Why I love the God Emperor Trump

There hasn’t been as consequential OR polarizing political figure in my lifetime. One of the questions I get often is why, oh why do you like President Trump so much. He’s a con man, a fraud, and only in it for himself. He’s made negative comments about women, is uncouth, a bully, too politically incorrect and basically unfit to hold the highest office in the land.

So why is it that I and millions of others are such fans of his?

Well, here it is. Most of my adult life I was inundated with media messages that were one sided. I grew up enjoying hunting and fishing and the outdoors. I grew up with guns and enjoyed them for target shooting, hunting and when I was older self defense. Yet, from the age of 12 practically all the messages I saw on TV or in newspapers or magazines were negative. Abortion was covered much the same way. I’m where most Americans are on that topic. Not a huge fan, but it shouldn’t be illegal in the first trimester. It’s just not something I think should be glorified. And yet, the media rarely if ever presents an accurate view of the majority view of Americans. Climate change is another issue that rarely gets a fair presentation. It’s become a religious debate between heretics who don’t fully believe and those who think the world as we know it will end. And on and on it goes.

With all these different issues there were very few people with a national voice to stand up for the side of those who were and are generally voiceless. I often use Clint Eastwood’s epic western “The Outlaw Jose Wales” when discussing the President. It’s a story of a farmer whose family is killed by outlaws from the North after the Civil war. He joins a resistance group who is fighting the mercenaries from the North only to have them machine gunned after being putting their weapons down and surrendering. He then becomes a wanted fugitive running from them across the country and defeating his pursuers time and time again. He has a young sidekick whose constant refrain is “You whooped them again Jose”.

The President is our Jose Wales. Time and time again the media has thought they had him boxed in, he was done, completely over and on his last political breath. And time and time again he comes back to beat them. To overcome overwhelming odds. To whoop them again.

For me there is also another pop culture reference. I grew up in the punk rock era. The music was rebellious, at odds with mainstream narratives and despised group think. While I wasn’t looking for Anarchy in the UK like the Sex Pistols the message stuck. Question authority, question conventional norms and most importantly be an individual. Be bold and brave and unafraid of having your views challenged. Never be bullied into a particular view, always ask questions and never trust those in authority completely.

Today, to support President Trump is a punk rock position. The easy stance is to despise, dislike, and attack him and those like me who support him. You’ll be applauded and cheered on for such a bold position. But is it bold to toe the line that those in authority want? Is it bold to limit speech? Is it bold to want war with Russia? Is it bold to declare allegiance to huge tech companies? My position and those of all the deplorables is that it’s a supplicating, suffocating and a mistake of the highest order. We don’t want to be told what to do, think, how to speak or act. We believe in freedom. We believe in the individual. We believe that no one should restrict our freedom especially our tech overlords. I don’t want a narrative crammed down my throat and I’m guessing you don’t either.

Issue by issue our leaders have been wrong. Whether endless wars in the Gulf and around the world, the housing crisis that was in large part created by government programs that although had good intent had horrible consequences, outsourcing jobs from the US in the quest for ever lower labor costs they have proven time and again that they have NO idea what they are doing. They have long lost any connection to most Americans and are beholden to large corporate interests. The little man is just that. Little, with almost no ability to do anything other than go along for the ride.

This changed the day Donald Trump began campaigning. He was a former democrat, a NYC billionaire, a man with dozens of girlfriends and known as a playboy. Yet, he was able to connect with the average voter like me in the parts of America that are laughed at by those in Los Angeles or NYC. We were mocked and not even behind our backs. It was directly to our faces. Our views were denigrated, we were personally attacked. Homophobe, xenophobe, transphobe, nazi, hater, etc. Day in and day out we had leaders who wouldn’t defend our views even though they were elected for that reason. Day in and day out the media laughed and joked at our expense. No one stood up to the hoards. No one, that is, until Trump came down the escalator.

I love Trump because he stands unafraid of the mobs that come for him. He is unafraid of the Wall Street lobbyists who told us that America’s best days were behind us. He is unafraid of the media morons who are simply highly paid democrat shills. He is unafraid of the warmongers who have wrecked the Middle East. He is unafraid of the deep state bureaucrats who hold all the power and enough data to destroy almost anyone. He is unafraid to put the interests of America first.

For those simple reasons he is a hero of mine. He is the man who comes to town defeating powerful interests in favor of the unheard and unappreciated man and woman. He suffers the slings and arrows for the benefit of you and me. He is an iconic figure that has forever changed the nature of politics. He will be talked for years to come as the one man who took on everything when he had no reason to do so other than his love for America. So, yeah, I love our God Emperor Trump along with millions of other Americans.

The democrats are playing for our side!

There could not be anything more helpful to republicans than the current craziness that is going on in the democrat party. With their current call for socialism, third trimester abortions, gun control and increased taxes and regulations they seem to be getting further and further out of the mainstream. Add in their religious like belief in intersectionality and you get a party that is no longer relevant to most Americans. Even those who would consider themselves to be liberal are feeling increasingly left out.

While they move towards more extreme positions the Trump republican party has a firm grasp on the center politically. Our President has an intuitive feel for where most of America comes down on these issues, even if the establishment of the party doesn’t. He knows that controlling illegal immigration is an important issue for a large swath of Americans. Also that lower taxes, less regulations and reasonable restraints on abortion are where most people fall politically.

