What is it that unifies Democrats? What draws people to the Democrat Party? Why do people vote for them? Sometimes I wonder if the biggest draw to the Democrat Party isn’t stopping conservatives. Democrats spend so much time demonizing conservatives as being evil, racist, bigoted, sexist, domestic terrorist conspiracy theorists, that I can’t help but wonder just how deliberate of a strategy is it really? Do the party leaders truly see this as the path to growing the base and voting out conservatives? How many people who identify as a Democrat or vote for Democrat candidates are motivated by…
If everyone were like me
Someone recently yelled at me, “You just want everyone to be like you.” The first pass, natural reaction is to conclude that’s a bit unreasonable. No one wants a world full of people who are all the same. But then I thought about it a bit more and considered the concept. If everyone were like me, they wouldn’t care how much money others had. They wouldn’t care what celebrities do with their free time or money. They wouldn’t watch or listen to corporate media. People would be nice to everyone and try to be helpful when and where possible….
The steep price of experience
The first time you do anything is always the hardest. You don’t know what to expect. You don’t know what the experience will be. There are things you won’t anticipate. Once you have experience, you can start anticipating and navigating a bit better. You’ll be more effective. It’s a better place to be when you’re handling something big. Or is it? When someone you love is going through something horrible, it’s very difficult for friends and family to handle or navigate. Second-guessing is at an all time high. You’re always searching for the right thing, but rarely do you…
Ignorance is not hate
While channel-surfing recently, I came across a story on ESPN about the Nebraska women’s golf team. A Muslim woman had recently made the team, and that was the first exposure for many of the team’s women to a Muslim. In the brief time I was watching, the coach was talking about how many of the women on the team were from Nebraska or neighboring states and had never met a Muslim before. She mentioned there were many questions, and the team was learning a lot about their new teammate. I noticed that the coach didn’t mention the team all…
An act of beauty
This week, I watched as a nursing home nurse did everything she could to make a man in hospice care feel not only comfortable, but understood and cared for. I’ve been told by a few nurses with nursing home experience that the default assumption of most nurses in that environment is that the residents suffer some form of dementia. They didn’t say that lightly, or that it means they care less than they may otherwise. It just speaks to how they approach the conversation and how much they take a residents word for anything. But in this case, the…
It matters because it doesn’t matter
The Human Torch is a member of Marvel’s Fantastic Four. The Fantastic Four sometimes referred to as Marvel’s “first family” because Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) is the brother of Sue Storm (the Invisible Woman), and they were one of the first modern era heroes in the Marvel Universe. Johnny Storm is, and has always been, a white character. In the last failed attempt to make a Fantastic Four movie, before Marvel reclaimed the film rights, black actor, Michael B. Jordan, was cast as Johnny Storm. Many long-time Marvel fans were angry about this and were consequently labeled as…
What if we’ve overcorrected?
According to organizations like Black Lives Matter and it’s supporters, this country is rife with systemic racism, including a police force that hunts and kills innocent black men and women, an election system that prevents blacks from voting, and a social undercurrent of distrust for black people on the street. If this is true, then by gosh, we need to solve it immediately. That means we can’t wait for nature to take its course. We can’t wait for racists to die away. We can’t let the empirical evidence of more and more blacks working, owning homes, owning businesses, and…
Following the science?
The Milwaukee Brewers open their 2021 season today in a day game against the Minnesota Twins. Fans will be back in attendance, as stadium officials are allowing 25% of capacity. If you look at the Brewers website, you will see a list of COVID protocols. One of them is as follows: “American Family Field is certified by the Global Biorisk Advisory Council “GBAC”, a comprehensive system of cleaning, disinfection, and infectious disease prevention.” (I know, it’s an awkward sentence, but I didn’t write or edit it.) Growing up, we were allowed and encouraged to go play and get into…