Republican Beliefs

If I’m a Republican:

I see the world as competitive, not collaborative.

I believe winning is everything, and if you are not cheating you are not trying.

I do not believe in fair play, level playing fields, or integrity.  I believe in winning.

I believe lying is essential to acquiring and maintaining power.

I am opposed to anything President Biden proposes regardless of its merits.

I am opposed to anyone President Biden nominates regardless of his or her qualifications.

I believe Trump won the 2020 election and Biden stole it from him.

I do not think homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, or transsexual people should have any rights and there is something wrong with those people.

I do not support court-ordered or legislative restrictions on the right to bear arms. 

I do not support court-ordered or legislative restrictions on my freedom to worship.  I do support restrictions on beliefs other than mine.

I support court-ordered restrictions on freedom of speech as it applies to people who hold different opinions than I do. 

I do not support court-ordered restrictions on the separation of church and state. 

I do not support the constitutional statements that all men (sic) are created equal and have equal rights.

I do not think women should be able to make decisions about what is growing in their bodies.

I oppose increasing the national debt for programs that help all our citizens, especially those most in need.

I support increasing the national debt for programs that help our wealthiest people and important industries.

I oppose the recognition that all economies are connected and that globalization is a byproduct of communication and transportation.

I oppose the rights of Democrats to vote and I support legislation that hinders the Democratic vote

I oppose the rights of Democrats to be represented by Democrats and support the drawing of representative districts in such a way as to minimize the possibility of a Democrat winning an election.

I oppose the Equal Rights Amendment.

I oppose expertise, knowledge, and science, and prefer to trust non-educated talk show hosts. 

I do support the fruits of science in my personal life inclusive of computers, cell phones, TV, microwaves, and modern medicine.

I oppose immigration to our nation unless the immigrants are white people from Canada, Western Europe, Australia, or New Zealand.

I oppose immigration from any nation of poor people of color.

I support sending immigrants of color back to their country of origin.

I support cutting defense, health, and human services budgets to build an ineffective wall on our southern border.

I believe big pharmacy, medicine, defense contractors, hedge fund managers, millionaires, billionaires, the petrochemical industry, and the NRA deserve our protection and promotion.

I believe whites are superior to all other races and men are superior to women.

I do not support quality education for all children in America; only affluent white children.

I believe white law enforcement officers if they feel threatened have the right to shoot and/or kill people of color.  I believe people of color automatically make white law enforcement officers feel threatened.

I believe that protesting against white law enforcement officers for shooting and killing people of color is un-American.

I believe the law enforcement motto of “to protect and to serve” applies only to white citizens.

I believe our nation should be an evangelical, fundamentalist, Christian nation and that all our laws and policies should protect and promote that religious belief.

I believe if an election yields an outcome I do not like I am authorized to practice civil disobedience inclusive of attacks on our government.

I believe any historical or current fact, process, or procedure that reveals the folly and negative impact of any of these beliefs should be censored from our educational system.

I believe that any subpoena of any documents or persons which show illegal activity on our part should be blocked.

I believe books that highlight any historical or current fact, process, or procedure that reveals the folly of such beliefs should be banned if not burned.

I believe we are a nation founded by white, Christian males.

I oppose the government telling me what I can or cannot do including the protection of minority rights regardless if those are minorities are of race, culture, sexual orientation, and/or religious beliefs.

I believe CEOs should be protected by law, but labor should not.

I oppose any scientific research that disagrees with my belief system including research on the planet’s climate and pandemic.

I believe the government’s role in our nation should be to protect and promote those individuals and enterprises that we declare to be winners and that we should suppress and ignore the needs of those people and enterprises we perceive to be losers.

I believe the role of the US Supreme Court is to protect the laws and policies that promote the above beliefs.

Great American Myths

 As a nation, we seem to be stuck between two ideologies that are becoming less flexible and more polarized.  I am fascinated by that for a variety of reasons, mainly because one of those ideologies is based on mythology and the other is based on science, logic, fact, and reason.  I would never have believed that as a nation wherein citizens have embraced the advancement of science and technology as in cell phones, TV, space exploration, electric cars, microwaves, modern medicine, etc., we would even be having such a dichotomy of ideologies.  But we are.

It seems to me we should identify the mythical portions of an ideology so that those who strongly believe something and discover their beliefs are myths have the opportunity to awaken and endorse reality.  The question is, can those people handle the truth?  Some of the following are facetious.  Most not.

Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Mother Nature, Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, Superman, the Avengers, et.al.  On the surface, most adults understand these are myths and most adults promote the mythology to children to instill magic and mystery if not behavior manipulation.  As a nation, we seem to have decided that this set of myths is OK to perpetrate on children, especially since such belief yields high revenue in the private sector.  But, they are myths. 

2020 Election Results.  The myth circulated by Donald Trump and his supporters is that Trump actually won the election and somehow Biden stole it from him via fraudulent votes.  Does not seem to matter to these folks that no fraudulent votes have ever been found or reported and that every lawsuit claiming fraudulent votes has been tossed out of court for lack of evidence.  Biden won by 7 million votes.  Anything else is a myth.