What has been interesting is the shift between republicans and democrats on free speech and war. Democrats used to be the party of free expression and have abandoned that in favor of restricting speech that which they disagree with. This is evident at universities, in the media generally and certainly on social media. The Republicans are now the party of free speech. It’s a huge change from the days of the religious right attempting to control expression. It will be increasingly important for the republicans to be champions of free expression to survive as a party and to use as a unifying factor for Americans.

The democrats have also become the party of continual war and have assumed the position that the neocons have consistently advocated for. It’s amazing to see Bill Kristol and the dems having so much agreement and certainly calls into question the judgement to value him a a “thought leader” for so many years. The dems firmly believe that overthrowing leaders that are problematic and installing “democracy” is the way to go even after the failures in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya among others. It’s been a disaster for the people in those countries, for our service members and a massive expense for the taxpayers in the US.

Amazon pulling out of NY is the latest concrete example of the effect that the drift towards socialism has had. The debate over the tax inducements became so intense that Amazon took their ball and went home along with 25,000 jobs. The far left wing of the democrat party were incensed that tax breaks were offered to Amazon to get them to choose Long Island City as there latest home. Somehow they missed the huge number of jobs and the resulting additional business that would be created. Think restaurants, dry cleaners, grocery stores, real estate, auto sales and repair, etc. Because they were ONLY focused on the tax breaks that were offered they missed the massive economic potential of the deal overall.

This brings us to what to do as the dems get nuttier and nuttier. First - when you hear the latest wacky proposal from them you should cheer them on. The wackier and crazier they get the better the chances for rational and intelligent proposals. Second - you should share their craziness far and wide. They do NOT represent the majority of Americans. So, when you hear the democrats talk of the latest third trimester abortion plan, or getting rid of air travel, or pushing for much higher taxes amplify that message.

Election Day 2018 is almost here. Seven reasons to vote RED

It’s finally here. For many Americans it’s Christmas and the Super Bowl wrapped up in one. The question is what are you going to do? What do you want for our country? What is going to make your life better? Here are my thoughts on why RED is the only choice.

Economy - record employment across all racial, income and gender lines along with a large increase in wages. Massive reduction in regulations that stifle economic growth. Huge increase in manufacturing jobs as well as freedom for energy producers to actually produce. WV loves Trump. You should too.

Healthcare - continued push to control pricing through pressure on the drug companies, elimination of the individual mandate, protection for pre-existing conditions, and a drive toward more efficiency in prices and services.

Foreign policy - an American first policy of demanding our allies to pay their fare share and discontinuing their trade with adversaries ie Iran. A very healthy skepticism of continuing foreign conflicts and not getting involved in others ie Syria. The New Republicans are not searching for foreign conflicts to get involved in. Rather, they seek discourse with our enemies and using external pressures like economic sanctions to gain the desired results.

Immigration - finally a policy that represents the will of the majority of Americans that believe in immigration completely, but want an orderly, lawful process. There is no racism or hate. We simply believe that lawbreaking doesn’t make anyone a hero, but instead makes them a criminal. Build the wall.

Political correctness - we have suffered for years with politicians and our media betters who attempted to dictate what could and could not be said. Ideas that they didn’t agree with were deemed hateful, racist, homophobic, transphobic or xenophobic. That was a quick and effective way to shut down dissenting viewpoints. Those days are over. President Trump has shattered the PC movement in the US. The remaining pieces should be swept into the dustbin of history.

2nd Amendment - if you value the ability to keep and bear arms there is only one choice. One party speaks of confiscation the other defends your given rights as Americans.

Foreign Trade - under the New Republicans our trade deals have been renegotiated with the sole intention of making them fair. Countries that protect their industries while exploiting ours have realized that those days are over. It will be fair for both parties or they will suffer economically. As it should be.

A vote for the Republicans will ensure the continuation of these hugely beneficial policies. A vote for blue ensures this will come to a screeching halt. Vote accordingly.

Don't listen to the media. There is actually room to agree.

Every day we see our country more and more quickly dividing into two tribes. On one side are the people who are appalled and horrified by our current president and the direction that he is taking the country. On the other side we have people who wake up each day happy and hopeful for the current leadership. This isn’t new. Every presidency has its detractors. And that’s good. You want a check on such a powerful position. That’s the job of the opposition party and to a certain extent the media.

We have always been politically divided. And for the love of God, disagreement is ok. We all don’t need to share the same thoughts and opinions. Division is normal BUT hating your countrymen is not. And we are seeing way too much of that now. And it’s got to stop.

What’s interesting is that the actual divide is smaller than most would imagine. If you listen to the media you would think a new civil war is brewing. But, amazingly, there are many areas that although we may not agree exactly are certainly areas of shared concern. I’ve had numerous conversations with Bernie fans and have always found considerable overlap in their political views with those of Trump voters. Most of the New Republicans believe in ideas that are a great distance from traditional republican viewpoints.

One of the areas of common ground between those on the right and progressives is the power and control of corporations. Both sides agree that corporations have too much influence in our political life. The trade deals are a great example of this. Since NAFTA we have been lead to believe that outsourcing is inevitable and is ALWAYS a great thing. The economists make sensible arguments about the freedom of capital flow and the benefits of reduced prices of goods. The corporations desire cheap labor and pliant countries in which to produce their goods. The politicians, whether well intentioned or not have crafted laws that have encouraged companies to move their manufacturing facilities to less developed nations.

