Michigan's Revenge

"Voting in the cause of taking away certain rights that you enjoy from others who have done you no harm because you don't personally approve of their behavior can in no way be seen as tolerance." - Uncle Ken

Abortion and gay marriage were not rights until the Supreme Court made them rights, so I did not vote to take anybody's rights away, I just voted to not extend new rights to them that they never had before.  People were having abortions long before it became legal, but it was not their right to do so.  People have been gay since forever, but they did not have the right to marry each other until relatively recently.  Some other countries and some other US states had legalized both things, but Michigan had not.  When the people of Michigan were given the option to vote on the issues, they voted them both down.  It was not our state legislatures that voted those issues down, they were both ballot proposals that were voted on directly by the people.  Sometime later, the people of Michigan voted to put Donald Trump in the White House. Coincidence?  I think not!  I would have voted for Trump myself if I had believed that he would actually do all the things he promised to do.  I thought he was just a liar and a blowhard.  Well, Trump actually is a liar and a blowhard, but that's not the point.  It's like what Harry Truman said about some banana republic dictator, "He's a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch."

Trump might not have such an easy time getting his man on the Supreme Court.  I read that there are a couple of Republican senators who are pro abortion, and Trump needs all the Republican votes because McCain is out sick.  What we need to do is get a few more Republicans elected to the senate.  I don't hold any high hopes for one of them coming from Michigan, though.  Our Democratic incumbent is a nice lady and I've never heard anything bad about her.  Nevertheless, the guys running on the Republican ticket in the primary have been trying to out Trump each other, each one claiming to be the only true Trumpist.  It's the same with the governor's race.  I find it interesting that they are not trying to distance themselves from this goofball.  Maybe there was a poll or something that told them that Trump was still popular in Michigan.  Of course polls can be wrong, and getting the Republican nomination does is not a guarantee of getting elected in November.

Be that as it may, just voting to not legalize something does not make me intolerant of the people who are doing it.  If I voted to stone them to death of burn them at the stake, now that would be intolerant.  

Rights and wrongs

There aren't many issues that are as polarizing as abortion rights; there doesn't seem to be any reasonable middle ground.  I think it's an issue of public health, the only solution for a difficult situation that should not be taken lightly.  Maybe if people were more tuned into modern birth control practices abortion wouldn't be needed, but they aren't or maybe they miscalculated (remember the "rhythm method"?), forgot to take the pill, or the condom broke.  Whatever, I don't think any woman who faces an unwanted pregnancy treats it as a trivial matter.  It can be a life changing decision, the difference between success and a life of poverty and I think the government should keep it's nose out of it and let it be the woman's decision.  Suppose some fella's hypothetical wife got raped and became pregnant.  Would he gladly raise the child as his own?

Some folks oppose abortion on moral or religious grounds and I respect their position.  I'm not a big fan of abortion but it isn't like it's mandatory.  And if I happened to be the father I would like to be part of the decision but ultimately it should be the woman's choice.  This is what happens when you don't live in a perfect world, you have to make a decision that may haunt you for the rest of your life.

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The newly nominated Justice of the Supreme Court is continuing a tradition of conservative judges.  This is not necessarily a bad thing but the influence of the Federalist Society is disturbing.  I don't think a court so heavily influenced by right-wing Catholics is such a good idea.  This has been going on for longer than I thought and does not bode well for the future.  Here's a good read for you guys to chew on.

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Those folks who doubt the reality of global warming may change their tune when they find parasites chewing on their internal organs.

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We know about liberals and conservatives but another group has been gaining traction, calling themselves the progressives and I think the IDW is part of that group.  From what I've seen they challenge everything and everybody and sometimes make some sense and ask good questions.  I'll let Google be your guide on this one if you're curious.  I don't want to put any crazy ideas in your heads, not that I would ever do such a thing intentionally.

pretending to obey higher laws

Voting in the cause of taking away certain rights that you enjoy from others who have done you no harm because you don't personally approve of their behavior can in no way be seen as tolerance.

