7/31/24 – All this while, we didn’t know a certain person was white. We thought he was orange. He looks orange, so we thought he was orange. What is the race of orange people? Pretty certain it’s orange. But he says he’s white. He likes Nazis, who also call themselves white, even though a rather prominent Proud Boy doesn’t look white. Is he Hispanic, or is he white? Are Hispanics white? Maybe they’re Indian? No, not that kind of Indian. They’re the other kind of Indian, the Kamala kind, from Asia. Wait, are they Asian, or are they Middle Eastern? What are Indians? Maybe they’re like Nikki Haley, tan white people? Is it tan like orange tan or brown tan, like actually brown people? All brown people are…wait, what are all brown people? They’re so many of them. Too many, there should be more white people says the orange person who says he’s white. And we all know what white people are. We all know what Europeans are. White, right? Wait, what are they? Africans were all over Southern Europe. Are they still European? Why do they look so different from Scandinavians? Strange. In any case, what matters is that according to a certain person, who is always right about everything, Kamala Harris is not the person she says she is. Don’t be fooled. She’s the person a certain person says she is because he knows everything…except the color of his own skin.
7/29/24 – This is psychology 101. The problem for many liberals is that they don’t seem to understand basic human psychology. Actually, they don’t seem to understand many basic aspects of being human. For example, with the “Latin” below, I didn’t “intellectualize it.” As is true for many people, when I read, I hear the associated sounds of the written words in my mind, and the sounds did not fit the patterns of sounds I had thus far encountered in a language that is no longer spoken except in church. That was all I needed to think that the author had made up the “Latin” and that there was no way it was real Latin. Based on relatively minimal exposure to or training in the language, my brain made a conclusion about the language with very little deliberate cognitive control on my part, and the conclusion was correct.
Human beings are the most complicated creatures in the world, yet liberals want to distill us into automatons or experiments. This is because they tend to think of us as just another animal but smarter. Since we’re just smart matter, we can do anything and everything with our bodies. It’s all fair game. Except for it’s not. David Brooks also spoke to this aspect of liberals’ sort of irrational rationalism in The Atlantic, which we have previously referenced. If you believe in God, it is much easier to understand and accept certain parameters around our freedom. God granted us freedom and free will, but that doesn’t mean that we can do anything we want. Some might say this is contradictory. Others might say it’s what we call life. In any case, if we can’t actually talk about our values and our policies as a nation and the impact they are having on our people with some level of maturity and depth of thought, we’re betraying our greatness and previous Americans who sacrificed for our country. We have to stop the current cycle of idiocy. It’s harmful to our country in every respect.
In this piece, she also talks about the note she got from one of her neighbors in Detroit. Let’s assume the neighbor was black. Since liberals love identity politics, perhaps this example of the same fundamental human psychology that animated that part of Vance’s speech will resonate better with them. Our black neighbors have every right to resent the gentrification of their neighborhoods. Their ancestors were brought here against their will, brutalized, treated as property instead of as people, and their labor was uncompensated. More recently, they were discriminated against with redlining. Now, the communities they have built over generations in spite of this violent and hostile history are likely being permanently altered by people who have not sacrificed anywhere near as much for the country or the communities they have built. If you can’t understand how they might find this unfair, then you really aren’t able to understand other people’s pain, and no degree, no pedigree will help you. In fact, it might hinder you. You also need to be able to understand people’s pain regardless of their identity, which includes their skin color. These are basic skills necessary to functioning well as a human being in our society and our country.
Decoding JD Vance’s Brand of Nationalism
7/28/24 – Community is everything. Start building it. Stop staring at your phone. Start engaging with people, including, perhaps especially, people who are different from you. Jesus loves you. Happy Sunday!
7/28/24 – Aside from being dressed down from time to time and being asked to have correct values and conduct, one of the benefits of going to Catholic mass on a regular basis is that you will likely learn some Latin. Having never encountered this phrase before, I knew it wasn’t real Latin because, well, come on, “carborundum.” Wikipedia says it’s actually of Tamil origin. Funny though.
More like this. The press needs to fix the problems they are creating. Yes, your readers might not find it as fun. Junk food is more “fun” than healthy food. It will also kill you. We need to be a healthy nation.
A path toward civility in politics
7/27/24 – The New Yorker got so bad it was removed from consideration. Of NPR, The Associated Press, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The Washington Post – at present – the worst is…The Washington Post. NPR seems to have improved under its new leadership, but we’ll see. They all still suffer from liberal bias, just to varying degrees.
7/26/24 – This is the analysis of a first-generation American. The person didn’t go through a process of assimilation. It happens in stages, and depending on the age of the person when arriving in the United States and other factors, there can be a transformation, a change of the heart. It is true that America is the land of opportunity, but that’s not the reason to fall in love with it. That’s transactional. It’s also not about personal responsibility or “agency.”
Do you love America? Or do you just love living in America (while times are good)? There are a lot of immigrants who don’t actually love America. This is not to denigrate them or say that they are bad people but that they actually love their homeland. Their feet are in America, but their hearts are somewhere else. They can be entirely upright citizens, contributing to our society, following our laws, being good neighbors and such, but would they be willing to die for our country? If we’re being honest, probably not. If they remained emotionally detached, which many recent immigrants are, there is likely a certain amount of opportunism to their participation in our country. It’s contingent on things going better than what they left or what some other country has to offer.
As a practicing Christian, I can tell you, I would rather die than denounce my faith. That’s deep love. As an immigrant, although there have been times when I think about a certain person being reelected, and suddenly, I find my thoughts drifting to Canada. Does one really want to put oneself through that dreadful experience again? Just escape and ride it out. Others can hold down the fort. Then, after entertaining fleeing, I settle on fighting instead. Why stay and fight? Out of love. This is the country and the people that I love. I want to stay and fight with them. This is where my feet and my heart are. It didn’t happen overnight. It grew as I grew. That’s a love with deep roots.
