Just A Few Thoughts

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, education, Election 2022, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

I watched President Biden’s speech last night, was pleased with both what he said and the tone with which he said it.  Some claimed that he ran on a platform of unity and that his speech was not unifying, as it called a spade a spade, called out the ‘maga-Republicans’ for obstruction, for inciting violence, and for dissing rule of law for their own selfish reasons.  But if you looked with open eyes, you will have noticed that the president WAS calling for unity … to those who would listen.  He was calling on Democrats, Independents, and reasonable Republicans to come together to protect and preserve the democratic principles that are the foundation of the U.S. Constitution.  He acknowledged that the maga-Republicans had no intention of being a part of such a unity, but in essence said we need to move beyond them and their ways, that they are in the minority (which IS true), and that if we hope to save democracy in the U.S., we have our work cut out for us.

Overall, the speech was good, and he spoke with passion, compassion, and intelligence.  Apparently, there were some hecklers just outside the area where he was speaking … I could neither see nor hear them, but he made reference to them a couple of times, at one point saying that “good manners is nothing they’ve ever suffered from.”  For me, the funny part was in the captioning.  Every time he referred to the ‘maga-Republicans’, the captioning read “Maggie Republicans”.  I kind of like that … perhaps I’ll start calling them that, with apologies to people named ‘Maggie’.

And now for just a couple of other ‘snippets’ …

A pilot program worth watching!

Despite all the school districts that are banning books and attempting to whitewash their teaching of history, there is a bright spot defying those attempts.  A new Advanced Placement (AP) course and exam on African American studies will be taught in about 60 high schools this fall.  The course is multidisciplinary, addressing not just history but civil rights, politics, literature, the arts, even geography.  It will be the first course in African American studies for high school students that is considered rigorous enough to allow students to receive credit and advanced placement at many colleges across the country.

Among the subjects are how African American studies became a field of study at the college level in the 1960s, the strength of early African kingdoms and cultures, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the lives of enslaved people and what they did to resist, and moving toward the Harlem Renaissance, Black power and Black pride, the civil rights movement, Black feminism and intersectionality.

Across the country this year, 36 states have introduced 137 bills seeking to restrict teaching, mainly on race but also on gender and history.  I hope that this new test course takes off and the following year is taught in hundreds of high schools around the nation!  Yes, that’s probably a pipe dream, but … it would go a long way toward improving the quality of education in this country AND of turning out a next generation who is awake and aware, who has empathy, who refuse to turn back the hands of time as so many … yes, I mean YOU, Governor DeSantis … are determined to do.

And speaking of education in the state of Florida …

Some 51% of 10th grade students statewide failed their English proficiency exams.  In at least one school district, only 15% of the 10th grade students were able to pass the English exam!  15%!!!  Now … if they aren’t teaching history and they aren’t teaching science and they aren’t teaching English … just what the Sam Hell are the schools teaching in Florida???

And that’s all I’ve got for today … well, actually I have lots more, but it’s Friday and I’ve got other things I must attend to like mopping floors and finishing the dusting that I started on Wednesday!  However, I do have a couple of cartoons I think you’ll enjoy …

130 thoughts on “Just A Few Thoughts”

  1. Pingback: The Worst, Most Dangerous, Speech Ever – Seek the Truth

  2. Thank you for re-considering. It is difficult to accept views different than your own. This is what the whole discussion starting with Biden’s comments are about. There are millions of well-intentioned people who believe many of the same things I do. Our views are based on principle and reason and are not semi-facist. I am not complaining about being personally attacked, although I have been told to f— off and called a moron and an asshole in this one comment section. I am complaining about the broad generalizations of all people who disagree with you. These kinds of views are destroying our country. You need contrary opinions like mine so you do not marginalize and write off so many of your fellow citizens. Politicians like Biden are doing it and now it is filtering down to folks like you.

    You don’t like what I say about your views, but we all need our beliefs challenged because we may very well be wrong, me included. I challenge your generalizations and ask you to explain why they are true and why you believe them. Almost always when I debate such issues, whether here or in another forum, the discussion breaks down. The generalization is comfortable and easy, but the specifics are hard to come by.

    You need people like me because you already have so many who agree with you here. You may be getting the false impression that nearly everyone who is rational and well intentioned agrees with you, but you would be very much shocked if you expanded your horizons a bit and understand why people disagree with you.

    I’m unique in that I come to your site and challenge you. Most people on my side won’t bother. They have their own opinions of folks like you, much harsher than any I have expressed. I get called all kinds of names by liberals and progressives (worse than what was said here). I am told how stupid I am by many more than you, but I really don’t care. I have credentials too, including an advanced degree in Mathematics. I care whether or not my views and my reasoning stands the test, not what you might think of me personally or what any credential says of me. I am called all manner of things not because of who I am or my character, but because of the views I espouse. Taking a certain view puts me in a category with folks like you.

    I have been civil and polite with you folks, despite your protestations. I am confident in my views and very frank with you. I won’t give you sugar coating, but I will tell you things you need to hear. You can’t seem to see your own biases or how they are distorting your view of others, but maybe you will some day.

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    • And see, THIS comment right here has gotten very personal… about Jill. Yet you won’t do the same for her or us over on your blog’s “About Me” page. That seems to me a double standard S-t-T. Does that make sense?

      I’d like to know a whole lot more about YOU personally, over on your blog, of course.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Thanks, Prof! I have a relatively thick skin, have lived my life, have been homeless at one point, have raised three kids on my own, one of them severely handicapped, have had a gun pulled on me twice in my life, but I don’t take kindly to being talked down to in the manner Seek has done. I busted my arse to put myself through college and then grad school, and worked three jobs at the same time for a few years just to survive, but Seek acts as if I left my brains behind somewhere, as if I cannot possibly understand what the current political divisiveness is doing to our country, and who’s causing the damage. I hope you find out more about him … I’d love to know, too!

        Liked by 1 person

        • This response is good and absolutely justified Jill. I personally approve of its revelations about your past, your background, and just how HARD you struggled, fought, and was victorious… in this often harsh, daunting American society, continent, world, and Universe. But there is equal amounts of splendor, beauty, awe-inspiring mystery and fascination to it as well, right? 😉 I’d like to think, based on what I’ve read on your posts & post-comments, that you, me, and many of us here following… EMBRACE, even welcome all of this Earth’s life-sustaining gifts, comedy, joys, rewards, as well as its challenges, nastiness, despair, and honestly… its lethality. To deny or ignore ANY of its conditions, surprises, or predictable outcomes, we Filosofa Followers 😉 STILL embrace it as part of this very, very messy life and world we live on. Right? It is what it is… and we deal with it the best we can, alone, as a group, and simply as Earthlings. Far too many specific Earthlings want to make it all as miserable as possible, drag everyone down with them, and usher in a type of “rapture” and “apocalypse.” Yuk! We can do SO MUCH better than that, if we practice more inclusion than constant exclusion. Teamwork! 🙂

          Liked by 1 person

          • I rarely share such details of my earlier life, but Seek’s comments drew my ire and I just felt I needed to somehow justify my sometimes harsh stances on the things he is so critical of. To answer your question … yes, my friend, I do embrace the beauty and joy that exists in this world. I think there is nothing quite like a weekend spent in the forests of the Smokey Mountains to restore one’s faith in nature, and there are so many people in this world doing good, as I note every Wednesday, that I cannot simply turn my back on the human species. But damn … these days it is often very difficult to remember why I even bother to fight to stay alive a few more months, or maybe even years. Inclusion … that says it all. We all … well, most of us … have value regardless of gender orientation, religious beliefs, or skin colour … WHY do people think one is superior over another? Never in my life have I thought that! But today … it seems to have become the norm. Sigh. Thanks, Prof! You’re a good guy!

