A Path Forward

If the last four years under the Trump Presidency helped me realize anything, I realize now I still want to feel proud that I am an American. That part of my identity is being an American. And I sure was not proud this last four years. While I am happy that Trump lost, I am afraid that we’re a long way from healing and I am a long way from feeling proud again. I agree with some that argue that Donald Trump was not the cause, but rather a symptom. That is true. I also happen to think that Joe Biden was more of a cause to the rancor and division than Donald Trump. Biden is no more a cause than Mitch McConnell or most other career politicians however.

Below are a few thoughts that I have regarding how to unify the country. I am not advocating for these things because I necessarily support them. Instead, I am outlining some of the absurdity that has led this country to the brink of a potential civil war and this is how we move forward and away from the divisiveness. I am after all, a reasonable man.

If you want to cancel me after reading this blog, then I definitely wrote it for you.

Stop Being Hyper Reactive to Every Damn Thing

I start with this one because some of what I write below will make some of you upset. But these things need to be said.. Our country is 50/50 whether you like it or not. It’s not your country. It’s our country. Everyone’s country. The bottom line: there are a whole hell of a lot of Americans who think differently than you and it’s time you accept that. Rather than jump down people’s throats for having different views, ask yourself why they have that view. Understand too that you cannot always change a person’s minds, but also that in this Country, people have the freedom in most circumstances to think and do what they want. Embrace that. Don’t try to ruin it. You can’t. You won’t. And continuing to cancel people over disagreements that hardly impact you or a large number of folks causes far more damage to our social fabric than preventing the behavior from happening in the first place.

Respect Religious Liberty

My former business partner and I used to argue about the Masterpiece Cake case endlessly. The legal question there asked whether the State could force a Christian baker to make a cake for a gay wedding. The progressives argue discrimination and the conservatives argue religious liberty. Both are correct, but something has to give.

On this paradox, I, as all Americans should, side with the baker (please don’t cancel me). I support gay marriage and I support the notion that gays should be a protected class. But when placed next to the Christian business owner, we have to respect the Christian baker’s objection to his or her participation in the wedding. NOTE PLEASE: I am not suggesting in any way that a Christian store owner can deny service to someone who is gay. Not at all. I am merely saying that a Christian that has a religious objection to gay marriage should undoubtedly have the freedom to choose not to bake the wedding cake for a gay wedding. That’s it. Or flowers or photographs or whatever.

You might think this is ridiculous. It’s not. Gay marriage won. It’s not going away. And while gays should no longer be discriminated against, it’s going to happen in this context and we have to resist the temptation to cancel the Baker or to sue someone over a similar refusal to participate. In a civilized society such as the one I want to live in, there needs to be space for people to marry who they love, but also space for the Christian to avoid cancellation or unending legal bills so that they can remain consistent with his or her faith. Religious freedom is a civil right, deserving of the same protections as any other civil right and forcing the Christian baker to bake a cake at a gay wedding is similar to forcing a Muslim man to shave his beard or forcing a Muslim woman to remove her burka.

Progressives need to Accept Reasonable Limitations on Abortion

I promise you it’s not “the economy stupid” that drives many voters on the right to vote for Republicans every single year. It’s abortion. Now I’m socially liberal, but I also happen to be pro-life. I’m not so pro-life that I would ever criticize someone for having an abortion nor would I ever vote for a politian based on my pro-life beliefs. It’s not even remotely a priority to me. I would just never want my wife or my children to have abortions.

But that’s me, and a huge swath of the population cares more about abortion that any other issue. I know good, reasonable people who would NEVER vote for a pro-choice candidate. If reasonable limitations aren’t codified in legislation by the two parties at the federal level, pro-choice advocates are leaving the door open for the Republican party to make those rules some day if they get total control of the federal government. More realistically, you might see the Supreme Court make that decision. Don’t leave it to chance.