Trickle Down, Supply Side Economics.  This economic philosophy has never worked.  George Bush and Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan have all proved beyond any doubt that cutting the taxes of the wealthiest Americans and most profitable corporations do not lead to increased hiring, increased production, or anything but the increased wealth of the wealthiest.  Given additional money wealthy people invest.  To stimulate the economy the government must put money in the hands of lower and working-class Americans.  Given additional money, these groups go out and spend thereby increasing demand, hiring, etc.  Trickle Down is a myth that only benefits the wealthy.

Any economic organization other than private-sector capitalism is socialism and/or communism and is bad.  Bad for whom, or bad in what way?  This myth is almost funny in that those who believe it and perpetrate it are either capitalists or ignorant.  Of course, private-sector folks want to abolish productivity and success via a socialistic enterprise.  If those folks cannot abolish such an enterprise they will scheme to collect some of the tax dollars for themselves.  Schools are socialistic.  So is law enforcement.  So are prisons.  So is the military.  On and on.  Anytime any enterprise is funded by tax dollars, where the capital investment is public and subject to bid laws, where decisions are made by an elected body rather than a CEO, and where salaries are set by an elected body you are looking at a socialistic organization.  It sure as hell is not free enterprise.  So, the private sector wages war on public sector activities while opening charter schools, private prisons, private security firms, etc., etc.  Others who believe this myth are for the most part confusing totalitarian decision-making with socialism and communism.  I do not know of a democratic communist state though China claims to be.  But there are dozens of democratic socialist states, most of whom are outperforming us economically.

The Government that Governs Least Governs Best.  This myth is the correlated to the myth that what is good for business is good for the USA.  The problem is that without regulations and watchdogs American citizens are seriously at risk.  Our economic system is built on the notion of making a profit.  Anything that can advance that goal is therefore OK.  So, meatpackers do not need to worry about contaminated meat, toy manufacturers do not need to worry about safety issues for kids, car manufacturers would not worry about fuel efficiency and exhaust regulations, factories would not need to worry about safety for the workers, on and on and on.  If left unregulated the private sector would not implement any of these safety measures and no one company would implement them because they would then be at a competitive disadvantage with others in their field.  And it seems that we do not even need to talk about regulating banks, mortgages, hedge funds, etc., after the debacle of 2008.  It is clear that CEOs and corporate boards hate these government regulations and clearly, they would not be needed if it was economical to do the right thing.  It is not, so the government that responds to threats to its citizens and seeks to protect its citizens is the government that governs best.

And the issue of protecting civil liberties is a different topic.  If the government does not do so, no one else will.  When the government stops protecting civil liberties then we are violating the core premises of this democracy:  all people are created equal and have certain inalienable rights.  Even women, and Blacks, and liberals, and atheists and those who would kneel during the national anthem.  There are those among us who, if they had their way, would convert Biblical commandments into law, just as Muslims convert their commandments into law; they would send all people of color somewhere else, they would ensure women maintain a second-class citizen role, ensure that skin color and zip code determine the quality of education, and on and on.  Those who think like this have absolutely no interest in protecting or expanding civil liberties or civil rights.  Those who think like this stormed the Capital on January 6.  Those who think like this do not understand what the land of the free really means.

COVID.  The mythology surrounding the pandemic should never have evolved.  It did so because we had a President who downplayed the virus and contested science from the beginning.  That planted skepticism in the minds of his supporters and we continue to reap the deathly rewards of that skepticism.  We know how Covid spreads.  We know how to combat it via vaccinations.  But for some reason unfathomable to me Trump morphed from the notion that Covid was a hoax, it was no worse than the flu, he declared we had it under control, he would not support masks and social distancing, and then he took credit for the development of vaccines that had been in the works for years before he ever took office, but he would not tell his supporters to get vaccinated.  That is, until very recently with a caveat:  do what you think best. Over 800,000 Americans have died from this disease and the variants are wreaking further havoc among those not vaccinated.  Vaccination is not a civil liberties question any more than a stop sign is.  We all agree that to live in a nation where we must take precautions we may not like, but we do so to protect ourselves and our fellow citizens.  So, click your seatbelt, have car insurance, have a driver’s license and a fishing license and hunting license, and wear a helmet when you play football.  These are not civil liberty issues.  These are rational public health and safety issues.  And to those who believe that the vaccines are a cover for microchip insertion or DNA collection I would simply say grow up.  Such mythology has absolutely no basis in fact or reality and anyone who promotes those beliefs is placing thousands at risk and, in my humble opinion, should be arrested just as we arrest people who intentionally spread HIV.  The parents who are suing school districts because they require masks should be reported to CPS for placing their children at risk.  Yes, masks should be mandated.  Yes, vaccinations should be mandated.  Only because there are folks too dense to see the truth of this international threat and listen to media sources more interested in making up conspiracy theories than they are in helping people.  We certainly did not have such folks around for polio, smallpox, measles, mumps, tetanus, diphtheria, etc.

