Category: Opinions

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9/11 and January 6th; an Analysis

Three years after the incident at the Capital January 6th 2021, tempers still flare up on all sides. Some people feel that the incident that day has been grossly over exaggerated, over politicized, and over prosecuted while others feel the opposite: that too little has been done, that the process has taken too long, and that the individuals involved should receive no quarter.

Truth be told, this author sides with the camp that views the reactions to January 6th as a blatant sham – a kangaroo court in a banana republic seeking to deal “Justice” that fails to match the crime in question. Appallingly, some talking heads in the mainstream media have compared the events of January 6th to the terror attack on the World Trade Center September 11, 2001.

Such a comparison seems beyond the pale. The number of victims on January 6th is in single digits (five, according to the New York Times) whereas nearly 3,000 victims perished on 9/11. With this in mind, it is hard to fathom why a comparison would ever be made between the two events. Should the desire be to call the folks involved with January 6th “terrorists,” it is logical that you could do so without the comparison to the worst attack on American Soil since the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The incongruent numbers don’t only exist between the number of victims, but also between the number of individuals charged with crimes related to the two events. 23 years after 9/11, approximately 992 individuals have been charged in relation to the terror attack that cost 3,000 people their lives. However, only three years after January 6th, nearly 1,300 people have faced criminal charges with a possibility of many more yet to be charged.

It should be noted that January 6th, 2021 was a dark day in American history and that we at ContemporyConservative.net do not condone the actions taken by the mob who stormed the capital and delayed the certification of the election results by a period of hours. However, it seems clear as crystal that a comparison to the shocking events of 9/11 is perverse and inappropriate.

As time marches on, it will be interesting to continue to evaluate the media coverage and public sentiment surrounding January 6th. Hopefully such comparisons as those being made to 9/11 will cease (as they were never appropriate in the first place). 9/11 should remain to be what it was – the darkest day America has faced in this millennia.

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Apple’s iMessage Does Not Need Government Intervention

 Typically, here at Contemporary Conservative, and on our podcasts, we don’t really cover technology and the news related to it. We’re usually more focused on politics and culture. However, there are times when those subjects intersect. Particularly in the issue I’m about to discuss, we find politics, i.e. the government, crossing paths with technology. For the background story, I’ll have to tell you about one of the latest hot button issues among the online tech nerds (and I mean nerds kindly) as well as some additional history.

 First some background and history on the issue. Presumably, anybody reading this is familiar with the company Apple and the iPhone. What some people may be less familiar with is Apple’s messaging service called “iMessage.” iMessage is a messaging service built into many of Apple’s software and product platforms. It was first released to the public in October of 2011. It was created to be a replacement for standard SMS, or what most would understand as basic text messaging. SMS is an older technology, and has limitations, such as: lower picture quality when sending your friends a pic, difficulty managing group chats, and other rich features. The introduction of iMessage for Apple’s platforms helped get around those limitations for those using Apple’s products.

 Instead of an Apple user’s message to another Apple user being sent through a cell phone carrier’s network, e.g. AT&T or Verizon, the message is sent through Apple’s own network of servers. This allows for higher quality photos to be sent, and group chats to be more organized. It also allows for features like read receipts, typing notifications, and many other features not capable with basic SMS. However, as I mentioned, iMessage is only available for those who use Apple devices and software. If someone has any other brand of device and software, they do not have access to iMessage. For example, a person with a cell phone from Samsung using Android software, or a HP computer using Windows software, they can’t get iMessage. Apple does not offer iMessage as an app for other devices and software to use. This now brings us to the current news in the tech world.

 Despite iMessage being exclusive to Apple products, other companies have attempted to create work-arounds. These are usually related to making it possible for Android phone users to send and receive iMessages. The technical details on how the work-arounds were achieved are beyond the scope of this article, and different companies have done it in different ways, but most attempts have not been executed well for varying reasons. A company called Nothing Phone had brief success, but their method was found to be unsecured and had privacy issues. Then a company called Beeper had even more success with an app they made.