Both sides agree is that this has been terrible for those who have lost jobs and been left out of the decision making process. The tariff issue is also connected to this. Once again, the economists and foreign trade experts are almost uniformly opposed to using them to try to even out our massive foreign trade deficits. The same with our political leadership. Somehow other countries using tariffs against our products is ok. It’s also ok that they hold massive trade surpluses with the US. And once again our political leadership has chosen to side with the interests of the corporations and donors. This is just one of the areas that President Trump and those on the left can agree on.

The Trump movement focuses on the aspects of American life that have been ignored for years. The overwhelming power of corporations and the resulting trade deals are some of the many areas that more left leaning folks and those on the new right can agree on. One thing missing from the current political debate are areas where we can find common ground. When you view those on the opposite side as simply people with unique views and opinions and NOT haters discussion becomes possible. One thing that is absolutely obvious is that MORE not less discussion is needed. More to come…in the meantime, be respectful and love your fellow Americans.

Build that wall?

Every week or so the pundits in the media find something else to shriek about.  Over the last couple of months it's been the North Korea summit, the NATO meeting, the meeting with Vladimir Putin and now the threat to shut down the government if there is no funding for the wall.  It's like watching Groundhog Day.  You would think the hosts and pundits were reliving every controversy as if it was their first.  There is no acknowledgement that they have seen how this plays out.     

Look, here's how it works.  President Trump goes in hard and says things that shock the DC establishment.  Recently,  there was a hue and cry over the threat to shut the government down if an immigration deal doesn't come to pass.  This is an interesting example because a majority of Americans public believe that illegal immigration is an issue that should be fixed.  80% of Americans want a secure border and 54% want some kind of physical barrier based on a recent Harvard Harris poll.  Building a wall is a commonsense answer.  Just ask Mark Zuckerberg or President Obama. They have nice walls around their homes.   The elites are well aware that walls are an effective way to keep people out and provide needed security.  

Interestingly,  the very people who live behind the security that walls provide are loath to provide the same security to the the cititzens of the United States.  It's anathema to both the Republicans who want the cheap labor and the Democrats who want the future voters.  However, the will of the people is clear as the polls show.  Americans want better controls on immigration. Donald Trump was elected on a few specific issues.  The biggest was the promise to build a wall.  The odd part of the immigration debate is that an illegal act: crossing into another country without proper authorization is treated as an act of heroism.  

We hear from the Democrats that these are refugees fleeing horrible conditions in their own countries.  And that is true in some cases.  The highest murder rates in the world are in Central America.  It's a mess and has been a for a long time.  The countries have suffered from poor leadership and a tiny group of people who have profited from the political situation.  It's not a problem that is easily solvable.  There are nearly 43 million people in Central America.  Mexico has roughly 128 million people. Simply migrating the entire population of the region to the United States isn't in the cards.

Think of our policy in the middle east.  We have spent TRILLIONS on destroying and then rebuilding countries like Afghanistan and Iraq.  The goal was to remove a dictator who fell afoul of US foreign policy in Iraq or to stamp out radical Islamist forces in Afghanistan.  These countries are thousands of miles away.  Afghanistan isn't a country that will be redeveloped to western standards in my lifetime. Iraq is a sectarian disaster currently with the Shia, Sunnis and the Kurds fighting it out. Yet, countries that are close enough for people to literally walk to the United States are seemingly forgotten. 

Perhaps instead of focusing on far away places we should focus closer to home.  Mexico is one of our biggest trading partners and has enormous potential.  Yet, it is a country beset by crime on a scale that we simple can't imagine.  The journalists brave enough to report on the cartel violence have been killed and the others who value their life have been paid off.  The same goes for their politicians. If you are presented with the option of truth telling and being assassinated the safe bet is to opt for safety.  Most of us would.   

Most of those who emigrate from Central America would prefer to stay in their home country.  Generally, there are a few individuals who are bold enough to move to a country with a different culture and language.  Because of the nature of this type of move it's anomalous.  It takes a brave and hearty person to upend their entire life and go someplace new and different.  The simple fact that so many people are willing to make this tremendous transition indicates extremely troubling times in their home countries.  The question is what can we do to help or can we help at all?

Americans are a giving people.  We have a generous spirit and are accepting of peoples from all across the globe who want to participate in the American experiment.  We are also believers in fairness and equality under the law.  The main problem Americans have with illegal immigration is the fact that it is illegal.  It's much less about the ethnicity that the open borders folks would have you believe.   Most of the people on the Trump side are FOR immigration.  What we do want is a systematized, orderly process for bringing in the people that we need.  As a country it should be our needs that hold priority.  There are billions of people who are impoverished and millions who live in war torn areas across the globe.  We simply can't accept them all.  There is such a thing as the accident of your birth place.  It's a shame, but a reality that won't change.

That the elites are fighting the will of the American people is interesting.  We see all of our supposed betters lecturing us on why we are morally deficient.  But we live in a republic.  The will of the people is expressed through our elected representatives.  Ultimately, the question is whose will are they going to represent?  Will it be the multinational corporations and the chamber of commerce who donate heavily to the Republican party?  Will it be the elites of the Democrat party who believe that their path to power is based on the explosive growth demographics of the new immigrants?  Or will it be the American people who love all people, but who know that OUR benefit should be the first consideration.  Time will tell. 

