People Are Not Illegal? - 5/13/2023

Calling them "illegal aliens"? is somehow offensive. A common retort these days is the defiant: "People are not illegal!"

When the come here illegally, what are they then, lady?

If a person robs a bank, are they not called a "bank robber"?

If a person steals a car, are they not called a "car thief"?

If a person rapes someone, are they not called a "rapist"?

If a person cheats on their taxes, are they not called a "tax cheat"?

If a person enters property they're not supposed to, are they not called a "trespasser"?

But somehow, foreign nationals, aka aliens, who cross our border and enter the US illegally, can't be called "illegal aliens"?

How fucking stupid do they think we are?

My Issues With Wokism - 5/12/2023

There was a time when the word "woke" was used differently. I'm not referring to usage as in, "I woke up at 7:15 to get ready for work," which would seem to be the traditional, textbook use of 'woke'. What I'm referring to came about in the 60's or 70's, I guess, around the time of, or soon after Civil Rights legislation of the mid-60's was put into effect. At that time, 'woke' was used, mostly by Black people, to express that they were aware what racism and prejudice are, and they weren't any longer going to look the other way when they see it and recognize it. When someone at that time said they were woke, what they were saying is that they were going to call a spade a spade (no racial pejorative intended or alluded to in the use of that cliche to describe what can also be described as 'calling it like I see it'). That's where woke entered into the conversation in a different context than getting up for work.

Today, 'woke' has taken on a much broader context. It starts with another phrase today: 'intersectionality'. This right of center opinion writer's take on intersectionality is that it refers to a collective alliance between diverse groups with leftward leanings on many issues. And before I delve into that, I'll start by pointing out that 'woke' is now used by anyone who's aligned and actively willing to speak out on all, some, or any of the issues of the left. Within the intersectionality concept there's a "Three Musketeers" kind of 'one for all and all for one' thing going on. What makes me, as a right of center guy, most uncomfortable with 'woke' as used in this intersectional context, is that for each and every one of the issues, the drivers and agenda pushers are at the left edge of the spectrum, the activists, not just left leaners. It seems the further from the center, the louder and more assertive the voices become. The far right has the same thing going on, but we don't have the same kind of nearly formal multi-issue alliance the left has built on the intersectionality foundation.

So for me, 'woke' has become a pejorative. It's a circle-jerk of the furthest left activism on a whole range of issues. It's wrong for me to characterize the whole of the left by its extreme parts? Blame intersectionality and the chorus of the loudest voices on the left that dominate what little dialogue there is out there. The right does the same thing you say? Well, maybe so. I'll take one issue as an example. January 6th. I have from the beginning BEFORE January 6, 2021 that holding a demonstration or protest on that day was one of those 'nothing good can come from it' deals. The protest ought to have been on the 3rd, 4th, or 5th, NOT on the day the Electoral College was set to vote. That being said, I had, and continue to have, my own concerns about the conduct of the 2020 Presidential Election. Recent revelations about the CIA's meddling have only strengthened my doubts. Many of the protesters in D.C. have similar concerns. We are not all insurrectionists. They were not all insurrectionists. Far from it. But that is the portrayal and that is the narrative used by nearly the entirety of the left when it comes to January 6th. The whole of the right lumped in with the extreme of the right (and a whole lot of US Government agitators and undercover entrappers).

I think the difference between the right and the left is the intersectional alliance on the left. It kind of reminds me of some of the worst aspects of a unionized workforce. While the union is for the good of the overall workforce, sometimes the tactics make members uncomfortable. "Our representation said what?" But, by and large the membership says nothing, because the collective is it's strength for the individual, and it's better to look the other way sometimes, because the same people are bringing better working conditions, wages, and benefits to the group. So what if we all agree the employee was in the wrong and deserved to be fired? If me or any other members get sideways with the company, won't we want to same fighters in our corner? You bet we will. So while the woke people are pushing for something stupid like allowing biological men who identify as women to destroy women's sports and undermine real women, the rest of the left is silent and complacent. After all, their pet issue requires the same unity. What's funny is how aghast they seem to be when the regular people who aren't activist and aren't woke at once and in unison say, "What the fuck?" I'm thinking Bud Lite and Dylan Mulvaney, for example. How could they have not seen the backlash coming? I mean, really.

