It is a fool's errand to argue with local people who wish to just "pile on" with criticism of the U.S. president and of Democrats generally. Not sure really how all the seeds got planted for this. Remember the names Chuck Brown and Collin Peterson? They once represented us. They were Democrats.
There was a time in America when you could speak for the minority and still hold your head high as you circulated in the community. Have some pleasant debates. But it is a fool's errand to argue with Republicans and to question their big leader nationally, yes it is, out here in sparsely populated America. I should not try.
My comments tend to be more on media and culture than to take on GOPers re. policy.
In a normal world I'd have some things in common with the GOP. The GOP has historically been skeptical of unions. But this is a head-scratcher: when police behavior comes under fire somewhere, who do we see in the TV studio with people like Sean Hannity? We see leaders with police unions. And of course they bend over backwards to protect their own members. They seek maximum job security.
But I would think Fox is not deferential to "unions." So it's puzzling. Oh not really. We know how the mind of someone like Sean Hannity works. "Support the police" is a mantra of the political right. The right permeates our outstate culture here around Stevens County, surely permeates a majority of our churches.
Churches about went nuts when an element in U.S. spiritual leadership felt gay people needed to be uplifted. And it can be a complicated issue for sure. But this was the real catalyst as we increasingly saw evidence of the culture wars. "The dog caught the car" when the three new Supreme Court members led the way in pushing aside Roe vs. Wade. So now, to complement the still-festering gay rights matter we have abortion.
I am 69 years old and remember all the old arguments on abortion, arguments that the Supreme Court pretty well put aside with Roe. Because, Roe became the precedent that gave the underpinning for women having fundamental freedoms, like it or not.
Ah, the "old arguments" like "abortion is murder." And then in the next breath, such a person would have to add "exceptions" like for "life of the mother." As if that's such an easy thing to determine anyway. A rigid pro-life person could argue in a particular case that "the mother's life was not really in danger." Hasn't this already happened in Texas with this Paxton fellow throwing a monkeywrench into the works?
But would someone like Paxton know how foolish he and others like him would come off? And wouldn't they realize that doctors could be scared right out of their profession? Who would want to risk the life-changing development of losing one's medical license? And to "criminalize abortion" for doctors and maybe even the women?
If society really was to judge that abortion is a crime, it would in fact make sense to charge the women because women make their own decisions, would warrant respect based on that. Wouldn't they? But the Arizona Supreme Court, it appears, literally wants to take America back to a time when women could not vote. It was the middle of the Civil War.
Is it possible that the GOP and right wing disrespect women so much that they cannot hold women responsible for their own abortion decision? It would have to be the doctor's fault. But women are self-starters. Oh, at least that's the way I think, but I'm continually surprised at how Neanderthal so many rural people have become. It's getting to the point where nothing surprises me.
People like me used to complain about Fox News. Forgive them, Lord? They know not what they do? Well they certainly know what they are doing because it's big business. And Fox News has competition.
Hannity who has been on TV seemingly forever has competition. Why can't some of these program hosts be "canceled" the way we used to see TV sitcoms canceled all the time? I grew up in the 1960s. Shows were trotted out and "axed" constantly.
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| Sean Hannity |
There sits Sean Hannity who has built a gravy train for himself by catering to all the Neanderthals. Oh, I have seen his show where there's a couple of police spokesmen in uniform sitting there all smug and know-it-all as guests. But it comes out that these "cops" are really just leaders of their "union." But I thought unions were anathema for the Fox News leadership.
"Conservative." Well they don't have much in common with William F. Buckley, that's for sure. Buckley's "Firing Line" TV show, quaint. Remember the piccolo trumpet for the theme music? I imagine very few people in the Morris area ever checked it out. I learned conservatism from Buckley and this was the "real" conservatism. It led to Ronald Reagan.
Compared to what we have today? We have flat Earthers or people with blank expressions who are just reverential, constantly, to their movement leader, i.e. "cult leader." And why I bother even trying to combat the local crowd in their church pews is beyond me. The way things are going, people like me might not even be physically safe anymore.
Well I am 69, I've made it this far.
I hate the Democrats for their affinity with unions, especially teachers unions. Let me count the ways on the latter. Democrats lost the governorship in Virginia because of being tone-deaf on this: the public's general revulsion toward teacher unions. It is hard, very hard, for me to put this matter aside but I must try, in light of how the Republican Party is the fountain for so much sheer mendacity and danger. There's no end to it.
Nationwide abortion ban? But now the right wing cult leader in America, initials D.T. of course, is trying to engineer a subtle reversal on this issue. I could see this coming. He has to try to win the election to stay out of prison. Why did he have to run for president in the first place in 2016? I don't think he intended to win. He wanted to build up his "brand." But us fools, us lemmings, created our current mess by putting him in office.
The electoral college lifts up the rural red states. It does not abate out here in western Minnesota. All these people can watch Newsmax as an alternative to their old mother's milk of Fox News. So a Newsmax person just loved recently to pile on against Biden using the trope of feeble-mindedness. So this fellow named Rob Finnerty intoned that "Biden didn't know that Africa was a country."
Um, I don't think Africa is really a country, is it? I would describe Africa as a continent that is composed of countries.
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| Africa is a continent, right? |
I got a response from someone who wasn't cutting any slack for us Flyoverland people. The guy who responded was really pretty correct as he laid blame on the red states. So I shall conclude here by sharing both my comment and the response just cited, plus two pithy others.
My comment to Yahoo! News:
I am just a common citizen of Flyoverland and I could readily tell you that Africa is a continent. The media people who circulate in the Beltway need to realize we're a lot sharper than they think.
"Chris" responded:
It is very unlikely you all are sharper than we think, you keep voting for Republicans. Do any of you ever ask yourself are you better off than your parents or grandparents? If the answer is NO, then thank a Republican. It is 100% Republican policies that have allowed the consolidation of meat packing so you no longer have any control over the prices you can charge. It is Republican policies that have allowed private equity to buy up massive blocks of farmland so you no longer have neighbors operating family farms. It is Republican policies that have led to America's leading export being agriculture products while screeching that USA is the greatest, most advanced economy in the world - HA HA. If you wonder why people think you all are not too sharp, look in the mirror and consider YOUR actions.
"Stan W." responded:
Evidently, anchors at Newmax are NOT smarter than a 5th grader.
"PHJ Indy" responded:
Honestly, you don't have to be sharp to know Africa is a continent! That's common knowledge.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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