Vance didn’t insult America, but he should be careful to remember that love of country is not transactional or opportunistic. Yes, we’re a wealthy, powerful country. The thing I miss the most of my ancestral lands is its ancient civilization, thousands of years of tradition and connection. It’s hard not to feel nostalgic for it. That’s not something America can offer, but it has something else. America has a creed, one that has helped change the world for the better. It’s a beautiful, inspiring set of beliefs. Our creed and our country are worth fighting for. They are worth dying for. And when we die, may we be laid to rest on this soil, whether it’s foreign or ancestral to us. There is nothing morbid about that, and there was nothing morbid about Vance’s reference to the cemetery. Choosing to be buried thousands of miles away from your ancestors in your adopted home is a final declaration of love. Your feet, your body will be laid to rest on American soil where your heart belongs.
J.D. Vance’s Insult to America
7/26/24 – Tip: Whenever The Washington Post trots out Kate Cohen, the liberals are desperately trying to convince you of something they find important.
7/26/24 – Why are Americans stuck with the worst elites? What is it about our country that produces these terrible people? Might it be this? They are so naturally smart that they need every possible advantage in the world. (Should we ask Kate Cohen and her kids? They have all the answers.)
Private Schools Have Become Truly Obscene
7/26/24 – Let’s consider the elite press geniuses’ response to the American people finding them to be liberally biased. Being even more liberally biased. 1. Our democracy is at stake. Yes, so at stake that Democrats were unwilling to have a competitive contest for it. And yes, they think the American people are so stupid that they didn’t notice. 2. People like Kate Cohen, not to flatter herself but with her precocious kids, who are smarter than your God-believing kids, are trying to convince you that the Harris movement (it’s a movement now, right) is fun. Politics is fun again! Aren’t you having fun? There are memes and bright colors, coconuts, and it’s all gamified. Yes, we’re all dumb, young people filled with life because the 81-year-old is off the ticket. It’s a new world. If it ends like it did with Hillary, that will be fun too. A lot of fun. Definitely a new world. Enjoy.
7/26/24 – To be clear, the issue isn’t really with Kamala Harris. It’s with the Democratic Party and the process. Harris was likely complicit in a coverup, but she is also the VP, so that wouldn’t be surprising. She’s not objectionable in terms of her character. In many respects, she’s in a tough place. If she loses, it would be hard to blame her, since she didn’t benefit from a proper vetting, such as a competitive primary. If she wins, the coronation will hang over her historic election. In the history books, it would never be a clean win. In many respects, she’s also ending up a victim of Biden’s (previous) ego problem and the Democratic Party’s cowardice.
7/23/24 – I have been a Democrat my entire adult life since I became engaged in politics. I’m an Independent now. I will never donate to or volunteer for the Democratic Party ever again. I do not support undemocratic institutions. Go f—k yourselves.
7/23/24 – The entire reason the Democratic Party is in the position they’re in is because they did a smoke-filled room instead of a competitive primary, coronating an infirm man in spite of the polling that said he was going to lose. Because the wise, elite party members are so intelligent they couldn’t see this obvious situation coming, after the disastrous debate, they then went back to said smoke-filled room and decided Kamala Harris was going to be the presidential nominee.
The American people are being asked to believe that this person, who lost very early on in the last competitive primary, is a great candidate, very “meme-worthy,” something about coconuts, and a “brat.” It’s all so Gen Z. Well, the rest of us – adults such as we are – are not buying this BS.
If this is the approach the Democratic Party or any party is going to take, it would be best for voters to never donate to them because they are effectively funding an undemocratic process and body. Although it is prudent to have certain safeguards to prevent unelectable or unfit candidates, especially those who are dangerous to our Republic, from becoming the nominee, this goes well beyond that. It’s a coronation. This year, 2024, voters get to choose between a monarchy with Harris as queen or a dictatorship with a certain person as dictator. Yes, this is what countless American patriots died for. It’s a disgrace.
The Party Is Not Over
7/23/24 – We do not like or respect our elites. They are not good people, and they are unintelligent and incompetent.
7/23/24 – The elites routinely violate right and wrong because they don’t have a strong moral compass. Their character is weak and compromised. Hard truth.
7/23/24 – It’s easy to say nice words. It’s another to live your values. Maybe if these self-idolizing elites had a come-to-Jesus moment, they might be able to make this important distinction. Jennifer Rubin had nice words about centrism in The Washington Post. Many of her points are correct, but who is this person? Well, she’s one of the members of the elite press who participated in the deception of the American people by carrying water for the Biden campaign. She believes in centrism so much and that Biden is one of the more recent best examples of it, next to Ronald Reagan, that she was willing to compromise on something more important than where one falls on the political spectrum. She was willing to participate in the deception of the American people, undermining the very democracy she claims to care so much about. Morality isn’t about nice words. It’s about one’s character. It’s about being unwilling to do things that violate one’s sense of right and wrong. It’s about being willing to do things that uphold one’s sense of right and wrong, no matter the cost. She made a political calculation that compromised her integrity. It was the wrong thing to do, and that’s where things stand.
7/22/24 – If this insane, insulting s–tshow continues, we’ll become Independents. We’re not putting up with this.
7/22/24 – Let’s see what others have to say about this incredibly undemocratic process from the party that claims to be protecting democracy. So many choice words, let’s choose one for each.
Dumb.
Democrats, fear not an open convention
Neurotic.
Are Democrats really going to do this?
