What Does My Trump Vote Mean?

 

Tomorrow is Election Day here in the United States.  Will you be voting for the old white guy who has said some things that sounded racist and was accused of sexual assault?  Seeing as that question describes both Joe Biden and Donald Trump, you probably will be.  If you don't want to do that, then isn't it time for a woman to be President?  The best candidate for President is once again the Libertarian candidate, Jo Jorgensen.  I may not agree with her on everything, including some pretty important issues (abortion included), but I'd vote for her if she had a snowball's chance in hell of becoming President.  I really wish she had been a part of that first debate.  I can't imagine she would not have shown herself to be better than all three of those geriatric white men on stage, the moderator included.  However, I live in reality, and the Libertarian candidate once again has no chance whatsoever of winning this election.  So I will cast my vote for President Donald Trump.

You might be asking yourself why I would possibly consider voting for a man so divisive, or why I'm voting for someone who has not handled the Covid-19 pandemic as well as he could have, or why I'm voting for someone who has not handle race relations as well as he could have.  Heck, I'd rather sit down and have a beer with Joe Biden than Donald Trump, and not just because Trump doesn't drink.  I don't hate Biden.  I don't particularly like him either, but this isn't 2016.  There was no circumstance in which I would have ever voted for Hillary Clinton.  There are circumstances under which I would have voted for Joe Biden, but when he chose Kamala Harris as his running mate, the very small chance of me going in that direction went out the window.

The Congressional voting record of Kamala Harris shows her to be the furthest Left Senator of all of them.  Forget that she was once a (terrible) prosecutor (who locked a lot of people up for drug charges that they shouldn't have been locked up for).  Biden's selection of Harris shows that he is no longer the Joe Biden of old, who was often reasonable and capable of reaching across the aisle.  He's gone Left.  Hard.  And while I do not know whether or not he would be able to get through an entire term at his age, especially while showing some possible signs of mental decline, the thought of President Kamala Harris is chilling.

My vote for Donald Trump is a vote against the Biden/Harris ticket, the furthest Left (and most pro-choice) major party ticket in the history of the United States.  It's a vote against the mainstream media.  It's a vote against the establishment and the (in the non-conspiratorial sense) deep state.  It's a vote against the 1619 Project and the idea that America isn't great and never was.  It's a vote against hate, delusion, and racism.  It's a vote for a flawed man (who needs to shut the up on Twitter sometimes) with policies that I often agree with.  It's a vote for the Constitution, the first and second amendment, and Originalist judges.  It's a vote for our alliance with Israel, for less violence in the Middle East, and for a better Foreign Policy.  It's a vote for first responders and (disproportionately minority) unborn lives.  It's a vote for continued criminal justice reform, for protection of those with preexisting conditions, and for keeping your private insurance if you like it.  It's a vote for a better economy, which was roaring before the pandemic hit, and will recover and climb to even greater heights, pulling many out of poverty along the way.

There are some things that many on the Left, the media included, would like you to think my vote is, but it is not.  My vote is not for white supremacy (which Trump has condemned repeatedly), nor is it for the rich, nor is it for someone who colluded with Russia.  It's not a vote that ignores the reality of Covid-19, or one that ignores science (like those who believe that there are no differences between boys and girls, that government overstep and Fascism will stop the pandemic, or that a fetus is not yet a life).  It's not a vote for division.  It's certainly not a vote for packing the Supreme Court by expanding it so the elected party can force its will on the people unchecked, via activist judges, rather than those we elect to Congress to make laws.

The media will also tell you that Trump is corrupt.  Heck, the guy's done a number of unsavory things, but many have searched and none have found something truly incriminating.  The Russian collusion was shown to be a hoax.  The conversation with Ukraine may not have been perfect, but it pales in comparison to what the Biden family was apparently involved with over there, as well as in China.  Of course, you may not have heard much about that story, or you may incorrectly think that it's been debunked or that it was (surprise!) Russian misinformation (Tony Bobulinski is very much American).  That's because Democrats and mainstream media are working hard to stop you from hearing about it.  They don't want a repeat of what happened in 2016, when James Comey announced in October that more of Hillary's e-mails were found, on Anthony Weiner's computer, and then subsequently that she was cleared of any wrongdoing.  Whether or not Joe Biden is directly involved with what Hunter Biden was doing, and whether or not he did anything illegal, are questions yet to be definitively answered, regardless of what someone on the Left or Right may tell you.  What is known is the extent to which big tech, mainstream media, and the Democrats will go to protect the Leftist agenda.

The New York Times released information from Trump's tax returns.  Seeing as Trump didn't release his tax returns, there's a pretty good chance that someone obtained that information illegally and provided it to a reporter.  Nonetheless, it absolutely should have been published.  And Twitter and Facebook did not block that article, nor did they block any other articles damaging to Trump, even those that were unconfirmed or those where information was obtained illicitly.  And that's fine too, even though Trump didn't collude with Russia and have a pee party with Russian hookers.  What's not fine is that The New York Post story on the information found on Hunter Biden's laptop, which appears that it was not obtained illegally, nor did it contain false information (the e-mails have been verified), was blocked by Twitter and slowed by Facebook.  And you won't hear about that story on any of the mainstream news networks, just Fox News and Independent news organizations.  That's even more of a story than the Bidens allegedly taking millions of shady foreign dollars.

A few months ago, I didn't think there was much of a chance of Trump winning reelection.  The Hunter Biden story, the sheer insanity and rioting of the Left, Biden's comments on moving away from fossil fuels and fracking, and the blatant election meddling by Twitter and Facebook, as well as the dishonesty of the mainstream media, just might give him a chance.  Of course, while all that should result in a Trump victory, Biden remains up in the polls.  It may not be probable, but it is now possible.  The biggest things holding Trump back are many of his ridiculous tweets and comments, the pandemic, and Trump's inability to convince half of America that he isn't racist, whether by less than ideal comments about those who kneel in professional sports or by the media twisting his words to fit their narrative (watch the full video of the "very fine people on both sides" speech, and you might be surprised to find President Trump clearly pointing out that he is not referring to white supremacists).

Sure, Trump could have said a lot of things in better ways, and he could have set an example by more prominently wearing a mask and touting the wearing of a mask.  It makes sense to wear masks when you're close to other people, especially when indoors, although it doesn't help much if you keep touching them like everyone seems to do, but our President is not directly responsible for the 225,000+ deaths because of mixed messages on masks, which all the health officials told us not to wear at the start of this whole thing anyway.  How many lives have masks saved?  And how many more can they save?  I don't know.  If someone tells you they do, they're lying.  If someone tells you masks could have saved everyone, or lockdowns could have saved everyone, or Trump is responsible for the ongoing pandemic, they're lying.  We're seeing spikes in places inside and outside of the country where masks are widely used and lockdowns have been ongoing.  Trump could have done better, as could have many Republicans and Democrats we elected, but I believe that they are all doing the best they can.