Global Warming.  As far back as the late 1800’s scientists began warning us about global warming as the result of the release of greenhouse gases from the consumption of fossil fuels.  The litany of scientific analysis of our fragile climate extends from then to the present day.  Global temperatures are rising.  The cause is the consumption of fossil fuels.  If you want to track those studies check out the timeline found at https://history.aip.org/climate/timeline.htm.  Climate change deniers are simply whistling in the dark, hoping that the changes we see are not so bad, are the result of natural climate cycles on earth, and that the end is not near.  Climate change deniers also make a ton of money on finding, refining, and distributing the extracts of fossil fuels, the chief cause of climate change.  They do not want to admit that they are poisoning planet earth, perhaps beyond recovery, any more than tobacco companies wanted to admit that smoking was addictive and promoted lung cancer, or that Coca-Cola was a beloved drink due to the cocaine mixed in the brew.  So big oil has committed millions of dollars to hire scientists who will conduct a study and proclaim climate change is no big deal.  (At first, their mission was to claim there was no evidence of global warming, but the evidence for that is now so vast that the task has changed.)  States like Texas that have provided safe harbor for big oil clearly do not want the myth exposed.  We are experiencing global warming and we must reduce if not eliminate the burning of fossil fuels.  If we cannot do that we will destroy the only planet we have.  To think otherwise is to believe in a myth that is not supported by any independent scientific research.

Supreme Being.  There is no evidence beyond fervent belief that there is a supreme being.  Belief is not truth.  Belief precedes truth and knowledge.  Reason dictates there is not a supreme being.  There are approximately 1000 deities worshipped on our planet right now and each set of believers are convinced their god is the one true God and all the other believers are infidels.  Everyone is an atheist for every deity except their own deity.  However, there is no evidence that such a creature exists other than through myth.  And if he or she or they or it exists, that being is either impotent, incompetent, or not caring and does not merit worship.

This supposed Supreme Being evidently picks sides, picks winners, decides who lives and who dies, and empowers people to commit atrocities by the belief that this being is on their side.  Ridiculous.  If you believe in a supreme being and believe that such a being cares who wins an election or an athletic competition or which child lives and which child dies you are the victim of mythological propaganda.  If you believe that your particular religious beliefs should become the law of the land then simply look at Afghanistan under the Taliban to see how well that works out. 

The notion that a god makes a list and checks it twice to decide who goes to heaven and who goes to hell is absurd.  If God exists all he has to do is show up.  Why would a supreme being be so willing to commit genocide?  Why would a supreme being advocate the dominance of men over women?  Why would a supreme being prescribe death by stoning for premarital sex or adultery?  Did anyone go to heaven before Jesus?  If so, why was there a Jesus?  On and on and on.  If you want to read a book that is most likely to convince you there is no god I highly recommend the Bible.  Not the passages the preacher chooses.  Start at the beginning and read it like any other book

Life after death.  The expression says it all.  The belief that there is life after death has no foundation, in reality, any more than life before birth.  All life forms on this planet expire.  Those that are sentient and have self-awareness simply cease to exist as do single-celled critters.  This myth provides some glimmer of hope that humans are an eternal species with an infinite life span.  We are not.  Hand in hand with this myth is that there is a heaven and a hell.  Equally ludicrous.  We can detect light emitting from behind a black hole millions of light-years away from us.  The thought that some places house billions of souls, (whatever those things are), for eternity and these places are not measurable or observable is a myth. 

Pro-Life.  Somebody somewhere posited that aborting a blastocyst, an embryo or a fetus was an act of infanticide or the killing of a child.  This mental image holds great power among those who believe that abortion is morally wrong because it is in effect murder.  That of course is a myth.  Many of the supporters of this myth aggressively insist that their view of this medical procedure, aborting a growth inside a woman, is an issue of homicide, and are known to promote legislation that makes such procedures illegal, they protest at clinics where such procedures are performed and even attack the medical personnel who perform the procedure.  This is one of the saddest myths in our nation today.

The growth that is terminated is not a baby.  A baby has a name.  When a mother loses her baby to death there is great grief.  This is not what is happening at all.  If you believe that is the case do what I do and request that the pro-life person simply send you the names of the dead babies so that condolences can be offered to the parents.  I never get a name because this is what the mother and the doctor have decided to do.  For anyone else to morn is at least patronizing and at most the application of a given set of beliefs on other people. 

Some base their myth on a religious holy book, but that book does not mention abortion.  The Bible, the Christian Holy Book, makes it very clear in the second creation story found in Genesis 2 that life does not begin until the first breath.  Approximately 20% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, a term that means automatic abortion.  For those who argue abortion is immoral what shall you do with the miscarriages?  Again, religion enters the picture with the common answer that the loss of this growth was the will of some god.  Before birth, the growth in the womb is on total life support.  It receives its oxygen and food and blood from the mother.  Growths that exist solely because of full-time life support are always subject to termination.  Tapeworms exist in the human body, they have a heartbeat, they have a brain, and yet no one screams when they are removed.

