagination. As a science geek, I happen to like the knowledge medical technology has evolved to the point that a shot in the arm can protect against most illnesses. Where my hesitation comes into play is when government gets involved, whether it be through funding testing and development or giving the okay to distribute drugs to the public. That hesitation isn’t without merit. Remember Olestra? Yeah, that got the government green light and it wound up making people’s pants brown, if you know what I mean.

While the effectiveness of President Donald Trump’s Operation War Speed can be debated (and, following various Twitter conversations on the subject, is), I can’t quite get behind the notion everything’s fine. As I’ve noted previously, government isn’t in the problem-solving business because they don’t have a vested interest in solving problems. If anything, they need the problems to continue so they can continue to bleed taxpayers dry. And as we’ve seen with some Democrat governors, they have no issue making things harder on their constituents, but easier for themselves.

By the way, Governor Cuomo? You might want to check with your office regarding a bunch of New Yorkers outside with pitchforks and torches.

So, why does the government want us to get vaccine passports? To the Left, it’s for the public good, which is admittedly a good reason. And if it was just for that reason, I might be a little more lenient. However, thanks to Leftist Twitter (which is pretty much the same thing), I get the feeling there’s a lot more below the surface that we should consider.

You know, like…totalitarianism.

Some Leftists have said the quiet part out loud and said those without a vaccine passport should be denied service, put on lists to prevent them from interacting with others who are vaccinated, taxed more heavily for the additional burden to our healthcare system, and a few other onerous actions designed to force compliance. At this rate, I’m surprised they haven’t gone the Hester Prynne route and just made non-vaccinated people wear a scarlet letter. (Yes, I could have gone with the Nazi route, but at some point Godwin’s Law comes into play. Besides, with so many people throwing the Nazi word around like Tom Brady during a playoff game, it’s better to try some fresh references.)

This raises more than a few questions, of course, not the least of which is what happens if someone gets vaccinated and it doesn’t take. Getting a passport saying you’ve gotten the poke means nothing if you can still contract the disease and spread it. Aside from a boon for medical liability attorneys, such a scenario doesn’t help anyone, but opens people up to a lot of hurt.

Then, there are those who are unable to get the vaccine due to pre-existing conditions. These cases may be rare, but they do exist. How would that impact the whole “you need to get a vaccine passport to do anything” approach? Plus, since we’re dealing with pre-existing conditions, how can the Pro-Passport Posse reconcile this position with what is likely their support for Obamacare? And since this is the government getting involved in personal medical decision, how will the pro-baby death movement react?

Spoiler Alert: they can’t square that circle, and they won’t even try. They’ll just tell you it needs to be done because shut up.

The fact some dude in the Midwest can think up these potential drawbacks when our elected officials haven’t should be concerning regardless of your position on the vaccine passport idea. And it’s not like these drawbacks are too obscure or preposterous to consider. They should be front and center and, dare I say, addressed without mockery, shaming, coercion, or undue oppression by government or Leftists. The fact the self-professed “Party of Science” can’t even acknowledge the potential downfalls of its approach isn’t a good sign.

Plus, there’s this whole personal liberty thing to consider. As much as I can see the general good of getting a COVID-19 vaccine, it should remain a choice because not everyone is me. I would rather take my chances contracting COVID and respect another person’s agency than to force that person to forcibly conform. It’s in my best interest to take precautions, but it’s also in my best interest to let others attempt to come to the same conclusion. It’s the same reason I still wear masks and wore a seatbelt before it became illegal to drive without one: enlightened self-interest. If someone else doesn’t see things the same way, so what? Last time I checked, life was a terminal condition. Well, there was this one guy…I think he was a Jewish carpenter or something.

Anyway, the point is not everyone is going to dance to the tune you play, so you either need to convince others to shake their respective booties or accept it. Trying to force people to do the Macarena because you like it shows a) you care more about personal power than the good of the collective, and b) you have crappy taste in music. Vaccine passports work along the same lines, including the crappy taste in music. The fact so many Leftists are on-board with the idea to the point of punitive enforcement against those who don’t agree is a no-go for me. The thing I’ve found with Leftists is they will try to force agreement when they lack the ability to persuade others to agree. Although it’s a lot less work, it’s going to guarantee pushback from parties that might have been persuaded otherwise.

In the meantime, don’t forget to celebrate the one year anniversary of “two weeks to slow the spread”!