Fake news fact checking

Recently, we've seen the controversy with Facebook and Twitter in their quest to eliminate  "fake news".   These big platforms are currently working to separate out the "legitimate" news from the supposed fake. But what does that really mean?   What is fake news?  Certainly, the world of news is different than it used to be.  Anyone over the age of 40 remembers three network channels and prominent national newspapers and magazines.  Think of Time and Newsweek and the The New York Times and ABC.  In the past these few media arms controlled the majority of what people learned about.  The presentation was tightly controlled to project certain narratives.  You were told what to pay attention to and how to feel about it.  There was very little balance in the presentation of certain topics. 

Abortion and gun control are the easiest examples. When was the last time you recall a major media source presenting the pro-gun or pro-life side of those debates?  Those sides are never presented and if they are it's a few lines buried deep in the article to ostensibly provide balance to the piece.   There is a mainstream/democrat view of both gun control and abortion that is the ONE TRUE NARRATIVE. Contrary thought is rejected as either a sop to religion in the case of abortion or a sop to historical anachronism in the case of the 2nd amendment.  Both are rejected out of hand, yet roughly half of the country in the case of abortion or higher in the case of gun control Americans hold the opposite view.  Their voices had rarely been given a platform until recently.

Today we have YouTube, Twitter, and thousands of websites and blogs.  The narrative has been irrevocably changed.  Today no matter what the issue you can find similar thoughts and minds.  The news calls this a bubble.   What they fail to realize is that we were living in their bubble before.  Today we get to choose our own.  Journalism is supposed to be a presentation of fact.  Who, what, when, where, why.   It's purpose is to inform on issues or events that are generally of interest to the public.  With the facts laid out the public should have a clearer understanding of why decisions were made or how certain events transpired.   Mainstream journalism today is the same as it's always been: presenting opinion as fact based on a selective use of narratives.  The difference is that control has been lost by the former arbiters of thought.  

Facebook is hiring 20,000 people to provide fact checking as well as security against foreign interests with ill intent. They are targeting fake news and propaganda.  But what is fake news.  If I believe in national sovereignty and the value of borders does that make me fake?  If I can see reason to believe in a world that doesn't revolve around war and only fighting for a legitimate national interest does that make me fake?  No, those are my opinions.  They just conflict with the mainstream media narrative.  Neither are fake, but they are certainly divergent.

Fake news is something like "I had Michael Jacksons' alien baby".  Differing thoughts on economics or politics isn't fake.  It's just a difference of opinion.  What the mainstream media hates about today's environment is that YOUR voice matters as much as theirs.  You have platforms to express your ideas and can challenge their narrative.  It is an age where citizens control their own narrative.  This is what the outrage of the media reveals.  They hate the fact that you may find alternate sources of news that completely bypass them. 

The success of people on YouTube and Twitter to form their own narratives has given heartburn to those who manage those platforms.  They again see divergent opinions as a threat to the narrative that THEY want to be magnified.  Deplatforming, shadowbanning as well as outright banning for relatively innocuous but conservative views is common.  The fake news they complain so loudly about is simply an alternative view of the world which runs counter to their beliefs.   With the fervent belief that Russia hacked the election in 2016 there is enormous pressure to protect us from nefarious interlopers.  It also provides the perfect cover for trying to eliminate views that are contrary to the narrative they espouse.  

The battle over fake news is less about the news and much more about whose version of reality will prevail.  In the marketplace of ideas it's always better to have more rather than fewer.  One look at the success of Jordan Peterson's current world wide tour shows that people are hungry for complicated thought provoking ideas.  Joe Rogan and his 1,000,000 subscribers has also shown the desire for long form interviews that provide a much deeper conversation and allows for greater context to be developed. 

The new media is a powerful new way to express ideas.  The fake news witch hunt is a direct response to the influence that these new platforms offer. Yet, it's vitally important that all ideas have the ability to be expressed.   The essence of our republic is an informed public and healthy debate.  There is fake news out there.  However, most of what is labeled that today doesn't fit the definition.  The debate over fake news is really about free speech and should be treated as such. The 1st amendment prevents the govenrnment from suppressing ideas they find distasteful.  Companies with billions of users should abide by the same principles.

Suckers no more

With the Helsinki summit behind us and our US/Russia relations back on a normal track political life in America has finally settled down.   Er, wait...I meant in the aftermath of the firestorm that was the Helsinki summit political life in America has never been so inflamed.  Pundit after pundit expressed their HORROR after watching President Trump express skepticism about the entire Russian hacking/collusion affair.  

I have to say, I agree with the president.  I don't believe for a second that the outrage that has been filling websites and airwaves is genuine.  It seems to have come on so fast and so strong that I suspect it had been lying in wait for the right time to pounce.  All they needed was a weak or ineffective statement by President Trump.  If it involves the Russians more the better.  I highly suspect no matter what he would have said at the post summit press conference the result would have been similar.

Remember, one of the reasons that people voted for President Trump was a highly tuned skepticism of the neocon and neo liberal push towards unnecessary conflicts and wars.  The heat had been turned up on Syria during the primaries by both the right and the left with the stated goal of combating the Russian influence there.  For some reason a country with the economic output of New York state was still directly in the crosshairs of both republicans and democrats.   The Soviet empire was a definite and certifiable threat.  Russia today is not in the same universe.  Were it not for their nuclear arms they would barely get a mention.  Yet somehow they eclipse all other countries when it comes to the oppobrium of the political pundits in DC.