What reveals that this belief is a myth is that the very people who believe the myth are not pro-life for children or others who are already born.  This group tends to support the death penalty where jurors decide a full-fledged grown-up human being may be killed, but opposes the termination of growth inside a woman is hypocrisy to the nth degree.  Further, the same group tends not to support child welfare, increased spending on public schools, more CPS officers, etc.  This group claims to be pro-life but that means pro-life pre-birth because once a child is born they do not support programs to improve the quality of life of these actual babies.  Pro-Life is a religious based, hypocritical myth that many who hold the myth to be true would enforce this myth on all women rather than allowing a woman and her health care provider to make conscious, scientific and sociological decisions.  The very men who scream about government control regarding masks are willing to control a woman’s body.  Should be blasphemy.  It is, to those who think.

Fox News (et al) is News:  In the beginning, there was ABC, CBS, and NBC, all vying for viewers.  The competition, however, centered on the anchor more than the facts.  All 3 networks scrupulously reported facts, and if they had something to say regarding their opinion of the facts, that something was labeled an editorial.  One never doubted the facts as reported and all three networks, though competing to scoop the other two, reported the same basic facts.

Cable TV changed all that as did Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.  Now the media choices are overwhelming.  I can find “news sources” that are pro-Catholic, pro-guns, pro-Protestant, pro-evangelical, pro-Republican, pro-Democrat, pro-vaccines and masks and anti-vaccines and masks.  This smorgasbord has had two effects in my humble opinion.  The first clear effect has been to drive us to the notion that there are “alternative facts.”  That is, what one believes becomes fact and the repetition of lies becomes fact by repetition.  The second clear indicator is that folks want to hear what they agree with and do not want to be confused by the facts.  Facts become irrelevant in this environment.  Who agrees with me is the litmus test for listening.

But truth abides and facts reside.  There is only one set of facts for any given situation and we have lost the ability to discern facts from efforts to attract and maintain an audience.

Fox News, and their conservative ilk,  is not news.  It may be news on the local level when reporting a shooting, a high-speed chase, and a robbery at a convenience store.  Other local networks will cover the same stories reporting much the same facts.  But once the conversation becomes elevated to state and national issues, facts disappear and opinions and beliefs rule.  The more outlandish the opinion and belief the more likely the network will attract folks who are not critical thinkers or who are not prone to fact check the news.  Media sources that circulate conspiracy theories (Trump won, the vaccine is harmful, cow de-wormer works on Covid, masks are a violation of rights, life begins at 6 weeks in the womb, Biden blew the Afghanistan evacuation, and Democrats are coming to take guns away,) are almost all BS and serve no purpose but to keep the unread and illiterate faithful believers riled up.  Why?  Because that generates advertising revenue based on viewership and fund-raising for the conspiracy theory crowd. 

We could end a bunch of this by simply requiring news networks to scroll a message at the bottom of the screen that says, “The following report is a conspiracy theory with no basis in fact.”  Hannity, Carlson, et al would have the scrolling message permanently affixed to their shows.

I am watching my grandson wrestle with the myth of Santa Claus.  I think he knows, as do many of his classmates, that Santa is not real.  And he is deeply saddened now that evidently, all the adults in his life have lied to him.  He really wants Santa to be real because such a creature would be wonderful to have around.  When I first took out all my religious beliefs and unpacked them it became clear to me there was no god.  I sat with my preacher to discuss this because it unnerved me tremendously.  I had always believed in god.  I had always prayed and gone to church and sung in the choir, etc., etc.  I really wanted there to be such a being as a god, but it was clear there was no evidence that such a being exists.  The preacher said not to worry, many people go through a stage in their faith journey where they are mad at god.  I laughed.  I am no more mad at god than I am at Santa.  Neither exists.  To be angry at them would be pure folly.  I am angry and unnerved by the lies and deceit that have been fed to me my entire life. 

As those who really confront the myths listed here will experience anger too, I think.  It is hard to accept the truth if one believes otherwise.  But our nation will not exist as a secular democracy until we accept truth as the bedrock, not mythology. 

We believe all men and women are created equal.  We believe every living human has rights that should be protected.  We believe there should be a wall of separation between religious beliefs and the government so that the government never tells people what to believe or whether to believe anything at all.  We believe our government is of the people, by the people, and for the people, and we discern their will via the vote.  Any attempt to deny folks the right to vote is un-American. 

And in my humble opinion, any attempt to undo the outcomes of a fair and just election should be treated as treason.  That’s not a fact.  That’s a belief.

The earth is not flat.  We have been to the moon.  Consumption of fossil fuels is killing our planet.  Zeus is not real. Biden won.  Let’s get on with the governance of America as the people have willed.

Have I Got this Right?

