Pinned Thought: I wish someone would ask Donald Trump what he loves about America. (April 22, 2024)
October 14, 2017
I've said it before and I will keep saying it - banks fail when faith in banks is destroyed, currencies fail when faith in the currency is destroyed and democracy fails when faith in the pillars of democracy - a free press, an independent judiciary, elections themselves - is destroyed. Our president is working tirelessly to destroy faith in all these and more. (in response to a Facebook post by Dave Mathis. See also this blog post dated Feb 2, 2018)
April 26, 2022
The text message below from a sitting member of Congress suggesting martial law to overturn an election result upheld in numerous courts of law (which is how the rule of law works) should on its own be enough to drive her from office. There was a time when it would have. That it is not is evidence of how close to the precipice we are. I will add one more sign of the tipping point - when members of the conservative mainstream no longer decry the actions of Timothy McVeigh, but begin to rationalize his terrorist attack without political repercussion, we can take it as the likely point of no return.
“In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law." - Marjorie Taylor-Green (R-GA)
May 3, 2022
Abortion threatens to be to the 21st century what slavery was to the 19th - the wedge issue that drives a wedge through the heart of America.
June 25, 2022
Some are saying the overturning of Roe v Wade is the first time the Supreme Court has taken away a right it had previously found in the Constitution. I would argue otherwise. The Court once found a right to discriminate via the separate but equal finding in Plessy v Ferguson, then found that right unconstitutional in Brown v. The Board of Education. Yes, one can argue that the Court did not rule affirmatively in support of discrimination, instead finding that separate but equal was not a violation of individual rights, but that is a matter more of semantics than reality.
June 25, 2022
I fear the U.S..is becoming the next Middle East - an overly-armed region of disaffected young men with a warped, militaristic theocracy at its center.
July 5, 2022
Shakespeare wrote in The Merchant of Venice that the devil can cite scripture for his purpose. Likewise can we cite our founding fathers. Truth is that they struggled to agree with themselves, thus Ben Franklin's elegant speech on compromise to close the Constitutional Convention (oops, am I falling into the same trap?). Bottom line, if they could not agree amongst themselves in real time, how can we claim to be able to channel them explicitly a quarter of a millennium later?August 24, 2022
There's an old cliche that says just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you. A corollary to that, apropos of a certain ex-president is that just because they are out to get you doesn't mean you're not guilty.
October 18, 2022
Michelle Goldberg writes in today's NY Times that Mike Collins, a Georgia Republican who has promised to be a “great teammate” for Greene, has a campaign video in which he shoots a gun at what looks like a garbage can full of explosives marked “Voting Machine.”
Let me be perfectly clear - one who views guns as political tools and voting machines as electoral evils is neither a believer in democracy (or representative government, to satisfy the "republic, not a democracy" crowd), nor American principles. We are on a very dark path and I fear it will not end well. We have so twisted the idea of patriotism and what constitute American ideals that I fear we may never find them again.
May 2, 2023
I had the opportunity to visit Normandy this year. Of all the sites we visited, none was more moving than the American cemetery off Omaha Beach. And nothing spoke more about American ideals and the morality of our cause than this inscription at the entry to the cemetery: |
| Inscription at Normandy American Cemetery |
"If ever proof were needed that we fought for a cause and not for conquest it could be found in these cemeteries. Here was our only conquest, all we asked... was enough soil in which to bury our gallant dead." - General Mark W. Clark, inscribed at Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France
Unfortunately, today there is this:
Donald Trump: "We should have taken the oil."
May 6, 2023
Simon Sinek once spoke on how the Navy Seals evaluate members using performance and trust scales, with high trust being more important than high performance. The video below is a worthwhile two and a half minute watch on how this has made Seal Team Six the highest performing unit on the planet, bar none. Bottom line, they weed out what Sinek refers to as the a**holes. One way they do that is via self-policing and holding each other accountable in order to maintain the integrity of the unit.