Trump didn't have information that Congress wasn't aware of back in the early stages of the pandemic, and Democrats and Republicans alike were telling us to live our lives as normal.  Sure, he knew it could become a serious problem, but they all did.  He banned travel from China and was (big surprise) called xenophobic for it (by Joe Biden too).  He banned travel from many other countries a while later.  He hoped out loud that it would end soon.  But it was too late.  The virus got here months before we realized it.  President Trump was hesitant to shutdown the economy, and he did not want to become the Fascist that the Left was pushing him to become.  He was perhaps too optimistic.  But I'm not delusional like Keith Olbermann, because Trump clearly should not stand trial for the Covid-19 deaths or face the death penalty (talk about incendiary speech, though I'll still fight for his right to say dumb things like that, by the way).  The Democratic Governors who put Covid-19 patients into nursing homes should not stand trial for those deaths either, even though there's certainly a better case to be made there because, seriously, what the hell were those idiots thinking (I'm looking at you, five Governors including Cuomo and Whitmer)?

I'm voting for Trump because I think Government, in general, even when they mean well, is pretty incompetent, and it should be as small as possible.  Yes, there a certain things Government should do, including building infrastructure and protecting the people (which does not include defunding the police, a BLM position that the vast majority of Black Americans are not aligned with), and yes, Republicans have failed at shrinking the size (and spending) of the Government.  But the Left wants more Government power.  Joe Biden wants to put Beto O'Rourke in charge of taking away your guns.  And there's only one side that wants to shut down speech that they disagree with.  How many people on the Right are calling for those they disagree with on the Left to be silenced or cancelled, whether by shutting them down online or by trying to make what they say become illegal?  How many people on the Left are doing that?  How many of them are talking about the pitfalls of free speech?

How many on the mainstream Left are telling you that there is no good Trump voter?  That you should purge Trump voters from your life?  They're racist!  They're Nazis!  They want to put y'all back in chains!  You ain't black if you don't vote Democrat!  They shouldn't be allowed to speak!  A lot of them are saying these things.  How many on the mainstream Right are saying that there is no good Biden voter?  That you should purge Biden voters from your life?  They're racist!  The reason they want to take away your guns is because they're Nazis!  They want to put ya'll back in chains!  You ain't black if you don't vote Republican!  I don't hear many of them saying these things.

That's why I'm voting for Donald Trump.  It's why he won in 2016, and it's why he may win again in 2020.  I'll walk to my polling place tomorrow, with my mask on, and vote for four more years.  And for those of you who think my vote means something other than what I just told you it means, wake the fuck up, and learn to think for yourself.  I vehemently oppose racism, as I oppose any threat to our freedom, and there are many like me.  Don't project your own racism on me.  I know black, brown, yellow, and white people who are voting for Trump.  Some of my very best friends don't have the same color skin as I do, but they're voting the same way that I am.  Stop ignoring their existence and writing them off while calling them coons, Uncle Toms, or whatever your pejorative of choice may be.  If you don't know anyone voting for Trump who isn't white, that's your problem, not mine.  Maybe you need a more diverse group of friends.

Some of my very best friends, of all different races, aren't voting the same way that I am, and they're entitled to their opinion as well.  And we can still be friends.  I think we can find common ground in that we all hope we have a clear winner one way or the other, the electoral process and litigation of ballots doesn't drag out for weeks (It's 2020 after all), and there aren't more riots, whatever that outcome may be.  But I do very much hope that it's President Donald J. Trump for four more years.

Despite the negative press covfefe.  Sad.

Easy as ACB!

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's untimely death has made this year's already contentious election season even more heated.  I may not have agreed with her in many cases, but RBG was a great American, and I have a lot of respect for her and what she accomplished.  Our President feels the same way.  May she rest in peace.

RBG, however, should not be deified.  When she passed away, the worship from the Left was unending, and constitutional protocol be damned, the Democrats wanted to honor her supposed wish to keep the seat vacant until after the election.  There was no chance that was going to happen, based on history, based on what happened in the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, based on RBG's own previously-written opinion on the subject, and regardless of the stupid things many Republicans said when Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland in 2016 and the Senate refused to even vote on him.

I'll reiterate what I said back in 2016, and you can check me on it (http://thediblas.blogspot.com/2016/03/scalias-of-justice.html): Of course, all of them [Democrats] now believe that the current Democratic President should be the one to choose Scalia's successor.  That's because they are all Democrats.  If the President was Republican, they would believe the opposite, just like the Republicans would believe the opposite of what they are saying now if the President was Republican.  Would you look at that--The prophecy has been fulfilled!  But wait, there was more...

Regardless of what Republicans may say, Barack Obama is going to nominate someone to fill that seat.  Any President would and probably should.  But, regardless of what Democrats say, the Senate is not obligated to confirm a nominee or even let it go to a vote.  The dishonorable Elizabeth Warren has pointed out that Americans voted for Obama again in 2012, so he should choose Scalia's successor, rather than the next President.  However, she failed to mention the massive mid-term losses for Democrats in 2014, where America chose Republican majorities in both the House and Senate.  Thus, they have a right to not confirm any of Obama's nominees.  And if the shoe were on the other foot?  Well, it has been...  In fact, Joe Biden led the Democrats in successfully blocking Ronald Reagan's nominee, Robert Bork, from confirmation.  Barack Obama tried to filibuster to block Samuel Alito in 2006.  Chuck Schumer preemptively encouraged blocking any George W. Bush nominee, when there wasn't even an opening on the Supreme Court (nor did one occur between Schumer's statements and the end of Bush's term).

Now for some more predictions...

Chief Justice John Roberts will now essentially join the three Liberal SCOTUS members (Breyer, Kagan, Sotomayor), giving the Conservatives a 5-4 majority, though it wouldn't be surprising to see Kavanaugh shift toward the Center a bit as well.  Roberts has gone from Conservative to Center already.  Republican Presidents have a terrible record of nominating Justices who consistently side with Conservatives.  This is a good thing.  I wish the same was true for Democratic Presidents.  But the reason it isn't is because the Left views the Supreme Court as a means for activist legislation, whereas the Right just wants to nominate Justices who will interpret and apply the Constitution as Originalists.  And even that's been hit or miss with them.

Looking at recent history, David Souter ended up migrating to join the "Liberal Wing" of the court, while Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy ended up in the Center.  John Roberts has taken over Anthony Kenndy's vacated spot in the Center, but it would not surprise me at all if he decided to go the way of David Souter after Trump's third nominee gets confirmed next week, which should happen easily.

Amy Coney Barrett is well-qualified to be a Justice on the Supreme Court.  In fact, you might even say that she's well-qualified to represent the RBG, though not so much the LBC (sorry, Sublime).  As her hearings in the Senate showed, she is a brilliant woman, and a wonderful role model for girls everywhere.  She could be the Conservative equivalent of RBG.  She made a lot of Senators look silly, especially those who asked silly questions, which were plentiful, and she may soon become my favorite Justice on the court.  President Trump, in my opinion, made the best possible decision in nominating ACB to fill RBG's vacant seat.

One of the major worries of many Democrats is that, if ACB is confirmed, Roe v. Wade will be overturned.  It certainly opens up that possibility, and one can dream, but I estimate that this is highly unlikely.  Even if a case came before SCOTUS where Roe v. Wade could be challenged, there is no chance that Breyer, Kagan, Sotomayor, or Roberts would opt to overturn Roe v. Wade.  Like zero percent.  That means that all five of the remaining justices would all need to hold the opposite view.  Thomas, Alito, and Barrett are probable to go in that direction, while Gorsuch would possibly go that way, and Kavanaugh is unlikely to do so.  I'd like to see Roe v. Wade overturned personally, because I hate the murder of unborn children and I think that it was badly decided (by a bunch of men), but I don't believe that this court will do it.  Also, if it is somehow overturned, abortion laws would just be kicked back to the states.