One last thought about wokeness. There seems to me to be an unspoken other side of the coin. "We are woke. We are enlightened. We are educated. We understand. We have the answers." I'm not woke. That leaves me asleep, unenlightened, uneducated, lacking understanding, and without legitimate answers. Woke is at once a claim to the territory of logical thought and righteousness, and at the same time a dismissal of dissenting persons and their opinions. It is a sidestep of dialogue and debate. Because we're uninformed, misinformed, and unenlightened, ya know. Well, I'm not going to be dismissed that simply and easily. They may be woke, but I'm not sleepwalking through life. I have my eyes wide open.

Hump Day Quick Hitters - 5/10/2023

Happy hump day! I don't work, so it's more your hump day than mine. Here are some quick hitters for hump day, May 10th:

1. Title 42 is ending at midnight tomorrow night. The whole thing is a tragic failure from almost every perspective. First of all, Title 42 shouldn't have a damned thing to do with what's going on at the border. If our elected government in Washington did its job, immigration would be reformed. We'd have near total control of our border, and an ample number of well vetted, able bodied immigrants coming in to grow our economy. But, no. We have a clusterfuck of the highest magnitude. Our government is a joke and immigration reform, lack thereof, is its single biggest failure. Remember when President Biden put Vice President Harris in charge of the border? She sure seems to be steering clear of it altogether these days. Immigration is a turd. You know what's the problem with a turd? A turd has no clean end from which to pick it up. So nobody will touch it. Trump tried, but he was thwarted at every turn and called every name in the book for doing so.

2. Speaking of Trump, he's an asshole. That's a given. While I don't think it is possible for him to get a fair shake in a court of law in many jurisdictions in our country nowadays, I do think he brought a lot of the problem upon himself with his big mouth. I don't believe Ms. Carroll, not at all. Trump is still an asshole, but I believe Ms. Carroll is a liar. The case reminds me very much of the Justice Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearings a few years ago. Eerily.

3. Tucker Carlson is taking his show to Twitter. I like Carlson. He was the only one on FoxNews I would watch, and even that was rarely. Lefties in media are beside themselves that Elon Musk will allow Carlson to have a platform. Because lefties in the media simply don't care about free speech. They care about propagandizing, that's all.

4. The CIA and FBI meddled in the 2020 election. Through their actions, Trump was defeated. Lefties completely ignore what was done. The things that were done to Trump, starting in 2016, through his presidency, in 2020, and to this day, are a disgusting display of abuse of power by the deep state. If this stuff had been done and was being done to Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, of Joe Biden, the same people who think this is all good would have been rioting in the streets. Does this sound like you? You know it does. You know who you are. Fuck you.

5. Most of the "Trump only" people on Twitter I come across are fucking morons and assholes. I like DeSantis better. That's my right. Trump has too much baggage. He will be even more ineffective and even older in 2025-2029. Time for a new face.

Monday Morning Quick Hitters - 5/1/2023

I haven't done quick hitters in a while. A couple of things that struck me and spurred my thoughts as I looked at the newspapers and social media this morning with my coffee:

1. President Joe Biden is not very good as our Chief Executive. Nowhere is this more evident in our country than his border and immigration policy. On a scale of 1-10, where 1 equals zero immigrants and 100% deportation of illegals, and 10 equals open borders and totally mismanaged immigration policy, Joe is a solid 9. It could be worse, a 10, but I think one would have to be fairly imaginative to decide how to make it worse. Personally, I run at about a 3 or 4. I believe in legal immigration, and I believe a number of immigrants can and should be real asylum seekers. I don't support absolute deportation of all illegal immigrants, but a bunch ought to be sent back where they came from. Im migration is our biggest national embarrassment.