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

Remember back in the halcyon days of the Donald Trump Presidency when media types and fact-checkers would be finding every single lie the President said? Every statement was dissected, analyzed, and called out as false, even when the President either didn’t make the statement attributed to him or was actually accurate. But in the interest of real journalism, these brave souls endured the slings and arrows of outrageous White House Press Secretaries to bring you the truth.

At least that’s how they saw themselves. Nowadays, these “real journalists” are dissecting, analyzing, and regurgitating what President Joe Biden says while avoiding using the L-word: lie. Funny how these same brave souls are scared of an Administration whose most threatening gesture to date is to call reporters the wrong name (and, yes, this did happen).

Or maybe the Left’s definition of a lie has changed.

lie

What the Left thinks it means – a dishonest statement usually made by conservatives and Republicans

What it really means – one way the Left gets people to agree with them

Expecting honesty out of any politician is like expecting Bill Clinton to be faithful: it’s theoretically possible, but highly unlikely. Even so, Leftists have made lies their number one method of making progress. To them, the ends always justify the means, but only if their ends are met. Once the lie no longer works, it’s no longer useful to the Left and can be forgotten, even if it was told an hour ago. And if they get caught by an inconvenient truth, they will double down on the lying.

Say, “An Inconvenient Truth” would be a great title for a book, maybe a movie. Too bad I don’t know of anyone who would use it. Oh, well.

Anyway, the Left doesn’t just tell out and out falsehoods as their only means of achieving their goals. They also branch out into lies of omission, as we saw with the highly edited footage and quotes taken out of context used during Impeachment 2: Futility Boogaloo. Everything from Trump’s “very fine people on both sides” to his calls for a peaceful march on the Capitol minutes after rioters started a not-so-peaceful march on the Capitol was put on display by the House Managers as the heart of their case against Trump. Even after being debunked repeatedly.

Remember this when Leftists tell you Trump told over 95,000 lies during his Presidency.

Also, remember the tolerance of lies only goes one way. If a Republican lies (or is made to look like he or she lied), the Left give no quarter. Yet, if a Leftist tells a lie, it’s no big deal. In fact, any lies can be explained away using one of the Left’s favorite misused terms, nuance.

It was waaaaaaaaaay back in late December to early January that current President Joe Biden promised people $2000 checks on day one if the Senate went blue. Two special elections later, that number was reduced to $1400 because they said the previous $600 checks sent to taxpayers was a “down payment” on the $2000. But that’s not what he said. President Biden said “$2000 checks” not “checks totaling $2000.” Well, the Left tried to pretend the President didn’t lie because of, you guessed it, nuance. (Oh, and the fact the same people who think green jobs are profitable said the rest of us didn’t know basic math.) When the same fact checkers and media types did the same thing with President Trump, their interpretations of what he said (or didn’t say) were always negative. Joe Biden may be the first person in American history to get a generous benefit of the doubt while simultaneously getting Medicare benefits.

Take the recent comments made by Vice President Kamala Harris stating the Biden Administration was starting from scratch with the COVID-19 vaccine. Wellll…that was a lie. The Trump plan, which was consistent with a little thing the kids call federalism, put the vaccine distribution in the states’ hands. After Harris’ lie, the line changed from “starting from scratch” to “there was no federal program in place.” Which, by the way, was also a lie. Leftists can argue the effectiveness of the Trump plan, but the point remains they built their objections on a lie.

And remember, kids, these are the same folks who want the President to create a Reality Czar to battle misinformation. Call me skeptical, but I get the feeling such a Czar would be as politically honest as Snopes.

But there’s another reason the Left relies on lies: it’s a good way to create an alternate universe that they control. For as much as the Left called Trump a fascist, it’s hard to make that label stick when Leftists were continually allowed to call him a fascist. Yet, it’s taken as an article of faith, even though it’s a lie. By accepting the lie, the Left has the ability to make it become true if they believe hard enough. That’s how we came up with 258 genders (as of the typing of this sentence), people can be trans-racial, and Elizabeth Warren can both be Native American and whiter than Edgar Winter swimming in a vat of mayonnaise.

But that dishonesty comes with a price: it requires others to entertain the notion in the first place. Outside of the Leftist hive-mind, those numbers get pretty small. That’s the problem with self-delusion. Often, it comes down to the self to keep it going.