            Liked by 1 person

    • I have published your comments, however as I just said in response to your earlier comment, I’m finished with this conversation for it no longer has any value to me. Oh, and try using sources other than Fox News if you really have a point to make in the future.

      Liked by 1 person

    • For S-t-T,

      Have a few questions. You write in your “About Me” page on your blog:

      I don’t need to tell you about me.

      I disagree with your premise. How do you expect anyone to fully trust what you write, comment, or share (in citations) when for whatever (suspicious?) reasons you might have constructed in protecting your identity? For all we know, or anyone else, you could be simply a Marvel/DC Comic’s character… say, like “V” in the series V for Vendetta. And regarding your ‘content is enough or sufficient’ in your writings and comments, if you retort with that, then why bother at all? Just merely give hyper-links to your citations and let us arrive at our own conclusions… and along the way with our own multiple, varied opposing sources or a wider consensus of sources than yours. That would save everyone, including yourself, a lot of headaches. 😉

      Furthermore, if you have nothing to hide or to fear as I suppose you’d claim, why withhold personal details about yourself, your education level, perhaps your Curriculum Vitae, memberships to various academic organizations or institutions, as well as other more organic, HUMAN traits, etc, you possess? Yes, content is important, BUT a distinguished career background, specialized studies, appointments, accolades… you get the idea. Why not share those to FURTHER give credential and substance to your personal viewpoints? It certainly can’t hurt, unless of course there is something or things to hide. 🙂

      You go on to say on your “About Me” page:

      I don’t want to tell you what to think.

      Given your whole approach here on Jill’s blog with most everyone, THIS self-description is highly debateable! 😄

      Then you state:

      You may have heard only one side of the story.

      BWAAAAAAA! Okay now, honestly, you must admit that that preconceived notion is hilariously ridiculous. I call bullshit on you there! You cannot possibly know apriori what we’ve heard or not heard is by any objective standards, “only one side of the story.” When I read that sentence in your last paragraph, I chuckled, and honestly my impressions of your written ‘content’ dropped significantly—e.g. just another cult-member repeating propaganda fed to him. 🙄 Just being honest.

      And lastly you wrote:

      You can then decide what is true and what is not.

      Fair enough. Thank you for that. And when we still disagree with you and show you where YOU are or might be erroneous, narrow-minded, and/or possibly/probably spouting disinformation and UNtruths… will you really accept it and let it go, completely? After all, if you want to remain anonymous, it’s no skin off your back or likely any of ours if you allow people different than you to walk in their faith, and you in yours (Ephesians 2:8-9). Besides, is it not ultimately your God’s job/work to do with us and all those different than you as He sees fit when He sees fit, and not you? 🙂

      Btw, I do like your Mark Twain quote on your Home page. It applies in many, MANY ways, sometimes not in the way you alone expect it to apply. It’s an intriguing quote and inference given our heated, volatile exchanges here! 😄 Nevertheless, I’m not sure I can manage the time to reply again to your earlier, last comment-replies to me since Jill released them out of Moderation. I want to very much, but no promises.

      Regards to you S-t-T.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Jill, I wanted to begin a new comment-thread regarding fixed walls being 1) an ineffective method of keeping unwanteds or enemies out, and 2) a complete waste of time, money, and labor to construct for little returned benefits and diminishing returns over 5-50 years.

    The reasons a fixed southern border-wall is a ludicrous idea and concept for the U.S. and a waste of resources to build… is three-fold:

    1 — those declining and struggling countries in Central America and the Caribbean Islands that are rampant with gang-cartel crime, human trafficking, and impoverished near non-existent social (corrupt) governmental programs, especially in quality K-12 education, lack the public resilience to change their own futures for the better and greater good. Understandably, those citizens are scared for their lives and their family member’s lives. This is the OBVIOUS initial cause of the U.S.’s border issues. No one argues this cause and effect.

    2 — way too many (white?) American-owned corporations, contractors, and blue-collar labor companies knowingly and willingly hire illegal immigrants from these countries. Case and point:

    https://www.texastribune.org/search/?q=illegal+immigrants+hired#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=illegal%20immigrants%20hired&gsc.page=1

    Notice the first two headlines in the list… “Big employers no strangers to benefits of cheap, illegal labor” and “In Texas, lawmakers don’t mess with employers of undocumented workers“. Why do these American companies and contractors for the last 30-50 decades exploit this cheap illegal labor? Two reasons: 1) higher revenues and profits and smaller worker-benefit expenses, and 2) Republican-led agencies in Labor & Immigration are (supposedly?) under-staffed, under-paid because the Republican Party is all about “small government” or no government regulation at all.

    3 — illegal immigrants (and legal ones too) can earn good-to-great wages in the U.S. to send home for families. Plus, here in America their risks of danger and harm or death are lower than back home. However, here in the U.S. by corrupt, evil (white?) American-owned businesses, they are EXPLOITED and abused in other ways while Republicans look away for the benefits of growing, thriving U.S. businesses and an economy to boast about—on the backs of cheap, foreign (illegal) workers. This long-term major problem ALWAYS gets ignored by the press and the Republican Party.

    Meanwhile, these (white?) American-owned companies and businesses get a slap on the hand when they MIGHT get busted for illegal hiring and labor practices—and typically it is the individual American contractors who become their scapegoats or fall-guys. Then this Black Underground, Inc., is fueled by (white?) American companies & contractors, repeating the cycle again once they pay their measly fines once, twice, three-times, etc, etc., particularly when those labor and immigration services are duty-bound, party-bound by the Republican Directors.

    Therefore, it is very clear that a useless, resource-wasting fixed wall is NOT THE PROBLEM or solution. To think so is putting your ostrich head into the sand, ignoring the REAL causes of our southern border problems.

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  5. Pingback: Biden Bad. Trump Good. | Nan's Notebook

  6. Jill, please do not make another woman’s name into an insult. It is bad enough having Staceys and Karens and who knows what else. We don’t need Maggies too!
    Having said that, all the backlash to Biden’s speech does come from MAGAts. Trump’s slogan is perfectly suited for that name. Thank you Clay Jones for popularizing it.

    Liked by 2 people

    • You’re right … I’ve felt very sorry for people who were given the name ‘Karen’ at birth these days since ‘Karen’ became synonymous with racist bitches. Okay … no ‘Maggie crowd’ then. But what is ‘Stacey’? I don’t recall any stereotype being called ‘Stacey’?

      Like

      • I might have it wrong, but I think “Stacey” was the name given to women who turned down the advances of “involuntary celibates.” Meanwhile, I think it was the self-professed incels who should have had a name, mainly “assholes.” From what I read about them, women turned them down for particular reasons, such as being totally unappealling. That’s not on the girls.

        Liked by 2 people

          • Incels are men who can’t find women to make love to, so they are celibate when they don’t want to be. I cannot remember where I heard of them, but they have their own dark web site where they bitch and complain about non-compliant women instead of looking at themselves and trying to change what it is about them that turns women off. According to them since women fall freely into bed with studs, so they should fall just as freely into bed with non-studs?