 One of the big features of iMessage that I left out earlier is “end to end encryption.” In short, this means the iMessages being sent and received can’t be read by any other device except for the sender and receiver. This encryption is what helps make someone’s message private, and unreadable by potential bad actors. Beeper’s app for Android users to get iMessage was so successful because the app was able to utilize Apple’s own servers to send encrypted messages, as well as all the previously mentioned features that come with using iMessage. The app functioned just as iMessages would on Apple’s own devices. However, within a matter of days, Apple was able to fix their servers to prevent Beeper’s app from accessing them. Then again, Beeper found a way around the fix, and thus the cat and mouse game has started. Apple makes a fix, and then Beeper breaks the fix.

 There are various reasons why Android users want to be able to have access to iMessage. The main issues deal with the idea of equal access and platform interoperability, meaning different platforms can work seamlessly together. After all, Google does offer Google Messages,  their iMessage equivalent, for iOS users. So Apple should offer iMessage for Android users too. This idea is what, in part, Beeper’s app hopes to achieve. Being able to bring all of someone’s messaging services into one place regardless of a user’s platform. So when a little company is trying to stand up to a big company, it’s only a matter of time before there are calls for government to get involved.

 During Apple and Beeper’s recent back and forth, Sen. Elizabeth Warren decided to speak up. In a post on Twitter X, she said, “Green bubble texts are less secure.” So why would Apple block a new app allowing Android users to chat with iPhone users on iMessage? Big tech executives are protecting profits by squashing competitors. Chatting between different platforms should be easy and secure.” I recommend reading this article for a better breakdown of the problems with Warren’s post. In short, it’s technologically ignorant and misses the point. I’d like to focus more on the general idea of government intervention.

 For full disclosure, I am a user and fan of Apple products. That isn’t to say I don’t have my own issues with Apple as a company. However, there is no need for the government to step in and regulate “Big Tech,” and force Apple to allow access to iMessage. Why? The simplest answer is because Apple just doesn’t have to. It is their own service that they created for their users. Apple does not have a monopoly or absolute control over messaging services, and no one is being harmed, financially or otherwise, by Apple not allowing other platforms to access iMessage. The same features that iMessage offers can be found on Google Messages, and other messaging services. If a person wants access to iMessage, they only have to purchase an Apple device. While Apple’s products are known to be expensive, if access to iMessage is all a person wants, an older used or 2nd-hand Apple product can be purchased for a lot cheaper than Apple’s latest and greatest. So people are not without options for getting access to iMessage.

 iMessage is part of what makes Apple products unique and separate from their competition. It is a feature that helps draw people into Apple’s software and hardware ecosystem. Similarly, but less serious, KFC’s secret 11 herbs and spices is what makes their chicken different from their competition. Even more similarly, Tesla’s self-driving features in their cars is known to be one of the best, and makes them different than cars from Ford and GM. To the best of my knowledge, no senator is calling for KFC to give up their 11 herbs and spices to the little chicken shack down the street, and demanding Tesla hand over their self-driving tech to Ford, GM, or any other EV startup. Nor should they. Having a product, feature, or service that is unique and exclusive is what helps create and drive businesses. Is Apple only trying to protect profits by safeguarding iMessage? Maybe, but those profits are taxed by the same government demanding Apple give up what helps generate those profits. Furthermore, if all businesses have to share their secrets, particularly ones that that make them stand out, then nearly all businesses will be the same. Other than a name and a logo, there may not be anything to distinguish one product or service from another. If Apple eventually wants to allow open access to iMessage, they can certainly do that, but they should make that choice on their own, and not forced by the government.

 Comments like Sen. Warren’s, are just an example of government trying to exert more control when they have no business doing so. As pointed out, people have access to messaging services. Ones that utilize encryption, have read receipts, typing notifications, and other features found in iMessage. They’re just not called iMessage, and if one wants iMessage, there are easy and inexpensive ways to get it. There doesn’t need to be government intervention to make sure all people have access to this company’s product.