I think the biggest problem I have with abortion and gay marriage is that the people of Michigan voted both of them down, and the Supreme Court made us do it anyway.

This is a howler.  Are you trying to say that if the supreme court didn't decide that abortion and gay marriage were ok after Michigan voted against them (isn't that the job of the supremes?  If they always agreed with what a state ruled then why have a supreme court?)? Are you trying to say if this sequence would not have occurred then you would have been for gay marriage and abortion?  Of course not.  You were against them right from the start and always would have been.  The supreme court ruling against state law which was so odious to you a couple years ago now seems fine and dandy since you now have the supreme court.

Remember those clackety clack movies they showed in grade school with the guys who wrote with feathers, The Founding Fathers, how proud were there visages, how wise their eyes, surely they were ordained by god, which we had to stop short of saying, though about that time we were slipping under god into our pledge which made us even better Americans than before they added it.

And the Constitution, what a shining document, how wise, how wonderful, politicians carry it in their front pocket like a well, New Testament.  Everybody gives it lip service and everybody bends it when they want  to get done what they want to get done.  Which I guess is fine.

But what sticks in my craw is when somebody wants something, say states rights, that;s what the southern states were claiming when they didn't want to integrate,  It wasn't that they didn't approve of black people, they were just obeying The Founding Fathers dictum, somewhere in the constitution, about states rights, which was the higher law.  Which was bullshit of course, what they really wanted was all white schools and drinking fountains and they didn't care how they got them.  Gay rights was bad because it was against states rights, and now if abortions can be outlawed across the land that is a good thing.

So I hear this guy Kavenaugh doesn't believe the prez should be investigated.  Gosh do you think that might have been a factor?  Doesn't that sound a lot like the defendent appointing the jury, or the judge?

Tolerance and Approval

When I say that I am tolerant of gay people, that means I don't think they should be persecuted or abused.  When I say that I don't approve of their lifestyle, that means I don't like the idea of it, and I'm certainly not going to vote for it.  It's kind of like that old Christian saying, "Hate the sin, love the sinner.", but not exactly.  Forgiving and forgetting is not the same thing either.  Forgetting is like saying that it never happened, and forgiving acknowledges that it happened but says that I'm no longer angry at the person who did it.  It's kind of like when Hitler killed all those Jews.  Since Hitler is dead now, there is no point in being mad at him for what he did, but that doesn't mean we approve of what he did.

I think the biggest problem I have with abortion and gay marriage is that the people of Michigan voted both of them down, and the Supreme Court made us do it anyway.  With the US courts taking a sharp curve to the right as they are, you liberals will soon see what I mean.  Like I said, I used to think that the courts in this country had too much power.  Now, maybe not so much.

I didn't mean to cast aspersions on those IDW guys, it's just that I have always wondered why some people manage to get paid for doing stuff that I have to do for free.  Then again, maybe if I got paid for it would take all the fun out of it.  First of all, I would have to do more of it. Second, I would have to do it the way my customers wanted me to do it whether I wanted to do it that way or not.  It's like when I was raising chickens.  I kept records for awhile and determined that I was indeed making a profit, but a very small profit.  I calculated that, in order to make enough money to live on, I would need to raise at least 50,000 chickens, which was way more work than I wanted to do.

baby meme

I'm intrigued by the difference between tolerance and approval.  It's like when people say they will forgive, but they won't forget.  Forgiving is wiping the slate clean.  If they're not forgetting than they aren't really forgetting are they?  Most people aren't interested in being approved of as they are of being tolerated.  I mean it's kind of patronizing to say you approve of somebody.  If somebody told me that they approved of me, my reaction is who are you to approve or disapprove of me? 

I don't think not allowing a group of people to have the same rights as you have is tolerance. 
I am speaking here of gay marriage which Beagles wants to take away, not because it would make anything better or worse, but just because he doesn't like it.


I wonder if that Trump baby will get under Trump's skin.  It is kind of like Trump tweets in that it doesn't make any specific, charge it is basically just pure insult.  If I call you out for, I dunno, faulty reasoning, you can respond by showing that your reasoning is not faulty, but if I call you a big fucking baby, there is not much you can say except to deny it, but even by denying it you are reduced, you are the guy who is claiming not to be a big fucking baby. 