            Liked by 2 people

  7. OMG. What a horrific speech! Ben Shapiro who is no flame thrower called it the most dangerous, divisive, demagogic speech of his lifetime. You don’t agree because you are not the ones attacked. MAGA, Make America Great Again, is a fine slogan, just as good as Hope and Change. Yet, we who would like to make America great are vilified and lied about in so many ways.

    Biden advocates for certain Republicans, mainly those who agree with him. I am pro-life, pro-Constitution including the 2nd amendment, pro traditional family and marriage, pro-education including school vouchers, for limited government, for free and fair elections, against transgendering children, against forced vaccinations, against negotiating with Iran, against anti fossil fuel policies. All of these positions would make me one who President Biden is targeting. I have reasoned and principled beliefs supporting all of these positions. Yet, President Biden attributes to people like me with the most despicable and untrue charges, and doesn’t explain any of it. He talks about folks like me like President Bush talked about Al-Quaeda terrorists. He is a LIAR who is projecting some of his own parties failings on the other party. He is a weak, geriatric, incompetent, dull, unintelligent, and venal man. He is the worst president of my lifetime and he is leading us into rocky times. This speech is needed so he can blame all his current and future problems on his opponents.

    I have to do a post on this and expand on all this more. This kind of rhetoric is just despicable and awful. The fact that you folks can’t look more critically at his speech and try to understand the other side is just as appalling.

    You may not recognize any of this, but others will. I assure you his approval ratings will fall into the tank again, back down into the 30’s, maybe lower. The more Biden speaks, the more he is seen, the more people dislike him. Put him back in the basement watching TV if you want Democrats to do better in the upcoming election. This speech will hurt his party’s chances in the 2022 elections. People will reject this phony call for unity while he attacks his political opponents as the most demonic and evil people of all time. We can see through this double-faced man and his absolutely awful speech.

    Liked by 1 person

          • You said one cannot be pro-MAGA and pro-Constitution. I asked why not and you avoided the question. Why is it that one cannot be pro-MAGA and pro-Constitution? I am and I know many else who are. Tell me where I went wrong.

            Now, you make another claim: the Constitution attacked on January 6. How so?

            Can you answer these two questions? Do you have anything to back up your claims or do you live in an echo chamber where everyone agrees with you?

            I know that some people behaved badly and were arrested on 1/6. I don’t defend such people, but that is a minute number. They are also allowed due process, and many haven’t even received that. That’s a problem as well. Few talk about that or even know about it. But let’s get real, Biden’s speech wasn’t about the few hundred who were arrested. He is talking about people like me who do not support the same positions as him. He said so during his speech. He likes Senator Romney when he votes for his agenda. Then he is a “reasonable” Republican. Otherwise, he says Senator Romney wants to put black people back in chains (from the 2008 campaign). Listen to the whole speech. He expanded his definition to include everyone who doesn’t support HIS agenda. I support none of his agenda. His speech is targeted at people like me, tens of millions of people like me. That is a problem. You give him a pass for his rhetoric. That’s a problem. He needs to be held accountable. You appear to think he is boy scout and don’t realize he is trying to manipulate the thinking of people like you.

            Liked by 1 person

            • “Why is it that one cannot be pro-MAGA and pro-Constitution?”

              I already answered that. I was referring to what Biden called “MAGA Republican”. And he was clear that people who voted for Trump were not all MAGA Republicans. Perhaps you mean something different by MAGA, but I don’t read minds.

              “Now, you make another claim: the Constitution attacked on January 6. How so?”

              Perhaps you are wearing blinders. The Jan 6th event was an attempt to overthrow the properly determined results of a constitutional election.

              “You appear to think he is boy scout”

              I think no such thing.

              Now kindly fuck off.

              Liked by 5 people

              • You didn’t answer either question because you have no idea how to conduct a proper debate. You hear a few talking points and you think repeating the talking points is supporting your point. That’s all you did. Well Biden said he wasn’t going after all Republicans, but then he proceeded to go after all Republicans and then tell us why he and his agenda are the solution to all this divisiveness in the country. you can’t see through this man’s gaslighting. You provide no facts and no logic to support the claims you make. These are dangerous and demagogic claims. You think you are better than the people you criticize, but your ignorance is shining through.

                You try to end the debate with f— off. This tells me you have nothing.

                Biden said he was going after only a portion of Republicans, but then he expanded his definition to include virtually them all. He went after people who won’t accept elections, but ignored the Democrats who haven’t accepted elections for the last 22 years. For 8 years we were told Bush didn’t win an election. I lived through it and I remember the annoyance at hearing it. For four years we engaged in fantasies that Trump stole the 2016 election with the help of Putin. Every single Democrat of note (Obama, Biden, Clinton, Schumer, Pelosi, and all the rest) has said for four years that Stacy Abrams is the rightful governor of Georgia when she is not. She is running again this year and will probably lose again. Will she accept a loss this year? It is quite galling to be lectured by Biden regarding stolen elections when his party has perfected denials of elections along with questionable tactics (ballot harvesting, refusal to purge voter rolls, etc.) for more than 20 years.

                Republican Senator Susan Collings has introduced a bill in the Senate to end the right to challenge state elections on January 6, but it is opposed by Democrats because they want this to remain an issue: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4573

                I said you were a boy scout because you see none of this and even when presented with it you have such a closed mind that you won’t even consider it.

                Liked by 1 person

                    • Contrary to what you said, the Democrats accepted election results. They may have challenged those results, but that challenging is part of the normal election process. They might not have liked the results, but they have not stormed the Capitol nor the capital of any state in an attempt to overturn them.

                      Liked by 5 people

                  • I cannot think of a single election where Democrats refused to accept the results. We didn’t like it when the Supreme Court stopped the recount in Florida and handed the election to George Bush, and we did not like it when Donald Trump won the electoral college even after losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million, but we accepted it. We didn’t claim it was ‘stolen’ or that there was ‘massive voter fraud’. We ground our teeth, bit our tongues, and committed to do better next time!

                    Liked by 6 people

                    • This is what I found in 5 minutes of searching. There’s a ton more.

                      Our election was hijacked. There is no question. Congress has a duty to #ProtectOurDemocracy & #FollowTheFacts.— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 16, 2017

                      2 years of a Mueller investigation and nothing but Russia, Russia, Russia for the entire Trump presidency. This absolutely hampered his ability to govern. Nothing proven yet.

                      https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hillary-clinton-election-stolen

                      Stacy Abrams lost Georgia by 50,000 votes. Abrams was also put on a panel of Democratic governors during the 2020 convention.

                      https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mcauliffe-stacey-abrams-should-be-governor-of-georgia
                      https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/stacey-abrams-is-a-sore-loser-without-any-evidence-to-support-claims-that-the-georgia-election-was-tainted
                      https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/msnbc-defends-stacey-abrams-s-stolen-election-lies-with-disinformation/ar-AAPmYFW
                      https://freebeacon.com/politics/abrams-the-election-was-stolen-from-the-people-of-georgia/
                      https://ijr.com/psaki-defends-press-secretary-past-claims-stolen-elections-resurface/

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • “Our election was hijacked. There is no question. Congress has a duty to #ProtectOurDemocracy & #FollowTheFacts.— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 16, 2017”

                      Nevertheless, Pelosi accepted the election results. She may not have liked them, but she accepted them. What you quote appears to be part of a tweet arguing that HR 356 should be brought up for vote. That she was still doing business as usual, wanting to discuss legislation, is consistent with her accepting the election results.