 I guess all this is to say, when government is calling for more regulation and control, try to be skeptical. It’s not always about making things fair for “the little guy,” or safe and easy for everyone to access, and even when it is, that doesn’t always mean it is right. No one is entitled to iMessage, there is no right to have messages be encrypted, and Apple is not obligated to provide their service to anybody who wants it. It is wrong and unnecessary for the government to try and change that. It should be left to Apple and the consumer to decide.

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Ignore Her!

In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, congresswoman ‘AOC’ is calling on the Biden administration to simply “ignore” the ruling from a Texas federal judge that would halt the FDA’s approval of an abortion-inducing pill. She seems to show no shame or irony as she calls for the flouting of federal law, but considering Democrat’s history of such attitudes and behaviors, one shouldn’t really be surprised.

Though I’m sure there are countless examples, I can readily think of only a few that parallel the sentiment she is expressing on the National broadcast with Anderson. After the 2008 housing market crash there were calls from Democrats to “Stay in your Homes” despite bank foreclosures and legal eviction proceedings. The “occupy Wall-street” movement of those days seemed to have a very strong foothold among the liberals of that day, just as more recent movements such as “Black Lives Matter” were met with many of the same attitudes from the same crowd.

Liberals asked us to imagine fiery and violent protests as a “summer of love,” and of course they excused the actions of the protestors in the aftermath of the George Floyd overdose. George Soros funded District Attorneys chose not to prosecute the perpetrators of the countless property damage crimes that were committed, however the people who entered the capital building on January 1st were quickly judged as guilty and some are still rotting in jail to this day without having the right to a trial. 

Many of the crimes committed by the current administration, such as the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan that killed 13 service members are being ignored. And meanwhile the liberals on capital hill, such as AOC, ask us to ignore federal law so that abortions can continue to be available to any “birthing person” seeking the medicine… well in my humble opinion it is time to ignore her, and her ilk. There is only one path forward and it is to keep on trucking – not to look aside, ignore the truth, or get down into the weeds with someone as low-IQ as her.

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Stolen Elections

In America today public discourse has reached a fever pitch; the “Melting Pot” seems to be on the verge of boiling over sending us out of the proverbial pan and into the fire. The two-party system that has dominated our politics and our lives for the length and entirety thereof, seem to quite literally be ripping the country in two. With both major parties more and more frequently calling into question the validity of the American voter system, and the legitimacy of the vote itself – tensions and attitudes begin to grow taunt.

Without going into the back and forth that has been going on probably since the national elections of 2000, and similarly neglecting to get into the whole “who started it” line of discussion, I wanted to take a moment to bring something to the attention of all Americans and all people willing to take the time to read this article. The world recently saw a perfectly stark example of a stolen and rigged election; forced even.

Of course I am speaking of the elections held in the Russian occupied parts of Ukraine. These people had Russians bang on their door, point a gun in their faces, hand them a ballot and say “vote for Putin.” Of course the ballots came back 99% in favor of being annexed by Russia, and exactly as Putin wants them to.

To my fellow Americans and countrymen and to people all over this world: I pray that we may heed this example, and learn from it. May we learn to lower the temperature of our discourse surrounding elections and other incendiary topics of the day. May we remember why this country was founded. Our constitution spells out no quartering of troops, no unwarranted search and seizure, no forced self-implication, and so many other rights that I fear we may have forgotten or too often take for granted.

There are certain presidents, and certain elections that I have not found favorable. I don’t think it is wrong to doubt, question, or scrutinize. But at least we may all take comfort in knowing that no one is banging on our doors, putting guns in our faces, and forcing us to elect governments that we don’t approve. We are still quite a peaceful nation – despite the heat and fever pitch. I pray we may remain so, and that this Russian example be the last of its kind anywhere.

I have included references that you may interact with as you like, but I did not rely on any one of them heavily enough to cite them specifically. Thank you, and may God bless you, and may God bless America!

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/09/putin-russia-referendum-election-results-domestic-propaganda/671595/

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Really Real Reality

     Reality is an interesting thing. It exists around us and we all experience it, but yet we don’t all agree on what reality is. As conservatives, we often think the left does not live in reality. At the same time, the left thinks we are out of touch with reality. Let’s examine a couple topics, and see who is living in reality and who is living in delusion.

