Category: Government

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Funny, I don’t feel any better!

President Joe Biden gave a speech last night.

Normally, I dutifully ignore his speeches because they are often full of inaccuracies and hyperbole. This is true of most speeches any President, Premier, Prime Minister, Potentate, Dictator, or whatever may make.

I would have ignored the Biden Speech as well. Except that all the sudden my phone started buzzing with News Alerts. Those too I would have ignored, except for this image.

GettyImages 1242872745

Upon seeing this image, I pulled up the entire speech and sat through all 29 grueling minutes.

I was very annoyed at the fact that I had to keep adjusting the volume on the TV to hear him. One second, he’s whispering and the next he’s bellowing. (I feel really sorry for the sound crew. They must have been losing their minds too.)

On the one hand The President was saying some things I actually agree with. We should all be working together, political violence is wrong.

Okay, I thought, “I agree with you.”

Then The President veered into his MAGA, Semi-Fascist, rhetoric and he totally lost me.

The President wanted us to know that he doesn’t hate all Republicans. He came close to sounding like the racist who proudly tells someone he has Black Friends. The President wanted us to know he knows America’s heart. That didn’t quite ring true because he is clearly not listening to an increasing number of Americans of all stripes who say they think the country is heading in the wrong direction, (If polls are to be believed.)

I’m a visual kind of guy.

As The President and The First Lady walked out to the podium the lighting was a basic white reflecting off Independence Hall. Then as The President started talking the lighting changes to a somber angry red. This isn’t a color scheme that’s uplifting, it’s dark, brooding, and forbidding.

I found the whole image profoundly disturbing. Perhaps this is because in my visual memory are images of Adolf Hitler giving fiery speeches decrying the evil of the Juden against a background of Nazi flags.

Adolf Hitler speaking at the Lustgarten Berlin 1938

There was something really off about The President’s speech painting Independence Hall in that somber red flanked by Marines.

Perhaps it’s just that I’m old enough that we studied Hitler and Nazism in depth, in Social Studies. Let me say, Hitler was a fantastic orator. The cadence of the words in his speeches was mesmerizing even if you didn’t understand German.

Apologies for this image of Hitler’s back, there are very few surviving color images from that time. This one came to mind but the first one I thought of was him at a podium with the Nazi flag behind him. I can’t locate that image online right now.

The more The President spoke about the threats to Democracy and the danger of MAGA Republicans. The more I felt like I’d heard speeches like this before. Thankfully President Biden isn’t the orator that Hitler or other despots were.

But by the end of his speech I was profoundly uncomfortable. I didn’t sleep well last night at all.

I’m not a MAGA Republican. That being said, Hillary versus Trump was the first time I’d never cast a vote for President.

Two questionable choices isn’t a choice. Voting for bad or worse isn’t a viable option for the future of our nation.

In 2020, presented with Trump versus Biden. I voted for Trump. It was a simple choice because Biden was such a poor candidate, and Trump was the “Devil” we knew.

By that time, Trump had survived an impeachment, the Steele Dossier had been disproven, and claims of Russian Collusion were falling apart too. Trump is definitely not a saint, but by 2020 it had become fairly obvious that something more was afoot. The man called it as he saw it, sometimes he called it wrong but at least he spoke plainly. He didn’t take any bullshit.

By 2020 we’d seen the hypocrisy of many in Congress and the double standards were being exposed. The economy was running well, at least until COVID, yet even in the face of COVID, I think people were still pretty positive given the circumstances.

Does that make me a MAGA?

I don’t think so.

I am in favor of an America first agenda. I don’t think rabid nationalism is the solution, but I have no problem thinking of my nation first. I don’t see that as a crime, or particularly selfish. We shouldn’t be feeding our enemies when people in our own country are homeless and hungry.

I’ve always appreciated the wisdom of the airline flight safety briefing.

“In the event of cabin depressurization, secure your oxygen mask before helping others.”

That concept of securing my own well being so that I have the strength and capacity to help others is just plain common sense.

The more President Biden spoke, the more my mind played tricks on me. In my mind’s eye I saw the background of speech altering. By the time The President finished speaking…

Biden Speech Altered 1

This is what was in my mind’s eye. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t sleep well. I couldn’t shake the image.