Mistake.
Democrats Are Making a Huge Mistake
7/22/24 – What are these same elite members of the press doing now? Feeding the dysfunctional process, of course.
“Those Washington journalists who shrugged off their peers’ attempts to raise this issue also need to reflect on their actions. The signs of Biden’s unfitness were there to see, for those who wanted to look. Too many didn’t.”
Thank God for That
7/22/24 – Our country with so many great people has the dumbest, most incompetent elites. They are simply incapable of doing their jobs well or learning from their mistakes. Yes, the voters were pissed off about Biden’s coronation, so let’s do Harris’s coronation. Genius.
7/22/24 – For the Democratic National Convention, it goes without saying that we don’t want whoever the presidential nominee is to talk about him or herself and to go on for a long time. Talk about the American people and what you plan to deliver for us. Be direct. Be honest. Be truly inclusive. For our platform and policies, we also want a concerted outreach to…wait for it…Republicans and Independents, particularly those who live in rural America and blue-collar workers. Whoever governs, they are doing so for them also.
Rural and blue-collar Americans have not been treated fairly by our party, and it is a long overdue correction. They are good people, helpful and generous. They feed us. They protect us. They do hard and necessary jobs that allow people in urban places to do theirs. Rural and blue-collar Americans deserve better.
We can’t be a party about a certain class of people, who look a certain way, who have a certain education, or who live in a certain way. The Democratic Party has to be a party about what’s best for our entire country – all Americans. By all Americans, we also mean white Americans who have traditional values and who have helped build this nation for generations. They have not been given adequate respect or priority, and we care about them.
Also, certain policies that favor urban citizens might need to be scaled back or changed to give our rural and blue-collar compatriots more support. We encourage other urban Americans to advocate for their needs because it’s the fair thing to do. Rural and blue-collar workers often don’t have the numbers or the influence that urban Americans can have. It is incumbent upon us to consider a variety of needs, not just our own.
It’s also a matter of equity. Equity doesn’t just apply to minorities or historically marginalized people. It applies across the board, including to white people who have lived here for generations. We also ask that the press go to their communities and give them the coverage they deserve and have not gotten. The press needs to fix their prejudices and biased coverage.
This is not about politics. This is about the kind of country and people we want to be. We want to be true to our higher purpose and fair to and appreciative of all of our fellow Americans, no matter which political party or policies they support, with which we might disagree. If we are to live our creed, we will make this effort and this change. Let’s do the right thing. Let’s choose to take a different path, one that will unite our diverse nation, one that will be true to our covenant.
7/22/24 – In our democracy, we want a free and fair competitive process. Nobody is entitled to anything, no matter their current position, their years of service or their connections. We want our politicians to earn our vote and the process to be open and fair to all candidates. We don’t want “turns.” We don’t want “next in line.” We don’t want the Democratic Party elites to put their thumb on the scale. We encourage all candidates to run, especially governors and ones who have a proven track record of working across the aisle and appealing to Americans who are Republicans or Independents as well as Democrats. In short, we want a true democratic process to prevail.
7/21/24 – God bless America. Americans, be true to our covenant with God.
7/21/24 – To the Democratic Party, we want you to respect our democracy. We do not want a coronation. We want you to let Democrats decide who should be on their ticket. Also, going forward, every four years, we want a full, competitive primary. Every four years, Democrats get to evaluate the job performance of the President – not every eight years. Every. Four. Years.
7/21/24 – Dear President Biden, thank you. Stepping down as the nominee was the right thing to do. It was the patriotic thing to do.
7/20/24 – This would also help solve our polarization problem. Like always, the main issue is a matter of the heart, but this political change would definitely help. “To unite the country, we need institutions responsive enough for us to have our arguments inside of them. We need institutions that incentivize politicians to negotiate. I’m convinced that the solution is the new Alaska model for elections: abolish party primaries and let all candidates, identified by self-selected party labels, run on the same unified ballot in a state-funded primary. Then take the top four or five vote-getters forward to a final round and use an instant runoff with a ranked ballot. The first candidate to rack up more than 50 percent, via first, second, and if necessary third choice votes, wins.”
How the path to unity can be paved
7/20/24 – We can work with Vance, and we should. We should build that relationship and leverage it to bring our parties together, which would be truly healing for our polarized nation. Let’s make a concerted effort to break our unproductive discourse and politics. Naturally, there will be some or even many points of disagreement, but he generally seems to be a reasonable guy. The biggest problem for him is selling out to the degree he has, but that is also where the GOP is at right now, unfortunately. Also, we’re all sellouts. It’s just a matter of degree.
All nations are nations. All nations are not also creeds. America is both a creed and a nation. Also, America’s creed stands apart in being both deeply rooted in the Christian faith (see below regarding a city on a hill) yet secular in its founding vision and documents, as it should be. It is also special because our democracy became the model from which European countries developed their own democracies, most notably France.
Vance is just reminding us that our elected officials also need to serve their people. Our brave men and women aren’t to be treated as a standing world army to be dispatched at the whims of politicians with idealistic notions of how the world ought to be. We cannot cannibalize our population, especially our youth, to be “the world’s police.”
Also, these involvements have often been received with ingratitude or even derision. Aside from Ukraine, look at Europe. We saved them twice from their own self-destruction, and they treat us and our military as if it’s their national security safety net and, frankly, with contempt. We have been effectively subsidizing their national security while they spoil their lazy population with social safety nets that we don’t give our own people. Only now, because of a certain person, are they trying to develop more of their own military might. They should have done this all along. It is a reasonable reminder. He served in Iraq as a Marine, and that experience might have helped shape this view.