Trump voters were skeptical and rightly so.  We had been sold on pointless conflicts since the horror of 9/11.  Intelligence agencies were the sacrosanct bodies that provided information that lead to many of these mistakes.  In retrospect, it seems silly that we were all so easily duped, but we were.  We were duped about Iraq and their weapons of mass destruction.  Colin Powell regrets his part in that to this day.  We were duped into believing you could nation build Afghanistan.  A country with a 1000 year history of repelling invaders and one that more recently left the Soviets bloodied and battered.  We were duped after Benghazi where the blame for that horrible attack fell on a YouTuber in California.  We were duped into believing that removing Gaddafi from Libya would stabilize that country and the region more generally.  We have been sold a false bill of goods again and again.  Most of us are tired of it and rightly skeptical of the foreign policy experts who got us into these messes again and again.

Russia is a competitor.  A relatively minor one.  China poses a much greater threat and one that has ACTUALLY hacked into important government databases.  If you haven't heard of the OPM hack here is  quick summary from Wikipedia.  

On June 2015, the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that it had been the target of a data breach targeting the records of as many as four million people.[1] The final estimate of the number of stolen records is approximately 21.5 million. This includes records of people who had undergone background checks, but who were not necessarily current or former government employees.[2]It has been described by federal officials as among the largest breaches of government data in the history of the United States.[1] Information targeted in the breach included such as Social Security numbers,[3] as well as names, dates and places of birth, and addresses.[4]

The data breach consisted of two separate, but linked, attacks.[5] It is unclear when the first attack occurred but the second attack happened on May 7, 2014 when attackers posed as an employee of KeyPoint Government Solutions, a subcontracting company. The first attack was discovered March 20, 2014, but the second attack was not discovered until April 15, 2015.[5]

In the aftermath of the event, Katherine Archuleta, the director of OPM, and the CIO, Donna Seymour, resigned.[6]

On August 27, 2017, the FBI arrested a Chinese national suspected of helping to create the malware used in the breach.

The Chinese hack was a real and certifiable threat to our national security.  Do you remember threats of war?  Do you remember much of anything?  it was almost like it never happened if you listened to the mainstream media and DC politicians.  Since they hadn't encrypted the database which made the information easily accessible after the hack I can believe they wanted it go away quickly lest Americans realize how inept the security was.

There is a contingent in government and in the media that seems to desire conflict over peace no matter what the cost.  In most cases they are also the same people who were opposed to Donald Trump from the start.  Trump supporters are realistic doves.  We believe in peace through strength.  We believe in discussion over conflict.  We believe that you can't remake the world in the image of the United States.  We believe in the value of different viewpoints.  Believing that Russia isn't our greatest threat isn't treasonous, but sensible and rational.  Those pushing for conflict with Russia are the same people who destabilized the middle east and most of Europe with the migrant flows.  They are either truly inept or are insane.  Either way, it's up to us to end the madness and apply some rationality to our discussions.  Because they won't.

Civil War 2018? part 1

The election of Donald Trump has split the country in two.   If you voted for Trump and are brave enough to admit it in public you know what kind of reactions you have gotten.   They can be positive if you are lucky, but most are mean, nasty, and insulting. Often, it's just surprising that your fellow Americans would regard half the country in such vile terms. 

Look what happened to Sarah Sanders recently.  She was asked to leave The Red Hen in Lexington, VA along with 7 members of her family.   Protesters they followed her family to another restaurant and continued their harassment.   So much for that famous southern hospitality.  Increasingly, the progressives have taken the approach that half of their countrymen and women are evil hordes that must be stopped.

Most Americans enjoy getting together with friends and family over the holidays.  Most of us have happy memories of Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas mornings or 4th of July cookouts.  Family gatherings like this have always been fun and provided a reason for busy people to spend a few hours together.   Brothers, sisters, parents and children, neighbors and friends all gather to enjoy each others company.  That was the old days. 

Today we have NEW rules.  The new rule is that ONE wrong word can blow it all up in an instant.  It's like walking through a verbal minefield.  One comment about the NFL, the American flag, immigration policy, international trade or even the weather can spark an argument in an instant.    Politics has so infused our culture that that literally nothing is safe from controversy.  The safest bet is to simply limit your conversations to those you agree with.  If you take the risk and step out of that safety zone things can get deeply personal and devolve into a shouting match in the blink of an eye. 

We are getting to the point where the two sides simply hate one another.  Unfortunately, the progressives are the ones fanning the flames at the moment.  A mentally deranged guest on Morning Joe recently compared Trump voters to Nazi's.  When you start comparing people to a group that murdered millions of innocents not only do you have no shame, but you are heading down a very dangerous path.  Neither Trump nor his voters are in the same galaxy as Nazi's.  Oddly for all their PC language policing they have no issue using some of the worst slurs available.  

 If you voted for Donald Trump and think we should protect our borders you are labeled a racist and xenophobe.  If you are concerned about our massive trade imbalances you are labeled an ignorant moron who doesn't understand the finer points of international trade and you may well be a nationalist .  If you mention being skeptical of global warming you are a denier and possibly part of the flat earth society.  If you love America, the flag and our National Anthem you are a white nationalist who simply ignores our dark and checkered past.   

Are we on the verge of a new civil war?  It sounds totally insane, but if you see how wide the gulf is between the two sides it's not as hard to imagine as you might think.  At this point even simple dialogue between the two sides is impossible.   What conversation is impossible violence is the next step.  It's one of the reasons diplomats prefer to keep engaging even if the progress is limited.  Jaw, Jaw is better than war, war.  You have to be able to talk to your adversaries.   If you can't all bets are off.

