Why Joe Biden? The Big Mistake of 2020- 7/28/2022

Oops. Stumbled again!

When I look at President Biden's abysmal performance, how Democrats came to choose Joe Biden as their guy is a real head scratcher. The guy is just awful at the job. I've counted the ways he's bad in past blogs, so I won't rehash them again. This post is not about election integrity, 2020 voter fraud or other cheating, either. It is simple me expressing my opinion of how Joe Biden became the Democratic candidate, and ultimately our President, and by how I mean the rationale, the reasons. Here they are and my assessment of those "hows", too.

1. "We are a deeply divided nation and Joe Biden is a uniter. He can bring us together." I haven't seen it. I'm not feeling it. That's what we were told, but it's not true. Joe is as much a partisan and every bit a part of the division and rancor and anyone else. He has a temper and showed his ass a number of times in public settings when challenged or faced with dissent. "I don't work for you!"

2. "Joe Biden is the only one of them who can beat Trump." I don't know how much the cheating impacted the result, but I do agree, Trump would have fared better against every single other Democratic Party hopeful who took part in the primaries.

3. "Joe Biden will bring about a return to normalcy in Washington." That didn't work out. Nope. The Jan 6th Committee, protests at SCOTUS Justice's houses, etc. The place is every bit the circus it was under Trump. We just got some new clowns, and we still have way too many of the same old clowns. But we don't have normal.

4. "It's Joe Biden's time." No it wasn't. He's way past his prime. He couldn't get past other nominees in previous presidential campaigns earlier in his career when he was in better shape mentally and physically. Now a mere shell of himself it's his time? Hell no. He's way, way past prime time. Maybe it was "his turn", but it was a mistake, a real boner. His time is long past.

Sometimes the electorate makes a mistake. Now you know how the big mistake of 2020 was made.

An Open Letter to My Democrat Friends, I Want to Understand - 7/27/2022

In the last 30 to 40 years, political polarization in the US has gotten worse and worse. I am not going to cite instance after instance. But I will say we have gotten more and more tribal and that the feuding and hostility between tribes has ratcheted up in and during each and every Presidential Administration and campaign since Reagan. It reached a critical mass during the Clinton years. Then there were the Bush years, need I say more? By the time the Obama years were upon us, social media became a factor, joining a corrupt and biased media complex intent in creating division among us. If media sowed the seeds of division among us, social media was and surely is the fertilizer of it. I thought that the division had reached it's summit with Trump. I was wrong. The Biden years are proving to be every bit as divided and caustic. Touted as a uniter, Biden has done none of that. I actually think things are worse now than ever between us. I am NOT blaming Biden for that, but I AM saying he sure as hell isn't a unifying figure. I cannot think of a single issue about which I thought the Biden Administration was reaching out to me as a conservative, not with an olive branch of reconciliation, not with an offer of peace, not with anything. Not ever. Not at all.

So, rather than letting media or social media speak for me and letting anyone presume to know what I think, let me lay it out for you.

I don't hate you or distrust you because you're a Democrat. I hate some of the politicians who are standard bearers for your party, but I know most of you, if not all you who I am blessed to call my friends, are good people and well-intentioned. But there is so much that I simply do not understand.

I want to understand how you feel about the issues that divide us. I remember in 2016 an exchange with a Democrat friend who wanted to know why I was supporting Trump. I told him the same thing I still believe today: that Trump is a highly imperfect person, detestable in many ways, but that he seemed to me to be the only political figure on the scene with the USA's best interests at heart. ALL the others, at every point on the political spectrum, seemed to me to be compromised by special interests, domestic and foreign. This to me still seems the case.

I want to understand. The US was built on a foundation of immigrants who came here to better themselves. I am totally in support of the US continuing this tradition, The waves of people coming here illegally is NOT in keeping with anything resembling that tradition, in my opinion. Why do you not object to the immigration crisis taking place in the USA right now? If this is okay in your opinion, why and how do we move forward with 1,000,000 and more every year coming in undocumented and as of now under Biden, unfettered?