The key to overcoming the Left’s lies is to figure out what the truth is and stick with it no matter how many people (i.e. Leftists) tell you it’s not the truth. Whether it’s Media Matters, the Young Turks, or the Biden Administration, their credibility is doomed from the start because they have to lie, but we don’t. But there is one thing I think we should do with Leftists.

Mock them mercilessly!

Leftist Lexicon Word of the Week

In the aftermath of Impeachment 2.0 winding up the way Impeachment 1.0 went, Leftists are praising Republican Senators who voted to convict former President Donald Trump for allegedly inciting the January 6th protest/riot. And they’re using a phrase they’ve used before to blast Republicans: country before party.

Confused yet? Just wait until you think about how Leftists went from cop-haters to cop-lovers within a couple of weeks. But that’s a blog post for another time.

Until then, hopefully we can digest what the Left is saying now before they change their minds.

country before party

What the Left thinks it means – putting the good of the country ahead of any political good

What it really means – putting the actual good of the country ahead of the good for Leftists

The phrase “country before party” sounds like it came out of the PR department of the DNC or a clever turn of a phrase from the media. Wait, they’re one in the same. Nevermind.

Seriously, though, I can’t understate how rhetorically brilliant country before party is. Not only does it play to our emotions and patriotism, but it automatically creates a dichotomy that makes people pick a side based almost solely on our psychological need to belong. Nobody wants to put a political party ahead of the United States of America, right?

Not so much.

One of the issues I have with the phrase is how manipulative it is. Anyone who uses it forces you to make a Faustian deal: either agree with the side who claims to be for the country or be shunned as someone who sides with a political party. It’s akin to saying if you love dogs you must hate cats. That may go over well on the absurdly-specific Why Dogs Are Morally Superior to Cats web forum, but in practice it’s a false choice. You can love your country and support whatever political party you want because the two aren’t mutually exclusive. That’s the beauty of America: you don’t have to agree on everything to love the country that gave us muscle cars, 24/7 access to porn, and Taylor Swift. And to be fair, I’m willing to negotiate on that last one.

The other issue I have with the phrase is the Left doesn’t really mean it when they use it. When they praise someone like Utah Senator Mitt Romney for voting to convict Donald Trump, I always have to go back to 2012 when these same Leftists were shitting on Romney at every opportunity. Did Romney change? Nope. He’s still the same fair-weather Republican he was in 2008 and 2012. And I can safely say the Left hasn’t changed. What changed was the end goal. In 2012, Romney was painted as the second coming of Satan because he was running against President Barack Obama. In 2021, Romney is being painted as a patriot because of his Senate vote.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that’s not an accident.

The Left did the same thing to George W. Bush. After literally comparing him to Hitler, most of them started “respecting” him after he came out against Trump. Ditto John McCain and the members of The Lincoln Project. Although after recent events, the Left may want to distance themselves from The Lincoln Project. Then again, they keep Bill Clinton on speed-dial when they need a little cash coming into the DNC’s coffers.

In any case, the Left will always put party/ideology before the country every time and they don’t even try to hide it anymore. Remember the long-promised COVID-19 financial relief package that we were supposed to get last year? Although we got $600 (which would buy us a limited amount of groceries, a few tanks of gas, or three trips to Starbucks), President Trump wanted $2000 more, which would have given much more, albeit temporary, relief. After Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in 2019, the Left had control of the federal purse strings. When COVID-19 hit and we needed financial help, the Left used this power of the purse to…prevent us from getting any more relief. The reason?

Orange Man Bad.

The Left hated Trump so much, they were (and still are) willing to make working people suffer for political victory. The sad thing is it worked. Now under President Joe Biden, we’re not getting the $2000 Trump was insisting upon. Instead, we’re getting $1400 because we got the $600 mentioned earlier, thus equaling $2000. And if you say anything like “Didn’t you promise us $2000 on day one if the Senate flipped to Democrat control” you get mocked, gaslighted, and talked down to as though you don’t know basic math.

Yeah, I want these assholes preaching to me about country before party.

The fact Leftists think they’re the standard bearers for country before party should be taken with a grain of salt…the size of Mount Everest. But you know who is the standard bearer?

We are.