                      “2 years of a Mueller investigation and nothing but Russia, Russia, Russia for the entire Trump presidency. This absolutely hampered his ability to govern. Nothing proven yet.”

                      Bill Barr suppressed the Mueller report, and told lies about it. Some of the details have recently come out. The Mueller investigation was an entirely appropriate inquiry given the circumstances. The report should not have been suppressed.

                      I cannot comment on Stacey Abrams, as I have not been closely following Georgia politics.

                      Liked by 4 people

                    • You criticize Trump for the exact same actions as Pelosi along with Hillary Clinton and others, yet you make excuses for people you like. How about all the ethical problems with the Biden admin. I’ve written about them often: https://seek-the-truth.com/2022/08/13/trump-raid-demonstrates-we-live-in-a-banana-republic/. Not only do we have Hunter Biden being bag man with so many foreign representatives (China, Ukraine, and others), and holding 10% for the big guy, but we know have his daughter Ashley Biden who makes some very dramatic claims about Biden himself. Two people were arrested for possessing her diary. This too was suppressed before the 2020 election:

                      https://heavy.com/news/ashley-biden-diary/

                      The published page also contains the line that the writer remembers “showers w/ my dad (probably not appropriate).”

                      The FBI has not specifically verified that those pages came from the diary it’s investigating; however, major news organizations, including The New York Times, have reported that the handwritten pages published on the conservative website were “from” Ashley Biden’s diary.

                      We have Biden himself lying about the Hunter Biden laptop being Russian disinfo (and getting 50 intel officials to back him up), yet it is later revealed Hunter had been investigated for two years prior https://seek-the-truth.com/2022/03/19/because-more-than-50-intelligence-officials-said-so-really/. Biden lied about his knowledge of any of this.

                      Trump used the legal system to challenge the vote. Trump did not lead a coup to overthrow the government on January 6. He did not do it openly. His speech included the words “peacefully and patriotic protest”. He asked for National Guard to protect the capitol before the January 6 event. This required concurrence from local officials and was not given. https://seek-the-truth.com/2022/08/05/what-did-we-learn-from-the-january-6-committee/. It has not been proven that he orchestrated a coup openly or behind the scenes. I know this is the charge, but the J6 committee never proved it. Look at the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson to the J6 committee. Supposedly it was the bombshell that opened this all up. Trump attacked Secret Service agents (denied by Secret service). Trump threw his lunch against the wall (evidence that he is a coup maker). Many creative interpretations of words that she heard someone else say he said.

                      Look at how many leaks have come from the Mar-al-Lago raid and how the story has changed. They keep changing it because the last charge hasn’t stuck. Now we are down to three documents that Trump took from locked storage to his desk. This is what the obstruction of justice case hinges on. His rights (attorney client privilege and 4th amendment protections) were also violated.

                      Ask yourself, why after all these investigations did they need to raid his home? The Mueller report is public. Andrew Weissman, Mueller’s deputy, along with 20 more prosecutors are still around. Weissman is on TV all the time. Why hasn’t the truth you say was suppressed come out yet?

                      You don’t know the facts. You are told lies, but you don’t get all sides of the story, so you have a distorted view of what really happened. You are holding on to a belief you have despite so many facts to the contrary because you just don’t want to give it up. Trump is no angel and did many silly things and has not always been honest, but he is not treasonous.

                      In 2019, Grabien compiled a list of 101 things Democrats publicly called for impeaching Trump over. This has been their goal even before Trump entered office. https://news.grabien.com/story-things-democrats-have-said-trump-could-be-impeached

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • Sometimes my comments lose paragraph breaks. Don’t know why.

                      You criticize Trump for the EXACT same behavior as Pelosi, Abrams, and others. This is what bothers folks like me. It seems a double-standard.

                      The insurrection claim has been overblown since the beginning. I don’t say nothing went wrong 1/6, but it was not all that you claim it to be. This is the problem. We are not denying bad behavior. We are saying YOU have gone way overboard with the claims.

                      January 2020, 200 people were arrested in DC protesting Trump’s inauguration. May 2020 Trump was evacuated from the White House during riots outside. Were those insurrections? Were they qualitatively different than 1/6? Joe Biden claimed on Letterman that he was arrested for going in to the Senate chamber as a student. Insurrection? A Bernie Sanders supporter tried to shoot dozens of Congressman at baseball field a couple years back. Steve Scalise was injured. The shooter was stopped before any were killed. Insurrection? We don’t blame Sanders, but if it were a Trump supporter and Democrat Congressman you would blame Trump.

                      I have written about all of this extensively. You don’t have all the facts. You are not told all the facts by the media you listen to. Therefore, you come to the wrong conclusions. I have written about all of this in more detail: https://seek-the-truth.com/category/elections/

                      Read the links I sent you on Stacy Abrams or find your own. Trump lost Ga by 11k while Abrams lost by 50k. Nearly every Democrat of note supported Abrams claim. Her claim is legit but Trump’s is not according to them. How do you figure? Another double standard. She advocated for moving the baseball All-Star game out of Atlanta because the Georgia legislature made the voting laws more secure. And they did. Then in the next election after the law went into effect, more people voted in Georgia than ever before. She said that fact is irrelevant. Really? How convenient. There is still voter suppression, Abrams says. Georgia’s laws are still less restrictive than Biden’s home state of Delaware. The World Series wound up in Atlanta in any case. That’s poetic justice if you ask me.

                      What happens when Abrams loses again in November? She is behind and likely will after making stupid decisions like supporting the move of the All-Star game.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • I’m not going to respond point by point, because you are wearing blinders and cannot see your own mistakes.

                      If you believe that Biden’s criticism of MAGA Republicans applies to you, then it probably does. If the shoe fits, wear it.

                      Liked by 3 people

      • America today is one of the most tolerant and most muti-cultural societies that ever was. I see it and live it every single day, everywhere I go: home, work, kids school, sports, church, grocery store, TV, etc. You’re stuck on the talking point. You have no idea what you are saying.

        America sets the standard for the rest of the world the last hundred years. America saved the world during two world wars in the 20th century. What does America do when it vanquishes its opponent? Pours in billions of dollars to rebuild those countries and turn them into vibrant democracies. What other conquering power did that before we di?. You complain about whitewashing history. Don’t you know anything of history yourself? Or you just want to know about the parts you like and ignore the rest that don’t fit your silly narrative. America is not perfect by any means, but America was great, the greatest, most benevolent power that ever was, and America can be great again.

        Yes MAGA is a campaign slogan. Why is Biden trashing people attracted to a campaign slogan, one that means a lot to so many Americans like me?

        Liked by 2 people

        • Dream on, Dave. That America has never existed, and never will. America started with two great sins, slaughtering Red people and enslaving Black people. And now they are trying to pretend these things never happened. If that is the standard for the rest of the world, the human race is screwed!

          Liked by 3 people

          • You have such a simplistic view of history. Yes, there were a great many terrible things that happened in the new world once it was founded. That means we condemn the rest of these countries and their people now and forever for events of the past?