I want to be sure I’ve got this right:  There is no evidence at all that fraudulent votes were cast in Texas during the 2020 Presidential election, but Governor Abbott has continued to call special sessions of the legislature to pass voter suppression bills in an effort to eliminate fraudulent votes.  Meanwhile, there are huge bodies of evidence that confirm Covid 19 vaccines are effective against the disease and that wearing masks and social distancing are effective at combating the spread of a Worldwide epidemic, but Governor Abbott has ordered no mandated mask-wearing and no mandated vaccinations.  Have I got that right? 

So, people will die because of his mandates.  So American citizens will be de facto denied the right to vote because of his proposed legislation.  He is attacking the right to live and the right to vote simultaneously.

It appears to me there are only a few explanations for this delusional behavior:

It could be that Abbott is just stupid.  Really stupid.  He is willing to fly in the face of all the science and all the metrics so that his personal little view of the world becomes the law of the land.  I would sit on the street corner and laugh at the naked emperor were not people dying from this stupidity and American citizens will lose the right to vote. 

It could be that Abbott is evil personified.  He wants more Texans to die and he wants fewer Texans to vote.  Both goals are evil.

It could be that he has been co-opted by others who are really stupid and/or really evil.  Throughout our history, we have seen elected leaders abandoned their oath of office for money and power.  Perhaps Abbott has simply been bought by the cultist right-wing believers.

Or, it could be that he is a sleeper agent for liberal Democrats.  Those folks dying from Covid because they will not get vaccinated and will not wear masks are mostly Republicans.  So as he works to pass superficial voter suppression laws that look like they will inhibit the Democratic vote he is determined to inhibit the Republican vote by allowing Covid to kill mostly Republicans.  If so, he does not really know Democrats who will always stand to protect the vote and always stand to protect our citizens from attacks of disease, hunger, exposure, etc.  If he is a sleeper agent, he should be fired and prosecuted.

Have I missed something here?  Or is there a new libertarian trend that demands government does not work to help people.  Rather, the government should work to hurt people.  Does this trend aim to eliminate all laws and regulations that require us to do things we may not want to do?  Perhaps Abbott will issue future executive orders that dismiss the requirement that one wears his or her seatbelt, obey posted speed limit signs, stop at stop signs and red lights, and allow driving while under the influence.  Perhaps he will order that having insurance is not a prerequisite to driving or that car inspections should cease.  Perhaps he will issue future executive orders that will ban anyone who has ever voted for a Democrat to lose their right to vote.  Perhaps he will issue future orders that abolish compulsory attendance at school, child labor laws, and currently required vaccinations for mumps, measles, diphtheria, tetanus, etc. to attend school.  Perhaps he will actually void UIL rules that require kids to wear helmets while playing football.  The list of government requirements that help us, protect us, and keep us from hurting each other is a long list.  Shall we see all that go away?

Perhaps.  He is headed down that path.  I wonder if inheriting Trump voter support is worth the death of even one child courtesy of his mandates, or the exclusion of one American who would simply like to either vote by mail or show up at a nearby polling site.

Have I got this right?

We Say We Believe in Democracy

 I have been a student and/or teacher of American Government since 1968 and had anyone told me as recently as 2016 that we would have seen our democracy come so close to falling apart in 2021 I would have laughed and said we are smarter than that, we are stronger than that, our belief system is better than that.  I would have been wrong.  As it turns out, we say we believe in democracy but only if the results of democracy are to our liking.  Otherwise, getting what we want, enforcing our beliefs on others, and maintaining power and wealth is now more important to many, many Americans than democracy, and I am heart-sick about it.  Imagine a Christian blinded on the road to DC by the god RA who wants to know why the Christian has persecuted him.  That gut-wrench when one realizes that what they most believe, most love, most support is wrong.  That’s where I am.

So I begin by asking, do you believe in democracy?  Do you believe that a government should serve the people, not vice versa?  Do you believe elected officials are public servants, not tyrants?  Do you believe that all people are created equal?  Do you believe that we are a nation of law and not a nation of personality cult and power and money?  Do you believe that the right to vote is the most precious right in a democracy because without it there is no democracy?  Do you believe that the government should never promote one religion over another or any religion over non-religion?  Do you believe that the way forward is always based on the expansion of human rights and reliance on science and logic rather than belief?  Do you believe that citizens have the right to protest, have the right to seek to resolve their grievances?  Do you believe that a free press is absolutely essential for free people to know what is going on in their government?  Do you believe that we must both protect the rights of the minority while avoiding the tyranny of the majority?  Do you believe that we are a liberal secular government made different from all other governments because of the beliefs outlined above?  Do you believe that when the people speak, whether we win or lose, like it or not, we support the outcome because that is the essence of democracy:  trusting the will of the people?

As I write this I see the horrible scenes from Afghanistan as the Taliban not only eliminate their secular government, the Taliban eliminates people who support a secular government.  The Taliban are a religious cult, totally convinced they are enacting the will of their particulate supreme being.  Anyone who disagrees with that belief is wrong.  Worse, anyone who disagrees is subject to a death sentence.  Women should not be educated.  Women must dress a certain way in public and serve men in certain ways.  Women may not work.  Women may not leave home without a male escort.  People are not created equal.  Taliban mullahs have dictatorial power over everyone.  It is scary as hell. 

