Where did this idea of “black lives matter” or “all lives matter” begin? Who would even think to say it. One of the foundational elements of America is that life is precious. We have an entire Constitution devoted to the idea that each individual only gets one life and they should be free to pursue their dreams with as little restriction as possible (usually defined by when one’s pursuit interferes with another). Life is taken for granted in this country. It’s one of our bedrocks. Life is important and precious, and it’s a tragedy every time a life is…
No debate = weak position
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…
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,…
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.
The diabolical Democrat strategy
Today I had an articulation. (When I have a revelation, it’s a new idea… a “eureka!” moment. But when I have an articulation, it’s when I finally am able to put words to vague idea that’s been rolling around in my head for awhile.) I finally figured out the diabolical, but impressively creative, Democrat strategy. They’ve been doing this in concentrated fashion for the last two or three years, though I think it’s been a vaguely coherent strategy for longer. In simple terms, they say things that are obvious to everyone, or that everyone does, like they don’t. They…
Paying reparations
Can you imagine if everyone who suffered an injustice were paid reparations? How would we determine whether or not it was an injustice? And if we all agree it was an injustice (I mean, injustice happens all the time, but it’s still interpreted very differently from person to person), was it severe enough to warrant reparations? What is the statute of limitations on reparations? I think we can all agree that slavery constitutes a grave injustice (that has been happening to people of all races and religions since the dawn of recorded human history). There’s slavery happening to this…
Choose your own election
Since I’ve been paying attention to American politics, I’ve always been fascinated by politicians who are seemingly universally disliked but still seem to win election after election after election. As a representative republic, it’s by design that we all vote for the person we want to represent our state or district. It’s one of the foundations of our Constitution and a great way to make sure we all have some sort of say. But imagine if we changed the rules. What if we made it so everyone was allowed to vote for one Senator and one Congressperson, but you…