Why I Bash Trump More Than Clinton

I haven’t been writing anything recently, and I didn’t really plan to write today, but I have some things on my mind, and I feel the need to get them off my chest. 

I’ve written a lot of criticism of Donald Trump, and yet I’ve barely breathed a word of criticism towards Hillary, and I feel kind of bad about that. Hillary is awful. Hillary is a socialist, and socialism is bad. Really bad. Socialism is hundreds-of-millions-of-people-have-died-from-it level bad, yet even though Hillary has moved further and further left over the course of this election cycle, it’s Donald Trump that consumes all my thoughts and frustrations. 

Why?

The reason is simple. Everybody knows who Hillary is. I mean I’m sure she has a few fans that think Hillary is the bees knees, but it seems the vast majority recognizes her for what she is, a corrupt Democrat politician. Hillary is essentially running for Obama’s third term. If you liked Obama’s policies, you’ll probably like Hillary’s policies. Everybody basically understands that the Democrats want the government to have more control over the economy and more money taken from the citizenry in exchange for a pinky promise that the government will spend your money more wisely than you would and the vain hope that they wont screw things up through incompetence, corruption or the inherent vices of bureaucracy. 

People might not view the Democratic platform as cynically as I do, but they get the general gist of it. The Democrats have supported greater government control over people for generations. Nothing has changed. You can take it or leave it.

Trump on the other hand is a complete sea change in what it means to be a Republican and a conservative. Though I’m no fan of Romney, McCain, the Bushes, or Bob Dole, they did all have more consistent track records than Trump of advocating a more Constitutional approach to governing, respecting the law, general honesty, embracing Christian values, lowering taxes, opposing abortion, ect. Granted, they were all bad in their own ways and often ended up betraying their promises once in office, but at least we had the excuse that we expected more of them. 

Trump on the other hand has brought about a new form of conservatism which transparently spits in the face of these older values. The man is a moral blackhole and claims he has no reason to repent to God for his sins, and yet conservative Christians everywhere are praising him as the moral alternative. Conservatives who balked at Obama’s stimulus package now embrace Trump’s promised stimulus package. Trump has recently suggested the federal government should get involved in maternity leave and child daycare areas that would previously have been anathema to conservatives, but it’s all swallowed completely by most Republicans because Trump proposed it. 

I could go on for ages about Trump’s leftist polices, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve pointed out these things over and over again in personal and online exchanges and through my articles, and yet it has no effect on people. I don’t know if conservatives are so blinded by fear of Hillary that they can’t see the snake in their midst or if they never really believed in small government, Constitutional, moral principles in the first place and are just shallow partisans who want to see their side win, but there seems to be nothing Trump can do to lose his fans nor that I can do to reveal his true nature. 

And that in part is why I stopped writing. I keep trying to say to people, “Can’t you see this? Are you blind? Don’t you see he’s peeing in the face of everything you claimed to believe?” 

And the answer is no. People can’t see it. We seem to be living in a world where facts no longer matter, so what’s the use of providing them?

I’m not writing for you anymore. I wrote this for myself. If it helps someone else, that’s great, but I’ve given up on trying to reach other people. I don’t know what you want to hear or what you need to hear. I wish I did. I truly, deeply wish I did.

What I do know is that I expected better of conservatives, and I just can’t stop myself from wondering how so many can’t see who Trump truly is. 

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Everybody Is Angry at Ted Cruz's Speech for the Wrong Reasons

In his speech Wednesday at the RNC Convention, Cruz refused to endorse Donald Trump for President sending a sizable portion of Republicans into an uncontrollable and ongoing hissy fit, and though I personally like Ted Cruz and supported him in the primary, I have to admit that I too am a bit perturbed though not for the same reason as everyone else.

I have no objections with Cruz’s message to the RNC. Anyone who actually listened to his speech would know that Cruz spent the entire time articulating small government, Constitutional, conservative values and encouraging the audience to vote for candidates who upheld those values. If that’s taken as anything less than an endorsement for the GOP nominee, then it’s the Trump supporters who should be doing some soul searching about now. 