Donald Trump not only pardoned Gallagher, but lauded him as a great warrior, before inviting him to join him on the campaign trail. Another clear example that Donald Trump has no idea what makes America great (I'm reminded of the Oscar Wilde quote that a fool is one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing).
June 16, 2023
We are in perilous times. The indictment of Donald Trump on federal charges of violating the Espionage Act has led to the wholly expected reflexive defense of his actions by member of the GOP - or deflection by comparing them to Hillary Clinton's emails or Mike Pence's or Joe Biden's possession of classified material. Many of these folks know that Donald Trump was not just wrong in taking and retaining them, but dangerously wrong in how he handled and shared them. And yet they defend him, not out of fear of Trump, but of his base. As Hannah Arendt noted in "The Origins of Totalitarianism," it is not unusual to see men stand up to the king, but it is rare for them to stand up to the mob. That is what we are witnessing here, made all the more troublesome because in forgoing the opportunity to stand up for what's right, they both normalize what is wrong and miss the opportunity to teach the next generation of voters and leaders what real patriotism looks like. And just like other skills and traditions lost to the ages, once it's gone it will likely be gone for good, to the detriment of our nation and our global standing.
July 22, 2023
It is easier to quell dissent than it is to quell corruption because the payoff for dissent is far more intangible and less immediate than it is for corruption. This works to the advantage of the corrupt because corruption has a freer rein absent dissent.
August 1, 2023
Ronald Reagan introduced the idea of supply-side economics, arguing that increased capital availability would lead to greater production, thus driving growth in the economy and tax revenues. An argument could also be made that labor is just as important as capital in driving economic growth. In fact, a shortage of either is likely to restrain growth, yet labor shortages are likely to lead to inflation as Supply is constrained and wages grow. Conversely, excess capital can also result in inflation. Therefore, increasing the labor pool may be our best hope at growing the economy, increasing output (supply) and thus reducing inflation. And the fastest source of labor supply is to increase immigration.
August 8, 2023
In their zeal to own said libs, conservatives do things to gleefully irritate their opposition. Thus we have the odd sight of conservatives attacking things like the FBI (out of control), the Pentagon (too woke), elections (corrupt), the Constitution (calls for convention of states, termination), the media (fake news), Disney (way too woke) and Bud Light (beyond woke). The irony is that the side claiming the other side "hates our country" seems to hate a lot of what makes our country our country.
August 9, 2023
The events involving the Weaver family at Ruby Ridge, the Branch Davidians in Waco and Cliven Bundy in Nevada may foretell what the aftermath of a Donald Trump conviction in any of the cases against him might look like. In each of the aforementioned cases, government opposition to adversaries deemed by supporters to be righteous foes of an overbearing government fueled further anti-government fervor that seems to be self-perpetuating as such anti-government forces seek out grievances to further fuel their anger. A conviction of Donald Trump may become the most explosive of such confrontations, seen as proof positive that the government is out of control. If there are violent outbursts that provoke a like response from law enforcement, we may see a tipping point. Just look at the martyrdom of January 6th rioter Ashli Babbitt. Now imagine a slew of Trump supporters gunned down by government forces. Fuel, meet fire.
August 23, 2023
I have to disagree with Donnie Duetsch, who said today that Donald Trump would be forever haunted by the mug shot to be taken tomorrow in Fulton County, GA. I think it is quite possible that the former president will use it to promote his martyrdom. We shall see.
October 24, 2023
The U.S. Constitution was designed to allow a minority to thwart the desire of the majority specifically to protect the enslavement of others, to ensure the dominion of an amoral few over a moral majority and a helpless many. That, quite likely, will turn out to be its fatal flaw.
November 13, 2023
Authoritarianism and tyrants never arrive with full support. Instead they begin in hidden crevices, with tiny followings and ideas that turn off the majority. The reasonable center waits for the sure-to-come moment when supporters see the tyrant for who he (never a she?) really is, but that moment never comes. Instead, what was yesterday's outrage becomes today's norm, until one day those in the reasonable center either fall for the seductive lure of being part of the "inside," are cowed (or beaten) into silence or become part of the vermin that must be vanquished, however that is to be achieved.