I guess we'll have to settle for a court that simply stops our Constitutional rights from being infringed upon, such as our rights under the First and Second Amendments.  And it may have to serve as a check against Socialism if the Left controls both the Presidency and Congress.  If Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump on 2016, the Justices she nominated could have put some of our rights as peril.  If Joe Biden and Kamala Harris win in 2020 and the Democrats also win the Senate, court packing (and even adding additional states to create additional Leftist Senators) is a very real and very dangerous possibility.  It would de-legitimize the court and the separations of power.  And what then would the Republicans do if and when they regained power?

Hopefully the Moderates in the Senate will win the day.  And hopefully we see more Moderates on the highest court in the future.  I don't think the system is necessarily broken as it currently stands, but I would, by far, rather see changes that force Republicans and Democrats to agree on the confirmation of SCOTUS nominees, regardless of which party is in power in the Senate or the Presidency, than court-packing from either side.

ACB is great though.  I wanted President Trump to nominate her rather than Kavanaugh last time around, and I'm not sure exactly how things would have played out if that happened, because what happened with Kavanaugh being hit with false and unsubstantiated claims, up to and including gang rape, was disgraceful.  That's the reason Senator Lindsey Graham (among others) said he changed his mind on voting for a SCOTUS nominee in an election year, and it's a valid reason, but that's not a position that him or any other Republican Senator should have held in the first place.  In all honesty, it's as it's been the majority of the time historically: If the Presidency and Senate are controlled by the same party, an election year SCOTUS nominee is likely to be voted on, and if voted on, overwhelmingly likely to be confirmed (confirmed 9 out of the 10 times when the nominee was voted on, which happened 10 out of 19 times), and if they are controlled by different parties, an election year SCOTUS nominee will not be confirmed (that only happened 1 out of 10 times).  All that's left to do now is sing a song.

A-C-B, Trump nominees: 1-2-3
Dems lied and said Brett raped me
R-B-G, A-C-B, Amy, Brett, and Neil, girl!
Yes, Amy, so qualified, can't you see?
So good, we'll save the country!
A-C-B, 1-2-3, Clarence, Sam, and you, girl!

Very Bad People On Both Sides

Zoe: Black Lives Matter.   Either like it or ignore it.  Don't say it, Karen...
Karen: ALL Lives Matter.  And there it is.  Agreeing that Black lives matter doesn't mean that you support the BLM agenda, and it doesn't mean that only Black lives matter.  Say that All Black lives matter if you want, including those killed in the womb and others not killed by police officers.
Zoe: [Writes dissertation on why saying "All Lives Matter" is inherently racist.]  Great job, you're really helping Blacks with that, almost as much as that time you turned your profile picture black for a day.  Let's cancel Paw Patrol too.  That will really make a positive difference.
Karen: I'm not racist.  [Quotes statistics that fit her narrative.]  Yeah, those statistics are true, but people are upset over the Black people who were recently murdered.  Yes, the media magnifies those particular deaths, but it's dishonest to present these statistics without also presenting the other ones.
Zoe: Check your privilege you ******* *****!  [Quotes statistics that fit her narrative.]  Those statistics are true too, but so are Karen's, and you're being just as dishonest.  What's with White people telling White people to check their privilege and then cursing them out?  How is that helping?
Karen: Check your ugly ***, you ******* ****!  [Posts a Candace Owens video.]  This is just so constructive for everyone.
Zoe: Candace Owens is a joke and a **** and so are you!  And your defense of Black lives has jumped the shark.

With the recent tumultuous news cycle, I find myself disagreeing with a lot of people on the Right more often than usual, but that doesn't mean the Left is correct either.  In fact, in some cases, they are more wrong than ever.  The division in this country is becoming dangerous.  Libertarians and those in the middle need to step up, but in this polarized environment, moderates are shunned by both parties.  John McCain is dead.  Lindsey Graham is no longer considered a moderate because he speaks out against crazed Leftists.  That leaves us with the likes of John Kasich, Jim Webb, Lisa Murkowski, Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins, Joe Manchin, Mitt Romney...  It's no wonder Donald Trump is President.  And then there's Rand Paul, who continues to get shit on from all sides.

People are posting absurd things on social media.  I don't think I've ever seen so many people posting so many things that are illogical, or nothing more than virtue signaling, or simply hurtful.  Both the Liberal and Conservative media are fueling it, as are our politicians.  In my humble opinion, most Democrats and Republicans are idiots.  Everything has gone off the rails, and I can't even relax and watch baseball.  Or basketball.  Sports has brought people together.  So many of the people I looked up to and wanted to be like as a kid were Black men, and I still look up to them.  Michael Jordan is fed up, and he rarely issues anything that can be remotely construed as a political statement.  Derek Jeter is pissed off.  It means something when guys like that are speaking out.  They've been consistent.  They've been role models.  They haven't supported Che Guevara or called all cops pigs like a notorious subpar backup Quarterback who was 3-16 during his last two seasons in the league.

Most of the worst comments on social media have been from White people, on both the Left and Right.  I've had political disagreements with a lot people, and the only times it got really ridiculous were when fellow White men were angry enough to fight me over my political beliefs and White women were hysterically upset and crying over my political beliefs (i.e. "How can you not believe that Brett Kavanaugh is a gang rapist?").  Not surprisingly, that always occurred on the Left.  On the Right, the disagreements usually end with them saying something that they think I should believe if I'm a Christian, or something that largely ignores real problems that exist and need to be corrected.  I guess it's a small sample size, but I'd rather discuss politics with a Black person (male or female) with whom I disagree on something any day of the week.  Those have been some of the best discussions I've had, and they never ended with anyone crying, threatening violence, or deciding to no longer be friends over political beliefs.  Certainly, one race of people is no better or worse than another, but it seems like there are an awful lot of crazy White people out there.

Case and point, a White girl burned down a Wendy's in Atlanta.  It looks like her White boyfriend helped her.  Was it because she downed a delicious $5 biggie bag and later got diarrhea?  Nope.  It was because a policeman shot and killed a guy, and it happened to be at Wendy's.  Black people were filming her saying, "This isn't us."  Good.  I hope she goes to prison for a long time.  It's very sad that Rayshard Brooks lost his life that night.  I wish he was still alive.  But what's happening now is INSANE.  Rayshard Brooks was drunk and fell asleep while waiting in line at the Wendy's Drive-Thru.  The cops were called.  They came, and they interacted calmly with Brooks for nearly a half hour.  When they tried to arrest him, all hell broke loose, and there's plenty of video evidence of the interaction.  Brooks decided to beat up the officers, which would not justify him being shot.  He decided to take one of their tasers, which would not justify him being shot.  The officer who still had his taser tried to stop Brooks with it, but failed.  I wish the officers did a better job of subduing and arresting Brooks.  Perhaps they weren't trained well enough, or perhaps the physical bar for qualifying to be a police officer should be raised, but for whatever reason, Brooks successfully got away from them, after stealing a weapon (the taser) from one of them.  As he was running away, he aimed the taser at the officers and tried to use it on them.  An officer then shot him.  It's beyond sad and unfortunate, and I wish they were able to apprehend him in some other less violent way, but it was not felony murder, which the D.A. absurdly charged the officer with.

