I just read

I just read some idiot seriously arguing that we should vote mindlessly for Democrats.    That’s right, ignore the credible accusations against Ellison, the fact that Menendez is a scumbag, the fact that racists and anti semites have a comfortable home in the Democratic Party, ignore Beto and his running away from the cone of a crime, ignore it all.    Ignore the Mia Love’s of the world, ignore everything that might be considered objective and blindly, mindlessly vote straight Democrat.  

Because they have conservatives best interests at heart.

As I’ve thought about this, I’ve realized that this attitude is even more insidious than it first appeared.  

The Democrat party certainly isn’t interested in me as a fully functioning member of the party, and with allowing me full voice regarding issues that are important to me.   It’s clear that
 I’m not welcome there unless I’m a mindless, mechanical, automaton, who simply votes the way they want me to.   Unfortunately, I’m also feeling less at home in the GOP either.  

Ultimately, no matter how this works out, I’m committed to not simply voting mindlessly, or mechanically, but to trying to be informed and to vote according to my principles.

Inconsistent much

"We have to stop demonizing people and realize the biggest terror threat in this country is white men, most of them radicalized to the right, and we have to start doing something about them."

So, the way to stop demonizing people is to engage in broad brush demonization.   

Credit/Blame

I can hear the Trump haters now.  Blaming Trump for the recent decline in the stock markets.    I have absolutely no problem blaming Trump, as long as you are prepared to give him credit for the significant increases that have happened since he’s been elected.    

Post-truth

ADJECTIVE

• Relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.

  
  

  
  

  In a world where this is a dictionary definition of an actual term, how can anyone actually complain when politicians don’t tell the truth?   
  
  

Interesting bit of Eurocentric neocolonialism

“It’s quite interesting that the European bishops with nearly empty churches and dwindling vocations say “change this, change that” while the African bishops with full churches and exploding vocations say “don’t be afraid to teach the truth””

Bad

Under no circumstances is it in any way acceptable to send or place explosives or poison or any other substance that would cause harm, at the home (or in the mailbox of) anyone you disagree with about anything.  

I learned something

Apparently “immigrant” is now a race.  

What kind of racist would say this?

“We simply cannot allow people to pour into the U.S., undetected, undocumented, unchecked and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently, lawfully to become immigrants in this country”

What to do?

A man claims Corey Booker sexually assaulted him.  At this point we have absolutely nothing concrete to go on and clearly Booker is innocent until proven guilty.

The question before us is, “Do we apply the same standard to Bookers accuser that we apply to Kavanaugh’s?”.

Or,  Does the fact that Booker’s accuser is a man mean that we automatically don’t believe him?

This illustrates the problem with the “Uncritically believe all women” narrative, it places more importance on the gender of the alleged victim, than on what actually happened.

Hopefully it’ll bring a little balance to the conversation.

Even if this proves to be false, the questions are still valid as a hypothetical.

It’s your truth

This is a phrase we hear more and more frequently in our culture.   “My truth”, or “your truth” are tossed around to justify all sorts of things.

If we live in a world of personal, individual truth, then are Trump, Warren, O’Rourke, etc actually lying?

Aren’t they just telling “their truth”?

Ronald

Ronald DiRisi, just one more example of the growing wave of right wing violence.

Stupid lies

It’s been suggested that candidates who tell “stupid lies” are unfit for public office.

Does telling lies about your own mother qualify as stupid?
Does telling lies that are easily demonstrated to be lies qualify as stupid?

Really....

If it’s really a “scary time” for men, it’s probably much more “scary” for conservative and/or Christian men than for liberal/non Christian men.

Silence

Christian Pakistani woman sentenced to death because she wouldn’t convert to Islam (precipitated because she drank from the “wrong” water cup.  Liberals who allegedly espouse “human rights” and tout Islam as the “religion of peace” remain totally silent.

Let’s put this in perspective, there is more uproar (and racism) triggered because Kanye soent time in the Oval Office, than for a woman sentenced to death for being a Christian.  More perspective, it’s ok when rappers with the same sort of lyrical genius and class as Kanye pal around with P-BO, but let Kanye stray off the liberal plantation and let the racism and charges of mental illness fly.  

I have noticed a few courageous leftists who have had the amazing fortitude to gently point out that Hillary was mildly incorrect in her recent comments about her husband engaging in sexual harassment.    It’s not as consistent as you’d like, but it’s a start and I applaud it.

Lying for truth

I once heard the following.

“Fighting for peace, is like having sex for virginity.”

Leaving aside the bad comparison, it’s interesting how folk who might have supported this sort of statement have adopted the very thing they protested against.

Now we see folx doing the following.

Lying to protest lies.
Slander to protest slander.
Hate and vitriol to protest hate and vitriol.
Violence to protest violence.
Support of obstruction to protest obstruction.
Racism to protest racism.

It’s sad to watch the “by any means necessary” crowd adopt the very tactics and actions they’ve been claiming they oppose, while offering ridiculous justifications for becoming exactly what they protest against.

Whether it’s in the Congress, mobs on the streets, those who hide behind the anonymity of social media, or bloggers who trade in inconsistency and falsehood, it’s an interesting case study of an entire political movement debasing themselves.