I’m also not particularly upset that Cruz broke his promise to support the winner of the GOP primary. Yes, he broke his word, but Cruz erred not when he violated his word but when he gave his word in such a foolish pledge in the first place. You’d have to be a partisan hack who blindly supports any Republican or a shortsighted nincompoop incapable of foreseeing the possibility that someone bad could win the nomination to make such a thoughtless promise, but having placed himself in an ethical bind, I think Cruz did the most honorable thing possible by refusing to endorse a man he believed would be bad for the country while struggling to articulate the most unifying message he could under the circumstances.

My frustration with Cruz isn’t that he refused to support Trump but why he refused to support Trump.

When asked Thursday about his violated pledge, Cruz responded, “The day that was abrogated (rescinded) was the day this became personal…I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father. And that pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you go and slander and attack Heidi that I'm going to nonetheless come like a servile puppy dog…”

Really, Cruz? That’s the reason you won't endorse Trump?

You didn’t refuse to endorse because of Trump’s long progressive record, his constant flip-flopping, his complete lack of Constitutional moorings, his narcissistic tendencies, his omnipresent stream of lies, his vast ignorance on political matters, his corrupt business practices or his awful polices? You withheld your endorsement not because any of the things that affect the country but just because your own personal vendetta? Really?

I agree that Trump’s low class and deceitful smears against the Cruz family should disqualify him for office, but these disgusting tendencies have been observed in countless instances long before Trump ever tweeted nonsense about Ted’s nuclear family, and yet I can’t read Cruz’s comments without getting the distinct impression that Ted would have forgiven everything if Trump hadn’t hit him personally, and that’s a shame.

I still think Cruz is one of the few good people in Washington DC, but perhaps it’s time he reevaluate his priorities and make sure he’s still in it for the good of the nation rather than the good his own ego. 

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Now That the GOP Has Anointed Trump, The Mainstream Media Will Spring Their Trap!

By this time next week, Trump will probably be surging in the polls. Almost all candidates benefit from the convention bounce, an uptick in favorable polling due to the constant media coverage all centered around the greatness of the nominee, and Trump might get an especially large bump in the polling considering his flair for the dramatic. If he has a good week, Trump might finally take a solid lead over Hillary in national polling, but once Trump’s bounce begins to fade, it will be time for the mainstream media to drop the hammer on the Donald. 

Trump fans love bragging about how Teflon Don can withstand any attack without anything sticking, but I’d argue Trump has only faired so well because he’s been treated so favorably. As a new Harvard study proves, Trump benefitted greatly from positive coverage during the GOP primary though that coverage has steadily become more negative as Trump locked down victory over Ted Cruz, yet though the media has strengthened their criticism of Trump, they still haven’t truly raked him over the coals. 

When something bad happens in the Trump campaign, the mainstream media and assorted leftist personalities will condemned his actions briefly before moving to a new story, but this is incredibly tame compared to the coordinated and persistent hatchet jobs done on other GOP candidates in past election cycles. In 2008, the left constantly branded John McCain a warmonger to the point where it stuck in everyone’s mind and Sarah Palin was lampooned as an utter fool by every news outlet and comedy program in the country over a handful of bumbling remarks, yet while attacks about McCain’s militarism and Palin’s ineptitude at least have some basis in reality, let’s not forget how Mitt Romney was put through the ringer on the most trivial of issues. An anti-Romney PAC released an ad accusing Romney of killing an innocent woman because he shut down a steel plant that provided her family with healthcare and countless pundits discussed the fact that Mitt Romney once strapped a dog carrier to his car as if it were somehow relevant to his ability to be President. 