This came at a time in our country where the interactions between the police and Black people is under not a microscope, but a Hubbell telescope.  What happened several weeks ago to George Floyd, a Black man just as Brooks was, was certainly murder.  There's no question that it was at least third degree murder, and I would absolutely argue that it was second degree murder, which is what the officer in that case was charged with.  In fact, with information coming out that the officer who killed Floyd in broad daylight actually knew him and did not get along with him, I think there's a very good case for first degree murder.  What happened to Brooks was not murder.  If you beat up police officers, take a weapon from them, and try to use it on them, no matter what color you are, you might get shot.  Did he deserve to die for a momentary lapse in judgement?  No.  But put yourself in that officer's place.  You have a split second to assess the situation and make a decision on what to do, and your training takes over.  You defend yourself.  You shoot, and you hope you don't kill him (video showed him trying to keep Brooks alive and pleading with him to stay alive), but there's always a chance that a bullet will be fatal.

I don't see how the murder charge will stick.  I don't even know if it will get by a Grand Jury.  Expect more riots.  The D.A. here is a joke.  Just a few weeks ago, he said very clearly (video existed then too) that a taser is a deadly weapon.  If someone is trying to use a deadly weapon against you and you use a deadly weapon against that person to defend yourself, that is not murder.  That is self-defense.  Even if you don't classify a taser as a deadly weapon (I don't, because it generally is not), this was not murder.  That doesn't mean racism doesn't exist, and it doesn't mean that cops never murder people.  It just means that in this case, there was not a murder, and the reason Brooks is dead is not because of the color of his skin.

While the Left is calling self-defense murder, the Right is worked up about a number of dumb things.  One Supreme Court decision stopped President Trump from ending DACA.  Without going on for too long about it, to sum it up, Trump essentially can end DACA, but he would need to go about doing it in the right way, which he (unsurprisingly) did not do.  My main issue here has nothing to do with the SCOTUS ruling.  Why does Congress not make laws anymore?  Everything is done with Executive orders and Supreme Court decisions.  This is not what I learned from Schoolhouse Rock.  But many on the Right are upset with that ruling and another recent SCOTUS ruling, which essentially says that you can't fire someone for being gay.  Seems like common sense, right?  I even thought the notoriously Liberal Justice Neil Gorsuch (lol) put it well when he wrote the opinion for the 6-3 majority.  Sure, it stretches the bounds of a law written in the 60s, and it borders on the court writing law, but at the heart of it, I don't believe his interpretation was incorrect, as long as religious liberty is not infringed upon, as he noted.  But religious people should not be upset about this protection.  Separation of church and state is important.

And this is where the Left starts asking what kind of garbage religion would fire someone for being gay?  Well, I have no problem with any religious organization hiring people who are gay, trans, etc., and I don't believe they should have a problem with that either, except in cases where it is a violation of the religion to have someone like that in a certain position.  For example, in most sects, if a Protestant Pastor, Catholic Priest, Jewish Rabbi, or Islamic Imam comes out as a practicing homosexual, that person is going to be fired.  And the state needs to leave that to the religious organizations to handle themselves.  Non-religious people should not be upset about this protection.  Separation of church and state is important.

You know what's not important though?  The Confederate Flag.  Fuck that thing.  Seriously.  I hate it.  I really do.  That was the flag of the Confederacy, representing the states that seceded from the Union and wanted to continue slavery.  I dislike that flag with a passion, and I would never display it in my house.  I don't understand why so many people on the Right are upset that NASCAR has now banned the flag from events.  NASCAR can do what it wants.  However, I will absolutely support the right of anyone to display that flag on their own property if they want to.  I have friends who do, and I'm not going to stop being friends with them because of the flag.  They see it as the rebel flag, and they're not displaying it because they're pro-slavery or in favor of White Supremacy (in which case, yes, I would stop being friends with them).  That's fine.  That's their decision.  But it isn't mine.  And if the Government ever tries to make that decision for people, we will already be gaining speed down a slippery slope as a nation.  The First Amendment is important.

As for the people taking down statues, I don't really care for the statues of Confederate Generals.  Those can go.  I think the right way to do it is getting the Government to take them down if that's who put them there, rather than destroying property, but I'm not arguing against those coming down too much.  Sure, they do represent history, and we can learn from them, and yes, we shouldn't drop them on people's heads like a pack of idiots, but it doesn't upset me a whole lot to see them coming down.  The problem is that it won't stop there.  No sir.  The crazed Left wants to tear down all of the statues.  Christopher Columbus did a lot of bad things, but he did some good things too.  He died like 500 years ago.  A statue of Christoper Columbus gifted by immigrants does not need to come down now.  The statue of President Lincoln breaking the chains of a slave is apparently being targeted to come down too.  Somewhere, the KKK is nodding in agreement.  Seriously?  And then, inevitably, tear down the statues of Washington and Jefferson too, because they owned slaves.  No.  They founded our Democracy.  Yeah, they were flawed too, but I'm drawing the line here.  This is nonsense.  We're not living in a George Orwell novel, are we?  What timeline is this anyway?  Is Biff the President?

You see, if you try to erase history, someone will just make up fake history.  We need to remember history so we don't repeat it, and so we can celebrate freedom and the end of slavery in America.  In all my years of school, I was maybe taught one sentence about Juneteeth.  That is a problem.  It should be a National Holiday.  I don't care if they get rid of Columbus Day and make Juneteenth a National Holiday.  However, we cannot let false narratives from The 1619 Project at The New York Times prevail.  Former Vice Presidential candidates are now saying dumb things like stating that the United States created slavery (Tim Caine, you're an idiot).  People have forgotten that a Former Vice President suggested that Mitt Romney wanted to put Black people back in chains (Fact check: False, Joe Biden).  A lot of people believe that the policies of Democrats have helped Black people, but throughout history they generally have not.  At least cultural appropriation is acceptable now that friends of the late former KKK leader Senator Robert Byrd, such as Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and Jerry Nadler, took a knee while wearing kente cloths (which were actually worn by slave traders, oops!).  They shout about how the institutions are broken, especially in those big cities, where the heads of nearly every institution have been on the Left for decades.  They're broken alright, just not in the ways that you think they are.  But yeah, there has been systemic racism, and there are some racist cops.  But that doesn't mean it's time to defund the police.

Well, I guess it's not fair to paint everyone with a broad brush here.  Of the people who are saying to defund the police, some of them actually mean reform the police, which I can find a lot of common ground with and get on board with.  Just stop saying "defund" and say "reform."  It's very confusing, because there are also people who literally want to defund the police, as in abolishing them, and having no police.  Maybe it's a vocal far Left minority, but those people are out there shouting that.  And that would be utterly insane, especially if you believe that Black lives matter, which they do.  And if you believe this AND you're against the second amendment, you're a special kind of stupid.  If someone is threatening to rape or murder you, who are you going to call?  A social worker?  If you've been raped or someone you know has just been murdered, who are you going to report it to?  Justice matters.  Yes, we need some reforms, and yes, we need better training, and yes, we can develop hybrid responses to emergency situations, but I'm certainly not on board with getting rid of police altogether.  It's no wonder so many gun stores are low on inventory these days.  The Second Amendment is important.

