Had Virginia Governor Ralph Northam committed a crime he might be in less hot water than he is now over a decades-old picture. Politicians can salvage their careers after a criminal conviction, but no apologies will save them from a search and destroy political climate where the slightest allegation of racism spells the end.
American Ideals and Values
The American Ideals and Values category includes posts on religious freedom, equality and rights, the war between liberals and conservatives, and what it means to be American.
The Founding Fathers are a dim memory that lawmakers like to fall back on when they get in a bind. Contemporary American ideals and values are defined by politics and the mass media, not the thinking that went into the Constitution. What happens in Washington, state legislatures, and across the World Wide Web can support, undermine, reimagine, or destroy our fundamental beliefs about what is good, right, and worth protecting.
The transition from Obama to Trump stirred up unprecedented anger and even violence after a surprise Democratic election loss. Why? Because everything the nation was told to value suddenly swung to the right. In November 2018 the pendulum swung back to the left. Republicans are in retreat and what we value is changing again to suit a new Democratic House.
Do we elect a president and representatives in Congress so they can dictate what we believe, or do the people decide what ideals and values we should cherish? That’s the question the American Ideals Values category seeks to answer.
Founding Principles Democrats Still Get Wrong
When Democrats fall back on America’s founding principles to justify their anger and frustration the words ring hollow. The usual political hypocrisy is acceptable and expected and we hear it from both sides, but do liberal lawmakers think we are so unschooled that we can’t see how ridiculous they sound when they turn to the Founding Fathers for support?
All Americans Share Values but We Don’t Engineer Success
Don’t confuse Democratic Party political priorities like Medicare for All or free college with true American values. The former vanish with the changing of the guard and the up and down of the economy. Values that matter are enduring. They focus on ideas much greater than what to spend on next. We should all be wise enough to agree that it’s the height of arrogance for people we elect to tell us what we want and what we should have.
Nativism is a Belief Democrats Encourage and Promote
Democrats will argue that Trump promotes nativism until they are blue in the face. The simple fact is that their ceaseless pandering extends beyond U.S. borders and is the reason nativist values will appeal to Americans who have a brain and a wallet.
Mandate to Demonize Americans? Democrats Dangerous Gamble
A sickening consequence of the Democratic Party’s anger over the 2017 election and their new rise to power after midterms is that more Americans will be lumped into Hillary’s basket with terrorists and the radical right. Democrats never accused Islamic thought of aiding and abetting extremism after terror attacks in the U.S. In fact, they blamed the nation for Islamophobia and went out of their way to declare the opposite.