A Watauga Conservative

 

Trump calls Putin's military invasion of an independent sovereign nation "genius" and "smart" and "savvy" Who voted for this despot!? (Trump, that is) 

Did you know that the chance of two random Americans being of different races/ethnicities is the highest ever in the history of this country?  Did you know that American slavery ended in 1865(ish), segregation lasted another 100 years, and Alabama's state constitution banned interracial marriage until its amendment in 2000? (41% of Alabamans voted against the amendment, btw)  Did you know that there are 838 hate groups (that we know of) in the US? And that the Ku Klux Klan is still active in Western NC/Eastern TN?  Did you know that about 5% of Americans report being somewhere along the LGBTQ spectrum?  Did you know that we can't talk about any of this in public schools?  Virginia's GOP has set-up a "tip line" to report teachers who discuss racial issues/history in class. Florida's GOP has introduced a "don't say gay" bill .  The not-at-all-subtly-racist (*cough*) Haywood County Schools Superintendent Bill Nolte has banned a book that openly an...

Following the January 6th attack on the Capitol, the seditionists have gone into deep hiding!  Blogger, Sark, Guy, Wolf, and the rest have sunk their heads down in the hopes that we will overlook their multi-year cooperation in this anti-American farce that is Trump-ism.  Even the the aptly-named "Nobody" who attempted a competing blog following our departure from racism/fascism/authoritarianism has deleted  her own content after the coup d'etat. (Note that "Nobody" is the reason why we are moderating comments for racist and fascist content...probably explains the blog deletion).  Hear it here and hear it loud - fascism and authoritarianism are not welcome here.

What we saw on Wednesday was the logical result of years of incoherent ramblings from an unhinged and incompetent President. Trump stoked and prodded his own army of imbeciles to storm the Capitol, resulting in multiple charges of terrorism.  One such imbecile described his own participation as religious, saying : "'Lord, is this the right thing to do? Is this what I need to do?' He says he felt God's hand on his back, pushing him forward." Sound familiar? Blogger and his deranged ilk have spouted similar "God told me so" ramblings for years.  Is it any wonder that Blogger, Sark, Guy, Wolf, etc. no longer contribute to this blog? They finally understand their role in this insanity. They finally understand the consequences of their stupidity.  Blogger et al. are culpable and they know it. 

With 40% of the world's businesses older than 100 years, Japan can teach us a few lessons in not-so-typical economics.  Nineteen Japanese businesses have existed for more than 1,000 years . So what is the secret to Japanese business longevity that your neighbor's LulaRoe operation hasn't?  To reach these heights, a business " cannot just chase profits ." Do one thing. Do it well. And don't be greedy. 

As a fair reminder, Trump tweeted dozens of times against Barack Obama's golf playing, including: Can you believe that,with all of the problems and difficulties facing the U.S., President Obama spent the day playing golf.   --Trump, Oct 13, 2014 As of November 11, Trump has played golf 285 times - costing the taxpayers $142 million. At this point in his first term, President Obama had played golf 105 times.  Well that's a hard pill to swallow for Trump loyalists. If golf was the definition of "lazy" during the Obama administration, we should highlight the 2.7-times laziness in the Trump administration. Right? 

From NPR : The widespread embrace of conspiracy and disinformation amounts to a "mass radicalization" of Americans, and increases the risk of right-wing violence...domestic terrorism analysts are raising concern about the security implications of millions of conservatives buying into baseless right-wing claims. They say the line between mainstream and fringe is vanishing, with conspiracy-minded Republicans now marching alongside armed extremists at rallies across the country. 77% of Trump loyalists believe that the election was fraudulent and that Trump did not actually lose - despite no evidence of that claim.  Violence is now expected from Trump loyalist groups.  Conservatives are being radicalized. It is in our backyard. Yet the previous administrators of this blog remain silent in regard to their blind complicity. 

The American people resoundingly rejected the GOP's platform in November ( by over 7 million votes ). Biden's electoral votes have eclipsed those of Trump's 2016 victory - which he called a landslide victory . In response, fake conservatives have shouted "voter fraud" without evidence. Interestingly, these worshipers at the false altar of Trump also shouted the same in 2016 when Trump lost the popular vote by 3 million votes.  Through all of the shouting and bombastic behavior of these fake conservatives, Americans have largely moved on from the antiquated and unintelligent GOP platform .  Instead of screaming "socialism!" at anything that makes them uncomfortable , conservatives should take a moment to self-reflect on the authoritarian path they are happily sprinting down . 

From the Washington Post : The intellectual bankruptcy and moral hypocrisy of many conservative leaders is stunning. People who claimed to favor limited government now applaud Trump’s use of the executive branch to undermine an election. A similar attempt by Barack Obama would have brought comparisons to Fidel Castro. People who talked endlessly about respecting the Constitution affirm absurd slanders against the constitutional order. People who claimed to be patriots now spread false claims about their country’s fundamental corruption. People who talked of honoring the rule of law now jerk and gyrate according to the whims of a lawless leader. These conservative leaders no longer deserve the assumption of sincerity. They are spreading conspiratorial lies so unlikely and irrational, they must know them to be lies. 

Following Presidential tradition since 1933 , the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library plan has been officially unveiled. Learn more here . 

"If you were hoping for a change of heart from Joe Biden after a decades-long career as a hawk, we've got bad news: his incoming team helped shape some of the most militaristic policies of the Obama administration." Read here

One of Trump's ongoing tantrums concerns Facebook and Twitter and their flagging his numerous claims/outbursts as patently untrue. So in revenge, Trump is proposing a full repeal of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act .  But what is Section 230?  Section 230 shields website owners/managers from legal suits arising from user posts and content. The website itself, then, is not subject to libel ligation. Websites are also afforded the right to moderate and restrict comments/content/material that they deemed, “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable.” Section 230 has led to the popularity and growth of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Parler, and......blogs.  A repeal of Section 230 would open us to defamation litigation for your comments. Following Blogger's retirement, this blog has followed the constraints of a full Section 230 repeal.  Prior posts were removed: Posts portra...

" A new study finds that commuters with access to free public transportation don’t drive any less — but they do take more leisure and shopping trips than those who have to pay a fare, which could help provide local economies with the cash they need to provide more social services." The economic concept of induced demand  (i.e., "build it and they will come") is fully illustrated here. And although increased access to public transit did not reduce miles-driven, it did increase revenue to local small businesses!