Political Junkie

This weekend marks the 158 th anniversary of the First Battle of Bull Run, one of many major American battles during the American Civil War.  Fortunately, America has only had one Civil War thus far; fought primarily but not exclusively about the issue of slavery.  Just because America has not a civil war since the 1860s does not mean that the country has not experienced division and polarization.  For years, many warring factions within the country have participated in “cold” civil wars and in some cases, especially when it comes to domestic terrorism, it seems like the country has had a series of “hot” civil wars.  The domestic terror group Weather Underground fire-bombed buildings in the 1970s to express its disapproval with the Vietnam War while Antifa has unleashed a reign of terror, primarily on the west coast, most recently by beating up conservative journalist Andy Ngo. While many of the issues dividing the country today fall into the l...

Now that my cousin’s wedding has come and gone, I have the opportunity to weigh in on the political developments of last week. For starters, Eric Swalwell became the first major candidate to drop out of the 2020 presidential race; just weeks after the first Democratic debate.  This should not have come as a surprise because last time around, one candidate dropped out of the race after the first Republican debate (Rick Perry).  As a sanctimonious Congressional Democrat from a deep blue House district in California, no rationale existed for Swalwell’s candidacy.  Pete Buttigieg has cornered the market on the “next generation candidates” while Kamala Harris has cornered the market on self-righteous California prosecutors.  Swalwell can now go back to his primary job : changing diapers. However, Swalwell’s disappearance from the 2020 Democratic field did not reduce the number of Democratic Presidential candidates. Billionaire Tom Steyer announced his intent...

I find myself unable to comment on the politics of the week in my typical Saturday blog post because of my presence at my cousin’s wedding.   Going to another wedding makes me sad that I do not get to play the part of groom and glad that I do not have anything to do with the wedding business.   In recent years, the PC police have worked hard to give a series of God-fearing Americans the “Wedding Bell Blues.”   For these Americans, the source of the heartburn does not match up with the “Wedding Bell Blues” experienced by Marilyn McCoo and many millennial females stuck in the status of “partner” just waiting for their significant others to put a ring on it. Instead, these Americans have the case of the “Wedding Bell Blues” because of coercion from the left (and the judicial branch) to participate in events that violate their deeply held religious beliefs. Colorado baker Jack Phillips operates Masterpiece Cakeshop in a suburb of Denver. He found himself in legal hot water...

A couple of developments over the past month have required me to make some revisions to my list of the Top 10 House Republicans Worthy of a Primary Challenge.  Specifically, two of the people on the list have announced that they do not intend to seek re-election as Republicans next year.  I created the list by using a system similar to the proposed RAISE Act, which would award points to potential immigrants based on a variety of factors including their ability to speak English and their level of education.  In my system, Republican members of Congress receive points based on their decisions to support legislation and/or ideas harmful to the conservative movement.  My formula gave Republicans 20 points for calling for President Trump’s impeachment, 15 points for voting for the Equality Act, ten points for voting against the National Emergency, ten points for voting against wall funding, ten points for scandal-plagued incumbents, five points for voting to...