Mediocre? Not even.

2. Speaking of illegal immigrants, an illegal immigrant shoots 5 people in Texas. The media refers to him as a "Mexican national". The guy has been deported in the past, perhaps multiple times. And heaven forbid he be labeled an illegal immigrant. Heavens, no! Democrat influencers on Twitter blame the NRA. You can't make this shit up.

If your newspaper referred to this guy as a "Mexican national" you need a new newspaper.

3. Trump influencers, surrogates, and supporters on Twitter are attacking Ron DeSantis from every quarter for every absurd reason they can conjure up. All I can say is that these people saying this stuff aren't serious people, and they shouldn't be taken seriously. Plus, they're going to hand Joe Biden a second term.

4. That's because Governor DeSantis' chances to beat President Biden in 2024 are better than Donald Trump's are. That's why Democrats and the media are fanning the anti-DeSantis nonsense being spread about by the aforementioned Trump people.

5. Mother's Day is coming up. Mothers are adult females. They are women. Yes, they have an uterus. Yes, they give birth. If you're afraid to call them "women" or "mothers" because some infinitesimally small number of trans-women are jealous of what real women really are, and these trans-women will feel bad because they're not that, get a grip. Find a way to support trans-women by NOT pulling the rug out from under real women, who have spent the better part of 200 years fighting for equal rights. Happy Mother's Day ain't that hard to say, and it isn't offensive except to some really troubled people who need help.

"Happy Mother's Day!" GTFOOH!

6. Not a single person, not one, has every explained to me what Donald Trump's path to victory is in 2024. He will lose the same way he did in 2020. He has done and is doing exactly nothing to widen his base and court independents and moderates who turned against him.

7. Abortion is a bigger issue for the 2024 electorate than many on the right are willing to admit or accept. It just is. Ignore that fact at your own peril. Like immigration, there is a reasonable place smewhere in the middle. The absolutes of both the left and right, on both of these important issues, are self-destructive. Many in the middle of the opinion spectrum, on both immigration and abortion issues, are afraid of the respective extremes and won't speak up. I'm speaking up.

Have a great day, friends. Those are my quick hitters for May 1, 2023.

Biden Announces, 5 Reasons He Will Win Re-Election - 4/25/2023

Joe is running. Get the basement ready!

President Joe Biden has announced his candidacy for re-election in 2024. Based on my own amateur analysis of the situation right now, he will win re-election. Here are my top 5 reasons why:

Trump is his own worst enemy. He and his supporters are a godsend to Biden.

1. Donald J. Trump and Trump supporters. NOTHING has changed since 2020. Not a damned thing. How in the hell am I supposed to believe that an instant replay will result in a different outcome? "The cheating, the cheating... it was stolen!!!!" OK, explain to me what was changed to fix that. Please. Also, what has Trump done to court voters who dislike him and win over swing voters who swung against him. NOTHING. He plays only to his base, NOBODY else. His attacks on Governor DeSantis are a huge turnoff to me and many others. And it appears if Trump is NOT the nominee, many of his supporters will stay home on the ridiculously absurd notion that all other GOP candidates are no different from Biden. Yes, ridiculous and absurd. Trump is a problem for everyone except Joe Biden. So are his supporters. Advantage: Biden.

A lot of voters are one issue voters. We saw backlash in 2022 that will carry over to 2024.

2. Abortion. While I agreed with the Supreme Court's decision as a legal and constitutional matter, people are in denial if they think that states over swinging the pendulum the other way don't hurt the GOP in swing states, especially up north in WI, MI, and PA. The GOP needs to flip one or more of those. The overturn of Roe V. Wade may be the right thing to do. As a good friend of mine used to say: It's good to be right, but you never want to be 'dead right'. Advantage: Biden.

Fox lurches left. The right is homeless.

