Sol's Culture Wars

(Opinion) Both cultural Americas are still recovering from the shock of the election. Maybe some expected the stunning, one-sided outcome. Not me. Didn't know what was going to happen or not happen. Maybe some Harris diehard and Trump MAGA core felt certain, but for me, the mystery was stressful. All the negatives Donald Trump exhibits, the exaggerated claims, and nearly constant self-praising. Bombastic public comments, all meant to draw gasps or attention, the loose display of accuracy with half-truths and ambiguous context that the ravenous press devowers and regurgitates into nightly news. The seeming total lack of personal self-control or presidential gravitas. I could go on with this, Trump's negatives are numerous and self-evident. That said, it's also remarkably true that Trump somehow overcame a gauntlet of devastating blows against him and his family from a very corrupt and biased legacy media, a White House directed (yes, there is hard evidence) Justice Departmen...

A friend emphatically declares, "You're wrong!" To suggest the polling in this election was whack. I'm given the margin of errors argument, how most pollsters' numbers were still in the ballpark. Okay. Maybe it's how you define accurate. The aggregate of top polls all said, "close race." It wasn't close at all. No pollster predicted a sweep of popular vote along with Congress and number of states for Trump.  Meanwhile, nearly every big pollster UNDERCOUNTED the former president for the 3RD STRAIGHT ELECTION! Accurate must mean something else these days. Accuracy can't be true when well-documented pollster bias is conceded after every election. It's been a decades long trend to the left. THAT'S accurate? To me, pollsters have the same credibility as tea leaves. Betting platforms and equity markets are better scoreboards of public sentiment.

Administrations come and go. In between, the knee-jerk hubris and whacky drama are forgotten until the next campaign. This election, it may be argued  that the biggest loser wasn't even on the ballot. Yet, the vote tallies confirm how a clear majority of Americans feel today: legacy media was not to be trusted. Most voters disregarded legacy media's unabashed bias for Harris. A solid majority across all groups and demographics also rejected the amplified blast-broadcasting of dubious trials, stacked felonies, ballot challenges, and selective story censorship by social media. The lame legion of sanctimonious, self-anointed pundits, bought and sold pollsters, and narrative driven news editors, they all lost voters trust "bigly," perhaps permanently. The voters were very done with so-called experts this time around, and chose for more authenticity.

Even the bitter angst of political combat can not tear the sacred, enduring fabric of our amazing Republic. Freedom is alive and well the day after elections, liberty continues to frame our American experience. May the vitriolic battling and hard fought tests only prove the firm resilience of our unique system. May healing now begin for all.  What a rare blessing, to be part of a nation devoted to a Constitution written by divine magnitude, by the trust and strength of God's grace.

The Big Lie of American politics seems to exist as an invisible assumption, a mode of operation that by now many have seriously questioned. By our historical political structure, Americans are cleaved in half as if a defining blade chops down to the semblance of a centerline - but the face of this median is blank - why? Because, in fact, there is no cogent center to American politics, there is really no clear right or left. Me, I'm just a guy, another voter, fairly average in most respects. But, we can start with me, my own views, and where they may plot on the political chart. What party best describes me? There are just two major parties, but now the biggest group of voters are independent - so, how did that even happen? My own slate of perspectives can illustrate this dilemma: my views are all over the map! For example, I've always supported gay marriage, I consume cannabis, avoid alcohol, and I'd like to see America evolve beyond fossil fuel. I also support healthcare f...

Who opposes all four of these voter authentication procedures? Who, and for what reasons? Democrats, please explain. - Ballot box watchers. - Hand-counting. - Non-citizens off voter rolls. - Photo ID. Democrats are currently suing to stop these four election integrity measures. Why?

(Opinion) While Republicans are fully engaged in their multi-year goal of resurrecting a previous legacy, Democrats have been playing their own game since Barack Obama - identity politics. Big decisions made based on race and gender, or other irrelevant qualifications. A cynical path without substance or logical basis in fact, since gender and race have zero to do with leadership. Voters have never before had so much to decipher from dishonest media. But, folks seem wiser this time, experienced, less gullible. It's possible that America has learned a lesson, an awareness crisscrossing over old, conventional political alliances. Maybe all voters have become smarter, more independent in thought, more skeptical of highly politicized news platforms pushing narratives over reality. Perhaps we've eventually learned that intersectional checkboxes cannot measure talent.  There is no satisfactory dogma, no wilted word salad tossed up to a public no longer distracted with shiny objects, ...

Elon Musk, tech and business phenomenon, Space X, Tesla, etc., and the richest human on Earth, is certainly a lightning rod for commentary. There is no doubt that his consequential power is immense, and his personal influence continues to expand. It is simply lucky that he is a good guy who loves the West. His concern for all humankind seems self-evident thru his wide-ranging philanthropy and intrinsic generosity.  Now, imagine for a moment if the opposite were the case. Imagine if the world's wealthiest man was not good at all, not a humanitarian. Imagine if this hugely powerful person hated the US and our allies. What if Elon Musk was a fascist or communist fueling evil and chaos everywhere, an enemy of freedom, a supporter of disorder? We are all lucky, this other reality would be scary, even catastrophic.

You're not voting for a Savior. You're not voting for a minister, or a counselor, or a close friend. You're not voting for Big Daddy or Big Momma, Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy. Not voting for clicks. You're voting for your family. You're voting to make YOUR lives better, safer, and more prosperous. You're voting for right and wrong, principles and values, ethics and order to your world and the lives of your loved ones. All the rest of this cycle of national upheaval is just more noise.