I want to understand. Desiring cleaner energy and protecting our environment is a good and righteous thing. Do you really and truly believe that the Biden Administration's energy policies have had no bearing on fuel prices, and that this is strictly a Putin issue? Is the Biden Administration handling this issue well, and if you believe that is the case, please tell me how you see the balance between green energy policy and energy prices playing out now and moving forward. Who is it that you trust to make the right moves for mom and pop and Joe Six Pack moving forward?

I want to understand. Every social issue today seems to be controlled by extremists on both sides, but in as much as your side presently controls both bodies in Congress, and the White House, are you well represented on social issues? For example, are you in agreement that we should no longer refer to the people who gave birth to us as "mothers", and instead ought to call them "people who give birth"? The whole gender thing totally befuddles me. Sure, gender dysphoria is a thing. There are people who identify as the opposite gender from the one we would define by what's in their pants or their DNA. I don't mind letting them live in a way that will allow them to feel at home and at peace with their self identity. But the movement seems instead to want to undermine all of us whose self-identity is aligned with more traditional definitions of male and female, boy and girl, man and woman. I don't understand how Disney World discontinuing welcoming "boys and girls" of all ages makes society a better place. I don't understand how medical professionals advocating that we discontinue the process of gendering newborns until they are old enough to make that determination of their own free will makes society a better place for us all. Help me to understand that. If you think think that this is the right thing for society, I want to understand how and why. If you don't, why do I not hear Democrats objecting vociferously?

I want to understand. Almost 60 years have passed since the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 was passed. Most of our largest cities have large minority populations and also are and have been under liberal or Democratic leadership for most of that time. Do we still have the kind of racial oppression that warranted passage of the 1964 law? If so, has the leadership to which I referred failed minorities? Help me to understand.

I want to understand. Do you think schools K-12 and colleges and universities in 2022 are meeting our society's education needs as they translate to the educated's contributions to a thriving and productive society?

I want to understand. What are the top 3 or 4 political issues that will most influence you in the mid-terms and then in the 2024 General Election? I hesitate to tell mine, as I am not looking for your response to my opinion, I want to understand your opinions.

I would love to see you rank, first to last, your preference for President in 2024 if the following were your choices and specifically why you feel of all these this person best represents your views. Ignore their ages, this is more a hypothetical to see where their/your views align. I want to understand.

Joe Biden. Kamala Harris, Joe Manchin, Kristen Sinema, Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Alexandria Occasio-Cortez, Maxine Waters, Liz Cheney, Andrew Cuomo, Michelle Obama.

Pick one only and help me to understand how their position on issues reflects your views and your desires for our future. Again please ignore age, which I know for several of these is a reason they're not a realistic candidate.

Were you able to get through all that? Extra credit if you got through all that and never mentioned Trump in response to my questions. If "Trump" was indeed a part of your logic to answer these, may I respectfully request that you try again? Trump shouldn't be inside your head. If he is he's clouding your vision. No offense.

Reading US History and a Stunning Analogy - 7/23/2022

I read a lot of US history. I'm currently reading the first volume of Shelby Foote's famous Civil War trilogy, The Civil War: A Narrative. Vol 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville (1958). Note that it was written in 1958, a year after I was born. I would have read it sooner, but we were at the library and mom realized that I had a poopy diaper. Then I just never got around to it. But I finally have, and I'm reading it now. As I am reading, I'm about 100 pages in, Foote's description of the issue(s) leading up to the war stike me as stunning. The cliché, 'those who ignore history are damned to repeat it' rings in my ears.

Slavery was a moral abomination and is a stain on our history.

The reason for the Civil War is almost always explained one of two ways: the war was over slavery, and the right to own slaves, or it is explained as being a war over 'states rights'. The latter, 'states rights', is almost exclusively the basis cited by people sympathetic to the Confederacy's secession from and war with the Union. I don't ever recall, in my life, anyone justifying secession because they believe slavery was morally acceptable. 'States rights' is the way they justify it. Other people, me, believe the war was fought over slavery. Do southern states or did/do the people in them have the right to own slaves? Both explanations for the war are right, each in their own way, but neither reason answers the other.