     A writer for the New York Times recently spoke to some experts about how to “solve our reality crisis”. In the article, the author asks, “How do you unite a country in which millions of people have chosen to create their own version of reality?”. One of the solutions the “experts” have suggested is, “the Biden administration put together a cross-agency task force to tackle disinformation and domestic extremism, which would be led by something like a ‘reality czar’”. The author even admits that this idea sounds dystopian.

    Unless you are the type of person who likes being told what to think and believe, the idea of a reality czar should be alarming. Why should an unelected official get to decide what reality is or isn’t? By definition, reality isn’t decided by one person or group. One of the “experts” even suggests, “This task force could also meet regularly with tech platforms, and push for structural changes that could help those companies tackle their own extremism and misinformation problems.” Big government in conjunction with big tech, engage in reality making. Deciding what information you should be able to see or hear on the internet, and presumably newspapers since the media are part of it. This should be a scary thought. We already saw an example of this when Twitter and Facebook blocked the New York Post  from distributing  a story about Hunter Biden on the largest social media platforms. Therefore, controlling the information people were able to see.

     Before we get too far, let’s look at the definition of “reality” provided by Merriam-Webster.

     1: The quality or state of being real.

     2 a, (1: A real event, entity, or state of affairs. (2): The totality of real things and events.

     b: Something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily

     The purpose of the reality czar would, in part, be to prevent another incident like the one on January 6 by creating “a centralized task force “ to “coordinate a single, strategic response” to misinformation. The reality is, hundreds of misguided, misinformed, and ignorant fools stormed the capitol building. Those people were lead to believe things that were not true regarding the 2020 election. Many people, conservatives included, can agree on this, but what does misinformation or actual information have to do with reality? Nothing, other than to equate them to control a narrative.

     Do you think a reality czar will be appointed to look into the cause of the nation-wide social justice riots that took place during the summer of 2020? At their peak on June 6, an estimated half a million people gathered to protest across the country following the death of George Floyd. The protest quickly went from speaking out against police brutality to shouting about “systemic racism” in America. The former issue is one a lot of people can support. No one wants our police to mistreat or abuse our citizens. The latter issue, is one that does not match reality.

     In a country that elected a black man to serve as president for 8 years, and then only 4 years after he left office elected a black woman to be the vice president, we have massive riots in the name of “systemic racism”. I shouldn’t have to say this, of course racism exists. It has and always will in this world, but America’s institutions do not function on the idea of racism. If the American system was so replete with racism, Obama would have never been the president, Harris would not be VP, Tim Scott’s family would not have gone from “cotton to congress” in two generations, and Don Lemon wouldn’t be running his mouth to millions on cable TV.

     CNN reported that 93% of the protests were peaceful. Even if there was only one protest, the one on June 6, and we compare it to the estimated 93% peacefulness, that means 35,000 people were not peacefully protesting. That is significantly more than those who stormed the capitol. The left ignores the reality of people’s private property, businesses, and lives were lost and destroyed. So again I ask, will the reality czar look into those riots?

     Another area the left’s reality is questionable, is on the subject of transgenderism. On the outset, I have sympathy for people who believe they are of the opposite gender. I cannot imagine, and will never pretend to know, what it is like to live like that. However, forcing people to believe a trans woman is the same and equal to a biological woman ignores reality.

     To start, a trans woman can’t and will never go through the unique experiences that make a woman a woman. Such as, going through female puberty, having a period,  give birth, and just the overall life experience of growing up as a young girl and evolving to a mature woman. Removing body parts and injecting oneself with hormones does not grant the ability to experience womanhood on a deep and natural level.

    Besides the life experience of being a woman, we are teaching people to ignore the reality of biology. Not to sound too morbid, but if a trans man were found dead in the woods, and the body decomposed beyond recognition, the DNA tests would not confirm the body is a man.