Considering the mainstream media’s knack for making mountains out of molehills and harping on minor negatives for weeks at a time, Trump has comparatively been treated with kid gloves. It’s not like Donald Trump is some angel beyond reproach. He’s cheated on his wife, admitted to buying political favors, made countless sexist remarks, lied constantly, attempted to seize private property from little old ladies to build parking spaces for his casinos, and done dozens of other sleazy things which are easily proven. The moment the mainstream media chooses to end Trump’s presidential ambitions, they can begin running coordinated media campaigns highlighting any or all of these issues not to mention “investigations” into more ambiguous allegations such as rape claims, ties to the mafia and countless shady business practices. 

Since the media is sitting on this potential ratings goldmine, why aren’t they running with it? 

It’s simple. They wanted the Republicans to be locked into Trump as their candidate. If they’d hammered this stuff earlier, it might have spooked the GOP enough to back another horse, but now the Republicans are stuck with the deeply flawed Trump.  

More importantly, the media can now rip apart the GOP and the conservative movement as they rip apart the nominee for Donald Trump is the fulfillment of every nasty thing the left has ever said about conservatives. Whereas the mainstream media could never prove their accusations of racism, sexism, corruption, hard-heartedness and fake piety with past GOP Presidential candidates, they can prove all this with Trump, and sadly, his mistakes do reflect on the Party and the conservatives who backed him.

If you thought you had seen the media treat Trump harshly so far, just wait. You haven’t seen anything yet. 

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Trump Can Bring Something to the GOP Convention That No Other Candidate Can Provide - Pizzazz

The GOP has manifold shortcomings among which are a lack of integrity, a lack of backbone and a lack of any true allegiance to the Constitutional and small government principles they claim to represent, but whereas Trump can’t help the GOP in any of these former areas, he may actually be able to fill the void in an equally important arena. If there’s one thing that the GOP has long lacked and Trump long possessed, it’s flair. 

Republicans are boring. As individuals, Republican politicians seem bland, and when they come together in large groups, their nigh uniform lack of charisma seems to merge together to form a giant black hole of apathy which pulls everything of potential interest into it’s gravity never to be seen again. The GOP Conventions highlight this showcasing a seemingly endless stream of dull white guys making predictable “low energy” speeches from behind a podium placed against an uninspired video backdrop all taking place on a big blank stage which only succeeds in making the candidate look small. It’s almost as if the GOP intentionally tries to sabotage itself. 

If you don’t believe me, compare the 2008 GOP National Convention with the 2008 DNC National Convention. Whereas the McCain Convention sadly earns every one of my former criticisms, the Convention that nominated Barack Obama stands in blatant contrast. The speakers for the DNC were diverse, the speeches were dynamic, the podium stood at the center of semi-circular staircase that simultaneously served to draw the attention of the crowd and emphasize the importance of the nominee and the backdrop featured props reminiscent of a Greek temple while creative video backdrops added depth and movement without stealing the attention of the eye. Sure, it felt a little like the Democrats had come together to recognize and worship a new demigod as he was added to their political pantheon, but creepy though that might be, nobody can accuse the 2008 DNC Convention of being boring.

The Democrats simply do a better job of making their candidates appealing to the masses. Even their music selection reflects this truth. Whereas the Democrat’s event playlist frequently includes songs that are new and fresh to appeal to the youth who are most likely to switch party affiliation, the Republican music ranges from Classic Rock to the Golden Oldies appealing to the people least likely to change politically. It’s well established that most people in media lean left, and nowhere is that more obvious than at the National Conventions where the Republicans are constantly behind the curve.

Yet perhaps the days of dull GOP conventions have come to an end for this is one area in which Trump should shine. Trump has made a good chunk of his millions not by shrewd business deals but by cleverly wooing people with his persona and selling his brand. Like Reagan the last GOP Presidential candidate with an ounce of charisma, Trump knows how to work a room and transform a simple political speech into an unforgettable and dramatic experience. The man who is most famous as a reality TV host now has the ability to put on the biggest reality TV program of his life, a four-day convention all centered around his specifications. If anybody could make a GOP event sizzle, it would be Donald J. Trump.