            You should expand your condemnation to all of humanity. You are condemning human nature itself. Black people were enslaved yes, but not just by people in America. They were enslaved first by Africans who sold them to Americans. Slavery was a common practice among African societies by the 1500s. The slave trade was a great evil for sure, but it was supported by a great many.

            You keep making the ridiculous claim that I pretend slavery never happened. Because I rarely agree with you on anything, I must believe these silly things you think the political opposition has latched onto. Again, this is very simplistic and sloppy thinking. Slavery was also opposed by a great many and Western civilization was the first to end the practice (although, it is still practiced in places around the world even today).

            The American Indians were also treated badly in a number of instances, but the most unfortunate circumstance with regard to the Indians is that 90% succumbed to disease: smallpox, malaria, yellow fever. This was a terrible circumstance of history that none of the Europeans could have predicted. This is why the American Indians fate was sealed so early after Columbus arrived.

            Also many people defended the Indians and tried to advocate for them as well. Look up Bartolme de las Casas, for instance. He was able to convince the King of Spain to change the laws in favor of the Indians. You have this silly notion that there is always one good side and one evil side. In some instances Indians were treated well by Westerners. In others they were not. The atrocities were sometimes on all sides. This again is human nature, which you seem to want to condemn and believe it can be changed (or that folks like you and those aligned with you have somehow overcome).

            Liked by 1 person

        • Oh Spare Me! The United States has done some very good things, but also some very terrible things. Genocide of the Indigenous People to whom this land belonged. Internment of the Japanese-Americans during WWII. Slavery. Jim Crow. KKK. Vietnam. The St. Louis. Lynchings. Even today, this nation is seriously affected by systemic racism. Nope, America is like any other country … good in some ways, but flawed in others. It certainly is not ‘great’, nor has it ever been. And the ‘maga’ cult is on a path to take us down to Banana Republic status.

          Liked by 3 people

          • You’re right: saving the world in two world wars and then rebuilding Germany, Italy, Japan and turning them into allies was not a great accomplishment. It could have been done by any country at any time in history.

            When you talk again about whitewashing history remember it was the Democrat idol FDR who brought us interment of the Japanese. Remember too that slavery was supported by Democrats like Stephen Douglas and opposed by Republicans like Abraham Lincoln. The Dred Scott decision was brought to us by the Taney court, Taney being a Southern Democrat. The KKK, lynchings, and Jim Crowe were started and supported by Southern Democrats. Civil rights legislation after the Civil War was brought by Republicans and opposed by Democrats. Even the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s was supported by larger percentages of Republicans than Democrats. In the 1970s, Democrat Senate majority leader Byrd became the only one to serve in both the KKK and Congressional leadership. Remember Hillary Clinton talks fondly of Senator Byrd (her mentor) and of Margaret Sanger, a clear racist who started the negro project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negro_Project. Remember Hillary’s husband who says Democrat Governor Fabis was his mentor, you know the one who refused to let black students attend school in Little Rock which led to a national incident.

            I just point this out because you consistently point out Republican failures while consistently whitewashing the awful history (and contemporary problems) of the Democrat party.

            Liked by 1 person

            • You make it sound as if the U.S. single-handedly won did all of that, when in fact we came late to the game in WWII and even then, only when the Japanese made it a personal battle with the bombing of Pearl Harbour. Those accomplishments were done by a coalition of allied nations, not just the U.S.

              You’re the one who brought partisanship into the incidents in our history … it has been a combination of both parties throughout history. While I applaud much of what FDR did, I abhor the decision to confiscate their property and basically imprison Japanese-American citizens. Many of the historic atrocities of this nation were perpetrated by both parties, so I don’t see it as a partisan issue, merely one of racism and bigotry. People call out Critical Race Theory, decry the teaching of this nation’s racist past, but all one needs to do is pick up a newspaper today to realize that we are reverting back to racist roots.

              Liked by 2 people

                • Without US intervention both world wars would have been lost and the world would be very different today. We were the deciding factor in both wars. We were the dominant power. We won the war and we did not vanquish the defeated; we rebuilt them instead, a truly remarkable thing.

                  Liked by 1 person

                  • But what have we done since 1947?

                    Btw, that’s a totally RHETORICAL question. I know my world history and American history inside-n-out. 😉

                    I’ve read all of your comments here and you have a very biased, NARROW version of who and what the United States truly has been and has become. Just being perfectly honest.

                    Liked by 3 people

                    • Do you too say America was never great? Or do you agree those things were great?

                      We ended discrimination, first in the military in the 1950s and then in all of society in the 1960’s. We went to the moon in 1968. We defeated the Soviet Union in 1989. We liberated Kuwait in 2003. Those are all after 1947. Those are not intended to be comprehensive list, by the way.

                      The topic is narrow so the discussion doesn’t always include the opportunity to widen. I get criticism because I say too much as well. I get lots of criticism because I’m the one non-progressive in the whole crowd here. I evaluate all the criticism I get, some I use if it is worthwhile.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • Do you too say America was never great? Or do you agree those things were great?

                      That is not at all related to my initial question to you: But what have we done since 1947?

                      One can easily infer by my question that anything PRIOR TO 1947 might be “great” in your or my viewpoint. As I am a very well informed, educated WW2 historian, I will tell you in almost every single instance the U.S. was “great” in many respects and miserably INexperienced and ignorant in the first 2-yrs of the war—losses/casualties in all branches reflect this. BUT… this was not at all what I was addressing: post-1947.

                      And hence, the rest of your comment—the following two paragraphs are ALSO irrelevant to my initial point and question. You are diverting, which speaks to your weak position.

                      Liked by 3 people

                    • You are a wonderful historian. I am so impressed with all the knowledge you have shared thus far.

                      Why do you keep telling me how much you know? Just tell me what you know and leave it at that. I can come to conclusions about how much you actually know on my own.

                      You said what about post-1947? I provided a couple of examples. I asked for your opinion. And then you tell me I am diverting. What? Is this supposed to be an actual conversation or I am supposed to guess your intent?

                      Liked by 1 person

    • From: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Polling_Index:_Comparison_of_opinion_polling_during_the_Trump_and_Biden_administrations

      President Biden’s termwide approval rating average is 45.9%, with weekly averages ranging from 38.4% to 54.4%.
      At this point in President Trump’s term, his termwide approval rating average was 41.1%, with weekly averages ranging from 37.3% to 45.9%

      BTW, many of us saw through the “double-faced man” who was last in-charge of this country — which is why we now have a different leader.

      Liked by 3 people

      • Take a look at the RealClearPolitics polling. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president-biden-job-approval-7320.html has him at 42.1% approval. This is a daily tracking poll which averages of a dozen or more polls (NYT, Washington Post, CNN, Fox, etc.). It is the gold standard for journalists left and right.

        About six weeks ago, Biden was at his low point of 37.2%. My prediction is that he is going back there.

        Why compare him to Trump? Why must you bring Trump back into the equation every time? Trump is not in office. Your guy is. Let’s talk about what he is doing now with the power he has. Trump is approaching 80 and his time has passed. He wants to remain relevant, but I think he will not run again. He should not run again. DeSantis is a younger much better more competent version of Trump. DeSantis is the guy we want next, not Trump. You all must have Trump around though so you can direct all your anger towards him and anyone who supported him or ever said a nice thing about him. Look at the rhetoric coming from your side now. You are doing exactly what you accuse the other side of doing.