Abortions should not be happening after 24 weeks unless there are extenuating circumstances. The father in all circumstances should be notified and should be involved in the decision. I cannot support “my body, my choice.” Additionally, there is a sub culture in this country that believes that abortion is an adequate form of birth control. This view is cultural, and we need to move away from abortion as an option and more toward abortion as a last resort. If we can get there, I believe that many one issue abortion voters will consider voting for a different party, thus incentivizing progressive candidates to stay closer to the middle (reason) while also courting pro-life voters.

Lastly, there is no reason that all Democratic members of Congress are pro-choice and all Republican members of Congress are pro-life. There needs to be diversity of ideas within the parties. The Democrats need to stop shunning pro-life Democrats.

Stop Framing ANTIFA and White Nationalists as Leftists or Right Wingers. They’re both criminals.

People, stop defending these goons. Stop picking a side. Anyone who loots, assaults or steals is a criminal. Likewise, the White Nationalists are mostly racist ass holes and them brandishing “cool” rifles in public is not how you should want to protect the Second Amendment. We cannot keep having gun toting fools running amok in our cities and our government buildings. Condemn them. Every time. They are not political. They are anarchists and they are not good people. STOP.

Stop calling Democrats Socialists and Republicans racists

Supporting Donald Trump does not make someone a racist. Likewise, supporting Joe Biden does not make one a Socialist. Socialism is predominantly defined by a centralized government controlling production, distribution, and exchange. The Green New Deal is not Socialist. Medicare for All is not Socialist. These are ideas that are different than what we are used to, but they’re not Socialist. More to this point, stop calling Democrats Communists. You all sound like fools when you do this. I have been hearing this shit my entire adult life.

Stop Falling for Actual Fake News

Fake News is here to stay. Some people are always going to fall for fake stories that confirms their biases. But if you have any pride or care about shame, it’s time to recognize that sharing fake stories from sources trying to deceive makes the poster look like a fool. If it’s you sharing the link, you look like the fool.

If you inadvertently share something fake and someone gently points that out to you, take it down and DO NOT SAY “I was just putting it out there for people to judge for themselves . . . .” like Trump did when he implied that Joe Biden had Seal Team 6 killed to hide the fact that Osama Bin Laden was still alive (this happened).

Recognize that your “Clicks” are Powerful

Are you someone who complains about the media? Stop clicking on pop culture, clickbait or sensational link titles on news websites. Your clicks are worth money to all web site owners. Clicks equal views. Views equal ad dollars. Ad dollars equals profits.

Next time CNN or Fox News has a link that says something like this, “Rhianna suffers nip slip on stage,” DO NOT CLICK. If it’s something more subtle like “Kim Kardashian has public argument with Kanye” on the LA Times website, DO NOT CLICK. If you continue clicking on these links, “news” organizations will continue putting out trash.

We can make news great again but we have to stop incentivizing the news to provide us with trash. If you MUST see what happened to Rhianna on stage, go to a different source that is meant to provide gossip info.

Some Police Departments and Some Officers are Absolutely a Problem and Reform is Necessary

Guys. Black Lives Matter. And it’s indisputable that black people are killed, injured and targeted by law enforcement at unacceptable rates. We should also recognize however, that police abuse is not limited to minorities. The reality in this country is that poor people whether minority or white are treated terribly by our criminal justice. That includes law enforcement, the prosecutors, the judges and even the defense attorneys. Adding race to the dialogue makes the issue divisive rather than straight forward and universal.

When an officer takes the life of an American of any race, that officer is usurping our Constitution and depriving that victim of due process. We cannot keep going down this same path. Police officers have tough jobs. No doubt. But we can see some of these shootings with our own eyes, and some of the shootings would be war crimes if done by our troops under similar circumstances.

We should all want to reduce officer involved shootings. But again, we need to change the culture and attitude toward policing. Too many times, observers of body cam footage comfortably state, “You shouldn’t be committing crimes.” The punishment for committing a crime is not death by officer in the United States of America. We all have a God given presumption of innocence until proven guilty in this country.