Slavery is a moral issue, cut and dry. It is either OK to own slaves or it isn't. It is either OK to think of Black people are lesser forms of life, unworthy of equal standing with whites, or it isn't. But you won't hear hardly anyone who sees the war as having been one over states rights ever even address the morality or immorality of slavery. As I read about the dispute and the rhetoric surrounding it, I had a wow moment. 'States rights' was and is a damned cop out. I suppose it was way easier to look one's own self in the mirror for standing up for states rights than it was to look in the mirror and feel pride in making the case that slavery was morally acceptable, that Black people are some lesser form of life. Is slavery morally acceptable? Are Blacks lesser beings? How does history judge it?

I am trying to keep this short. Well, at least I'm trying to.

Is not abortion/the right to choose nearly a perfect analogy to the Civil War? Abortion is a moral issue, it is either OK to abort, or it isn't. I can entertain the validity of discussion of viability, and that the morality of the issue may change as each pregnancy progresses toward term, but whether or not the act is moral or immoral can't be discarded from the debate. If you think the act is moral, then say it. 'A woman's right to choose' and 'a woman must not be told what she can and can't do with her own body' are cop out arguments, plain and simple, not at all unlike the way that 'states rights' was a cop out for justifying slavery.

It was like feeling a feeling of deja-vu all over again.

States rights and the right to choose are both arguments that sidestep the important moral question to resolve debate to a desired end. We know how, enlightened by the passage of time, history now judges slavery. It will be well beyond my time in this life, but someday history will pass its judgement on abortion or the right to choose, too.

Jan 6th, Why I'm Not Watching, Why I Don't Care - 7/22/2022

Jan 6th hearings are designed to damage Trump politically.

I'm not watching.

I don't care.

Before I proceed, let me say this: What happened on January 6th was wrong and it was tragic. It was a mistake from the get go. I believe protests over the conduct and execution of the 2020 election WERE appropriate, but January 6th in Washington, DC, the date and place set for the Electoral College to do it's thing was simply the wrong time and place. 

Furthermore, as January 6th unfolded, I felt that it was incumbent on President Trump to publicly and loudly discourage and disavow any illegal acts of protest at all, and in real time.

OK, so I am not giving a pass. So, why am I not watching?

Nothing will be done to look at the basis for the protests. Nothing. I can cite a long list of pre-election, Election Day, and post-Election Day improprieties and illegalities. Every rule was bent and twisted in ways that created doubt of the legitimacy of the process, at least in my mind as I watched it play out in real time. Do I KNOW that the election was stolen? No. Richard Baris, the People's Pundit, a pollster who I trust, warned that GA and PA were definitely in play for the Democrats. I knew from that that it would be close and could go either way. Further, I recognized how much dislike and disdain so many had of Trump's personality and style. Even so, I either underestimated, or something fishy went on for Joe Biden, a guy who didn't even have a legitimate campaign getting 81,000,000 votes. It felt and still feel like something fishy went on.

There is nothing bi-partisan about staffing a committee with only people vehement opponents to and antagonists to the subject of its investigation, in this case, Trump. There is no serious cross-examination of witnesses that might undermine their recollection, motive, or honesty in testifying.

The same clowns on the Democrat side of this committee were Russian collusion hoaxers and bogus impeachment participants. These clowns abandoned every single morsel of possible credibility with me in the 6 years since the Hillary Clinton Russian collusion hoax was perpetrated on us, leading to a bogus Mueller investigation. Now you want me to salivate watching these same scumbags stage a kangaroo court, show trial? Fuck that. Fuck them.

In the end they will prove NOT that Trump was part of a conspiracy, but that he exercised poor judgement and inactivity when he ought to have spoke up. The depth of his sense of betrayal by partisans who controlled the electoral process and his belief in the unfairness of the election, which is why, in my opinion, that he didn't do the right thing, will NOT be explored.