A reasonable argument can be made that America is unique in its creed. It’s a cherished part of our ethos, our origin story, and it gives our natural passion a higher purpose. Most Americans are aware of our prominence in the world, and it is important to us to represent our nation and those who came before us well. It is important to us to stand for something worth fighting for.
However, we do need to balance this idealism and our involvement in the world with a certain pragmatism. We can’t expect or ask our citizens to constantly set aside their own needs or desires to serve a greater good. It will exhaust us. Arguably, we’re already exhausted from it, and this understandable fatigue, which rural populations disproportionately bear and without adequate recognition or appreciation, might have helped give rise to a certain person.
The part about the cemetery was powerful. As an immigrant, it resonated with me. One of the hardest parts about being an immigrant is losing your connection to your ancestors and your ancestral land. In general, it is comforting and moving to visit our cemeteries that honor our patriots who have served in our armed forces. They are the blood on which the Statue of Liberty stands. Her torch burns brightly because they were willing to be the light, even at the expense of their lives.
When you leave your ancestral lands, you don’t want to feel uprooted, for as counterintuitive as that might seem. You want to feel like you can belong in your adopted home by growing new roots. Walking through the cemeteries that honor generations of Americans who fought for our creed and our nation reminds us that our own bodies will become part of this same shared sacred soil. It’s an honor.
At some point, most of these Americans also arrived here as immigrants. They too became Americans. And some of them sacrificed greatly for this nation, for our freedom and our democracy. During this part of his speech, Vance referred to his wife, a child of immigrants, and their children. It evoked a sense of rootedness and ancestral connection in an adopted home that is the living American creed. We like to say that we are a nation of immigrants, and we are. Just look at our cemeteries. They are filled with people from all over the world, and their bodies are now part of our shared American soil.
J. D. Vance’s Empty Nationalism
7/20/24 – Maybe the press can take some advice from Pope Francis and start smelling like sheep instead of stilling on their ivory perches, preening and proselytizing their personal beliefs. The country wouldn’t be in this mess had the press done their jobs correctly, which we told them they weren’t doing.
7/19/24 – How much does the Biden/Harris campaign pay Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post? Instead of telling voters who the nominee should be, here’s a novel idea for our democracy. Maybe get out of Washington and talk with some ordinary Americans in our diverse nation, and ask them what they think and want. Call us old fashioned, but there was a day when that was what reporters did, not pretending to be objective when they are actually paid mouthpieces for a campaign.
7/19/24 – The last night of the RNC was too loud, and a certain person rambled on way too long. It’s true that Americans are great people. They often don’t leave people in need. They are brave and helpful. God bless Corey Comperatore, who was killed, and David Dutch and James Copenhaver, who were injured. May Corey’s lovely soul rest in peace. That was best part of the RNC, including the moment of silence.
7/17/24 – If Democrats think they can win with Biden/Harris against this ticket, they are totally wrong.
7/17/24 – Setting aside teaming up with a certain person, Vance has many likable qualities. He’s a wholesome family man, his patriotism and military service, his hilarious Mamaw, his belief in redemption (see his mom), and there are several points, especially regarding the people left behind from free trade, catering to Wall Street, leaving behind rural Americans, and the general lack of responsiveness of the political establishment to the American people. He also has a great story. Regardless of his political views, his tenacity inspires respect. Lastly, he’s not ancient….
7/17/24 – Quite insightful and accurate. What happened to this person? Oh, that’s right. He sold out his soul and his community to realize his political ambitions and enrich himself. Imagine that.
“The great tragedy is that many of the problems Trump identifies are real, and so many of the hurts he exploits demand serious thought and measured action—from governments, yes, but also from community leaders and individuals. Yet so long as people rely on that quick high, so long as wolves point their fingers at everyone but themselves, the nation delays a necessary reckoning. There is no self-reflection in the midst of a false euphoria. Trump is cultural heroin. He makes some feel better for a bit. But he cannot fix what ails them, and one day they’ll realize it.
I’m not sure when or how that realization arrives: maybe in a few months, when Trump loses the election; maybe in a few years, when his supporters realize that even with a President Trump, their homes and families are still domestic war zones, their newspapers’ obituaries continue to fill with the names of people who died too soon, and their faith in the American Dream continues to falter. But it will come, and when it does, I hope Americans cast their gaze to those with the most power to address so many of these problems: each other. And then, perhaps the nation will trade the quick high of ‘Make America Great Again’ for real medicine.”
When the realization comes, the very author of the words above will be part of their disillusionment. There is no shortage of people who lack integrity. Quite sad.
Opioid of the Masses
7/16/24 – It’s f—king ridiculous.
Believe Your Own Eyes
7/16/24 – Vance was a smart pick. He’s an anti-establishment candidate. On the Republican ticket are two outsiders, one of whom remade the party in his own image. On the Democratic ticket, there are two establishment candidates, one of whom voters are telling the party they don’t want. What is the Democratic Party’s response? We don’t care what you want. When they lose the presidency, they will have nobody to blame but themselves and the weak, old man who can’t let go of his ego, his pride, his self-absorption, even if it’s for the good of the country, yet still wants to claim moral superiority. The mood of the voters is decidedly against incumbents, and biden embodies what they dislike about the political powers that be and how they treat them – with good reason.
7/14/24 – Solitude and silence can have a lot of value, especially during emotionally heightened moments. We’ve been thinking a lot about Matthew 26:52. Many people characterize Jesus Christ as a pacifist, and this verse is commonly cited as support. When faced with injustice, Jesus’s response wasn’t a call to fight, but a call to not fight. To the people who deeply love Jesus, now is a good time to find solace in Scripture. (Jesus belongs to the world, and the invitation is open to all people.) Jesus fought with love and not with anger or hate. As we often do in centering prayer, be still with God and his infinite love for a while. The world can wait.