When someone is diagnosed with Anorexia nervosa,     Which is characterized by “a significant and persistent reduction in food intake leading to extremely low body weight in the context of age, sex, and physical health; a distortion of body image,” we don’t affirm their belief in how they perceive their body. We don’t normalize their eating disorder as just being a different way people diet. So why would we affirm a person’s belief that they are living as the wrong sex? Mutilating the body to ease the mind of a transgendered person is the same as allowing an underweight person to binge, purge, and excessively exercise because they believe they are overweight.

     There are plenty more examples of how the left is out of touch with reality. Such as, AOC’s retelling of the capitol riot, elementary school children going bak to in-school learning, and the $15 minimum wage. They’ll tell you about the facts and the science from their experts, and they will try to tell you the reality of those issues, but you should always take pause. Ask yourself when they talk about the reality of things, “Are they actually describing the real event or state of affairs? Have they explained the totality of real things and events?”  Don’t let some expert, unelected official, or elected official for that matter, tell you what reality is. Reality exists in our surroundings. It cannot be given a stamp of approval on whether it is real or fake, or true or false.

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Iceberg Ahead

Just as Captain Edward John Smith stood on the deck of the world’s most famous ship, iceberg warning in hand; so stands Joe Biden, ordering the United States faster and faster into dangerous waters.

In the days leading up to the notorious shipwreck, many warnings of treacherous waters ahead had been received by the Captain and crew, and despite the seriousness of these warnings, the sheer ego of a man bound for retirement upon his arrival in New York, driving an “unsinkable ship” caused such enormous destruction.

So too, will Joe Biden sink what we believe to be “the World’s Largest Economy”. On the subject of his proposed $15 per hour minimum wage, the Congressional Budget Office predicts a hemorrhaging of jobs to the tune of 3.7 million! This already comes on the back of canning the XL Pipeline project (a projected 11,000 jobs) and canning the border wall project, another several thousand jobs or more, and despite the fact that it has already been funded by Congress.

These job losses are just the tip of the iceberg that promises to permanently sink our economy. Rising energy costs from such piss-poor decision making as an abandonment of the pipeline project will itself drive up the cost of common household goods. As the cost to produce common materials rises, so will the end products being consumed. The new administration is also considering many new taxes, to include a carbon tax on emissions, which will only add fuel to the inflation fire.

While some liberal projections estimate a $15 per hour minimum wage will inject as much as 8 trillion dollars into the hands of a few in the lowest echelons of society, we must consider at what cost this will come. While it stands to reason that some few individuals may indeed benefit by having their wages doubled, it also logically follows that many more people will find themselves unable to even get their foot in the door of employment at all.

I fear, in time, many more people than ever before will find themselves unemployed, unemployable, and stuck at home, while energy and food costs will threaten the very lives of these newly impoverished. I write this not so I can say “I told you so” in the future but merely to ring the alarm bell now. There is indeed an iceberg ahead, and we are driving straight towards it.

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Unity Schmunity

     If you are like me, and hundreds of millions of other Americans, you were left shocked, horrified,  and speechless when you saw or heard the news of the riots at the capitol. It was really one of the saddest days I have witnessed, in regards to our country’s history. For the first few days after the events, I felt sadness and shame. Sadness, because it seemed like everything conservatives have worked for over the past 4 to 5 years just went up in smoke. Shame, because the people who participated in acts claimed to be doing it in the name of Republicans and conservatism, and because it was simply an embarrassment for our country as a whole. It was a dark day in our American history, and one I hope I never live through again. I condemn every bit of violence and every act of evil committed on that day. The storming of the capitol was not conservatism.

     Despite the tragic events of the day, there was a glint of hope and light that took place. Once relative peace had been restore to the capitol, congress reconvened to finish their duty of certifying the states electors. Mike Pence, being the great man that he is, gave a speech that represents the strength and resilience of America. Below is what he had to say.