For the past several decades, the GOP has been promoting ideas that though imperfect still stand head and shoulders above the agenda of the left, and yet the conservative movement has failed on almost every front. The sad truth is that the vast majority of people will never listen to the GOP’s ideas if the Republicans can’t capture the masses pathetic, Twitter-conditioned attention spans with something shiny to wave in front of their faces, and no matter what your opinion of Trump may be, there’s no denying that the man has a knack for capturing people’s attention. Granted, he captures my attention in the same way the mangled metal and flesh of a roadside car wreck makes it impossible to look away, but still, the man has charisma.

Now that the GOP finally has a candidate with a little pizzazz, maybe they can use this year’s convention to lure the public into actually listening to some GOP ideas. This would be great if the GOP still stood for something worthwhile, but apparently, that’s asking too much. 

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You Should Become A Libertarian (Even Though Libertarians Are Insane)

Cruz supporters, #NeverTrumpers, and any other malcontents of the mainstream political parties who want the government out of your business, you should all consider becoming members of the Libertarian Party. 

“But Jeremy,” I hear some of you saying, “Didn’t you just say recently that Libertarians Are Insane?”

Why yes, gentle reader. Yes, I did though saying they are insane is a bit of an oversimplification. To be more precise, I was trying to say that the Libertarians have an excellent platform in theory, but in practice, they’ve been infiltrated by a bunch of anarchists, stoners and social imbeciles who drag down what would otherwise be a solid message of liberty into a platform that too frequently caters to an eccentric cadre of political misfits with muddled political aims and little idea how implement their agenda. 

I suspect I’m not yet convincing you of the value of membership in the Libertarian Party. Give me a second.

As bad as some aspects of the Libertarian Party may be, there’s also a solid chunk of Libertarians who truly desire small government, have taken the time to carefully consider the complex issues and will fight for their small government values with a tenacity and stubbornness that would put every member of Congress to shame, and these voices though a minority are not too far from the mainstream of the Libertarian Party. 

Gary Johnson won the Libertarian nomination for President this year, a candidate not without his merits but considerably more wishy washy on several issues than what I would prefer, but if you look at the man who took second place in the Libertarian Presidential Primary, you’ll see someone that I believe many discontented Republicans could support, Austin Petersen. Petersen is a rock solid pro-life Constitutionalist who does a better job explaining his positions than any other candidate I’ve seen running for elected office in any Party this year. He’s a game changer who could reform the Libertarian Party and make it the true voice for liberty the United States has been missing. 

And yet he lost, so why should people discontented with the faux small government proclamations of the Republican Party jump ship to join the wishy-washy small government proclamations of the Libertarian Party?

The answer is simple. Since the Libertarian Party is so small, it can easily be reformed by a small influx of true Constitutional conservatives. In 2012, only a mere one million people voted for the Libertarian Presidential candidate as opposed to the sixty-one million who voted for Mitt Romney. If only one million of the GOP voters, a tiny fraction of the whole, became sick of the games and changed their political alliance to the Libertarians, that would be more than enough to push the crazy Libertarians to the fringe and create a party that truly represents limited government. 

If you’re determined to stick with the GOP as the lesser of two evils, I understand, but you’ve got to know that the GOP will betray you this time just as they’ve betrayed you in every Presidential election since Reagan. They aren’t truly conservative or Constitutional, and if you’re telling yourself things will be different this time, you’re just fooling yourself. The fact that the GOP primary was a contest fought between two anti-establishment candidates proves the GOP’s days are numbered, so why cling to the dusty bones of the past? If you truly want a revolutionary change for individual liberty, why not try to reform the party that’s small and easily malleable rather than the big intransigent party that stabs you in the back every chance it gets?

The Bright Side of Mass Murder

I’ve had the misfortune of reading the news over the last couple weeks, and no doubt much like you, I feel like I’ve been emotionally clobbered by a bevy on nunchuck wielding ninjas putting a beatdown on my soul. It’s tough to think of all the lives lost and all the emotional wreckage left in the wake of the murders while at the same time enduring the streaming torrents of rage from opportunistic pundits and the endless political pandering as everybody uses the latest pile of dead bodies to push their political agenda. I can’t speak for you, but this and the generally depressing political climate of the election season has all combined to make me want to crawl into bed, pull up the covers and sleep away the rest of my days in blissful ignorance.