When they were last in power in 2001 there were public executions of infidels and violators of their religious code.  That group of cultist fanatics is back in power.  The god of the Taliban does not believe in civil rights, protecting minority views, or equality and equity.  The history of this chaos, this regression in government, begins long ago, but most recently with Bush’s post 9/11 intervention there, then Obama’s ongoing support and increased presence of American troops, then Trump’s claim to have negotiated a US withdrawal, then Biden’s effort to honor that negotiation and withdraw only to learn the Taliban lied and did not keep any of the promises they made to Trump.  Tragic from the get-go.

And yet it appears to me that evangelical Christians and Catholics and the Taliban have much in common.  They all believe that the best government is a theocracy wherein the beliefs of the religious are supported by the government.  Evangelicals even argue that the US was founded as a Christian nation when nothing could be further from the truth.  All these groups want to see religious icons supported by the government whether it is monuments displaying the Ten Commandments or flying the crescent and star flag over public buildings.  All three groups strongly oppose women’s rights, especially freedom of choice.  All three groups assume their god has ordained certain elements that must be included in their governments such as religious holidays, worship on certain days and certain hours, clothing to be worn (or not worn) by women, attacking anyone who does not support their particular religious beliefs, religious institutions free from taxation, resentment to the notion of separation between church and state, and assuming that some god is on their side and sanctifies even the most atrocious acts.  None of the members of these groups appear able to intellectually perceive that there are other belief systems.  Each firmly believes they hold a universal truth and that their god is the one true god.  Discussion using logic, science, or political theory is impossible with them as they believe they are right so there is no point in discussion unless it is to convert the heathen or infidel.

Each election or coup that places one of these believers in power is a step away from the essence of democracy.  And yet, what shall we do when the people speak and select candidates and programs that are fundamentally religious?  Shall we honor the notion that the people rule when they make what many would call stupid decisions?  Or shall we assume that such decisions made by popular vote are erroneous and must be corrected? 

We have a litany of conflicts over such issues from the Iron Curtain in post-World War II in Europe, Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan and a host of African and Central American nations.  What shall we do when the people speak and make the wrong choice as supporters of democracy see it?

In most of the cases above the selection of leadership was not made based on democracy.  The decisions were made based on brute force and/or military intervention.  Should we even negotiate with armed forces rather than governments?  The Taliban is not a government.  It is an armed religious group.

Clear signs that the cultists want control is to claim any election whereby they were defeated was a fraudulent election and then take steps to reduce the number of eligible voters in future elections.  Those who support democracy prefer to see every eligible person vote and place safeguards to ensure the validity of the election process.  We had accomplished the second of these tasks prior to the 2020 election.

A general rule of thumb, which means this is a complicated issue and a simple solution is likely the wrong one, is to look at each systemic change in government and ask, “Are people attempting to gain entrance into the country, or are they attempting to escape?”  One could also ask, “Who decided to change the form of government?  Was it the voters?”  Each answer will yield insight into what I think should be the American response.

I get it that we cannot and should not police the world.  If we believe in the self-determination of peoples and the ultimate goal of promoting democracy worldwide then we should back off where it appears the people have made a choice.  On the other hand, if those who support people making the choice and an armed intervention forestalls that process we should seriously consider intervening in some way.  Likewise, if human rights are being crushed.

People are fleeing Afghanistan.  Not a good sign.  No one elected a Taliban government.  Not a good sign.  However, we have inadvertently flushed the Taliban out of the hills and caves and into Kabul.  Now might be a good time to say to them, “Establish a government that allows elections and human rights, or we are coming back in to do so.”  And should the people elect the Taliban, we will leave.  Evangelicals, cultists, jihadists, and other anti-democratic regimes and organizations do not merit our support.

If the right-wing fringe gains a majority in this country and votes in leadership that opposes democracy, human rights, suffrage, immigration, etc., then we may very well become a nation where people choose to flee rather than enter.  It is then that our true belief in democracy will be tested.  Will we vote?  Will we allow and promote maximum voter participation?  Will we abide by the outcome and verify then ignore cries of fraud in the process?  We will see.

Democracy is at risk both here and abroad.  Scary for me because I believe in democracy.

America without Democracy

I am sick and tired of doctors making medical decisions.  Who the hell do they think they are?   It is high time we get a businessman in there to tell doctors what they should and should not do.

I am sick and tired of engineers making infrastructure decisions.  Who the hell do they think they are?  It is time for a businessman to get in there to tell engineers what will work and what won’t.

I am sick and tired of lawyers making policy recommendations.  Who the hell do they think they are?  It is time for a businessman to tell lawyers what is appropriate given our Constitution and what is not.

I am sick and tired of scientists making medical recommendations.  Who the hell do they think they are?  It is time for a businessman to tell the scientists what will work and what won’t and what is serious and what is not.