November 17, 2023
Following on the November 13 post above, we are witnessing the "frog in a warming pot" normalization of the unthinkable. As mentioned, tyrants behind atrocities never arrive fully formed - not Lenin, not Mao, not Hitler. Yes, they all made clear their hatred of the "other," whether the intelligentsia, the cultural elite or the Jews, but the manifestation of that hatred in the form of gulags, cultural revolutions and the final solution only appeared once each was fully in power. Trump is not there. Yet. But he's made clear his hatred of the other going all the way back to the Central Park Five. He made it clear when he payed the "us vs. them card in his original announcement speech, saying Mexico isn't "sending you," instead suggesting portraying migrants as rapists and drug dealers. He made it clear with his proposed ban on travel from Muslim countries, followed by his bemoaning that we must accept people from shithole countries, rather than places like Norway. But as happened in the past, he is now warning us of the manifestation of that hatred as he promises retribution. And as has also always happened in the past, it is certain that he'll seek to impose that retribution on more than those "others" he used to seduce the unwary to his side.
November 21, 2023
Ever notice that those gun rights advocates who believe thoughts and prayers can protect our children don't trust thoughts and prayers to protect their gun rights? Wouldn't it be nice if they simply thought and prayed about their gun rights, instead of donating millions to the NRA and voting in droves for politicians who'll do their dirty work in case God really isn't on their side?
December 9, 2023
I believe it is only a matter of time before high school football as we know it becomes a thing of the past. With revelations that children who never played beyond high school developing CTE, it is only a matter of time until lawsuits against schools and coaches make liability insurance unaffordable and passing those costs on to local taxpayers untenable.
Footnote: I remember thinking that footballs days were numbered when I first saw the movie Running Man in the late 1980's. I had no idea that CTE might be its downfall, but I thought then that it would follow boxing's path, believed a brutal sport seen as a way for impoverished youth to escape bleak futures by providing vicarious entertainment for dwindling masses. We may not lose our appetite for football, and its financial clout may overwhelm the medical and human cost of playing it, but that says more about us than it does the sport. And I will confess to being as guilty as anyone.
December 16, 2023
What does a pickup-loving, gun-soaked, alpha male society look like? This. Sprinkle in American, Gadsden and Trump flags and you've got a MAGA wet dream.
December 20, 2023
Donald Trump says that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country." I'm sorry, but Donald Trump is poisoning the heart of our country. We can try to dismiss it, as Lindsey Graham has tried, as "just talk," but that is how folks justified support for Hitler in the 1930's. The talk could be overlooked because of the "good things" he was doing. The problem is, you can't separate the wheat from the chaff and eventually no amount of "good" can justify ignoring what should never be ignored.
December 2023
Well, what did I tell you. It makes me question Donny Duetsch's validity as a reader of markets or human psychology. From the official Donald Trump store - his mug shot even made wrapping paper.
December 28, 2023
We are a nation of immigrants, born of rebellion - and what better way to honor our legacy of revolution than to continually refresh our energy than to renew the blood of our people with those possessing the same energy and fearlessness that brought our ancestors to these shores.
January 9, 2024
A couple of interesting stats that probably go a long way in explaining why Americans haven't felt good about the economy in a long time. Since 1970, per capita healthcare spending has gone from $353 ($2,866 in constant 2022 dollars) to $13,493, while per capita GDP has gone from $5,234 ($42,500 in constant 2022 dollars) to $76,399, driving helathcare costs from 6.7% of GDP to 17.7% of GDP.
Now, while I love numbers, I hate narratives that are filled with them, but it's hard to avoid them here. Bottom line, whereas about 1 in 15 dollars went to healthcare in 1970, today it's more than 1 in six. Or to look at it another way, for every three dollars in growth, one third of it went to healthcare.
GDP data: https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/gdp-gross-domestic-product