        But since you went there, Trump’s RCP approval rating fell below 40 for the last time January 2018, after one year in office. He never went below 40 again for the rest of his term. Trump started at a 44% approval rating and ended there (excluding the last week of his presidency). Biden started at 56% and is now at 42% and is going lower, much lower in my opinion. Biden fell to 37%, lower than Trump ever went. He’s recovered a bit because he went undercover for six weeks. Now he is back on stage. It is not good for you 2022 election chances. And all that is with a fawning media. Trump had a hostile media and still did better than Biden. Go figure.

        The more he speaks, the more he is seen on TV, the less Biden is liked. A cognizant Biden was terrible. This version is a disaster. Trump’s rating was not good at any time during his four years, but he maintained it. Biden is falling as more people figure out who he is. I wouldn’t put my $2 on that show horse.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Statistics aside … no one will ever be able to convince me that tRump was a good overall choice for this country. Not saying Biden is the champion either, but from my perspective, he cares a lot more about the people who make up this nation. tRump and his copy-cats are far more interested in themselves and the fame, fortune, and leverage they can acquire through holding the highest political office of the U.S.

          Liked by 4 people

          • Trump defeated ISIS in Iraq (don’t forget this was significant issue in the 2016 campaign); he moved the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, something every one of his predecessors said they would do but did not; he cut taxes and regulations which led to the best economy in most of our lifetimes and historic low unemployment rates (including the best ever for women, Hispanics, and blacks); he negotiated four historic Middle East peace deals; he kept us out of a war, the first to do so in a long time; he dealt with the Chinese head-on and in a way no president has done in recent times; he got us out of an awful deal with Iran; he exposed the media for the awful frauds they are and always have been (and they hated him for it); he was first president to speak at the March for Life and he brought us three justices who ended the awful Roe v Wade decision, and he made the US energy independent. Let’s not forget he built a wall as well.

            What can you list for Biden’s accomplishments?

            Your description of Trump applies to politicians in general. Most of them are out for themselves. I’m for limiting the power of ALL of them.

            Liked by 1 person

            • “Accomplishments” are for the history books. Unless an action directly affects one’s personal circumstances, they generally carry little to no weight to the average individual.

              It’s obvious we see things from different perspectives — which essentially means that neither of us is going to convince the other, so I’m not going to take up any more space on Jill’s blog.

              I will add, however, that I DO agree with your ending remarks.

              Liked by 2 people

              • The important point here is that people support Trump because he accomplished things. I had very low expectations for him in 2016 but was pleasantly surprised.

                People support Trump because he was not another of the same crappy politicians like Mitch McConnell, something the Republican party has in spades for decades. He broke the mold, spoke his mind and got things done. He didn’t do it in the best way, but he got things done. You guys all miss this point.

                I hear this stupid talking point that MAGA republicans will do anything Trump says. It comes I think from a stupid comment Trump made himself about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue. That’s not why I or anyone I know supported his agenda. Believe if you like that we are all Manchurian candidates following Trump, but it is not nowhere close to true.

                Of course, many people are sheep and follow along with what someone tells them. Still, there are just as many sheep on both sides. They are not unique to one party or the other.

                Liked by 1 person

                  • I think that Dave sometimes likes to ‘poke the bear’, and says some of what he says just to garner a response. He has more time on his hands, I think, than I do, for his comments often exceed my original post in length!

                    Liked by 1 person

                    • I have the facts at hand and can draft my thoughts very quickly. I am plenty busy with work, family, church, running, tennis, and my own posts.

                      I challenge your thinking because I find it severely lacking and want to wake you up to all that you are missing.

                      Liked by 2 people

                    • And I resent the fact that you obviously think I am an ignorant and under-educated person. I am not. I am a thinker, hold a MA in Political Science, and while I may not have an IQ comparable to Albert Einstein’s, I’m not stupid. I think the main difference between the way that you and I think is that I am very much liberal-minded, leaning even toward socialism, whereas your ideology seems to be more plutocratic. And the other difference between us, which may explain some of our disagreements, is that you are religious and I am a non-believer. I accept all that, but I really don’t appreciate being talked down to, as if you think I have no intelligence at all. Is it because I am a woman?

                      Liked by 3 people

                    • You don’t have all the facts or you ignore the facts. This is the problem I see. Focus on addressing the facts and keep personalities out of it and we will do better.

                      I think the comment “severely lacking” is perhaps the one you object to. I didn’t mean to insult you, so I apologize for that comment. Perhaps it is better to say you are biased against certain facts.

                      Folks like me were the ones who were attacked. I’m objecting to the characterization that folks like me don’t support democracy, want to control women’s bodies, want every election to go our way, are bigoted, hate certain groups, etc.. I get these comments all the time when debating progressives. I get so many of them because I take certain positions. I object to some but others roll off me. I know they are not true so I don’t see a need to address every one. It seems to be the tactic every progressive reverts to. Label me and discredit all my views that way. I try not to respond in kind, but sometimes I do.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • Nobody ever has ALL the facts, but I do my research and if I state something as a fact, you can believe I know of what I speak.

                      You weren’t attacked … if you act like an asshole, then you get called an asshole.

                      I see no reason to continue this conversation, for you are an arrogant man who has disrespected me and my readers and I’m finished.

                      Liked by 2 people

                    • There are polite and acceptable ways to discuss differences in perspective. One excellent way is to preface your comments with “IMO” (in my opinion) or “this is the way I see things.” I don’t think Jill has any problem with challenges … IF they are done respectfully. Thus far, many of yours have not fit this description.

                      Liked by 2 people

                    • Thanks, Nan. You are quite right … I am a big fan of civil discourse, but I don’t tolerate disrespect to either myself or my readers, and Dave has treated us all, in my view, as if we are uneducated and ignorant and need him to tell us what to think. That’s insulting.

                      Liked by 2 people

                    • Ok. You think I am arrogant. That is not a subject I wish to debate. It doesn’t matter to this discussion. If correct, it is something for me to ask God for help and humility. But here today, I want to discuss the issues at hand. Folks with views like mine are attacked by the president. That’s the issue. He is unfairly labeling large swaths of Americans and pitting people against each other. This rhetoric is dangerous.

                      When debating someone arrogant, prove that person wrong. That’s how you take the wind out of their sails. That’s how you win the debate. You are frustrated with my comments, so you lash out and call me an asshole and say I am arrogant. Neil told me to F- off. I have tried not to respond in kind. Attack my ideas. If they are crap, you should be able to show everyone and discredit me that way.

                      You can lose a debate to a humble person or an arrogant person; it does not matter. The facts are not changed by the characteristics of the people debating. What matters is can you defend your position and keep personal feelings out of the debate. My advice is try to win the debate.

                      You have lots of support as this is YOUR web site. Your friends are jumping in your side. I am one man against many and you are throwing in the towel because I frustrate you. You don’t like my arguments, so you attack me instead. What does that say about your own character? That’s rhetorical and only for you to consider by the way. I don’t need to know.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • This conversation is not meaningful or helpful civil discourse, and you are NOT the poor little dude being picked on. If you were, you’d have exited the conversation long before this. No, I’m now bowing out because you frustrate me. I’m bowing out because it is pointless and I have no free time to spare responding to you when you have already made it clear that you think I have no idea what I’m talking about. I just don’t have the time nor the energy to waste on this any longer. I will release your comments from moderation and my readers can respond or not, as they wish, but I have nothing further to contribute for I have much else to do.

