Have I Moved Further to the Right? - 4/30/2022

Elon Musk tweeted a meme showing the shifting sand of the political spectrum moving to the left, and while he doesn't feel he himself has changed, how not only has he gone from center-left to center-right, but he also shows the far left now mocking him as a bigot.

Elon's meme

The meme has been responded to by the left with many, many claiming that the right has moved further to the right. I have also seen excuses made for the left's lurch, claiming that the left hasn't really moved at all, it is just hostage to the far left wing of the party, and have been hijacked leftward. Listen up, dumbasses. Hijacked left and held hostage there is still moved left. You can't be over there and say it's not your fault. That don't cut it with me. Be honest or shut the f*** up.

This is really what they think. I say, no. Hell no.

The meme did make me think, and left me analyzing my own self. Have I moved to the right? I think the answer is that in some ways, yes, and ion others, no. Let me give you a couple of examples.

First, abortion. I have always been 100% personally opposed to abortion. But I believed that my opposition was based on my religious beliefs, and if someone else made that choice, in my opinion it was between that person and God. It was legal and basically none of my business. I never liked it, nor supported it. I objected any and every time tax dollars would be used for abortions. I have always been uncomfortable that the bullshit phrase, safe, legal, and rare was used while 600,000 - 700,000 babies were being aborted annually in the US alone. Abortion has become a form of birth control and in that regard I despised it, but left it between those having the abortion and God and kept my mouth shut.

Michelle Wolf's "salute to Abortion" infuriated me to my core.

Then along came Michelle Wolf, who prior to this was unknown to me. She did a song and dance routine which was essentially a Fourth of July style parade celebrating the joys of abortion. It rocked my sould and my conscience. I was furious and angry, mostly at myself for my tolerance of killing babies. This wasn't the important personal decision, something safe, legal, and rare that I had been tolerating. This was disgusting anf totally unacceptable. My sensibilities were offended. Deeply. Permanently.

The New York Senate passed, then disgustingly cheered passing a law that legalized abortions all the way up till 9 months.

On Jan 22, 2019, the NY Senate passed a late term abortion bill that allowed abortions in NY up till the baby came to term. That was bad enough. Then the savage baby-killers stood and cheered. At that moment I no longer supported a woman's bullshit right to choose. The baby-killers had moved so far out to the fringe, treated killing babies so callously and so casually, even celebrating it, not just in entertainment like the disgusting Michelle Wolf, but in what should be a dignified setting, the New York Senate. They lit the Empire State Building up in pink, just for good measure. Disgusting.

Did I move to the right? I guess I did. But why? Because the left lurched so far and so appallingly left that I became absolutely and totally uncomfortable to be their accomplice any longer.

I support building a wall AND I am pro-immigration. I'm pro LEGAL immigration and anti-illegal immigration. It's not that complicated and they're not conflicting positions.

Another issue that is telling about my perceived move to the right has everything to do with Trump's famous and infamous "Build the wall" stuff. Immigration is and always has been an important hallmark of the United States of America as a nation and as an idea. I support immigration. However, I detest illegal immigration, and I blame politicians from both sides of the aisle in Congress for not reforming immigration law. We need immigrants for our work force. Period. What we also need, however, is vetting of immigrants. This illegal shit, where within the millions coming over illegally are criminals, drugs and human traffickers, is totally unacceptable. It had to and has to stop. I figured if Trump got his wall, then the onus would be squarely on the back of Congress to do it's job and put reformed immigration laws on the books that would end, or at least nearly end the illegal flow by making a legal entry possible. 

So, while my support for the wall was described as racist, anti-immigrant, xenophobic, and all the other phobes, the truth is it was simply a pragmatic decision on my part to support the wall as hopefully a means toward immigration reform. Fat chance. Trump and all his supporters like me have been vilified and characterized as racists and bigots and pointed out as extremists. Well, call me names all you want, I'm not. I want immigration reform and I am and have been disgusted and unhappy with Congress for not reforming US immigration law. The wall was and is, in my opinion, a last resort because our elected officials refuse to do their jobs. They seem to find benefit in the division and refrain from addressing it. They'd rather incite the base by arguing the issue than to do their job and fix it. That doesn't make me a bigot and it didn't move me to the right at all.