The Marines standing in the background was completely un-necessary and I took it as an implied threat. Recently President Biden has said essentially, if you’re worried about giving up your AR-15s or other guns you shouldn’t because we have F-15s and your guns aren’t going to be much use against them.

He couched that in more florid terms but that’s what his statements have boiled down to in my head.

Marines standing behind The President comes across as a threat. Those Marines didn’t appear to be armed, they were too far from The President to afford much in the way of protection. The construction of the stage, walkway, and position of the podium itself precluded either of those Marines from taking action if The President was threatened.

They were Window Dressing.

The choice of location for this speech was also disturbing. Independence Hall, the place where our Founding Fathers debated and approved both, The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution is a place that has very special meaning.

President Biden has said publicly that The Constitution is not absolute. During his speech, he singled out a group of Americans that simply disagree with he and his party. Mind you this is a group of people exercising their First Amendment right to free speech and that includes their right to disagree.

Somehow, The President’s speech and his earlier comments about The Constitution made it seem like he was intentionally defiling Independence Hall.

I want to believe that wasn’t his intention. I want to believe that his handlers and “Show Runners” just didn’t think about it in that light.

Nonetheless, it still feels like somehow The President diminished the revered status of the site last night.

As a conservative leaning Libertarian this President concerns me greatly.

This speech left a very bad taste in my mouth and I suspect that it had the same effect on millions of other people who generally speaking, are middle of the road politically.

The President may have created more MAGA Semi-Fascists last night than he intimidated.

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The so called Student Debt Forgiveness isn’t forgiveness.

On the one hand I have to say that some of the lending practices are predatory.

How can they not have been? You’ve got kids graduating from High School, without much in the way of financial knowledge. I’ve known kids who couldn’t balance their checkbook. In some cases they don’t understand how credit cards can suck you down the tube if you’re not paying attentions to interest rates.

For a High School graduate to show up on a college campus, someplace they’ve been told all their lives they have to attend, and seeing how much it’s going to cost, then being offered a loan that pays for it all. This is perhaps predatory by its nature.

Maybe the 101 classes for a new college student should be basic money management and understanding how compound interest works. Those classes should be attended before they’ve committed to anything.

Then with the student armed with real world useful information they can make an informed decision about taking out the loan and perhaps this would inform the student’s choice of major.

All that being said, this Federal Loan Forgiveness isn’t forgiveness.

Loan forgiveness would be the lender says “We’re reducing your existing loan by 10,000” and the lender would take the loss.

This situation our Government is going to pay 10,000 to the lenders. Where does that money come from, from the American Taxpayers.

What this means is that folks who’ve paid their loans off, and folks that went to trade schools, and folks who just went to work out of High School will in fact, be paying for college. Not for themselves, but for other people that made poor or uninformed decisions.

At its core, this is indentured servitude.

Taxpayers are being forced to work for someone else.

I was reminded of the quote from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.

“I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.”

– Ayn Rand

This one also sprung to mind;

“The moral justification of capitalism is man’s right to exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself.”

– Ayn Rand

This is not to imply that I’m heartless. Although, I can be.

The question that springs to my mind is; “Would people respond well to a stranger walking into their home and simply taking one of their possessions?”

I’d suggest that most people would react poorly. I believe that most people would get angry even if the person “Needed” the item.

Yet we’re expected to accept precisely this proposition via our taxation process. As if the taxation process somehow changes the basic wrongness of theft. Taxation like this is just theft with extra steps.

I’ve always been skeptical of those who’ve expressed the concept that Taxation is theft. But in light of this loan forgiveness plan coming out of the Biden Administration, I’m rethinking my former skepticism.

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The Democrat Party has shit the bed!

After the Mar a Largo raid, (discounting all the Democrat mouthpieces,) it looks like even moderate Democrats are rethinking their party affiliation.

There have been articles scattered around the media talking about Democrats bailing to the Republican side of the party divide for months. On Tuesday, I read one from Philadelphia where a life long Democrat said she could no longer support the party.

Her comment was telling, “The Party left me…”

I felt the same way about the Republican Party several years ago. I truly understand what she’s feeling and how strangely disconnected she feels.

For me leaving the Republican Party, the party of my Father, was difficult. The Democrat Party was equally unappealing. They claimed to be two sides of the coin but as I read and observed their stated positions versus their behavior they weren’t at the time all that different from each other.