3. Mass media are coming into perfect alignment. With the firing of Tucker Carlson and severing ties with Dan Bongino, Fox News, the lone bastion for the right in network news, is lurching left. It will be all lefty bias, all the time. Advantage: Biden.

Jan 6th hurts the GOP. That's why Dems play this hand so hard, They know it.

4. January 6th and continued crying of "foul" over the 2020. No matter how righteous and justified outrage over 2020 and Jan 6th prosecutions may (or may not) be, if the GOP makes 2024 a referendum on 2020, rather than a referendum on Biden, swing voters will lose interest completely. A large portion of the GOP base is laser focused on 2020 and Jan 6th injustices. Dead right again! Advantage: Biden.

Deep State. They'll do it again in a heartbeat.

5. The Deep State loves Biden and they love war. They have already shown themselves to be absolutely unscrupulous and bald-faced liars to get their guy in power and keep Trump out. Why won't they do it again? Spoiler Alert: They WILL do it again. Advantage: Biden.

Democrats are confident. they're not even going to have debates. Why bother. It's in the bag for the Big Guy.

Tolerance and Acceptance vs. Activism - 4-17-2023

I've tried to wrap my brain around certain things for a long time, and I saw a tweet the other day that made a light come on. I know I've been absent from blogging for a couple of months. A combination of being busy with other things, a fundraiser I'm involved in being a big part of that. But also, it's fair to say my deep dissatisfaction with our country's direction and the societal divide as it has widened and deepened also a big part.

So, back to the topic. I can't remember the way the tweet that made my light bulb go off was worded, but I know what the light illuminated. A big reason for the deepened and widened divide in society is that activism has pushed and pushed and pushed until tolerance and acceptance simply weren't good enough. It is no longer good enough that we tolerate and accept LGBTQ people. It is no longer good enough, even, that we embrace and befriend LGBTQ in society, at work, etc. Now we are expected to defer to,  bow down to, celebrate, and proclaim our everlasting support for the LGBTQ community's activist agenda. Not the people. It is not enough to live, work, and play in our communities alongside LGBTQs, now we are expected to be confronted continuously with LGTBQ in media and advertising. Now we are expected to see our own selves differently because to see ourselves as traditional men and women, and as good old fashioned heterosexuals somehow isn't okay because to be so is "exclusive", not "inclusive".

"Birthing parent" in place of "mother".

"People who menstruate" in place of "women".

Cis this, trans that. Give me a fucking break.

Drag queen story hours for kids. Don't fucking deny it, they are around. Drag queens don't bother me. Caroline and I went with friends to a fun drag show in Las Vegas years ago, and to another in Chicago at a friend's nightclub. But putting drag queens twerking in front of kids (I have fucking seen it so don't fucking deny it!) is a goddamned perversion.

 

I know a lot of people whose beer of choice for years has been Bud Light.

How could Anheuser-Busch NOT have seen using a trans person as their new brand ambassador would make Bud Light "Queer Beer" in the eyes of many customers.

Anheuser-Bush made a big mistake by adding Dylan Mulvaney as it's now brand ambassador and advertising campaign focal point. For me personally, this didn't move my needle a whole lot. I really couldn't give two shits that Bud Light has a trans person (is this a trans-man or a trans-woman, I really don't know). But the broader push back, to me at least, is totally understandable. You've got biological men winning women's sporting events. That's a joke and an injustice, You've got biological men dressed as women on the President's Cabinet (one of whom was stealing luggage from airports!). You've got a biological man being selected as "Woman of the Year". You've got the aforementioned reluctance to use the terms woman and mother. Any person who is offended by the words mother and woman can kiss my ass. Get a fucking grip, dumbass. Motherhood is sacred. If not in a religious sense, certainly in a cultural and societal one. Womanhood has come a long, long way in the last 150 or so years. Equal rights, voting, advances in education and the workplace. Now they try to make "woman" a dirty word because a biological man who swears to actually be a woman in every way except physically and genetically feels bad when we use the term. It makes them feel "left out". Well, I am sorry you feel left out, but women are still women, no matter what you are. Don't you dare take it away because you're jealous that you don't have it.