The First Amendment becomes irrelevant. Truth becomes obsolete. US news media is corporate media. News, with narratives. THAT is the democracy threat. Power is unaccountable. Under corporate control, the Fourth Estate loses track of its public mission and mandate.

How should presidential candidates be chosen? By leadership experience, values and policies, and character? All three? Or, should gender, race, or religion be factors that measure into the final choice? Last question here - everyone may answer these challenges within the calmer context of reflective analysis and reason, away from media sway: how much will gender or race matter those crucial moments in the Situation Room, world crisis at hand?

(OPINION) This is a very dangerous moment for the US. To me, the biggest real threat is that the left and big media have essentially normalized assassination attempts. Folks reaction to the 2nd attempt seemed greatly diminished, so there is now a public acceptance of these events that were horrific to even consider not very long ago. Both candidates should eliminate their incendiary rhetoric, especially the Harris campaign. This is a very dangerous moment for the US.

(Opinion) Sadly, how disappointing was this debate? Let us count the ways. Donald Trump, to no one's surprise, must have taken the dopey Harris bait at least a half dozen times. No matter how shiny and obvious, he couldn't resist reacting defensively, which of course gains him zero indy votes. Although it was Trump's strongest moment at the debate conclusion, he failed to hammer home early and often his best and most relevant point - Biden-Harris has had three years, that doesn't spell change. Harris won the debate on style, very composed and prepared for nearly every question. But, her canned responses were still an inch deep, short in detail, and mostly just platitudes. If her main mission was to win over new support, especially among independent voters in the swing states, Harris failed to provide any substance whatsoever regarding her multiple and dubious policy reversals, which all goes to trust. Unfortunately, but expected, the two moderators became part of the st...

Voters factor substance over style, and candor over conceited silence. Despite the wrenching spectrum of impassioned opinions that Donald Trump can generate, he is nonetheless instinctively and painfully unfake. Cheer or cringe, at least he gives his own real answers every time. With her frantic, minute-ago and arrogantly unexplained flopping on nearly all the major issues, Harris is the national poster child of political morphing and fakery. Hiding from scrutiny is a strategy. Harris is counting on voters being that easily duped, distracted by the glitz of crass, Hollywood celebrity. All voters deserve respect thru timely access and transparency.

360°, every view is a bad one in this election. The scripted, ugly political machinations are typical. It is continually painful and regrettable that crass personalities and openly flawed characters must be factored out with both starkly undesirable candidates.  Racial identity, gender, bombastic rhetoric, and shallow, transitory issue positions are all thoroughly irrelevant now. Capability does critically matter. The biggest picture voters must consider a singular, consequential question: Which presidential candidate do America's sworn archenemies clearly and desperately favor?

Could be more of my characteristic wishful thinking, but I'm not persuaded that voters will glom onto this allegedly new Harris-nomics plan. It's still fatally attached to failed Bidenomics, and people generally have no confidence in the government's inept manipulation of prices.  Only competition brings the best value and innovation. Folks intrinsically know this, deeper than their desire to sit on Santa's knee. The WH said yesterday there's no daylight between Biden and Harris policy. The Harris plan may appear differently when viewed under the microscope of pragmatic analysis. Clearly, "controlling" prices to production, goods, and services is what communism does to the detriment of everyone. Systemwide corruption, black markets, and rapid erosion of both quality and safety are all inevitable when the government attempts to ascribe these values.  THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT EVEN RUN ITSELF VERY WELL! Like with the U.S. Postal Service, and most federal departm...

Binary choices are always ruthless by nature. One applicant, controlled and scripted, parsing every public word. The other, reflexively candid, never stops talking and self-promoting.  Love or loathe, or some pragmatic in-between view, the binary choice couldn't be simpler. With both candidates, prior agendas will continue, with one big contradiction.  Harris can not claim both realities: Harris can not say there is "no space" between Joe Biden, but also reversing now on so many issues. So far, there's no explanation with weeks remaining.  Methodical hiding is a strategy as Basement Biden successfully proved. But, it's the opposite of both transparency and credibility.

Be wary of smiling pundits. Disagree, if you can. But, the following is true by my experience: there is no longer a free and fair press in the US.  News platforms have become propaganda pushers of corporate and political policy. American investigative journalism is dead. Facts take a back seat to spin. Narrative is more crucial than accuracy of source.  News stories are too often headlined with brazenly misleading distortion, intentional inclusion and exclusion based on whatever supports their self-interest. What you accept as verified fact can greatly affect your life. Do your own research, check important stories of interest independently. Who's behind the message that is so ardently promoted?  News networks, today, cannot be trusted to adhere to codes of conduct that prioritize truth and impartiality. Power politics and their myopic, partisan agents are the information players on your screens, hoping to influence. Be wary of smiling pundits.

Maybe sparked in a restless, dream, but I awakened with an inexplicable bent to compose a rational disclaimer for these upside-down times. Only to realize there is simply no denying our current societal mass lunacy.  There is no refusing responsibility for our culture's inflamed and worsening headline violence. Yet, a disclaimer would list the usual suspects of shadow guilt and complicity: callous and venal media, corrupt public officials, and faceless, unelected power bosses, bureaucrats who quietly decide the sacrosanct boundaries of everyone's fragile freedoms.  Self-promoting social designers, whose someday agendas envision a mythical world of centralized unity, and the sheer dominance over personal belief and behavior. Slander and Liable were seen slinking around a corner, both now irrelevant, leaving town for good. There is no disclaimer for our Constitution tossed into the shredder, laws picking their friends, or the American ethic of justice as a brokered commodity. Cr...