“I want to thank the federal, state, and local law enforcement. The violence was quelled. The Capitol is secured and the people’s work continues. We condemn the violence that took place here in the strongest possible terms. We grieve the loss of life in these hallowed halls, as well as the injuries suffered by those who defended our Capitol today. And we will always be grateful to the men and women who stayed at their posts to defend this historic place. To those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win. Violence never wins. Freedom wins, and this is still the people’s house. And as we reconvene in this chamber, the world will again witness the resilience and strength of our democracy, for even in the wake of unprecedented violence and vandalism at this Capitol, the elected representatives of the people of the United States have assembled again on the very same day to support and defend the constitution of the United States. So may God bless the loss, the injured, and the heroes forged on this day. May God bless all who serve here, and those who protect this place. And may God bless the United States of America. Let’s get back to work.”

     Even rereading his words to write this article causes me to be teary eyed. The Vice President is right. Freedom wins, and they proved the resilience and strength of our democracy by doing exactly what he said at the end of his speech. Congress got back to work, within hours of the violence and destruction they witnessed. For one brief moment, there was unity in our country. Coming together to show our democracy will not be stopped by violence.

*screeching tires and breaking glass*

     Unity Schmunity. Despite Biden’s inauguration theme of unity, Democrats are not interested in unity. Instead of following VP Pence’s example, they were quick to blame Republicans for the riots and inject race into the issue. It doesn’t matter that Republican senators like Mitch McConnell and Mike Lee, and congressmen like Chip Roy, or even the vice president himself, were not in support of objecting to the electoral certification, they are blamed by the left for the insurrection. One of the newest members of “The Squad”, Cori Bush, says that Republican members of congress “encouraged” the riots. Furthermore, a whole host of talking heads blamed anybody who supported President Trump.

     With President Unity about to take office, you would think Biden would have simply acknowledged the tragedy of the capitol riots, and committed to work with Republicans to make sure such events do not happen again, and to work towards bringing our deeply divided country back together.  He chose to do the exact opposite. Only one day after what happened, Joe Biden turns it into a race issue.  He said, “No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, there wouldn’t have been… they wouldn’t have been treated very very differently.”. Joe Biden is actually right, but not in the way he thinks. They would have been treated differently, by actually being able to burn down the capitol. Democrats and the media want us to forget about all the riots that took place over the summer. If Youtube hasn’t been given the word to remove them, you can go find hours of video footage where officers are not arresting vandals and looters while others burn down innocent people’s businesses and property. A capitol police officer shot and killed one of the rioters. No BLM “protester” was killed during the riots over the past summer.

     If you click on the link of the talking heads, one woman even admits they don’t care about unity. So the only unity that needs to happen is among conservatives. We need to take the good lessons we learned from Trump, and leave the bad. We have to continue to fight in the culture war, stand up for truth, and believe in the values that make us Americans. We need to avoid being brash and volatile in the pursuit of those goals. For all the good Donald Trump did for the conservative movement, it is hard not to admit his personality made our fight challenging.

     Soon Joe Biden will be our president, and the years of Trump will be further and further behind us. In no way is our conservative fight over. It has only just been kicked into high gear. We have a long road ahead of us until 2024. So, sharpen your minds, steel your nerves, and prepare for the eternal battle against leftism.

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COVIdiot

  Ohio governor Mike DeWine is officially a COV-idiot. As a citizen of Ohio, I thought our governor had been handling the Coronavirus fairly well. That has recently changed as he has implemented new COVID restrictions that do not make any sense.

  Ohio was among one of the first states to begin “reopening” back in May following heavy stay at home orders. Since then, and until recently, Ohio’s economy had few restrictions. As an average citizen observing, it seemed to me that only large events like concerts were the only thing still prohibited. The Columbus Zoo and even Cedar Point were open to the public. Only difference from normal times being COVID safety precautions.

  On November 19, 2020, the governor’s first round of the COVID curfew began. The curfew lasts from 10:00 pm to 5:00 am. Under the order, individuals in the state must stay at a place of residence, except for obtaining necessary food, medical, or social services, or providing care for others. After 21 days of the original curfew, the governor announced that the curfew will be extended.