                      Liked by 2 people

                    • Yes. You’ve hit on the main point. With both sides calling their opponents the spawn of the devil, it will not end well.

                      I don’t appreciate a nit-wit like Biden claiming that people like me have bad intentions or people like Neil who says I can’t support the Constitution with my views. I suspect Biden’s intentions. He is a lying politician after all. Neil probably has good intentions but has no clue.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • “He (Biden) is a lying politician …” Oh that is rich!! ESPECIALLY coming from a Trump supporter! Not to mention that calling people names (“a nitwit like Biden”) is hardly a way to have an intelligent conversation.

                      Liked by 4 people

                    • Someone tells me to F- off in this conversation and that’s okay. In fact, it is complimented. Biden calls folks like me dangerous, trying to destroy democracy, and you all agree. I find your lack of concern for his rhetoric utterly appalling.

                      I call him a nitwit because I don’t like being lied about so much. Biden said inflation is at zero percent, we are not in a recession, and that the student loan forgiveness costs us nothing. This is just the last week or so. This on top of so many other lies over so many years. He is a lying politician. Except today I’m not sure he is even aware he is lying. He’s barely cognizant and suffering from dementia. He is a total embarrassment to our country. I stopped at nitwit, but that’s mild from what I really think and try not to say out loud.

                      Why don’t we deal with facts instead? The fact is the rhetoric here is a problem. That’s why I engaged in this debate to start with. You can’t seem to see that or maybe don’t want to admit it. Calling everyone who disagrees with a danger to the democracy or a Nazi (not in this conversation, but it has been used continually) is a real problem It must stop or there is no hope for us to occupy the same space together in the same coutnry.

                      Liked by 1 person

                    • I have to laugh whenever ANYBODY calls Biden a liar, after the last ‘president’ we had! No other president’s lies were so prolific that special monitors were established to track the number of lies he told in a day! And still today he lies and doesn’t even care that he is caught in a web of his lies, but keeps right on lying. Pinocchio the 2nd!!!

                      Liked by 2 people

                    • What lies has President Biden told? He has promised things that he has been unable to deliver on, but those don’t constitute lies. So, what ‘lies’, specifically, are you referring to?

                      Like

            • Um … excuse me, but Trump did not defeat daesh (ISIL/ISIS). Moving the embassy to Jerusalem was, in most eyes, a mistake. His tax cuts were for the wealthy and contrary to what some believe, ‘Trickle Down’ economics is a myth. Trump INHERITED a very good economy and it got slightly better while he was president, but that was a result of numerous things over which Trump had little or no control. Unemployment is lower now than it was under Trump. The Iran Nuclear agreement was a good thing for the entire globe, and Trump destroyed it, as well as pulling us out of the Paris Climate Accords, which was the stupidest thing anybody could have done, given our environmental challenges today! Those two things also reduced us greatly in the eyes of the world, particularly our allies. And you applaud him for appointing justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who have stripped women of certain of their rights and are now threatening to strip LGBTQ people of theirs??? How utterly misogynistic/homophobic! Tomorrow or the next day, I shall list Biden’s ACTUAL accomplishments … unlike Trump, Biden actually cares about PEOPLE instead of corporate profit!

              Liked by 3 people

              • Who defeated ISIS if not Trump? Everyone said it would ignite the middle East by moving the embassy to Jerusalem, but they were wrong. Obama promised as well, but never delivered.

                Iran Nuclear deal surreptiously gave piles of cash to terrorists. Even today, Iran has threatened current and prior admin officials. They cannot be trusted.

                The economy under Trump was fantastic. Obama’s economy was growing at 2%, the new normal supposedly. Tax and regulation cuts spurred the economy. Unemployment is still low, but we are in recession and heading to stagflation. Not to mention high prices. Things will get worse, unemployment will rise and GDP will continue to contract.

                Paris climate accords gives money to other nations, extracts severe limitations from the US while excluding China and India, the worst polluters and for what: a supposed minimal change over the next 100 years. Absolutely stupid deal.

                Abortion is an abomination in my opinion. I know you don’t agree, but you should at least understand why others see it this way.

                Biden cares about nothing but his own career; he is an absolutely awful president.

                Like

            • Iraq is absolutely no better than it was prior to 2003. Afghanistan is even worse off because we (G.W. Bush) declared war on the country like a conventional war between U.N. nations, NOT the small radical militant Islamic tribes/groups that were totally responsible for 9/11 and previous attacks. Bad, BAD Presidential and party politics at home. No other way to finalize it.

              Conventional wars today, in the 21st-century, are OVER StT. The entire anti-American world today has known since the Korean War that you CANNOT go toe-to-toe conventionally with the U.S. military. Bush, tRump, and all following Republicans need to GET-OFF their sabre-rattling rants of antiquated 19th-century warfare and get REAL with today’s threats from non-nations. All Republican Presidents since Nixon have not learned this vital lesson!

              Liked by 4 people

              • How much better is Afghanistan today than it was in Summer 2021? My opinion is that’s the biggest US foreign policy disaster since Viet Nam.

                How much better is Ukraine today? What are we doing to ensure an end to that war? What will happen to Ukraine as winter rolls around this year? What will happen to our European allies this winter without an adequate supply of oil from Russia or the US this year? Does anyone care that the US military is concerned about the low supply of weapons due to the number sent to Ukraine this past year?

                How much better off will the world be if China invades Taiwan in the near future? Who is trying to prevent that eventuality? Are we prepared to support wars in Ukraine and Taiwan simultaneously?

                Blame all those on Republicans if you like. That’s the theme on this website. Every problem you can think of is a Republican problem.

                Like

                • My opinion is that’s the biggest US foreign policy disaster since Viet Nam.

                  Ahh, then you and I totally agree with G.W. Bush’s asinine decision to attack and invade a NATION, rather than go after—with Seal Team 6—a radical Islamic group responsible for 9/11.

                  Everything else you go on about in your following three paragraphs is irrelevant to what I was factually pointing out.

                  Liked by 2 people

                  • Everything I asked in three paragraphs are questions relevant to the future of our country and our world. You don’t want to answer them?

                    The conversation should only be about what you deem it to be about?

                    Like

                • “How much better is Ukraine today? What are we doing to ensure an end to that war?”

                  I’m not sure there’s much we can do, short of continuing to make the war very costly for Russia.Attacking Russia is a recipe for disaster. So what would you do differently? How would you end the situation in Ukraine?

                  “How much better off will the world be if China invades Taiwan in the near future?

                  And again, what would you do here? Armchair quarterbacking is easy until you have to come up with some answer that doesn’t suck.

                  Liked by 3 people

                  • Excellent analysis and questions Herald. Well done.

                    Unfortunately, I think perhaps Jill has banned or is having to heavily Moderate I-Got-the-Truth’s antagonizing, nonstop propaganda. Fyi. He/She went way overboard with his/her 📯 bullhorn. 😉

                    Liked by 3 people

                  • Thank you so much, Herald, for your ‘likes’ and your well-reasoned response! I fully agree, especially with your take on the Ukraine War … it is a minefield, literally and figuratively, and we must tread with caution. Thanks again … I appreciate it!

                    Liked by 3 people

            • That first never-ending paragraph has SO MANY erroneous falsities there’s no point in unpacking them all. However, here’s the one that took the cake hook, line, and sinker and made me roll on the floor with laughter! …

              Let’s not forget he built a wall as well.