7/14/24 – Today is the Lord’s day. We are salt and light. Do something to reflect our higher calling. At a minimum, don’t engage in things that aren’t morally correct. Don’t make people who already feel bad, feel worse. You don’t have to say things you don’t feel or aren’t true. You also don’t have to say anything. You don’t have to blame the secret service, whose lives are just as valuable as anybody else’s and who are professionals and patriots. You don’t have to blame in general, to criticize, to justify and so on. Breathe, pray, rest. Remember, we are all sinners, and God still loves us.
7/13/24 – It is no secret that over half of the country does not like a certain person who got shot today. To that half of the country: you might be tempted to make uncharitable comments, especially on social media because it inspires that kind of response, but remember that, at the end of the day, the other half of the country are your fellow Americans. They like the guy, and they likely feel sad and shocked. Be careful what you say not for the certain person but out of compassion for the ordinary Americans who help build this country with us. Don’t get into arguments with them. Don’t engage in conspiracy theories. Don’t even speculate. Just go do your own stuff: read, watch a movie or TV, listen to music, play with your kids, sleep. Good night, America.
7/11/24 – Apparently, nobody is telling the weak dotard, biden that he’s going to lose. Did you know that? The entire country knows that he’s going to lose but, apparently, the candidate does not. Bubble, anyone. Must be nice to be so privileged and so close to death that you don’t have to care about the living.
7/11/24 – The idea, the idea, the idea that Putin, (meaning Zelensky), Trump, (meaning Harris)…. This man is a joke. He also again babbled incoherently. Any ordinary American we interact with is more coherent and a better communicator. Also, the elites need to stop with “the depth of ____ knowledge.” Since when did the standards get so low for public officials? It was boilerplate tripe, and half of it made no sense or was word salad. The elites are too biased to analyze the weak dotard, biden correctly and are not good at assessments of knowledge.
7/11/24 – The American people are so much smarter than the elites with their fancy papers, titles, and they are stars, don’t you know. The elites were so busy looking at themselves in the mirror and on camera, and developing their “curated personas,” they completely lost touch with the real world. And, here we all are, in hell.
7/10/24 – We always hope that people will do the right thing, but the fact that we’re even here reflects poorly on the weak dotard, biden. He said that Pelosi et al. weren’t going to ask him to step down, which was more than slightly narcissistic. Technically, they have not done so – yet. What is he going to do if they do (explicitly instead of just implicitly) ask? What is he going to do if more and more elected Democrats ask?
People who have supported him are publicly asking, and the sad little man remains in his sad little bunker with his sad big ego. It’s truly embarrassing for us as a nation. We have been embarrassed by our leaders, now, of both parties. First, the evil one, trump, everything about him embarrassed us. Now this. Do the American people deserve this global humiliation? No, we definitely do not. There is something broken in our democracy, and it’s not just the Republican Party. It goes beyond that.
7/10/24 – Pathetic.
The Abyss Stares Back at Joe Biden
7/10/24 – If you’re wondering who the least competitive candidate is, just ask yourself who the evil one, trump, wants to run against. This is not hard. What the Democratic Party is doing is malfeasance, and Democrats can rightly blame them when they lose.
7/9/24 – There aren’t enough black, female Democrats to make up for all of the other people who can’t stand biden and/or are not going to vote for him. Stop talking about their support as if it somehow changes the calculus. Get real, people, or things are going to get real for you.
7/9/24 – We are loyal to God, our Constitution, the American experiment and people. We are not loyal to any one person, including the evil one, trump, or the weak dotard, biden.
7/8/24 – Cass’s analysis (see below for link) about the opioid crisis isn’t wrong, but it’s also a crisis of a culture that is too willing to experiment with the human body (see many liberal views on this) or, at a minimum, does not give the human body as God’s creation adequate respect. (In general, it is important to also consider the existing culture or changes to it that contribute to the trends we see.) As the article notes, it is also a crisis related to economic and other distress. The opioid crisis and other deaths of despair have been inadequately addressed by both parties. Our leaders have failed the American people in this respect.
Ideally, we have a cultural shift to one that is hopeful about our future and one that supports people emotionally, physically and spiritually to break cycles of substance abuse. Our bodies deserve to be treated with respect. It is one way in which we show ourselves respect, and American culture deviates from older cultures in his regard. We over-medicate, and the pharmaceutical industry and the medical industry are complicit in this approach to the inevitable distress humans will face over their lifetimes, either physical or psychological. They should be held to account. (See Derek Thompson’s articles on this.) More soon.
7/8/24 – The weak dotard, biden: the people love me, they really, really love me; it’s the elites who are trying to get rid of me. No, the elites are the reason we’re in this mess, you dishonest cretin. They enabled his deception by not acting on what voters were telling them they wanted. The weak dotard chose not to run in a competitive primary. Instead, he stomped his entitled my little pony foot until his senile highness was coronated the Democratic nominee against the will of the voters. (By the way, the russian poop, putin uses a similar argument.)
But the polls, they are always wrong. Yes, in 2020, they overestimated the weak dotard’s performance, and he barely won in the swing states. Now, he running behind in all of the polls, and if they are overestimating his performance again, it’s going to be a bloodbath. That’s the truth. Whatever narrative he has going on, just like with the evil one, trump, is pure fiction. The only thing the weak dotard cares about is his ego. If he loses, he’ll comfort himself with, well, I did my best, leaving our democracy in tatters, or this: “We have not failed, the thinking goes; we have been failed, by the American people,” Cass. The weak dotard, biden will sing the opposite song: it’s not my fault; it’s the voters’ fault. With each passing day, we can’t stand him that much more. He’s truly a disgusting figure.
