People who say “It’s not up for debate,” or “The debate is over,” are simply telling you that their position is weak and doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. “It’s not up for debate” = “We can’t win if you make us debate this.” There’s no such thing as a debate being over. Debates are critical exercises. Two important outcomes come from nearly all debates. Either someone makes a strong case and reaffirms their current position, or someone learns they are wrong, or missing information, and rethinks what they think they know. Both are valuable conclusions. There’s always something to…
The rise of doublespeak
It’s getting really difficult to make sense of absolutely anything these days. And I’m not just talking about the miracle that is 2020. Language and fact is being redefined in a way George Orwell could only dream. Today, Joe Biden said that it was the Republicans that are packing the court. The Republicans. I try not to just write about, or react to, news because there’s plenty of outlets for that. But this one put me over the edge. It’s not difficult to find quotes from Party Democrats talking about packing the Supreme Court if they win. In case…
An illustration of ideologies
This morning, I went for a run around the neighborhood. I was on a really nice trail tucked against the side of a really nice neighborhood. Toward the end of the trail, I had to cross a very busy four-lane road to get to my house. When I got to the light and walk path, I had a few options. I could press the “walk” button and wait for all the lights to change, stop all the cars, and then go, or I could just go on my own. It was 5:30am, and there weren’t many cars on the…
Listening to science and data
Why is it that every time a Democrat leader tells us we have to follow the science and data, they never tell us what the science and data are telling us? Look at how many governors are keeping their states locked down under the guise of following the science. But they never tell us what the science is saying. The thing about science is that it’s never settled. There are always new tests and experiments. There’s always new discoveries. There’s no such thing as science deniers. There are only people who are continually asking questions, who are consistently skeptical,…
Person vs policy
Democrats don’t consider President Trump’s policies or their results. They simply do not like the man. They’ve built him up to be one of the worst people walking the earth and will everything they can to take him down. Many conservatives don’t particularly like President Trump, but they look at his record on job creation, deregulation, standing up for “the little guy,” calling out a hyper-partisan media, and reducing the role of government, and they’ll do anything to vote for him. For liberals, this election is about getting rid of Trump at all costs. For conservatives, this election is…
Diversity and inclusion is a blessing
Conservatives should rally around the diversity and inclusion movement in this country. All of the companies who are embracing diversity and inclusion and adding “D&I” staff to their human resources departments are opening doors for conservatives that had long been shut. Instead of having to hide their conservatism and sound like a liberal in job interviews and within their digital footprint, conservative candidates can come out of the proverbial closet and celebrate their diversity of thought in an environment that is now actively seeking it. We can only hope this emphasis on diversity and inclusion takes off across the…
The greatest tweet of 2020
It’s a bit of an understatement to say a lot has happened in 2020. But with all of the strange twists and unexpected events, the greatest, and perhaps most important tweet of the year was just sent: Or so I thought. I considered this the most important because a very high profile person contracted COVID, survived it, and wrote this key idea: “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.” But then I saw another, more important tweet, a little bit later: On COVID: “Don’t let it dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it. Don’t let…
Voting early is a bad idea
If you voted when early voting started, you missed Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, a new Supreme Court nominee, and now Donald Trump getting COVID. What if Donald Trump dies? Heck, what if Joe Biden dies? There’s so much that can still happen between now and the election. What if one of them died and you didn’t like the replacement. Especially if you voted for the one who passed away. You would have wasted your vote, and you couldn’t get it back. There’s simply no reason to vote early. It eats away at our system and makes for voters who…
Proud boys
Boy, do I feel silly. All this time, I thought the Proud Boys were a gay men’s organization. Looks like I was off a bit on that one. Turns out it’s a white supremacist organization with a black international leader, Enrique Tarrio, and a noteworthy number of black members. They must be the self-loathing blacks that some people study. (I just saw a headline that reads “Black leader insists Proud Boys are not white supremacists… I guess this is where we are in the “age of science.”) It’s a good thing I have a reliable media to help me…
Early voting bites Biden
On Thursday, the Biden campaign made the decision to start doing door-to-door campaigning in some of the key battleground states. Up until now, they had been resisting it based largely on COVID fears. Ironically, it’s also the Democrats and the Biden campaign who have always supported early voting and have been telling people to get out and vote as early (and often) as possible. Looks like they created a situation in which they may be too late. On paper, the election is November 3, but if you’ve already voted, the election already happened.