The Trump Divide: Getting Along

Twitter and social media in general is an interesting place where there is an exchange of ideas, even if some of those exchanges are sometimes contentious. Tempers can flare, especially when the topic is politics. President-elect Donald J. Trump is a newcomer to the world of politics and he has created chaos since day one. His running created a group of people who came to be known as “never-trumpers.” The Republican Party and those who often vote Republican became divided—battle lines were drawn. Some of those people fought Trump, even to the point of possibly electing Hillary Clinton as president. Even after the election of Donald J. Trump, the coals of the feud are still hot.

A Nation Divided by Angry Rhetoric

I just read the townhall.com article, By 2024, The Democrats Will Be An Atheist Party. I simply don't understand how this kind of rhetoric can win voters and minds away from the progressive agenda. This kind of 2^nd grade name calling does nothing to win elections – all it does is alienate those who might be on the line. After reading that piece I have to wonder if they might be intentionally trying to throw the election. Do they hate the GOP so much they would throw the election?

To change the economic course of this country we can't sit around worry about what faith someone follows, or even those who chooses none of the above. We want people to accept our economic system no matter if they are Christian, Muslim, Hindu, or Atheist. If conservatives like Townhall demand we have a Christian only nation then we are not on the same side.

From Townhall.com: “Democrats are waging war on the faithful and are even comfortable booing God on national TV. Give it three more presidential election cycles and the Democrat Party’s platform will be expressly antireligious.

Do you really want politics to turn into some religious war? Religious wars have a nasty history. When discussing politics we want a government that treats all people equally, no matter their religious beliefs. It is very unlikely that the Democratic Party will become anti-Christian. If it should ever take that extreme position then it will be because of such articles as the one on Townhall.com.

Duck Phil Platypus

Duck Phil Platypus is the perfect title for this article because the Phil Robertson story is one of the ugliest I have seen in a very long time. I'm not sure if by the time this fades into the twilight of news that anyone will have been correct. For the most part this is much ado about nothing. But since it has become something there is a lot that needs to be said.

Let's start by quoting some of his comments:

Phil On Growing Up in Pre-Civil-Rights-Era Louisiana
“I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field.... They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.”

Phil is referring to the days of share croppers and where blacks lived on the farms where they worked. Farms varied greatly, as did the houses in which the black workers lived. Some houses were relatively nice, while some were no more than roughly built shacks. This sounds to also be during the days of Jim Crow laws. Were southern blacks happy? Likely for the most part, but we must ask – Were they equal? Not even close.

I'm Called the Extremist

Each day I'm told over and over by the media how people who think like me are extremists. I was recently de-friended by someone on a social site because of my extreme views. Extremism is often relative to the other person's beliefs. I want to go over a few things that led this person to view me as an extremist.

The country is approaching the so-called fiscal cliff and my belief is in the end the country might be better off if we take the dive. For a decade we have listened to government talk about cutting spending and then pat themselves on the back when they propose a spending bill that cuts projected spending by a few billion dollars. What they don't tell us is that once again spending increases dramatically. We are running a trillion dollar deficit and neither party seems to care. The Democrats want to raise tax rates on the top 2% earners, which would raise only about $80 billion. Neither party is willing to rein in the IRS and look at all the deductions. They love deductions because that's how they repay those that contribute to their campaigns. Because I point out that tax on the top 2% is simply misdirection, and say we get only double speak from both parties, I'm called an extremist.