7/8/24 – After much discernment, we won’t be voting for the evil one, trump, or the weak dotard, Biden. No amount of rhetoric or fear mongering from either one of them or from either party will change our minds. The evil one was out of the question from the beginning. If the Democratic Party and the country need to learn a hard lesson before the party can figure out how to respect and listen to the people it is supposed to serve, so be it.
Our conscience with our maker is what matters the most to us. The weak dotard has violated our sense of right and wrong. You don’t deceive people to serve your selfish ends, and that’s what he did. He also took his voters for idiots. He is no John Winthrop, no George Washington, no Abraham Lincoln, or even a moderately good president.
He is a sad little man, a poor leader, who could have had a decent legacy, but instead, he broke with God. He lost his higher calling because he became too attached to worldly glory. (See the numerous examples in the Bible. We want to take this opportunity to thank the Jewish people for receiving and preserving this divine wisdom.) We simply cannot vote for someone with a debased character who has betrayed his maker. God’s will be done.
Hubris of Biblical Proportions
7/7/24 – Firstly, “a city on a hill” does not come from Reagan. He just added the word, “shining.” The phrase comes from the Bible. Specifically, it comes from Jesus. “Matthew 5:14-16 ‘You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
As it relates to American exceptionalism, it is a phrase that’s associated with the Puritans, specifically John Winthrop’s sermon “A Model of Christian Charity.” Here is the relevant excerpt: “For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.” (It should remain required reading for all English majors.)
The phrase is rightly associated with our origin story. It defines the ethos of our country when it was just a seedling, a few colonies that didn’t have much of a chance of making it. From this seedling blossomed the more elaborate text the Founding Fathers created, which delineates our rights and our responsibilities, and declares our freedom as given to us by our creator and our independence as our own nation. These acts alone were some of the key realizations of “a city on a hill.”
“A city on a hill” is the cornerstone of the foundation of our country, and no matter if you are indigenous or a more recent immigrant of a different faith tradition than Christianity, you can adopt it like it is a part of your personal story. Why? Because Jesus said so, and he belongs to the world. As he said, we are salt and light.
America isn’t exceptional because of its power, its wealth, its elites or even its institutions. As it was in the beginning, it’s exceptional because of its people. Its people are salt and light. To this day, we are aware of what we stand for in the world and that if we fail, it’s not just yet another failed nation, but as “The eyes of all people are upon us,” “we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world,” a cautionary tale of those who dare for freedom, rights and self-governance.
As if through an act of divine providence, we have a lot to think about this Fourth, this Independence Day, and beyond. Neither the evil one, trump, nor the weak dotard, Biden define America. Our people are so much better than them, than our elites or even our institutions. Our country is resilient because of its people, and its fate is ultimately in our hands, we the people. Just like with the Puritans, unless our people give up, unless we betray a higher calling, our American experiment will not fail. John Winthrop was using the Lord’s words to summon courage, determination, fidelity to God, and unity in his flock. We would do well to revisit his sermon and to remind ourselves of the bold majesty of our origin story. We owe it everybody who sacrificed greatly for us to not fail. They are watching us, and as it was then, so it is now: the world is watching us.
7/7//24 – On this Sunday, the Lord’s Day, a day of well-deserved rest for our ordinary but extraordinary American compatriots, we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You are smart, hard-working, competent people, and our day-to-day lives run so smoothly because of you. You are kind, friendly, helpful and generous. You make our lives pleasant and enjoyable. We are confident that you will be there for us when we need it because you have yet to fail us. With all of the failures with the elites, the institutions, external challenges, such as wars and pandemics, you have kept your heads down and have done the work, as you always do. You have kept true to our American ideals and values. If we never read the news, we would think our country was practically perfect, and that’s because of you. We respect you and really appreciate you. May God bless you and keep you.
7/6/24 – In this piece by Oren Cass are some of the outlines of bipartisan governance. As is often the case, we disagree in some places, and in others, we agree. In general, the elites would be wise to set aside their partisanship and build upon it. Also, the elites, especially in the media, need to stop fueling “culture wars,” and start focusing on doing their part to facilitate sober, balanced governance that considers the different needs and values of our diverse and large populace. We are a big advocate of direct democracy, which reflects our confidence in the goodness and competence of the American people. The democratic republic we have must reflect the will of the people as much as possible. The legitimacy of any leader is directly tied to the person’s success in doing so.
“But while elected officials and their technocratic advisers may have special insight into how the people’s goals are best achieved, only the people can determine what those goals should be and whether they are being met.” It is not the place of elites to determine what the American people should believe, think, value, want and so on. It comes with the presumption of moral, intellectual and other superiority. It is insulting. It also circumvents the collective wisdom that is the cumulative result of each person’s humble wisdom and the natural result of a well-functioning democracy. One of the beauties of our system of self-governance is that it is not dependent on the intelligence, goodness, or wisdom of any one individual or as, in communist structures, party elites. It is dependent on the collective wisdom of the people of our country, the ordinary people that live across our vast territory and share through their voice and their vote their lived experiences. Any leader worth their salt will listen to them and find policies that balance what might be competing needs or interests, much like the law, when exercised correctly, also does.
The American family is not adequately supported. We would all do well to consider what the point is of having children if once they are born, they are handed over to other people to raise. The liberals might find this quaint, but in much of the world, the joy of having children is very much in raising them not just in giving birth to them. Children are the continuation of our ancestors, literally and figuratively, a remembrance of the past in the future. Also, in some parts of the world, our blood lines are tied to our land, on which our ancestors lived and died, sometimes for millennia.