Nothing drives gun sales like widespread riots.  The peaceful protests are perfectly fine, well, unless you're still very wary of COVID-19, in which case, maybe we shouldn't have tens of thousands of people gathered closely together.  But yes, it's their right to do that.  However, if you agree with that and you have a problem with people gathering for a church service, or restaurants and other businesses gradually and carefully reopening, or other protests and rallies that you don't agree with, you need to examine why that is exactly.  I'm taking to you, worst Mayor in America, Bill de Blasio.  Yeah, show up personally to tell the handful of Jews gathered together that they need to listen to you and go home, but then tell everyone how proud you are that your daughter got arrested at one of these riots where a massive number of people gathered.  Resign, you anti-Semitic ass-clown.

I'm not thrilled with Governor Cuomo either, whose nursing home policies caused many more lives to be lost to COVID-19, nor am I thrilled with many aspects of how President Trump has handled COVID-19 or responded to racial injustice.  And for some reason, quite a few people on the Right have a major problem with wearing masks.  I don't have an issue with wearing them indoors when in close contact with people for a while if that can help a bit, but I must admit that some of the places where I've been requested to wear a mask have made zero sense.  I went to the Dentist to get a cavity filled, and the Dentist gave me novocaine and then handed me a mask to wear for the next five minutes while the novocaine kicked in, and no one was in the room with me until he came back in and I needed to remove the mask so he could go in my mouth (???).  Meanwhile, Joe Biden has gone out of his way to wear a mask even when unnecessary whenever he's been out of hiding, and although much of what he's said has been nonsense, I do agree with him that when deadly force is needed, it's a good idea to try to shoot someone in the leg and not kill them whenever possible.

On top of all the madness on both sides, there's a seemingly large contingent on the Right that has decided that the hill they want to die on, President Trump apparently still included at the moment, is refusing to watch NFL games if the players kneel during the National Anthem.  While I don't like it when players choose to do that during the anthem, they have every right to, and it's not the end of the world to me.  I can see how it can be construed as disrespect for our country, our flag, and our military, but that isn't always what it means to them.  And it damn well isn't going to stop me from trying to enjoy football games whenever they start up again.  Hopefully Ben Carson can actually talk some sense into President Trump like he said he planned to, at least to the point where our President isn't railing against things that he need not.  President Trump needs to step up and attempt to give a unifying speech.  It may not work, but he should do so flanked by Black Conservative leaders who have reviewed and had input in his speech, and the President should then stick to the script.  This is what the nation needs right now, because things are devolving every day.

What we don't need is pandering symbolism that actually helps nothing.  White people are great at this.  Removing Gone with the Wind from the HBO movie library and taking Aunt Jemima off of syrup containers don't help anything, and I can easily see why actual racists would support this, honestly.  Gone with the Wind included the first African American actress to win an Oscar, and at least one descendant of the actual Aunt Jemima has voiced displeasure with her being removed from the syrup container, her legacy.  All it is is Leftist virtue signaling, mostly to help make White Liberals feel better.  And the idiots on the Right automatically go up in arms about these sorts of things.  No, I don't see why changes like that are needed, but I don't really care that deeply about it.  However, asking where it stops is fair.  What's next?  Is Blazing Saddles going to be banned?  How about Airplane!?  What about Bob Dylan's "Hurricane"?  White people can't use the n-word, right?  Speaking of which, should we burn The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and To Kill A Mockingbird for using the n-word?  How did the Left turn it to how the Right used to be when it comes to book burning and censorship, only for different reasons?

Should we stop patronizing places if we don't agree with the views of their CEOs?  If the far Left has its way, that's how America will work, until we're finally divided to the point of a civil war.  Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy famously spoke out against gay marriage, leading mobs of Leftists to boycott Chick-fil-A and talk about how much he hates gays (he doesn't).  Now, he's come out suggesting that White people should shine the shoes of Black people as an act of repentance.  Yeah, that will do a lot of good.  That's the way to erase racism and hundreds of years of racial mistreatment.  Have a bunch of people who largely had nothing to do with the mistreatment shine the shoes of people who may or may not have experienced mistreatment of some kind.  For the record, I disagree with Dan Cathy both on his gay marriage stance and his shoe shine suggestion, but you can be damn sure that I will continue to eat those delicious spicy chicken sandwiches.  Because that's how we have a fucking society.

The way to eradicate racism isn't to repeat apologies that sound like religious homilies, or to repent of some inherent racism that you may have but not even know about.  How about you act like you're not a racist and you treat people like people, regardless of the color of their skin?  That sounds like the best idea.  Disagree with people, and debate with them constructively, but instead of hating and villainizing people you disagree with, try loving all people.  That's how we can make this country and this world a better place.

I shook his hand in the scene that made America famous
And a smile from the heart that made America great
We spent the rest of that night in the home of a man I'd never known before
It's funny when you get that close, it's kind of hard to hate
I went to sleep with the hope that made America famous
I had the kind of a dream that maybe they're still trying to teach in school
Of the America that made America famous
And of the people who just might understand
That how together, yes we can
Create a country better than
The one we have made of this land
We have a choice to make each man
Who dares to dream, reaching out his hand
A prophet or just a crazy God damn dreamer of a fool
Yes a crazy fool
There's something burning somewhere
Does anybody care?
Is anybody there?
Is anybody there?
-Harry Chapin, "What Made America Famous?" (1974)

Note: The photo in this post was taken from a beach in Florida a while back and has nothing to do with any of this.  A boat was on fire somewhere in the distance.  It's symbolic, like most of the things White people who think they are woke are doing to "help" Black people right now.

You Spelled Justifuckation Wrong

George Floyd was murdered.  There is no justification for the actions of Officer Derek Chauvin.  There was no reason for him to place his knee on Floyd's neck and keep it there for anywhere near that long, well after Floyd stopped pleading for his life because he could not breathe.  He stopped pleading for his life because he passed out.  It turns out, when you put your knee on someone's neck for nine minutes, you might cut off the flow of blood and oxygen to that person's brain, which can result in death.  The three other officers involved should have known that too.  The specific name for this type of death is murder.  It's not enough that all four officers were fired.  Chauvin has been charged with murder, and charges are coming for the other three officers as well.  There will be justice.  Unfortunately, even long prison sentences for those responsible won't bring back George Floyd, a Black man who did not deserve to die.

I don't really know what it's like to be Black in America, because I'm not Black.  My Black friends have told me about their experiences, such as getting pulled over for a DWB (Driving while Black) on several occasions, among other things.  My own town had a problem within its police department several years ago where a number of officers were racially profiling Hispanic people.  There are a lot of great police officers, and some terrible ones, but I've never feared a police officer because of the color of my skin.  The same can't be said for many other Americans, whose lives matter just as much as mine.  Black lives matter.  George Floyd's life matters.  And now he's dead.

When I watched the video of Floyd's murder, I was infuriated, as was everyone who watched what happened.  I'm sure there are a handful of racist people who praised it, but I don't know any of them, and no decent person even tried to justify what happened.  It's rare that the President, major celebrities, and mainstream journalists are all on the same page these days, but they were on this point.  But that's where the agreements stopped, because protests turned to riots and clashes with police officers, and a whole lot of people then decided to justify a whole lot of things that are not justifiable.