I am sick and tired of anyone who has studied, practiced, and observed any field of endeavor, and then we conclude that such a person has expertise.  If you have spent your life managing a shipping company why shouldn’t the bosses’ idiot son take over?  If you have spent your life pipe fitting why shouldn’t a businessman decide what welds are best?  Why the hell did we ever value knowledge, experience, and study?  All it really takes is a businessman who stands up and says, “I know more about technology than anyone, I know more about foreign trade than anyone, I know more about our defense than anyone, and I know more about the ideal water flow through showers and down potty’s than anyone.”  When will all these experts understand that if one walks on water one does not need a degree or experience or knowledge? 

Sure, we should drop nuclear bombs on hurricanes.  Why not?  Sure the coronavirus is a hoax and not to be taken seriously.  Sure shining UV light inside a person will kill the coronavirus.  Sure injecting disinfectant into a person will kill the virus.  Sure, if the National Hurricane Center does not include a certain state in the projected path of a hurricane a businessman can re-draw the map with the cone of uncertainty as he sees it.  Sure getting vaccinated, wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing is a violation of your rights even though the businessman is not clear on what those rights are and why those recommendations matter.  And of course any election that did not return the businessman to office must be riddled with fraud.  Because he says so.

I just know if the other party supports science, I do not.  If the other party supports math, I do not.  If the other party seeks to end the pandemic via science. I do not.  I would rather base all my life and death decisions on what my gut tells me regardless of science, regardless of experts, regardless of doctors, regardless of PhD’s, regardless of anyone with education and common sense.  Those are the people who populated the swamp and we don’t need them.  We have guts.  We have beliefs.  We have the businessman.  We do not need facts or science.

Don’t you know it is the year of belief without evidence, followership without leadership, decision- making without facts?  And an America without democracy. 

Bob's Rules

 

As season 18 of NCIS ends I reminisce the joy and humor I have experienced with every articulation of Gibbs’ Rules.  If you want to see Gibbs’ list here is an authoritative link: 

https://www.cbs.com/shows/ncis/photos/1003066/gibbs-rules-the-complete-list-from-ncis/2/

Meanwhile, I have developed my own little set of rules to help me negotiate the current complexities of life.  I have unashamedly borrowed from other brains.  So here we go:

      .  1.    Every highly complex problem has a simple solution, and it is wrong.

2.      Truth is truth, belief is belief and they are not the same.

 
3.      Just because you believe it does not make it true.

4.      The more extraordinary the claim the more extraordinary the facts must be to support such a claim

.
5.      Math and science do not care about your belief system.

6.      One may not use a belief statement in an attempt to prove a belief statement.

7.      Prejudice, racism, misogynism, bullying, assault, and discrimination are validated by the experience of the victim and are not dismissed by the denial of the perpetrator.

8.      Judging others by inherited characteristics is blatant fear and selfishness.

 
9.      Judging others by an inherited and unexamined belief system is appropriate, but usually fruitless.

10.  Your attempt to improve what is currently successful will result in antagonism.

11.  The 7.9 billion people on the planet will continue to exist only as long as we cooperate, compromise, and allow those impacted to influence the rules.

12.     Denial of a reasonable request for information will always imply wrongdoing.

13.     Never claim unearned credit, always give more credit than you receive.

14.     Teach others, develop others, and model for others.

15.     The problem with competition is someone wins and someone loses.

16.     What’s good for business is not good for the people of the USA.

17.     Your belief system is not better or worse than another belief system.

 
18.     Your belief system becomes worse than other belief systems if you attempt to force it on others.

19.     Get the hell out of the left lane if you are not passing.

20.     Your mission may be my minutia.  And vice versa.

21.     Love is a gift that hurts to give.  It cannot be earned or found if lost.

22.     Trust is a gift that leads to betrayal.  It cannot be earned through control.

23.     Those who base their belief system on lies and falsehoods will react with violence when the truth emerges.

24.     Put it back where you found it.

25.     If it is not yours do not throw it away.

26.     All humans are our brothers and sisters.

27.     Do unto others as you would have them do for you.

28.     The universe is too vast not to have other life forms.  But, we are and will be alone.

29.     The pursuit of wealth and power is the most ignoble of human endeavors.

30.     The pursuit of truth and equity is the noblest of human endeavors. 

Each rule could merit a separate blog post.  I shall forego for now.  And, no doubt, other rules will evolve.

Consequences

No matter where I drive I consistently find myself driving with other drivers who view the art of driving on public roads as a competitive sport rather than a cooperative effort.  You know them too.  They grow frustrated if you are ahead of them and are not driving as fast as they would like.  They will change lanes, back and forth barely missing front and rear fenders in the hopes that they may gain 10 or 15 yards on the other drivers.  Some of these drivers are young and are perchance just showing off, but someone should tell them that they are driving a 2,000-pound hunk of metal that is covering about 50 feet per second and is fatal if taken internally.  But, many of them are middle-aged white guys.  They should know better.  But evidently, they did not get the message.  Speed limits are upper limits, not lower limits.  Stoplights and stop signs are to force cooperation among drivers so we do not kill each other.  Blinkers are a nice touch, though I guess for some the extra physical effort is just too much.  I am saddened by the drivers who do not enjoy driving and look forward to opportunities to support other drivers by yielding, letting them back out of parking spaces, moving to the right lane so they can pass, etc.  And yet, these drivers are becoming metaphoric for me.  If running you off the road serves their selfish agenda they will do so.  They represent the “no cooperation and to hell with you” approach to life. 