Seems to me this Trump baby is a pretty effective meme,  I expect we will soon see it on mylar balloons and t shirts at demonstrations.  Of course it depresses me too because it reminds me that everything is about Trump, but then that is reality isn't it?

I suppose I should be some kind of soccer fan, or know what teams are playing or maybe the name of some top player, to be, you know, the man of the world I sometimes claim to be.  But my eyes glaze over at the sight of those brightly clad little guys swarming like flies on a striped field of green, back and forth, back and forth, as the crowd inexplicably goes wild.  And after two hours and ten minutes that seem like two years and ten months, the game is decided by a single set piece kick.  I'm not sure of that last part, but I barely kept awake looking up the length of a soccer game, so I don't dare look up this one.

Web trawling

As the trade wars heat up, there is an interesting proposal from the White House called the Fair and Reciprocal Tariff Act.  Yes, it's the FART Act and it stinks, giving the president an awful lot of power to determine and set tariffs without oversight from other legislative bodies.  I don't think it will pass muster from Congress but at least someone in Washington either has a sense of humor or is really ignorant.  I go with ignorant as it follows precedent.

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Another bigly week for Trump as he departs Tuesday for his Excellent European Adventure, starting with Brussels and the NATO conference.  Then it's off to England where I expect some blunders in protocol, possibly insulting the Queen about that Baby Trump Blimp floating near Parliament.  A little golf in Scotland follows to take the edge off his rigorous presidenting and then it's on to Helsinki where he can finally have that sauna with Putin that he's been wanting for so long.  Now they can get down to business, away from the prying eyes and ears of diplomats and other bothersome meddlers.

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Although I haven't been following any of the matches, I am astounded by the size of the crowds in the streets watching the World Cup.  I can't imagine crowds like those in the US without riots breaking out although the English went a little nuts and trashed an IKEA after defeating Sweden.  But the rest of the world has it right, they play football with the feet.

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One difference between us and those dark web guys is that people pay them to spout off their opinions.

You say it like it's a bad thing, Mr. Beagles.  As far as I know none of them are shills for corporate or political interests.  They write books, give lectures, participate in debates and are willing to ruffle some feathers.  If they make a few bucks while doing so, well, more power to them.  I haven't yet decided how valid their thoughts are because they are all over the place and cover many topics.  There could be a few idiots lurking in the group but even idiots sometimes have worthwhile ideas.  I may listen to them but I'm not going to bet the farm.

Commie is as Commie Does

I am certainly not pleased about the way Trump has been kissing up to North Korea and Russia.  I thought that Russia was going to be all right when they gave up Communism, but apparently not.  Well, they might have given it up as an economic system, although by then their economic system had evolved into something that must have caused Karl Marx to turn over in his grave, but it looks like they never gave up being bad guys, and that was the worst part of Communism.  Funny though, that Trump isn't kissing up to Cuba like Obama did.  Maybe Trump is more concerned about undoing everything that Obama accomplished than about fighting for truth, justice, and the American way.  Look at his failed attempt to repeal Obamacare.  He didn't really try to repeal it, he tried to patch it up and rebrand it as Trumpcare, which is probably why it didn't pass.  I always said that Trump was a loose cannon, but I'm still glad that he is setting the liberal agenda back a few years.  Of course it's not permanent, but it means that the next liberal president we get is going to have to start all over again instead of building on an existing foundation.

Gay marriage has been around for awhile now, and the world hasn't come to an end, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.  There is a difference, you know, between tolerance and approval.

I read Old Dog's link about that intellectual dark web. (Should that be capitalized?)  I found it hard to relate to because I had never heard of most of the people they talked about.  I have heard before that the universities are hotbeds of political correctness, but I never attached much importance to it because they are, after all, just schools.  One difference between us and those dark web guys is that people pay them to spout off their opinions.  I'm not sure if we should aspire to that for our own Institute.  We don't really need the money, and accepting it might compromise our independence.