  During the initial curfew, Ohio saw its 5 highest daily case totals, hospitalizations rise to their highest levels, the most patients placed on ventilators, and highest usage of ICU beds were reached during the 21 day curfew. With this information, one would believe that the curfew had little to no effect. The governor nearly admits so himself. When asked for data that supports another curfew, the governor did not provide any, but nearly just said he, along with health professionals, “believe” it was effective because people took the virus seriously, wore masks, and followed the curfew. He said, “Those three things came together at the same time, and it’s probably impossible to pull-out from that what had the most impact, and what didn’t. I happen to think all three had an impact.”. So he can’t even provide any supporting data, and says it would be impossible to know what had an effect, but he just “thinks” that everything has had an impact on virus cases in Ohio. I don’t know about you, but to me, that sounds a little wishy-washy.

  That’s not all folks. Governor DeWine made a special exception for fans to attend the Browns football game, and any “approved” sporting events that may end after the curfew begins. Here’s a quote from the governor commenting on this:

“To be really honest and frank, the biggest threat from these games is not what goes on inside the stadium… The biggest threat is people who have the urge to gather with friends inside their homes.”

 Here he is indirectly admitting the problem is with the virus being spread in people’s homes. In this specific example, he wants to throw people under the bus who like to gather to watch the ball game.

  We’ve been living with the virus for at least 9 months at this point. No amount of the governor trying to make people feel bad now is going to change people’s behavior. If they haven’t been concerned with the virus to the point that they aren’t hanging out with their friends and family by now, a silly curfew isn’t going to all of a sudden whip them into shape. Not to mention the fact that there are some restaurants and bars that are larger than people’s homes. So instead of people social distancing at an establishment to watch the football game, they are forced into their homes exactly where the governor says the problem is occurring.

Forgetting football, which is not a great interest of mine anyway, a small group of friends who may like to meet up for a night cap after 2nd shift now may need to change plans to have lunch before work. This isn’t a big deal, except it forces more people to undergo activities during the day, when there are more people in public, rather than doing them at night when there are less people. These examples may not account for many real-life situations, but the point is, if the idea is to prevent people from spreading the virus, it doesn’t make sense to concentrate everybody into one time and place. It is seemingly counter-intuitive.

  Lastly, if that wasn’t enough, the state has issued new guidelines for high school sports. High school wrestling will be allowed to take place. However, athletes may not shake hands before or after the match, must wear “facial coverings”, and maintain 6 feet of distance while on the bench. If you’re not scratching your head, you should be. Wrestling, not WWE style, is one of the most contact of contact sports played in high schools. Once two opponents square off on the mat, all other COVID safety precautions they took don’t mean anything. If an athlete potentially has the virus, the highest point of transmission would take place during the wrestling match.

  With all these rules that the governor can’t seem to justify, I no longer believe he is handling the Coronavirus well in Ohio. I will give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the high school sports rules, as they appear to be directives of OHSAA, and the governor may not have been involved in the rule making. He must certainly be aware of the policy, and has the power to undo it. I would be more forgiving if his plans made more sense, and I’m certainly not trying to minimize the effects of the virus. It would be one thing if he was actually able to present data and make a reasonable argument why we should have to follow a curfew, and why athletes competing against each other can’t shake hands. He either can’t or won’t, and that’s a shame.

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The Great Conservative Reset

Recently people have been talking about “the great reset”. This is the idea that global leaders in government and business are going to use the Corona virus to implement new “progressive” policies, because the situation that the virus has put us in proves the old way of doing things has not been working. It isn’t hard to imagine this, since Prime Minister Trudeau basically let the cat out of the bag. However, I believe a great reset has already taken place.

The reset I’m talking about isn’t the leftist fantasy kind. It is a conservative kind, and it took place on January 20, 2017. As you may recall, this was the date Donald Trump officially became President Donald J. Trump, and with our new leader the great conservative reset began.

Many conservatives believe that President Trump has had the most conservative administration since Ronald Reagan or Calvin Coolidge. Here are just a few examples of his administration’s accomplishments.:

Lowest unemployment rate across multiple categories, cut federal taxes for all Americans, helped win bid for L.A. to host 2028 Summer Olympics, record number of regulations cut, removed ACA individual mandate, signed “Right to Try” legislation, expanded the military with the new branch Space Force, confirmed more conservative judges than any other administration, replaced NAFTA with USMCA, cracked down on China for trade and intellectual property theft; and so much more.