However, there is a simple bright truth lurking underneath these layers of awful, and I hesitate to point it out for fear of seeming naive, but I believe it to be true, so I’m going to say it anyway. 

Here’s the bright spot. In a world where people can walk into a club and murder forty-nine innocent people, most people don’t. 

I hope you will forgive me for being morbid, but the simple truth is that it’s not that hard to kill people. It doesn’t take a criminal mastermind to think of easy ways to murder a person or two, and given a little time and consideration, most people could probably find easy ways to commit mass murder. It’s not as if the douchebag Orlando club shooter accomplished some inconceivably supernatural feat of terroristic genius. As hideous as it is to contemplate, these types of crimes are something we could all replicate if we chose, and yet we all choose not to do such wicked things.

Over the past week, the media has been flooded by story after story of violent crimes, the number of guns, the dangers of religion and other tales meant to inspire fear and feelings of doom, and yet, can’t we take the exact opposite message from these stories? Sure, some people are dicks, but in a country of 319 million individuals of all different political views, religious affiliations, racial groups, sexual orientations and with almost all these people having access to guns and other weapons, the overwhelming majority of people choose to live in peace.

These general values for life and peaceful coexistence might seem like small consolation compared to the recent murders, but the fact that America holds these values is actually quite remarkable. A simple look around the globe and throughout history will show you that common decency is not all that common, and in many ways, we live in a golden age of peace, freedom and prosperity. We’d be fools to let the few wicked nutjobs of society keep us from recognizing how remarkably blessed we are as a people and spook us into treating our neighbors as our enemies. 

We have serious problems in need of serious solutions, but in the midst of our pain, let’s not forget that in a nation full of all different sorts of people, the overwhelming majority of Americans choose the path of peace

On the Orlando Club Shootings, Have We Lost Ourselves Completely?

I feel tired and defeated. 

The lives destroyed by this monstrous excuse for a human being pain me, but the murders themselves don’t discourage me. Evil only provokes me to want to prevail for the cause of good. 

What I find discouraging is the way people respond to this story. Anytime something bad happens, it's just used as an excuse for the government to seize more control, and people are not only letting this happen but begging for it to happen. When I see evil, I wish more power were in the hands of good people so they could defend themselves, but so many of my fellow citizens, well-meaning but misguided, wish to see power consolidated in the hands of the already overpowered and undeniably corrupt government. In a million tiny ways, the American people have allowed their fears to guide them and bind them. They've said, "I don't care what you do. Just make us safe!" and those with wicked hearts and ambitious minds lick their lips when they hear those words. 

Too many of us have become cowardly and lazy. Freedom is hard. It's so much easier to hand the problems off to someone who promises us utopia. It's so much easier than considering, striving, working, struggling and taking personal responsibility. 

We look at these tragedies and say, "Why us? Why here? Why now?" but in so many ways, we are merely reaping the seeds we continue to sow. Generations have been so isolated from responsibility that they don't know how to handle it to the point that the very idea that people should be held responsible for their own actions is now deemed offensive. We refuse to think about or even listen to any ideas outside our comfort zone locking ourselves in safe echo chambers where everyone affirms our own beliefs. Rather than attempt to understand the world around us and growing as people, we demonize and attack those who view the world differently. We hate each other, and as we waste effort in hating one another, those who hate us all implement their plots. We wonder how a soul can become so lost as to murder in the name of a god, and yet we say morality is relative, all views are equally valid, there is no truth and there is certainly no Truth-Giver. We wonder how things got so wrong while rejecting the very concept of right.  

The solutions to our problems will never be found in Washington. The answer has been and always will be with the individual who chooses the difficult path of righteousness. Any society which through its own wickedness degrades and destroys itself will eventually require a strongman to put the house back in order. Only a moral people can be a free people.