Nothing I didn't already believe to be the case will come from it, and nothing to encourage me about the sanctity, safety, and security of our elections moving forward will be presented. On the positive side, though, I now have another couple of Republican names to despise, one being Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.

Rep. Cheney's opponent is Harriet Hageman. I just donated to Hageman's campaign. Liz Cheney must go.

Immigration, Our National Disgrace - 7/21/2022

In my opinion, President Biden is a terrible President. He's not just bad, he's inept. What are his weak areas? Everything. All of them. He's terrible. And what is his biggest failure? Energy? It's bad, but no. Inflation? Worst in 40 years. No again. Foreign policy? Afghan withdrawal? Education? Nope, no, nah.

Immigration and handling of migrants entering illegally is the topper. I saw one projection that we are on track for 6 million illegal immigrants by the end of the President's term in January of 2025. To put 6 million into perspective, here are the US most populous cities in 2022, according to the Census Bureau:

1. New York City, NY (Population: 8,622,357)
2. Los Angeles, CA (Population: 4,085,014)
3. Chicago, IL (Population: 2,670,406)
4. Houston, TX (Population: 2,378,146)
5. Phoenix, AZ (Population: 1,743,469)
6. Philadelphia, PA (Population: 1,590,402)
7. San Antonio, TX (Population: 1,579,504)
8. San Diego, CA (Population: 1,469,490)
9. Dallas, TX (Population: 1,400,337)
10. San Jose, CA (Population: 1,036,242)

So 6 million is more than the population of any US city except New York. 6 million is greater than the population of 31 states was in 2021. Conversely, or another way to put it, only 19 states have a population of 6 million or more. 6 million is approximately equal to the population of Maryland or Missouri.

We don't have infrastructure for these people. We don't have the legal capacity (courtrooms, judges, law enforcement, etc.) to process them even if we did. I remember an old cliche, one you may not be familiar with, maybe you are. It says, "If you owe the bank $10,000.00 and you can't pay it back, you're in trouble. If you owe the bank $10,000,000.00 and you can't pay it back, the banker is in trouble." 100,000 people entering our country illegally is far too many. 1.5 million per year? Beyond unmanageable by several magnitudes.

Our leadership has failed us on this. Congress... fail. DHS... fail. CBP... fail. President Biden? Massive massive massive fail. During a Democratic Presidential Debate in 2020, Biden went along with all the other candidates, saying people here illegally should be entitled to taxpayer funded healthcare. Yeah, he did. So don't even try to tell me he didn't roll out the welcome mat and turn on the neon "come on over" signs. Fail, fail, fail, fail. He put Vice President Kamala Harris in charge of the border, remember? Fail.

Before I close by stating my own proposals, let me state for the record. I do not dislike immigrants, Mexican, other Hispanics or any other on the basis of nationality, race, or religion. LGBTQ+ etc, etc. Good people are good people. Bad are bad, it cuts across oll demographics. Because of the sheer numbers, it is imperative to state explicitly again though, that I do not hate Mexican or other Hispanic people. I truly believe that like anyone else, the majority of immigrants are good people looking to better their lives. But like the $10k vs. $10 mil cliche, with as many as 6 million illegal immigrants in 4 years, we are in trouble. It is a broken dam and we are downstream being flooded. It's a major problem.

What do I propose? And, by the way, I wish Republicans, who at least would seem to align more closely with my views, would make some real proposals on the issue. They won't. Because they suck. Short of hanging out the welcome sign like Biden and the Democrats have, Republicans are still a major problem here. It takes two to tango, and our failed leadership in D.C. are doing a two party shuffle dance that is far more spasmodic than rhythmic.

1. Build a wall. Yes, with doors and a way in, but channel people to entry points. A big, hard to circumvent wall. A barrier to illegal entry as best as possible. 

2. Beef up ALL aspects of immigrant processing, especially appointing enough background investigators, clerical, law enforcement, health and human services persons, and judicial staff to process immigrants and asylum seekers in a timely manner. A good portion of our illegal immigration is because legal immigration is slow enough to be called next to impossible.