So I found a party that at least on the surface appeared to hold beliefs in common with my own. Registering with them ensured that I’d be voting in primaries.

For better or worse, I stand by that decision.

I mentioned to my brother the other day that for the first time in my life I really feared for our Republic…

Yes, boys and girls… We live in a Constitutional Republic.

In this age of almost total functional illiteracy the difference is almost always lost or obfuscated. When politicians are screaming about a threat to our Democracy, they’re talking through their hat. We don’t actually live in a Democracy so there’s nothing to fear losing.

Politicians saying that we have to protect our Democracy are either lying or incompetent. Either way they don’t deserve to be in office.

DEMOCRACY REPUBLIC
Ruled by a majority that enjoys unlimited power. Minority groups have no protection. Follows a written Constitution that protects the rights of the minority from being infringed upon by the majority.
Individuals can make their own decisions except in those situations that the majority has limited. Generally, individuals can make their own decisions, especially in situations where the Constitution protects their “unalienable rights.”
While all citizens supposedly have a say in government and are to be treated as equals, the majority often ends up tyrannically ruling the minority. Generally, all citizens are supposed to have an equal say and be treated equally, especially as protected under the Constitution.
The United States is commonly confused for a democracy. However, the will of the people should not, and does not, change the rules that limit the government’s power. Article 4, Section 4 defines the United States as a Republic.
Freedom of religion is permitted to the extent that the majority does not limit religious freedom for the minority. Generally, religious freedom is permitted, especially as protected under the Constitution
Private property is permitted, though the majority may place limits on the property rights of the minority. Generally, private property is permitted, especially as protected under the Constitution.
Great Thanks to Legaldictionary.net

I’m an ignorant Redneck with a diploma from a fly-over state. But, I can read! I also know that any words I don’t understand are defined in a dictionary somewhere and how to look up those words.

…My Brother agreed. He’s more of the history buff in the family and is much better versed in law as a former LEO.

He was raised in a different household than I, and attended school in a completely different State. However, he wasn’t surprised that I knew the difference between a Constitutional Republic and a straight Democracy.

Reading in our family is very important.

His reply was people demanding “Democracy” wouldn’t be happy if they got it. The table above from legaldictionary.net provides insight into why that would be.

In fact the whole article linked above is a short but interesting read. I recommend it.

The behavior of the Current Administration and their minions in Congress have frankly scared the hell out of me. Apparently this is true of a lot of other Americans.

Now that moderate Democrats are also waking up to the threat, the question is what will be done about it.

We’ve seen multiple examples of Two Tiered Justice. Examples of actions that look a lot more like a police state than a country governed by laws equally applied to everyone. We’ve seen what ungoverned “Majority Rule” looks like when mobs of people don’t like something.

And all the while we’ve heard Politicians and Media making excuses about why this ungoverned majority should get a pass and the other ungoverned majority shouldn’t.

It’s possible large swaths of the American people are functionally illiterate and perhaps didn’t attend civics or government classes. That does not mean that they can’t see where unequal justice is leading.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist.

At the most absurd of extremities Democracy without constitutional limitations evolves into tyranny & tribalism. If the majority in one area chooses to ostracize minority members of that area. Then the minority members will leave the area in search of others where they will be a majority.

The likely outcome is city-states, potentially governed by tyrannical leaders.

What happens then, we can observe through the lens of historical fact. Or just through the lens of our Televisions because it’s happening today in various places around the world.

Divisions over race, religion and politics, leading to conflict and suffering. My description is simplistic and does not address all the nuance but Israel & Palestine? Russia & Ukraine? South Africa? Massacres of Christians in Muslim countries? Massacres of Muslims in Buddhist countries? No-Go Zones in Sweden or Paris?

Ringing any bells?

Absolutely no American should be willing to give up our Constitutional Republic in favor of simple Democracy.

Every American should be screaming at the top of their lungs at Congress to return to the fundamentals of our Constitution and the protection against tyranny it insures.

Simply put. If one group is treated differently, then no group is safe.

The first step is to dismiss from their post, anyone in Congress who refers to our Government as a Democracy. Those calling the United States a Democracy clearly don’t get it.

Or maybe they do get it, and hope you won’t.

Regardless, the Democratic Party has shit the bed.

They’ve made a lot more people ask WTF? That may lead to Democratic voters voting against their party candidates in November even if the voters don’t change Party.