Covid is Real, it’s Serious and it’s Going to get Worse so You Better get your Shit Together

Folks, 118k Americans tested positive yesterday for Covid and for several straight days, more than a thousand Americans died. The economy isn’t coming back until Covid is under control. We’ve done everything wrong. Wear a mask in public. Stay six feet apart. And stop going to Trump rallies and protesting in mass gatherings.

Eight Really Obvious Things that Everyone Should Support to get our Country back on Track

1. Make marijuana legal and release everyone who is still in prison for marijuana related offenses. Is there anything worse than people sitting in prison for marijuana?
2. Raise the federal minimum wage. Not to $15 but something higher than $7.25.
3. Make College more affordable and find creative ways to forgive student loan debt.
4. Cut the Defense budget in half, bring all troops home other than those necessary to keep our overseas installations running and then invest that savings in infrastructure. Build new schools, internet in every home, fix the bridges and roads, build more public transportation (high speed trains and hyper loops).
5. Get rid of qualified immunity and start holding police accountable for the crimes they commit. Period.
6. Find a way to reduce the influence of money in politics.
7. Term limits for Congress.
8. Eliminate for-profit prisons.

Quick Hitters

1. Stop assuming that all gun owners and religious people are Republicans.
2. Go out of your way to perform random acts of kindness and take some pride in doing nice things for others like holding doors for ladies. We need more of that.
3. Election Day should be an election holiday. We want both parties competing for everyone’s votes and ensuring that voting is easy for everyone will make it impossible for parties to ignore certain voters. This is America. We can do anything. Let’s make voting easy everywhere.
4. The American flag does not belong to one party. Liberals! Show your pride! Rock that flag.
5. Hillary was right about something. 20% of the population falls under a basket of deplorables. Maybe it’s not 20% but it’s a large number. There are some truly rotten people in this country. Do not support these people. Do not associate with these people. Condemn them. Shame them. BUT DO NOT JUST STUFF THIS BASKET WITH GOOD PEOPLE THAT HAVE DIFFERENT VIEWS. More importantly though, do not make these people part of your political coalition.
6. Hypocrisy is a two way street. Think about it.
7. The next time the Republican Party nominates someone decent like John McCain or Mitt Romney or the Democrats nominate an Obama or Joe Biden, we cannot go as low as we can go and should give these good candidates the respect they deserve. Win on the merits, not on fraud and lies.
8. Stop wasting your energy hating AOC and her squad. They have an absolutely minimal effect on any material outcome. The only impact they have outside of their districts is trolling on social media. They’re irrelevant in the actual Congress. I also implore the liberals to avoid wasting their energy on the two Q supporters who recently won their elections. The media will elevate these folks and make them seem bigger than they are. The more you share their content or criticize them, the more influence they have. This is a feature, not a bug. Don’t take the bait.
9. Do not be afraid of renewable energy. The jobs in these industries are good paying and California has realized a massive economic boom as a result. Your State can too. There will always be a place for oil and gas in this country, but cleaner energy is inevitable.
10. If you belong to a political party, consider going independent. Political parties, specifically the two party system, is a major problem. You see, if you belong to one of the two parties, it robs you of your ability to fully appreciate the amazing grace of John Lewis, or to understand how courageous Mitt Romney was when he stood up to President Trump. I believe a viable third party will emerge from the 2020 wreckage. If I am right, please take a serious look. Republicans and Democrats have worn out their welcome in my opinion.
11. On that same note, please consider voting for young candidates of either party. Let’s vote the Baby Boomers out. It’s our time now.
12. Like me, you should delete Facebook. They are listening to your conversations through your phone and are selling your data to every buyer throughout the world.

If you consider yourself decent, and I believe you are because you have read this until the end, then please let’s band together as decent Americans of all political persuasions to take our country back from crazy.