Our President is a racist and so are you

The election of Donald Trump has been a lot like draining a reservoir.  Once the water level falls all sorts of interesting things are exposed.  A few things have become glaringly obvious. 

One - the establishment republicans really, really don't like the very folks who voted for them.  Their affinity is to the donors.   Immigration is a perfect example.   The donor class wants cheap labor while the republican voters want better border controls.   The RINO's say all the right things on the campaign trail and once in office forget everything they said previously.  They also are woefully prepared to be in the leadership position.  The ACA debacle was a classic example of this.  For years we heard about their plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.  Once they had the ability to do it for real they couldn't even deliver a cohesive plan to pitch to the voters.  They literally had years to craft something and we got NOTHING.

Two - While the establishment RINO's may hold their voters with disdain the mainstream media really, really holds Trump voters in low regard.  Whether it's the Washington Post, CNN, NBC, ABC, NBC, New York Times or Vox the theme is the same; Trump is a moron and so are the people who voted for him.  AND not only are you are moron, you are most likely a homophobic, xenophobic, racist who is a hater generally.  Never forget that they are our moral betters.

Three  - Our cultural icons hate Trump and his voters.  Their contempt is dripping every time they give a speech at another vapid awards ceremony.  Even Kanye wasn't immune when he declared love was better than hate while wearing a MAGA hat.  Think of it, a class of people who live in gated communities, travel on private jets and live lifestyles you could only dream about despise you simply for who you voted for.   The very same people who call you a xenophobe for wanting to control illegal immigration live behind walls with security guards with guns.  Let that sink in the next time you pay $20 a ticket to go see a movie.

Four - Our universities and high schools have become indoctrination zones for students.  Try wearing a MAGA hat on an Ivy League campus.  You'd have a better reception waving an ISIS flag.  It's becoming clearer and clearer that schools are being used to teach young Americans that the country they live in is bad, has an evil history and should be changed radically.  Hard fought rights like freedom of speech are being twisted by SJW professors who truly believe that a world in which THEY dictate the words we use will be better.  There are roughly 100 million reasons why this is wrong, but hey here's to you Marxist professors.  We promise to get communism right this time!

MAGA!  

Fentanyl killed my friend

 Six people died the same week in Fairfax County in December 2017.  One of those was my friend Calvin. The police were alarmed, "In my 20 years in Narcotics, I have never seen anything like this. Before this week, the highest number of opioid overdoses we had in a weekend was five, and fortunately, everyone lived," said Second Lt. James Cox of the Organized Crime and Narcotics Division. 

Unfortunately, this isn't an isolated incident.  This is happening in towns all across the country and the numbers of deaths just keep rising.  The total number of overdose deaths in 2016 are estimated to be over 64,000.  Think about that number for a second.  That is enough to fill most college football stadiums.  It's a huge number and continues to grow.  My hometown of Lancaster, PA had 16 deaths in December alone and a total of 155 for 2016 which was a 32% increase over 2015.

This is happening in town after town and seems to be unstoppable. The lethal dose of Fentanyl is 2 milligrams.  That is 2/1000 of a gram.  Compare that to 75 milligrams to 375 milligram range for a fatal heroin dose per the Oxford Treatment Center website.  It only takes a tiny amount to be fatal.

My friend Calvin was a great guy and had a personality that lit up the room.  He was the last person anyone expected to fall prey to Fentanyl.  Up to that point the opioid crisis had been a distant problem.  It was somewhere else in bad parts of the country and only affected bad people.  Calvin brought it all home.  He wasn't a bad guy, he was a great guy.  He wasn't a junkie, just someone who took a poison accidentally.  He didn't live in Appalacia or a downtrodden area.  He lived in one of the areas with the highest median income in the country.

When his friends got news that he was found unresponsive and that he had lapsed into a coma we were stunned.  I had seen him the day before and he was his usual slightly darkly witty self.  There was a memorial service held for him at Lake Anne in Reston.  Hundreds of people came.  The crowd spilled across the plaza and grew so large it was hard to hear the speakers in the back.  There were a lot of tears for his untimely passing and a number of funny anecdotes about his life.  But one thing was clear.  He had touched the lives of many, many people.  All those people would be worse off without him.   He had a quick wit, a warm smile and never met a stranger.  He was the kind of guy that people gravitated to and that could make you feel better about the day. 

So the question is how do people like Calvin die?  We hear about the opioid crisis in the media and generally assume that the people who die just make a mistake and take too much heroin or cocaine.  A simple overdose.   It's just a mistake, right?

Unfortunately, that's wrong.  They aren't overdoses by traditional standards.  They are people who are ingesting a poison unknowingly.  It's not taking too much heroin or cocaine.  Which is the way it seems to be reported in most cases.  Illicit drugs being mixed with a poison as powerful as Fentanyl is killing people every day in every town across America.  The question is what to do about it?  These aren't suicidal folks, they simply didn't know what was in the substance they were taking.  They didn't know they were being poisoned. 

There are no easy answers.  Obviously, not using heroin or cocaine is the best answer.  Beyond that there really isn't one because you never know what you are getting.  With drugs being illegal there is no way to determine the chemical makeup of what you are ingesting.  In effect it's a crap shoot and one that can have a lethal effect.  

What happened to the FBI?

What is going on at the FBI?   I think we all want to know how the lead law enforcement agency in the WORLD has ended up where we are now.   The basis for law enforcement is the belief that they are objective, non-political and fair.  What we are finding out is that there most certainly bias at the highest levels.  What does it mean and why did it happen?  