That was just a small sample of the things our president has been able to do, and there are certainly more significant accomplishments that I didn’t mention. He was able to do this all while fighting the resistance of the do-nothing dems, and the lame stream media. For all President Trump’s winning on the policy front, policy was only half the battle. The other fight took place in the culture, and as we all know from Andrew Breitbart, politics is down stream from culture.

If it wasn’t obvious before, Trump exposed the main stream media as being biased and in the tank for Democrats and leftists. They did everything they could to paint Donald Trump as a racist, sexist, Nazi, and anyone who supports him as being the same. They attack Trump as a stand-in for Republicans. We know this because they are the same media who were his friends up until he decided to run for president. President Trump has been a public figure since at least the 1980s. Rappers idolized him in their songs. Even Bill and Hilary Clinton attended his wedding. They were either cool with and didn’t care about him being racist back then, or they are lying about him now. So it isn’t really Donald Trump that they hate. They hate all the Americans that President Trump represents. Remember, these are the same people who let Joe Biden get away with telling black people that Mitt Romney was going to “put you all back in chains”. Now they trot out Romney as a good guy anytime he goes against Trump. It was Romney in 2012, it is Trump now, and it’ll be a new Republican target when Trump is no longer around.

They think average, hard working Americans from the middle of the country are stupid. Don Lemon made this clear when he laughed in agreement when two guests of his made fun of Trump supporters. They don’t believe that America is a great and exceptional country, despite any and all of her flaws. They believe the government is the answer to all of the problems that plague our society.  There are many proud Americans who believe in the greatness of our country. Who believe it is up to individuals and their community to solve society’s problems, and who aren’t just ignorant bible reading rubes. Middle America, blue collar, patriots voted for President Trump to represent them because they felt like the media and culture were ignoring them.

As I write this in mid-November of 2020, President Trump is still fighting to make sure he remains our president. His team of lawyers have filed cases in several states to have any illegal votes cast out. There has certainly been clear evidence of wrong doing in many places, and I pray to God that Trump wins.

If worse comes to worse, and Joe Biden is sworn in as our 46th president, I will have great faith and hope for our conservative future. This is because there are signs that tell us that conservatism is still alive and well. In the House of Representatives alone, Republicans are projected to gain 12 seats, which would be nearly taking back the majority. A good conservative knows that the House of Reps are the closest federal body to the people, and most represent their beliefs. We also know that recent polls show more minority groups support Trump and the conservative agenda. 56% of people said they were better off now than they were 4 years ago. This suggests people approve of the conservative policies that allowed for a more favorable economy that lead them to be better off.

Win or lose, I believe President Trump has reinvigorated the conservative movement, and has taught us conservatives to fight back against the forces that want to change our American way of life, and has reset us on a new conservative path for the future. We are poised to take back the house in 2022, and either keep or take back the White House in 2024.

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Debate Debacle

Many of the headlines and commentaries following the first round of Presidential debates have some consensus: “shit show”. This was CNN’s take at the conclusion of the debate, and surely this is the first story they have gotten right all year.

The blame for last night’s train wreck lies squarely with the train’s conductor, Chris Wallace. His tenure at Fox has been a disappointment to many, and for many years. His character and mannerisms have led many to question his motivations, often appearing “soft” on or supportive of established D. C. Politicians, giving the impression that he is left-leaning.

Much of what we witnessed last night was two men having an argument while a small child begged for attention in the background. As a moderator, Wallace’s performance was so piss-poor that any average parent could have kept better order. He needed a whistle, an air horn, to cut the mics of the politicians on stage, turn off the lights, or zap them with shock collars; he could have run out on stage with a stop sign, a yield sign, and a “GO” sign.

When a moderator such as Wallace, has no balls, and is twice as pompous and narcissistic as the politicians he is moderating we get what we got last night. With so many interruptions, men talking at the same time, no one staying on point, and Wallace giving a turkey’s call in the background: the average viewer is left to draw their own conclusions.

So what did you take away from this debate?