Some on the Right justified the use of violent police tactics on non-violent protesters.  Running over protesters when your life is not in danger is not justifiable.  Using tear gas, rubber bullets, and similar weapons on protesters who are not rioting or blocking emergency vehicles is not justifiable.  The President of the United States taking to Twitter to express that "When the looting starts, the shooting starts" is tone-deaf, and yes, he should absolutely be held to a higher standard than those who are not elected officials.  I'm not a fan of him using a Bible as a prop either.  His response to the riots could have been earlier and better as well, even though he would be criticized and vilified by many in the media regardless.  But Trump still needs to lead, and he needs to stop saying dumb things on Twitter, especially now.  A Nobel Peace prize to anyone who can get him to stop tweeting!

Of course, Jerry Falwell, Jr. must have told Trump to hold his beer (which he won't allow students at his University to drink), because the President of Liberty University's tweet of his COVID-19 mask with a photo of his terrible Governor's racist yearbook photo on it is absolutely reprehensible and unjustifiable.  I have no problem with him calling out Governor Ralph Northam, but that was not the way to do it.  It takes tone-deaf to a whole new level.  It's not surprising coming from him though.  I'm a Christian, but I take plenty of issues with a number of Christian Universities, such as those whose administrations were (or even still are) against interracial dating and marriages, a position for which there is no justification, Biblical or otherwise.  There are some Christians who would be more upset with me embedding a word they don't like in the title of this blog post than they would be with blatantly racist words and actions, and that's a huge problem.

Not to be outdone, many on the Left must have asked Falwell to hold their proverbial beers (which he probably drank).  I'm old enough to remember when the Left was saying that protests should not be allowed because of COVID-19, because I'm more than a week old.  A week or two ago, people were protesting extreme lockdowns, while some people on the Left were even calling for citizens to narc on each other for breaking lockdown rules and for the police to arrest these violators.  New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio personally showed up to tell a bunch of Jews who weren't socially distancing to go home.  But suddenly, now that the Left agrees with the protests, protests should obviously be legal, and even de Blasio's daughter got arrested at one.  And protests indeed should always be legal, especially when a Black man is killed by a police officer.  Riots, however, are not legal, nor should they be.  And those on the Left justifying the rioting are dead wrong.

Rioting hasn't just occurred in Minneapolis, where Floyd was killed, but in large cities throughout the country.  And people on the Left are justifying it.  They're justifying looting.  Windows have been smashed, and goods have been stolen.  They're justifying burning down the businesses of private citizens.  In some cases, those buildings have had people in them.  They're justifying physically harming people.  Many have been physically harmed by rioters.  They're justifying killing people.  More people have died after being attacked by rioters.  I've seen social media posts from friends in cities, showing buildings and cars burned, people throwing bricks at firetrucks, and people blocking traffic to break into vehicles with people in them.  We should be angry, and we should be protesting, but not like this.  Not only are people being hurt and killed, but people are losing their livelihoods.  Plenty of people of all colors are victims of the rioting, whether by assault or by destruction of their businesses, like the African American bar owner in Minneapolis whose bar burned down just before it was about to open.

Those who justify the rioting say that it's just property, which isn't as bad as murdering a man.  That's true, but it still doesn't make it right, and it's based on a false premise when the rioting is literally hurting and killing people.  I saw footage of several different men getting beat up.  I saw footage of a woman getting beat up.  I read an article about a black police officer who was killed.  It's not just property.  Stop the comparisons to the Boston Tea Party too.  That was an uprising directly against a tyrannical Government, and this is rioting and destroying the property of private citizens, often with fire, and in many cases physically hurting people very badly, some to the point of death.

Another popular thing I've seen on social media juxtaposed the calm police treatment of the "white" armed lockdown protestors at the Michigan Capitol with the forceful treatment of the "black" unarmed protestors who were rioting.  This is also a false juxtaposition, because neither group was racially homogeneous, and the difference in treatment was because one group was protesting peacefully and the other one, while it likely included plenty of peaceful protestors, also included people who were acting violently and committing arson.

Yet another popular social media post mentions that there's something wrong with you if you had a problem with Colin Kaepernick taking a knee but don't have a problem with Chauvin killing Floyd with his knee.  I actually agree with that one, but it creates a straw man, because I've yet to come across someone who did not have a problem with what Chauvin did (those would be actual white supremacists who would be cool with that).  Kaepernick had a right to do what he did, whether I agree with it or not.  My main problem with Kaepernick is that he's a clown.  He's not someone I can take seriously when he's a multimillionaire athlete protesting injustice while wearing a Che Guevara shirt and socks with policeman dressed like pigs, as his girlfriend says ridiculous things about Ray Lewis on social media, but he has the right to make any peaceful statement he wants to make.

I would even go as far as to say that sometimes, in specific situations, non-peaceful protest is warranted, but that does not extend to hurting people or putting people in danger by burning things down.  Yes, Jesus Christ himself overturned tables because he was displeased with what was going on in the temple, but the rioting in the aftermath of Floyd's murder did not end after the destruction of the police precinct in Minneapolis that was burned down (thankfully, abandoned and with no one inside).  Jesus overturned tables in the temple.  He didn't physically harm anyone or then go out and destroy all the nearby buildings.

I've seen several videos, and there are an awful lot of white people committing crimes at these riots.  People of all races are to blame.  It's certainly not even remotely exclusive to the Black community.  Antifa is not a good organization.  They're involved in some way, and it's very likely that there are both people on the extreme Right and extreme Left out there, of all colors, intentionally igniting violent riots on the streets.  Some of these people may be white supremacists, and others may be anarchists.  Some on the Right may point out that more white people are killed by policeman every year than black people, and some on the Left may point out that a higher percentage of black people are killed by policeman every year.  Regardless of who is rioting and what the statistics say, the fighting is causing people to lose sight of reason the protests started: George Floyd is dead.

Many Black people in this country are scared.  I understand why so many people are angry, even as I can't possibly understand what it's like to have black skin.  I feel so badly for them.  Yes, we've come a long way in 400 years.  Slavery was abolished during the Lincoln administration, but Jim Crow laws lived on for far too long.  We've made a lot of progress as a nation since then, and America is a great place for anyone to live, but more progress still needs to be made, both racially and otherwise.  I don't know whether or not Chauvin is a racist (the photo of him in white supremacist clothing that went viral was fake), but even if he isn't, that doesn't bring back Floyd.  And even if he isn't, police brutality is still a problem.

I urge people to listen to people like Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, Killer Mike, Dennis Rodman (who is apparently now a voice of reason), and members of Floyd's own family, who recognize Floyd's murder as horrific, but also discourage rioting.  Killer Mike even told CNN to stop feeding fear and anger every day, which is a great point.  All things that could remotely be construed as racially insensitive are magnified in the mainstream media in extreme ways, especially on CNN.  This has added fuel to the fire, as have the prolonged lockdowns and lost jobs.  The horrific killing of Floyd came at a time when America was a tinderbox.  Rep. Maxine Waters did not help when she said to TMZ, "I believe sometimes some of these officers leave home thinking, 'I'm gonna get me one today.'  And I think this is his one."  And the celebrities and those on Joe Biden's staff who are donating to bail funds for rioters aren't helping either, unless there's a way to ensure that none of those funds go to those who were arrested for violent crimes.  Ted Cruz's response to Justin Timberlake's bail fund donation was spot on: Why not donate to the African Americans and Hispanic small business owners whose businesses were looted and destroyed?