So Mitch McConnell comes out of a meeting and announces to all who will listen that his goal is to oppose the Biden agenda.  All of it.  The parts he has seen and the parts he has not seen.  Doesn’t matter.  He against it.  He has nothing to put in its place except fear and fantasy, but somehow folks in Kentucky tolerate this un-American, me-first kind of approach to life without starting a recall election.  Well, if they voted to recall McConnell they would be left with Rand Paul and that might be worse.  At any rate, what kind of driver do you think Mitch is?  Is he courteous, yielding to others, allowing others to go first, or is he the type that just cannot stomach cooperation?  I think announcing that he is opposed to all things Biden means he is announcing he is not in the Senate to do anything but say no.  Is that what you want?  Should McConnell and his ilk be held accountable for their obstructionism?  What are the consequences for Mitch?

Conservatives seem that way to me.  Always opposed.  Always mad.  Always afraid.  And that is just sad.  It is sad if you do not feel safe walking the streets of your hometown unless you are carrying a firearm.  How fearful is that?  Our good ole Texas government has just made it much easier to carry weapons so there will be more weapons out and about in areas of major conflict like Happy Hour at Chili’s or a parking spot at the mall.  They are doing this in the name of protecting 2^nd Amendment rights, which is kind of revealing.  I suspect they have either not read the 2^nd Amendment, or did so and did not understand that it protects the rights of everyone in the militia to keep and bear arms.  Oh well.  While they are expanding the obscure and outdated 2^nd Amendment in Texas they are making the right to vote, the foundation of a democracy, more difficult, fewer places to vote, more validation to show, etc., etc.  Maybe they are trying to restrict voting because of all the death that occurs at polling places.  Regardless, it is now easier to get a gun and carry it than it is to vote.  Don’t tell me you want to protect rights then pull this crap.  You are like the guy running me off the road because we all serve his agenda.  What should be the consequences for elected representatives who attack the right to vote?

Religious folks can be the same way.  You better do what I tell you to do because God has told me to tell you to do that and if you don’t do that you are going to hell.  Everyone has to think and believe like me because I am a good American and a good child of God.  I guess that is why God gave us free will, so we could all be bent to your will.  So bizarre.  So their God is an omnipresent cop in the sky keeping score so he/she can decide who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.  Where is hell, by the way?  If it is a real place it will have coordinates somewhere in the known universe.  If it is not real then the entire belief system is folly.  These folks enter the political fray now endorsing candidates.  That’s fine, they have violated the wall between church and state and they should just start paying taxes.  Any time a preacher stands behind a pulpit and advocates one candidate over another, one party over another, or one proposed piece of legislation over another he or she is violating the establishment clause and there should be consequences.

So speaking of consequences I think it is high time we had some for the lunkheaded logic and conspiracy theory crap that has been going around for about a year and a half.  If a parent wants to enroll a child in school they have to show the school that child’s vaccination record.  Why?  Because an unvaccinated child can make other children sick.  So why aren’t we doing the same with the anti-COVID virus nuts?  If you don’t get vaccinated you may not use public streets, public water, may not work, may not go to school, etc.  Why?  This is not about your right to infect others it is about what we all agree to do for the common good and public health.  Get over it.  The good of the many always outweighs the good of the few, unless the good of the one requires us to save a life.  Man up.  Rand, the needle doesn’t hurt that much.  Don’t tell me you are a patriot but you can’t take a shot for all your fellow Americans.

And while we are at it, let us start publicly testing these home-spun ludicrous theories.  Let’s force the perpetrators to man up as well.  Ted Cruz, do you believe Trump won the election?  If so, what proof do you have?  Same to you, John Cornyn, and Gregg Abbott and Ken Paxton, and all the other numbskulls riding their symbolic horse into the fringe camps to get future votes.  You don’t believe that nonsense and I know it.  Let’s use lie detectors to prove that what Trump says is baloney.  Let’s prosecute all elected officials who have supported the Big Lie.  Damn, let’s stop pussyfooting around these morons.  They swore an oath to uphold the Constitution but do not seem to be able to even support the Superman fictional goal of truth, justice, and the American way.  And if I am the enemy as I advocate democracy and truth then you know where their hearts lie.

I trust the police to catch the competitive drivers out there threatening our lives.  I’m going to have to trust men and women of conscience and men and women of both parties to insist that our nation be governed by fact not superstition, by science, not conspiracy theory.  If we all stand up and tell these fools they will be held accountable for any lie they tell maybe we can clean up this mess. 

Yes, I believe there should be consequences for making false statements and for refusing to comply with public health safety measures in a pandemic.  Truth is the path to a better nation, not a conspiracy theory and self-serving lies.