              That was never completed! And let’s ask China how well a FIXED wall works and is effective in keeping out foreign enemies and invaders! BWAAAAAAA! 🤣 It didn’t work in 220 BCE thru the 14th-century in keeping the Han or Ming Dynasties safe, so a “fixed wall” will not nor will it ever keep a people or nation totally safe! Pffffttt! What a joke!

              Fixed fortifications went out-of-date HORRIBLY by the First World War!!! Geeeezzz, look at the 1939-40 Maginot Line in Belgium. Nazi Germany bypassed it—like all drug cartels and human-traffickers do today—with ease!!! It is a total waste of money! And anyone who still believes in the (concept) of the Great Wall of China or the Maginot Line… well, is simply a moron. 🤭

              Liked by 2 people

              • I believe China’s wall worked well until guards were infiltrated by their enemies.

                The Maginot Line was built for a different purpose than the U.S. border wall. They were fighting the previous war in any case. What is your solution for keeping out drugs and stopping human traffickers? Or is that question not relevant to you? You seem to pick and choose what you like to talk about.

                Anyone who believes in a wall is a moron. Guess you told me. How about gated communities? Do they have walls and guards for no reason? Nancy Pelosi has a wall around her home. Why do people pay for such protection?

                Like

              • Correction up above ^ ^ ^ ^.

                I realized this morning thinking about how utterly ridiculous and outdated fixed walls and fortifications are today… that because Belgium and Luxembourg are so close together—along with eastern France and Germany’s Rhine region in the west—that the Maginot Line Fort is in northeastern France, but the less-fortified weaker part of the “Line” runs the borders of Luxembourg up to Belgium and loosely to the coastal Lowlands.

                All of it is in a very tiny area of Northwestern Europe and ironically for our debate here, it too was never completed. Why? Because Medieval warfare was pointless and by 1939 WW1 strategies & warfare technology made fixed positions, fixed fortifications, or fixed walls a killing zone for a highly mobile (Nazi Wehrmacht) invading enemy.

                To be more precise… walls are completely ineffective in the 21st-century in keeping out unwanted people or armies. The Maginot Fortifications and Line proved its uselessness in 1940.

                Liked by 2 people

                • And not to mention that the very small portion of “the wall” that was ever built (at a ridiculous price that could have fed thousands of hungry children) was breached over and over within the first days of it’s building! It was a contest to see who could get over or around it the fastest!

                  And that doesn’t even cover the fact that … why would we want to keep immigrants out? First, they do all the jobs that people in this country think they are too good to do. Second, isn’t this supposed to be “the land of plenty”? If it is, why on earth wouldn’t we share that ‘plenty’ with those in need? Most refugees are only seeking opportunity to build a better life, to escape from tyranny, to give their children a chance that EVERY CHILD deserves. To wall them out is cruel. Where’s our humanitarianism?

                  Liked by 2 people

                  • Agreed wholeheartedly Jill with everything you’ve stated. 👍🏻

                    The late 19th-century Lady Liberty in NY Harbor and her symbolism to the world has for all intents and purposes been made a bygone, useless statue of 21st-century lies and false, empty hopes. Where half of American’s are today—those Red states—we might as well tear her down. Today, she means NOTHING or very little of what she once stood for in that first century of her existence. 😔

                    Liked by 2 people

                    • EXACTLY, Prof!!! “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

                      Liked by 2 people

  8. Jill, there is an old saying about making change. Get people on the bus who are willing to move forward with the change. You should try to get naysayers on the bus, but if they won’t get on it, move forward. Otherwise change will not occur.

    As for education issues, when elected officials get involved and usurp the authorities of those who are asked to lead the effort, take it to the bank it is political. We need to teach kids history, especially the bad parts, so we don’t repeat our failures. Jim Crow, slavery, Native American genocide, communists witch hunts, Salem witch hunts, the Lavender Scare, invading Iraq under false pretenses, continuing our Vietnam involvement knowing it is a lost cause, etc. are all part of our history that we need to avoid repeating.

    Keith

    Liked by 4 people

    • That is a very apt saying, and one I haven’t heard before. Yes, that was what President Biden was trying to say … we MUST move forward. Time never stands still, and if we don’t move forward, if we fail to progress, then we will be pushed backward. In my book, that is simply unacceptable! It seems, though, that this is going to be a long, uphill battle and … I’m not yet convinced that we will win it.

      I agree … elected officials need to keep their noses out of our education system and leave it to professional educators! I am pleased, though, to see this initiative to teach the whole of Black History. No doubt Ron DeSantis will ban it in Florida, but eventually it may start a wave … at least I hope so. As you and I have both said many times, if we fail to learn from our mistakes, we are doomed to repeat them.

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      • Jill, have you ever watched a movie about escaping the Nazi persecution in WWII? I have watched several and the German children were taught only certain things, so some had a hard time believing their Fuhrer would lead an effort to expunge Jews, gays and lesbians and gypsies. The children who were persecuted had no trouble believing it. White washing history is a very bad thing, because we cannot pretend everything was great when our country’s history has had fits and starts to move forward and be more aligned with our better angels. Keith

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        • Yes, I have watched a number of them, as well as reading a number of books about the same. You’re right … and isn’t that the exact thing we are trying to do here? Paint our nation as always having been altruistic, fair-minded, kind … and kids will believe it, just as far too many adults who ought to know better already believe it. One of my new readers and lengthy commenters seems to have a glowing, whitewashed picture in his mind of this nation and its history. I don’t even know how to respond to such people. Sigh.

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          • Jill, historian Jon Meacham noted in “Soul of America” we have moved forward in fits and starts, eventually overcoming our worst actions. Jim Crow was an awful period in America made worse with 25 senators and two over 100 Congressmen who were affiliated with the KKK in the early 1930s.. It took until 1964 and 1965 to make official strides, but we still are dealing with racism that has resurfaced. One needs only to listen to Billie Holiday sing “Strange Fruit” or hear a docent have you close your eyes as she recounts what people did to Emmett Till to see the worst of America. For kids not to know the evil that men can do would be a damn shame. Keith

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            • Your point is well made about moving forward in fits and starts, but eventually overcoming our worst actions. However, this time seems … more precipitous. Too many people are too angry … too many people have guns … too many people are willing to chuck it all and opt for an autonomous leader, so long as he promises them what they want, which is a return to the days when women, Blacks, and LGBTQ people were considered ‘inferior’. They want a religious government and a forced common religion. And they seem to be willing to kill for it. The best defense against this trend is education, and as you say, that includes the truth about our past — the bad as well as the good. Some states seem to have a problem with that, though, and that frightens me. It takes a lot to frighten me, but that does.

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  11. Yes, I applaud Biden for his stance and telling it like it is! And unfortunately as far as the hecklers go, yes there are some who have never learned manners!
    Wow on 51 percent failing! That is high! I have the same question, what are they teaching???

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    • I was shocked to find out that none of the major television networks carried the speech! They carried every single one of Trump’s, and even today they give Trump more coverage than they give the President! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

      Indeed … what are they teaching? Perhaps lunchroom etiquette? Or how to tie their shoes? Sigh.

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  12. Oh jeez! That one with the “masks required” and the “other sign” is just way, way too close for comfort!!!

    I didn’t watch the speech, but have read lots about it and agree that he said what NEEDED to be said.

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