I don’t care if you voted for Trump, Biden, Vermin Supreme, Godzilla, or the SMOD, as long as you want to make the country better. We will disagree on how to get there, but the final destination should be the same and we should be willing to figure out how everyone can get there. And the Left can’t have that because it doesn’t create chaos and discontent that can be exploited for their political gains. So, the next time you see a Leftist mention putting the country before a party, you can ask them what they’re doing to make that a reality in their own lives. When they can’t answer without bringing up an ideological stance, invite them to kindly shove their opinions straight up their asses.

Oh, and ask them when we’re getting the $2000 Biden promised because last time I checked $1400 isn’t $2000.

The United States of Orwell

We’re less than a month into the Biden Administration and we’re already seeing changes in the way things are getting done. Unfortunately, those changes aren’t good ones.

In the past week alone, the following events occurred:

– Leftists and non-Leftists called out the Biden Administration for promising $2000 COVID-19 relief checks, only to watch the President and the DNC lower that amount to $1400, citing the $600 previously approved was a “down payment.”

– White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki scoffed at the use of anonymous sources for news leads potentially critical of the Biden Administration.

– Biden supporters have expressed a desire/need to limit conservative voices in mainstream media, social media, and in general, suggesting they should be “named and shamed” so people don’t ever do business with them or take them seriously.

– Members of the media are arguing any seemingly dishonest statements from President Joe Biden lack nuance or, more frequently, advise the dishonesty was far worse under President Donald Trump.

– New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose wrote the Biden Administration needs to appoint a “reality czar” to address what he called a “reality crisis.”

– Leftists have eagerly supported “reeducation camps” for Trump supporters as a means to “deprogram” them.

– The Biden Administration requires people to wear masks on federal property as a means to stop the spread of COVID-19 while he has been photographed without one, leading Leftists to try to explain it away.

– Joe Biden announced a program to roll out COVID-19 vaccinations that matched what the Trump Administration was already doing at the same rate.

– Leftists are calling the incoming Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg the first openly gay person to serve in a Cabinet, thereby erasing Richard Grennell’s existence as the first openly gay person to serve in a Cabinet.

We’re not in the Upside Down, kids. This is what is actually happening.

Right now, we’re being told to believe what the government and its agents are telling us, even if it doesn’t live in the same neighborhood as reality. If you though the “gender is fluid” debate was insane, we’re entering a whole new suburb of Crazy Town.

And this is by design. The Left’s playbook has always relied on affecting change through manipulation of language. If they can get people to think a certain way through framing a topic in a certain way, Leftists can reshape perception, which reshapes the audience’s reality even if it creates self-delusion. Although there are many real life examples of this happening, there’s a literary one that seems to fit what the Left is trying, and in some cases succeeding, to do: 1984.

And before you Leftists call me out on it, I have read the book and understand it quite clearly. Unlike you, I also understand it’s not an instruction manual.

Whether it’s Big Brother (the fictional entity, not the TV show) or Big Biden, the principle of controlling the narrative is vital to the outcome. The more they can get you to believe 2 + 2 = 5, the better able they are able to convince you of other absurdities, like there are more than 2 genders, white people can believe they’re black, and it’s okay to enact fascism under the guise of preventing it.

George Orwell would be proud. Or frightened. Or confused.

But you needn’t be any of those because non-Leftists have a secret weapon that undercuts the Left’s most Orwellian of policies: free will. When you really think about it, the Left requires subservience to be successful, but only if you choose to be subservient. We can’t all be as outwardly rebellious as Number 6 from “The Prisoner,” but we can camouflage what we believe through the kind of intellectual subterfuge the Left employs. Outwardly comply, but inwardly resist. At some point, the Left will over-reach and their house of cards falls down.

And that’s the other secret weapon we have: the Left is just that stupid.

No matter what, the Left always manages to find a way to ensure defeat after securing victory, usually within a short time. Their main flaw is and always has been they don’t typically think strategically in advance of the next election. They think in terms of what wins now versus what will win years from now. The whole $1400 check debacle is proof of that. They keep doubling and tripling down on the “it’s basic math” argument when they need to be thinking of how to deliver what was promised without trying to weasel out of it. That doesn’t help anyone, let alone the people who actually need the money. Plus, once more people realize why they didn’t get $2000 in the first place and what party caused it (Spoiler Alert: It’s the Democrats), it’s not going to end well.

So keep your chins up, dear readers. No matter how many times the Left tells you 2+2=5, just remember these same rotten eggheads came up with Common Core.