If my neighbor kills a member of my family and I burn down his house, you would understand why I did that, right?  We can have a conversation about whether or not I would be justified, and regardless of what you think about that, I would also be charged with a crime.  But if I decide to instead burn down my whole neighborhood, that would be entirely different.  This is similar to the problem with riots.  Similarly, if I go outside because I hear one of my neighbors yelling that he can't breathe and someone has his knee on my neighbor's neck, I'm naturally going to go over and get that person off of him in a very physical way.  But if that person has a gun on him, what would I do?  I'd go back inside and get my gun, point it at him, and tell him to get off immediately or I would shoot him.  See why people are angry at what happened to George Floyd?

Unfortunately, if the person with a knee on my neighbor's neck was a police officer and there were three other officers with him, what could I possibly do?  I could yell and scream and call 9-1-1, and I could physically try to get to him to help, but if I even threatened to shoot a police officer, I would be dead or charged with a very serious crime.  One man with a gun will lose against four men with guns.  I would feel helpless, like I'm sure many of the people who witnessed Floyd's murder felt.  As I watched the raw footage, I just kept hoping that the other officer in view, the Asian American one who was keeping the crowd back, would somehow tell Chauvin to remove his knee from Floyd's neck.  If only he could have done it, Floyd's life could have been saved, and others could have been saved as well.

This is a sad time in America.  We need to do better.  We must do better.  This is not who we are.  Whether you're a police officer or a civilian, there is no justification for murder.

How the Left Raped #MeToo

Remember back in 2018, when President Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the Supreme Court?  At the time, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford came forward and alleged that when Kavanaugh was 17, he groped her and tried to remove her clothes so he could rape her, but she was able to escape.  And then a bunch of other women came forward with outlandish claims, including alleging Kavanaugh's involvement in gang rape.  Kavanaugh was angry that people were saying knowingly false things in an attempt to keep him off the highest court in the land, ruin his life, and destroy his family.  The Left said it was an unpardonable sin that Kavanaugh showed his emotion, and that he should be disqualified from consideration to fill the SCOTUS vacancy based on that alone.  And also because he said he liked beer.  Which is also bad.  Nearly in unison, Leftists said they knew these women were all telling the truth, all women must be believed, and just the fact that he was accused of any of these things should have been reason enough to vote no on confirmation.  Fuck due process.

After Kavanaugh was confirmed, most of these women recanted their claims, quietly retreating from the spotlight, and you barely heard a whisper about that in mainstream media.  Ford was not one of those women.  I said it at the time she first went public with her claims, and I'll say it again now: I do not know whether or not she is telling the truth.  I don't care that most people to the left of me know she is telling the truth, and I don't care that most people to the right of me know that she is a liar.  If you're one of those people from either side who claims to know exactly what did or did not happen at an unknown place sometime in probably 1982, to borrow a phrase from Joe Biden, you're a lying dog-faced pony soldier.

While we're on the topic of Joe Biden, he was recently accused of sexual assault by Tara Reade, who claims that he penetrated her with his finger without consent in a Capitol Hill basement while he was a sitting Senator.  She used to work for Joe Biden, and she detailed exactly where and when it happened, as well as having people she told at the time confirm that she was saying the same thing then (in the 1990s) as she is now.  Many of the same people who knew that Ford was lying know that Reade is telling the truth, just as many of those who knew that Ford was telling the truth know that Reade is lying.

Suddenly, the "believe all women" mantra had disappeared from the Left.  Instead of calling for endless investigations, many are saying that it's already been investigated sufficiently, and Biden is clearly not guilty.  His own campaign commented on how The New York Times ran an article that cleared him of any wrongdoing (it did not).  They're not calling for additional investigations of a man who has already been investigated, as they were with Kavanaugh, but instead lining up to defend Joe Biden.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's defense of him is that "Joe Biden is Joe Biden."  That's an accurate assessment, but not a reason to believe that he isn't guilty.  I mean, the man has been accused of inappropriate touching before, by Amy Lappos and at least seven others, and there's plenty of video where he appears to be acting a bit too touchy around women and young girls.  But don't worry, Joe Biden is Joe Biden.  Imagine if Trump defended Brett Kavanuagh by saying that Brett Kavanaugh is Brett Kavanaugh.  It would have been yet another reason to call for his impeachment.

To me personally, Joe Biden seems to act like a creepy Grandpa sometimes, but he never really struck me as a rapist or someone who would overtly sexually assault someone.  He's just always kind of been creepy old Uncle Joe, odd but occasionally endearing.  Yet, his other accusers and uncomfortable videos have been around for many years, standing in stark contrast to Kavanaugh's sterling reputation prior to Ford's accusation.  You know what else stands in stark contrast to Ford's accusation?  Reade's accusation.  While Reade detailed where and when the alleged incident with Biden happened, Ford didn't know where or when the alleged incident with Kavanaugh happened.  Reade didn't have other witnesses, but she had plenty of people confirm that she was telling the same story right after the incident as she is today.  Ford named people who were supposedly at the party where the incident with Kavanaugh happened, and none of them remembered the party.  Some of them didn't even know Kavanaugh, and none of them could corroborate Ford's story.  Yet the narrative I'm supposed to believe is that Ford was definitely telling the truth and Reade is definitely lying?  Is that the excuse for why mainstream media has treated Kavanaugh and Biden so differently?

The mainstream media was covering the Kavanaugh story non-stop, digging up everything they could to try to tear him down.  They've barely covered the Biden story.  One was nominated to serve on the Supreme Court.  The other is the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States, the most powerful position in the world.  So what's the difference?  Is it because one is a Republican and one is a Democrat?  I think that oversimplifies it.  Remember, many of the Democrats went after one of their own, Senator Al Franken, who was accused of doing something far less than either Kavanaugh or Biden have been accused of.  They forced him out.  Why?  Well, because the Democratic Governor would just replace him with another Democrat.  Kavanaugh serving on the Supreme Court and Biden serving as President are both far more consequential.  To what?  Well, a lot of things, but perhaps most prominently among them, abortion.  Democrats fear that Kavanaugh will help overturn Roe v. Wade (which is unlikely), so they did whatever they could to keep him from becoming a Supreme Court Justice.  Biden could name another Supreme Court Justice or two (or potentially more) if he becomes President, which would help protect Roe v. Wade and lead to other favorable decisions for the Left.  They have to do whatever they can to defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden.

Some Democrats are at least being honest about what's going on.  A few of them are pointing out that Joe Biden should not be held to a different standard than Brett Kavanaugh, Al Franken, Donald Trump, or anyone else.  Others are even admitting that they believe Reade's accusations are true, but they're going to vote for Biden anyway, because Trump must be defeated at all costs.  But the majority, with mainstream media implicated most of all, are either remaining silent on Reade's accusation or dismissing it as a lie.  We've come a long way in two years.  Apparently the #MeToo movement is only important when it's convenient now.

To be clear, I am implicating the Left and mainstream media, and as Andrew Klavan is fond of saying, but I repeat myself.  I do believe that Reade's accusations are more likely to be true than Ford's, as they at least include a when and where, but I do not know whether or not either one is telling the truth.  I also do not know whether or not Brett Kavanaugh lied, or if Joe Biden is lying.  And at this point, he probably doesn't know if he's lying either.