And that brings me to gay rights. I have said many, many times I have no problem with someone who's gay. Who you love is your business. I accept it and will treat you with the same dignity and respect I do everyone else.

 

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' bill doesn't ever say "don't say gay".

"Don't say gay". Never mind that the bill doesn't say that. What it does is restrict kid's teachers from using the classroom to advance the LGBTQ agenda with young, impressionable kids. What it did was require that those subjects be handled in an AGE APPROPRIATE manner. But activists portrayed the bill NOT as protecting young children from being indoctrinated by left leaning teachers fully on board with the LGTBQ activist agenda, but rather as homophobic and hateful. Look, activists on the other side called anyone in support of the agenda "groomers". I don't think that's right, either. Don't get me wrong, I think the law is and was the right thing to do, but I don't think every teacher and other person who opposes it are groomers. It's shit like this coming from both sides that pushes us apart.

 

Disney, long a bastion of LGTBQ folks, decided that as a corporation, it would meddle in Florida politics and law.

Disney took sides against millions of parents, and millions of Florida voters who don't buy the LGTBQ activist's characterization of the law as "Don't say gay". No. Disney came out and said they would fight to have the Florida law overturned. Luckily for Floridians, we have a Governor who is more inclined to support Florida Parents and Florida voters than he is to be a slave to Disney dollars. Disney has had an incredibly good tax situation in Florida, one that was predicated on the value and revenue Disney brings to our great state. Now they're going to pay their fair share like everybody else. Disney, listening to their activists, decided they could bully Florida.

Disney and Anheuser-Busch both made the same mistake. Fatal? I don't think so. But it was a mistake. They decided that tolerance and acceptance were not good enough. They treated anything less than embracing the activism as bigotry. By putting their brands proudly under the rainbow LGTBQ flag, they decided than any one of us who is the least bit uncomfortable standing under it in unity with activists is a bigot. It was a stupid mistake that didn't at all help the LGTBQ agenda and cost both companies quite a few bucks.

I'm tolerant of LGTBQ people. I accept LGBTQ folks as my equal. I have no problem with the people and their love and lifestyle choices. That being said, I reject the activist agenda that expects all of society to be molded in ways more to the LGTBQ activist agenda's tastes and preferences. I reject it. If that makes me a bigot in your eyes, I can live with that. That's your problem, not mine.

 

Balloon Buffoons - 2/5/2023

I've been AWOL, no doubt. Just a lot of stuff going on in my life away from this blog. I felt like I needed to weigh in just a little on this balloon fiasco.

"It is balloon!"

The Communist Chinese tested us. We failed.

There's no excuse whatsoever you can convince me of for us to NOT have shot the thing down nearly immediately after it was detected, which would have been someplace over Alaska. We have a weak President with lousy advisors. Anonymous Pentagon sources leaked that this happened several times on President Trump's watch. Former Secretary of Defense Esper says it didn't. Lemme tell you why Esper is telling the truth and anonymous sources are liars:

If this had happened on Trump's watch it, like they did with EVERYTHING and ANYTHING else, would have been used as a bludgeon to attach and discredit Trump. Hell, they'd have impeached him for it. But it wasn't and they didn't. Why? Because the anonymous sources are lying, again.

Can you imagine allowing a spy balloon to completely transit the continental USA and waiting till it is out over the Atlantic to destroy it? Well, the Communist Chinese don't have to imagine it. They know we elected a pussy, a nincompoop, a feeble old man too weak to lead and too political and unprincipled to stand up for what's right.

What do I think? I think we have the worst President in my lifetime. And it's not even close. People hated Donald Trump so much they voted for an incompetent, dishonest, plagiarizing, corrupt, dementia patient who also happens to be a patsy for the Chicoms.