What we are finding is that the top officials at the FBI and the DOJ were essentially partisan hacks.  Seemingly no better than the faces you see on network news shows.  Think Rachel Maddow as the arbiter of justice.  You wouldn't expect her to be fair.  Yet we were lead to believe that our top level federal justice officials were neutral, fair, and balanced.  Obviously, that isn't the case.  

Our system of justice has been compromised by politics.  Had Hillary won the election none of us would have known how deep the rot went.  There is more indication that the last administration was a corrupting influence on agency after agency.  Remember the IRS targeting conservative groups?  Do you remember the outrage from the major newspapers and networks?  Me neither.  

Over the last 12 months our country has been divided into believers and non-believers.  Like many issues there are two distinct sides.  Much like global warming, the Russia conspiracy has two distinct sides.  On the democrat side there is a strong belief that the Trump administration is only in power because they actively colluded with the Russian government.  Part of this belief comes from the huge underdog victory.  It makes sense to look for some reason that explains how a political novice could beat the most qualified woman in the world.

One thing we have learned is that the last administration created a mess.  Without Donald Trump being elected we would have no idea how far out of whack things have gotten.  I'm hoping that we can get our most important agencies back to a politically neutral footing.  One that neither gives benefits to democrats or republicans.  Lady Justice is supposed to be blind.  What we have found is that Lady Justice has been peeking for the last few years.  It's time to re-adjust the blindfold.

Self driving cars will change the world, part 2

The complete re-adjustment of society due to self driving cars is hard to fathom.  To be clear it's going to be mainly an urban/suburban issue at first.  Think the DC metro area, NYC, Atlanta, Dallas, or Los Angeles.  There are a lot of cities struggling with traffic issues that are intractable.  You can't build your way out of it, you can't mass transit your way out of it, you can't bike or walk your way out of it.  You need a new technology.   

Think of your commute and what the issues that you encounter are.  Tired drivers, texting drivers, impaired drivers and just plain bad drivers.  Plus there is human nature to contend with.  Think of driving past an accident.  How many of you try to catch a glance?  Everyone does, it's the way humans are wired.  Add in text messages that have to be responded to, updating your Twitter feed, checking Facebook and you realize that communication is primary and driving secondary for a lot of people.

These days it's just hard to simply focus on driving.  I'd argue a transportation revolution has to occur to keep up with our new communication methods.  Self driving cars will allow for a wide range of development in communications that haven't been available before for safety reasons.   The ability to design cars that are essentially moving communication modules is going to be interesting from a design perspective.  New shapes and interior layouts are going to give the coming generation of cars that 21st century look that we have been waiting for.  

The question is what will the ripple effect be?  What  other industries will be affected by the rise of the machine.   In the next segment we'll take a look at the other areas that will be directly and indirectly affected by the transportation revolution.

Self driving cars are going to change the world, part 1

You have probably seen the news reports and articles on self driving cars over the last couple of years.  It has been one of those things that has been discussed for most of my adult life as some sort of far off technology that will happen eventually soon, but soon never arrives.  Well, they are within reach and will begin travelling the roads as early as 2018.  They are going to usher in a change that will rival the smart phone and may exceed it.  It's going to change industries and dramatically alter the makeup of the urban and suburban areas of the country.

Let's take a look at all the areas of your life and see what those changes might look like.  You get in your car in the morning, drive the kids to school and go to work.  While you are working away your car is sitting in the parking lot.  You may or may not leave for lunch,  at the end of your day you drive to the grocery store or gym.  Maybe run the kids to piano lessons or karate.  You eventually go home and settle in for the night.  Your car sits till the next morning.

Now imagine a world where you don't own a car, but can summon one on command.  Your driveway is empty, but 3 minutes after you hail a car one shows up.  Your select one for you, one for your husband and one for your kid. Your child is safely on the way to school after sleeping through their alarm.  You get another car that takes you to work.  Your husband is on is way as well. Safely, efficiently and allowing you to focus on your Twitter feed, emails or the latest YouTube clip.  Traffic moves along on your route, no accidents, no rubber necking, no distracted drivers.  It's not science fiction, but your new reality.  

The health care debate continues...

There seems be two sides to the health care debate.  One is in favor or stronger government intervention in the system overall and the other side that prefers more of a free market approach.  The current Affordable Health Care Act is slowly disintegrating. Some skeptics say that was the intent behind the design and was meant to force a move to single payer after it's inevitable collapse.   It's hugely complex and hard to pin down the places where innovation or change could make a dramatic effect.  However, there are a few that could have an impact.

Pricing is one of the areas that is almost totally opaque.  There are few if any purchases that you make where the price is unknown until the service is provided and never a central issue.  Even car repairs generally come with an estimate before the service is provided.  With the current system of insurance in the country the cost isn't borne generally by the insured and therefore becomes irrelevant.  Pricing is important if we want to get the overall cost structure down though.  It's hard if not impossible to reduce expenses if they aren't clearly defined and observable.

Second is the state by state laws that regulate insurance.  Insurance was first declared a state issue in 1869 due to a Supreme Court ruling.  And it has operated that way ever since.  Interestingly, many insurance products are sold almost nationwide, the exception being NY generally, but not health insurance.  Auto insurance, life insurance, long term care insurance is usually sold on an identical chassis with minor variations state by state.  Prior to the Affordable Care Act health insurance varied wildly.  If there is a positive aspect of the ACA the standardization across state lines is certainly one of them.  What would be a further improvement would be increased competition and access to markets within the US.  For this to be effective, however, you would need more transparency in pricing.  Just like houses that vary wildly in pricing from region to region so it is with health care costs.  