Rudy Gobert: The Man Who May Have Saved America

I understand the gravity of the situation that our nation and our world are in right now, and I realize that this may not be a particularly popular view, but hear me out: Rudy Gobert, the man who made light of coronavirus and then tested positive for it, may have helped saved America.

For me, February began with a business trip to California, where I also stayed the weekend to visit family after going to Disneyland with some wonderful friends I've worked with for many years.  I knew what coronavirus was then, but in no way did it impact my everyday life, nor did it for most Americans.  I remember waiting in line for one ride in front of a young Chinese boy who was coughing his head off, though I wasn't particularly concerned about catching anything from him.  At least he had the decency not to cough right on me.  Turns out, I caught a cold at the end of my trip, though I blame that on the middle-aged white guy in the airport who literally turned and coughed in my face when he was getting off of the plane.  Didn't cover his mouth or anything.  Totally disgusting.  I just gave him a look like, "Really, dude?"  If it happened today, I might have given him more than a look.

February ended with a vacation in Florida, where I introduced my girlfriend to Grandma, went to Disney World, and went to a Yankees Spring Training game.  Coronavirus was a thing in the U.S. by then, but I still didn't think much of it.  March started in much the same way: Going places and doing things, per usual.  March 6, Spurs vs. Nets NBA game.  March 8, Casting Crowns and Matthew West concert.  March 9, plane to Washington, D.C. for another business trip.  The March 10 conference I was in D.C. for was about a quarter smaller than usual, and some things were beginning to get cancelled.  I remarked to a co-worker that I thought that was probably an overreaction, and she agreed with me.

My meetings on Capitol Hill went on as scheduled.  I met with Rep. Stanton (AZ) and several folks from the staffs of Senators and Representatives.  The only thing different than usual was that no one was shaking hands anymore.  A wonderful woman from the staff of Rep. Hastings (FL) has the distinction of being the person to introduce me to the elbow bump as a greeting in lieu of a handshake.  I used this newly-found greeting that evening when I met Rep. Veasey (TX).  That night, I met up with a buddy from college for a few beers.  We talked about coronavirus.  He explained that it was going to be a serious problem, and he had just cancelled an upcoming vacation.  I told him we had to take basic precautions, but I didn't think it would become a huge problem.  I had to fly back to Westchester the next day and was hoping the flight did not get cancelled.  It was more than half empty, and I landed early.  That night, all hell broke loose.

After the previous game, Rudy Gobert had been joking around about coronavirus, going out of his way to touch the microphones of all of the reporters, and apparently just about everything and everyone in the locker room afterwards as well.  On this night, March 11, Gobert was not in the arena, so the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder was about to start without the All-Star Center for the Utah Jazz.  Suddenly, it was called off without warning and all of the fans in the packed arena were sent home, undoubtedly booing mercilessly.

The ESPN alerts on my phone came in fast and furious.  Gobert had tested positive for coronavirus, which led to the game's cancellation.  Then NBA Commissioner Adam Silver postponed the NBA season.  And the NHL season was postponed.  And the NCAA Tournaments were cancelled.  And pretty much every other sporting event in the country and the world was cancelled or postponed as well.  Whoa.

Well, being a sports fan, that's what it took to wake me up, and the same was likely true for hundreds of millions along with me.  I looked at the information, the numbers, and what the experts were saying, and realized the situation was damn serious.  Even the eternal optimist President Trump had changed his tone at this point.  Now, I'm one of those people who always washes his hands and almost never touches a door handle, so nothing changed for me on that front, but social distancing was now a thing, and I'm doing most of my work from home for the short-term (and thankful that I still have a job where I can do that).  The mass hysteria and the shortages of toilet paper and hand sanitizer though, not to mention those who bought them up just to try to price gouge, are totally ridiculous.  But the cancellations of all large events are warranted and make complete sense.

Meanwhile, the stock market has tanked, and my 401K, Roth IRA, and small collection of stocks are in the toilet.  I expect that they will bounce back in time once we get through this, but we need to keep the social distancing in place in order to get through this in a way where we flatten the curve and can hopefully return to normal in several months, losing perhaps a few thousand people in the U.S. rather than a seven-digit number (every life is precious, but the sad reality is that some number of people, mostly elderly and those with underlying conditions, are going to die from this).

No sporting events.  No concerts.  No church services.  No school for children.  No commute to work.  No having to put on pants in the morning.  It's nothing like I've ever lived through, nor has anyone under the age of 100 who wasn't around for the Spanish Flu, which is, by the way, not a racist term.  Look, President Trump and his administration could have responded better initially, but hindsight is 20/20, and I believe they're doing a much better job now, and his labeling of this as the Chinese Virus is not racist.  It's accurate.  This originated in China, and it happened because the Chinese government allowed it to happen in the first place, because people are apparently allowed to eat bats.  They then failed to act and tried to cover it up, allowing it to spread.  It's similar to what Russia did with the nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl, except this has now spread worldwide.  We call the Chernobyl disaster by its location rather than by some other name.  It's not degrading to Chinese people to call this the Chines virus, but to the garbage Communist Government of China, which is now trying to spread the lie that the U.S. Military is actually responsible for the virus by the way.

One major thing that I will give President Trump credit for is that he banned travel from China very early on.  This saved countless lives.  And he did so despite people calling that policy racist, like so many people on the Left do with virtually every fucking thing President Trump does.  The man is far from perfect, but he's not a racist, and he's certainly no authoritarian, even though many are now begging for him to essentially become one.  Anyway, that's enough on President Trump for now.  Let's get back to the taller hero.

Rudy Gobert was the first celebrity I heard of who was diagnosed with coronavirus, with a displeased Donovan Mitchell (Gobert's teammate) soon following, as well as Tom Hanks and a slew of others over the last week or so.  Rudy Gobert is me.  And you.  He was joking around and making light of the virus one day, and the next day he was the most infamous NBA player to test positive for something since Magic Johnson.  People were pissed at him.  He recognized that he made a thoughtless mistake, apologized profusely, and donated a lot of money to help.  He did the right thing.  In his error, subsequent diagnosis, and subsequent recognition of the seriousness of coronavirus, he may have inadvertently saved America.

As Rudy Gobert went, so went America.  The NBA was the first domino to fall, followed by the other sports leagues, and then concerts and pretty much every other gathering.  So, thank you, Rudy Gobert!  We're all in this together now, so even if you're a young person, for the sake of the older folks and the at-risk folks especially, let's make some sacrifices and practice social distancing.  Let's all try to help those in need, like the sports stars and team owners who are paying the salaries of those who usually work in the arenas and stadiums for the teams.  Let's reach out to people and call them to check on them and to connect.  In the absence of church services, my Pastor has taken to daily brief messages online, the last several of which have encouraged us all to call a few people, especially those who may be feeling especially isolated or lonely.

We can't always correct mistakes that were made in the past, but we can do better going forward.  We can make the future better.  It won't be easy, but we must do it.  And this too shall pass.  Yes, it's unprecedented, but we will come out on the other side stronger than ever!

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For those of you who are wondering about how to pronounce Rudy Gobert's last name, it's similar to Stephen Colbert's last name (Rudy is a 7'1" French guy).  For those of you who are wondering when I got the cards in the photo signed by him, it was over a year ago, so he did not have coronavirus at the time, although he does happen to have an abysmal signature...