To the Americans in rural parts of the country who understand this connection to our ancestors and to our land and are grieved by its loss, know this: many of the immigrants that are desperately seeking the safety and security of American life actually share many of your values. They are people with traditional values, much like your own, deeply rooted to family, community and faith. They are not leaving their ancestral lands without regret. It is very likely that they wouldn’t leave them at all if they didn’t feel that they had to. If you don’t believe us, go and ask them. They very often love their homelands and are fully aware of the same sense of loss you also feel, just in a different context. This is not a guidance on policy, but a call for understanding. What we would like to see is a decrease in vilifying and an increase in understanding that can motivate realistic and compassionate policies that both address our concerns and needs and stay true to our values.
This is true: “Taking the majority’s preferences seriously, even when they conflict with the preferences of more sophisticated experts, is often disparaged as populism.” A negative interpretation of “populism” is justified when it is wielded by a demagogue who is inflaming the (possibly legitimate) grievances of the populace not to remedy them but to serve the person’s own ends. See the evil one, trump. A positive interpretation of populism, when it is not being abused, is that it is responsive to the will of the people.
Lastly, let us remember: “‘The administration of the government, like the office of a trustee, must be conducted for the benefit of those entrusted to one’s care, not of those to whom it is entrusted,’ observed Cicero more than 2,000 years ago.” The elites are to serve the American people. If they cannot do this, they need to step off the stage. We are not interested in their egos. We are interested in bettering our own lives. Help us improve our lives, do the jobs with which we entrusted you, or go away. Thank you.
PS In subsequent posts, we will consider and critique some of the proposals provided in the order they were presented because they deserve commentary. The American people’s feedback deserves to be taken seriously, not just dismissed as originating from an inferior caste of people. Please keep providing Americans with actual solutions to our problems, solicit our input, and we will give it to you. This is our democracy, and that is how this partnership, the American experiment, is supposed to work.
Dear Elites (of Both Parties), the People Will Take It From Here, Thanks
7/5/24 – After watching the interview, it’s clear that America has two delusional liars running for president, with only a few years difference in age between them. Biden has a lot of excuses for anything and everything that is unfavorable to him. He is going to lose, and he’s totally in denial about it. He’s in a narcissistic bubble.
Three things were particularly striking with Biden. First: His reaction to any kind of data that is unfavorable to him is reflexively dismissive to the point of being pathological. Second: His narcissism is out-of-control: “I don’t think anybody is more qualified to be president or win this race than me.” That’s dangerous for the whole country. He seems more like the evil one, trump, with each public appearance. Third: Cognitively, his recollection is poor, and he routinely doesn’t talk in complete sentences. Instead, he often speaks in fragments or sentences with missing words that a typical native English speaker would not leave out. There are also memory failures that are beyond an average person’s, even for an older person.
What the American people deserve is two different candidates. As it relates to these two terrible candidates, they need to answer hard questions without any advance notice of what they will be that force them to recall facts, specific policy details, and other granular information. What both of these people are doing is just spouting campaign propaganda, general talking points, or lies. We will grade them on accuracy and clarity.
Biden failed today because he evaded questions, and the answers he provided were just high-level campaign talking points, lacking in substance. He declined to have an objective assessment of his mental fitness. Most importantly, he seems to care most about himself, not about what’s best for the country. PS What’s wrong with his voice? Is it permanently weak and raspy?
President Biden sits down for interview with George Stephanopoulos l ABC News exclusive
7/5/24 – The American experiment, our democracy, one of the greatest endeavors in world history, is supposed to be something we, the people and the leaders we elect, do together. Instead, the power and the prestige of the positions of leadership go to the heads of the leaders we elect, and they start treating the very people who put them in those positions, effectively, with contempt.
The same dynamic happens with the press and other elites. They get some grade-inflated piece of, often Ivy League, paper and start thinking that it confers upon them a measure of superiority, usually in the form of intelligence. It doesn’t.
Both of these groups don’t work in service of their constituents, the countless Americans who do much harder things than they do, who day in and day out, work risky jobs that require sacrifice and impeccable character, physically hard jobs that require discipline, which often lack prestige or adequate compensation.
The cult of prestige characterizes much of American life, and it has eroded our social cohesion by effectively creating an unofficial caste system, the people with their names and/or faces on things, and the masses of people who remain unknown but are also the people who actually keep the country moving forward on the most necessary of levels.
The people always deserve to be heard and respected. Our leaders and others in positions of privilege are supposed to work with us to build a city on a hill. Instead of treating the American people as partners, they treat us like kings treat their subjects or as conmen treat their victims, peasants to be exploited to serve their egotistical and other ends.
7/5/24 – In the category of things we won’t say but are glad to hear and read.
Biden has a woman problem — or two — in the White House
We typically follow the mainstream media, and that’s it. We have a life, and there are many fine things to do with it, things that have nothing to do with politics. (Maybe the Bidens and Harris can find some other things to do with their lives too….) However, given the extraordinary situation, we used the Google for some other sources. One might consider The Young Turks, who like much of the country and unlike the mainstream media, seem to actually have been on top of things.
Will Biden DROP OUT Or Stay Defiant? Here’s What Insiders Are Saying.
7/5/24 – The truth is that Biden, his family and his administration deceived the American people about his fitness for office, and the propaganda (the press) was complicit in this deception. They will try to spin it because they’re great at spin, not so much at truth, but that is the truth.
7/5/24 – The propaganda was so focused on virtue-signaling and pandering to extreme liberals that they focused on stupid culture war issues, such as trans, instead of important issues of national and international consequence, such as the presidency of the United States. It is a dereliction of duty and an embarrassment of monumental proportions to them and to their profession.