Ultimately, to make better decisions the consumer needs more information.  Anyone who has received a bill or statement from their insurance provider knows just how hard those forms are to understand.  There was a push years ago to make credit card statement easier for the consumer.  There should be a similar push for health insurance statements.  Simplicity and transparency are going to be needed to even begin to figure out which string to tug on first in the battle to decrease health care expenses.

Is Trump a warmonger?

It's amazing how quickly things change from January to April.  Over the last few months we heard a LOT about the nefarious connections between President Trump and the Russians.  Secret meetings, recorded conversations, congressional investigations and then multiple FBI investigations.  What did it all mean?  What was the truth?  Was or is Trump a puppet or a Russian sympathizer?

But then, in one fiery video stream we saw 60 Tomahawk missiles heading to an airfield in Syria.  In direct contravention to the wishes of the Russians.  Which leaves one to wonder...was it in direct response to the horrific Sarin gas attack or was it designed to throw the legions of the mass media that have accused the administration of collusion with Russia?  Was it a message to the North Koreans?  Was it all three?  

Syria is a complex and very hard to process situation that most Americans have little feel for.  If you follow NBC, ABC or any of the major papers you get the feeling of a good guys and bad guys theme.  Are there good and bad guys?   Can they be so easily defined?  Can Americans discern the differences?  I'm not sure it's possible.  The overarching media theme and narrative from political leaders is that Assad has to go.  Primarily he's done horrible things to his people.  Yet, we have seen how this plays out.  

We heard similar things about Saddam Hussein in Iraq.  We sent out best and most patriotic to end his terrible reign and we have been left with a total mess.  We did the same in Libya, even though Gaddafi had moved to support the west after the horror of 911.  In Egypt we pushed for the same thing hoping that our type of democracy would flourish.

None of this has come to pass.  So why would Syria be different?  In this case we have even more players and much bigger stakes.  The Russians have had a long history with the regime and want the warm water port.  The Iranians are also involved due to the demographics of the country and for a useful area for spreading their tentacles.

At the end of the day the best thing about the missile strike was the message it sent to the rest of the world.  It may not be the best thing for Syria, but I'm not sure that was the point.  It accomplished a few things.  It backed off the media, reminded the Russians that we have the ability to project power like no other nation, as well as let other countries know that Donald Trump is many things, but certainly not one who is afraid to act.

The Most Amazing Press Conference

I think we can all agree there has been nothing like it.  It was the wish that many conservative leaning folks have been wishing for years.  Maybe longer.  The press has gotten accustomed to conservatives who fold at the first hint of criticism.  Generally, Republicans are the first to apologize and back pedal.  I think most folks across real America were always a bit embarrassed.  The very views they held dear were the first to be shrugged off by their elected officials.

Not with Trump.  He is the first person since Reagan to give an active offense.  And truth be told there has never been anyone to hit back as hard.  There is no shrinking away from a fight, there is no allowance for moral judgements.  There is only what he thinks is right.  Which amazingly, just happens to coincide with one-half of the population of the country.

There is no quarter given.  What we saw today was the inevitable reaction to a press pool that have been Obama acolytes.  Today Trump called the press out for the shills they are.  For years conservatives had to search high and low for opinions that resembled their own.  Nitch newspapers or arcane magazines and more recently talk radio shows were what you were left with. But it was always a bit like searching for hidden treasure.  It took a lot of looking and you were just hoping that the chest contained gold.

One of the primary reasons Trump got elected was his ability to strongly push back against press coverage and questions that were decidedly slanted.  One of the biggest jokes around is the question...is the press biased?  Ask any conservative what they think and you will get an earful and with good reason.  We grew up hearing that abortion was great, guns were bad and borders were immoral.  Today Trump pushed back hard against the press.  Let's hope the pressure continues.

Ad Hominem Ad Nauseum

Good lord, have you tried having a political conversation with anyone recently?  If you are unlucky enough to find someone who isn't on your side the convo goes south quicker than dropping a rock into a well. What was once a spirited discussion over immigration, the economy or foreign policy quickly becomes a litany of personal attacks. One of the lessons of the recent election has been that true debate is awfully hard to come by.  Debates on thoughts, ideas and policies quickly devolve into harsh personal attacks which ends any constructive exchange of thoughts.  

I'll remind everyone that the first rule of debating is he who goes personal first loses the debate.  It's a sign you are OUT of ideas and can only go back to the same techniques that were effective in third grade.  So, for all you folks calling fellow Americans Racist, Homophobe, Xenophobe, Anti-Semetic or just hateful I'd  like you to remember a few things.  

• Name calling should end about the same time you can ride the big boy rides at the Amusement park
• Thinking that name calling is somehow going to shame your opponents is less and less effective as you use that technique more and more.  If half the country is hateful it kind of dilutes it's meaning.
• Free speech is sometimes painful.  It's not just for speech that you happen to agree with.  The true meaning of free speech is for that which you hate.  
• Hate speech doesn't exist.  Give up using the term.  Hate speech is free speech and you should be happy to live someplace where people can speak their minds.  Cause remember, if you can dictate what is or isn't hate speech based on your personal biases,  given some time someone will do it to you as well.