3. (Congress) Reform immigration law. Make it easier for hardworking, needed workers to enter. On the other hand, make it more difficult for criminals, drug and human traffickers to come in and or to stay if they're her already. A Constitutional Amendment that differentiates between people here legally and those who are here illegally would be excellent. Give illegals 12 months, maybe 24, or some other finite period to declare their presence and enjoin a process of legalization. At the conclusion, they are legal aliens, no longer illegal. This amendment would once and for all settle the question, are illegal immigrants entitled to taxpayer funded benefits? Not just no, HELL NO!

4. Make a path to legal status and eventually to citizenship for law abiding, hard working immigrants, even those now here illegally. Deal HARSHLY with criminal illegal aliens guilty of violent crimes, drug or human trafficking. When I say harshly, I mean as harsh as possibly short of cruel and unusual.

If I had my way, tens of millions of people here now illegally will be able to come out of the shadows, allowed to live well, prosper, and legally contribute to American greatness (I love that phrase). Many, many criminals will be deported.

President Biden is a failure at nearly everything. It's time we wake up and see that. And while we're at it, to put his totally and completely failed immigration policies at the top of that dubious list of failures. But when it comes to US immigration failure, Congress, and I mean on both sides of the aisle, have also failed us. Biden does not deserve to be blamed alone, there is blame to go around. Plenty.

 

Indiana Mall Shooting Quick Hitters - 7/18/2022

A good guy with a gun killed a bad guy with a gun. We need more good guys with guns killing bad guys with guns. Yes, I said what I said.

If you don't like the idea of good guys with guns, what's your plan to disarm bad guys? I guarantee your plan will only or mostly disarm good guys. Bad guys won't play along. Why? They're bad guys. So, about your plan... It's a dumb plan.

How come this happened yesterday and they still haven't released the mall killer's identity? The killer is dead, right? It's probably going to turn out the scumbag was well known to authorities or to people in the community. What makes me say that? Because it's consistently the case. Not 100% of the time, but frequently enough that it's a fairly safe bet.

Another thought, I note that in addition to lacking a name, the shooter's ethnicity and race are also unreported in the stories I read. Maybe the race is out there somewhere else, I don't know. I will only say that in general when it's a white male race info seems to get reported right away. Again, it's not a 100% truth, but it does seem like reporters are either simply more comfortable reporting that the bad guy is white, or worse, they do so purposely to advance an agenda.

To the preceding paragraph: I don't give a shit what color the bad guy was. Bad guys are bad guys and it ain't about color, it's about character and behavior. I'm all for bad guys of every color who perpetrate criminal violence meeting their makers. This includes mall shooters and bodega bullies.

Lastly, it's sad for the victims and their families. People went to a mall, maybe looking for shoes, earrings, a new iPhone, or blue jeans, and some evil creep stole their loves and their lives from them without warning. May God give them all the comfort and strength they need.

"The Shot" - 7/15/2022 - 2

Covid Boosters

I got the initial Vaccine in January of 2021. Then I got the booster. I even went and got a second booster. I get a flu shot every year. I've got my old people's shots, too: the shingles and pneumonia vaccines. So don't call me an anti-vaxxer. History would show that you were wrong to do so.

If I ever get another Covid booster, they'll have to have made a better case than they have to this point to convince me it's in my best interest. By my reckoning, the risks of getting it verses not getting it no longer tilt toward getting it. The stuff has shown to be less and less effective as the virus mutates to evade it. Hell, one guy I know got the shot a month ago, his second booster, and three weeks later he got Covid. I didn't see his, "so thankful I was boosted now that I got Covid" tweet.

And before you jump in with the "they never said you wouldn't catch it if you get the shot" bullshit, yes they did. Lemme ask you one, simple question: If getting the shot never meant that you wouldn't catch it, then why in the hell did they refer to something called "breakthrough cases" or "breakthrough infections"? They don't talk about breakthrough infections anymore, now do they? No, they damned sure don't. That terminology has disappeared. Why?

This quote is from early last year. Posted for liars who say, "They never said that." Yeah, they did.