7/5/24 – When the history books are written, the Bidens, the Democratic Party, and the propaganda (the press) are going to be held to account. They will look bad because they acted dishonorably. Also, it’s hard to believe that one is writing these words, but one feels bad for the donors….
7/5/24 – The selfish, arrogant, narcissistic Biden family is trash. They should be ashamed of themselves.
7/4/24 – On this Independence Day, if Americans are frustrated and angry about the state of our democracy and the blatant hypocrisy of the elites, it is entirely justified. There will be many remarks from them along the lines of perfecting our union, lofty words and such. It is unlikely that any of them will take a close, hard look at how at their own hypocrisy and their own actions contribute to an illiberal democracy.
It is not the media’s role to be advertising for celebrities or others, such as the Taylor Swift campaign that has happened several times over the recent past. It is also not their job to carry water for or to be spin doctors for any politician of any party or any party. It is also not their place to think for the American people. They are to report the news, what is happening in the country and what the American people want or think as dispassionately as possible. That is all they are supposed to do. Instead, the press has become propaganda. This is damaging to our democracy and to our social cohesion.
The people voted for Biden. He won fair and square. The people are not asking him to resign. These ideas are coming from the overweened, pseudo-intellectuals who make up our elite class, whether politicians or press. They hold themselves in such high-esteem that they don’t think twice or even think about the fact that they are not actually reflecting the will of the people but instead deciding for them what it is.
What the people said is that they don’t want Biden to run again. They do not want to reelect him. They have wisely determined, in spite of the media completely failing at their jobs in this regard, that he is too old and incapable of fulfilling the duties of the highest office in the land for another four years. That is all they have said. The American people also rejected Kamala Harris for the presidency. Biden chose her as his running mate. The people never chose her for either the presidency or the vice presidency. This is the same person that the elites want to now place in the presidency and at the top of the ticket for the next election using a political legerdemain.
The political machinations that disregard the will of the people need to stop. We are a democracy. It is utter hypocrisy to point to all the ways in which the Founding Fathers fell short of realizing the noble ideals beautifully laid out in the documents they created, yet in the present, perpetuate a political system that marginalizes the will of the people, their voice and their vote. Both of the parties, the politicians and the media, almost all of the elites, are guilty of this. There were two great sins committed at the birth of our nation: slavery of black people/genocide of the native inhabitants and not allowing all of the American people to determine their destiny. The elites are guilty of continuing this latter sin. On this Independence Day, let’s pray that they examine their conscience and sinfulness and repent. Amen, and as always, God bless America.
7/3/24 – We don’t want Kamala. We want to win. Is this actually hard to understand? Give it to us, you f—kheads. If the elites were as smart and concerned about our democracy as they claim to be, they would be myopically focused on that one thing and that one thing alone. If they were so moral, they wouldn’t have enabled the weak dotard’s dishonesty with the American people, his grotesque egotism and the denialism of his weaknesses, including his stutter, which he claims he overcame as a child. It is a bald-faced lie. Nonetheless, dumb hoi polloi that we are, we saw through the bulls—t. If the media had done their jobs, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. There was clearly a double-standard in how they covered the evil one, trump, and how they covered the weak dotard, Biden. And now, the elites with their goddamn hierarchy and “turns.” F—k their turns. We don’t give a s—t about who’s next in line. The people made Obama. Do they remember that? They wanted Hillary. We put him next in line, and he remains a popular president. The elites are arrogant a—holes who always think they know better than the American people. They don’t.
7/2/24 – Who does this guy, Stuart Stevens, think he’s fooling? Hey Americans, the elites think you’re extremely f—king stupid. The weak dotard won the primaries! Democracy in action! You’re overruling the will of the people. Shut the f—k up. It wasn’t a goddamn primary. It was a coronation because he’s the precious incumbent. So apparently, the country and Democrats need to be deprived of an actual primary, and we all know it. On top of thinking hoi polloi are imbeciles, he insults us by telling us we’re wimps who don’t know how to fight. We know how to and want to fight, but not for Biden – for ourselves, the American people. We’re also doing that by telling the party to give us a candidate that we actually want and who will actually win. Then, he went on to blah, blah, blah about how the parties have changed. What does that have to do with losing the election with the weak dotard? Lastly, nobody with a modicum of objectivity would describe the debate performance or Biden more generally as “steady, calm and confident.” The reality is the reality. The truth is the truth. Deal with it, and stop insulting our intelligence and our character, signed the American people.
Let’s see who else thinks the American people are complete idiots. Well, Jennifer Rubin. Yes, what we all saw with our own eyes: the weak dotard being unable to sound even remotely coherent let alone fact-check the lying moron’s lies (yes, it was Biden’s sole responsibility to do so), it was actually the fault of the format, the moderators, who could handle the endless lies. Many people, actually. Many of us would jump at a chance to take down that evil, lying moron of the first order. It would be sport, delicious and glorious. We could finally put on full display what a complete evil, insane idiot he is. Instead, our blood ran cold as we realized that we are…wait for it… going to lose the f—king election. That’s right. In fact, in the sane half of the country, there was a collective audible, “oh my God,” as the horror of our predicament descended on us one incomprehensible response after another, not to mention that Biden looked like the walking dead, which is where our democracy is going to be a few more months from now unless he is replaced.
Americans, understand this: the problem with all of these people is that they don’t actually have any respect for us, the people of this country who actually make it great. We are to believe what they want us to believe, do what they want us to do, and think as they want us to think. We are stupid, after all. They are smart. We are unaccomplished losers. They have pedigree. We are nobodies. They are somebody. They tell us this all the time, in so many different ways. We keep telling them to go f—k themselves, but since we are nobody to them, they don’t actually listen to us, the American people.