Month: May 2024

Second Trump presidency could usher in fascism

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You’ve probably heard of the Heritage Foundation — the far-right think-tank whose “trustees have historically included individuals affiliated with Chase Manhattan Bank, Dow Chemical, General Motors, Mobil, Pfizer, Sears and other corporations,” according to Wikipedia.

The Foundation’s latest contribution to the subversion of democracy is a 900-page corporate wet dream called “Mandate for Leadership,” known also as Project 2025. It’s a detailed guide on how the next Republican president should govern — a blue print for further consolidating wealth and power in the hands of the few.

Project 2025 is also a blueprint for full-blown fascism. Continue Reading →

Four reasons to support Melissa Vine for Congress

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The corporate-funded DC establishment has thrown its collective might behind Lanon Baccam in the Democratic primary. I’ve got nothing against Baccam. Never met him, and I’ve only recently met his opponent, Melissa Vine. But I’ll give you four quick reasons why you should support Vine:

(1) It’s insulting, undemocratic, and morally wrong for DC insiders to try to handpick winners in local elections. Not surprisingly, the candidates chosen by DC Dems tend to be cozy with big business. A vote for Vine is a vote against this increasingly pervasive corruption of the democratic process.

(2) DNC-backed Democrats usually lose in the fall. See Patty Judge and Theresa Greenfield for details. Vine is hands down the best candidate to beat Republican Zach Nunn.

(3) Baccam’s light on key issues. Vine’s solid on the things I care most about and has a compelling personal story. Ten years ago, she bailed out of an abusive marriage, lost everything, and took a job checking groceries for $8.50 an hour. After earning her master’s degree in mental health counseling, Melissa became the Executive Director at The Beacon, a nonprofit for women coming out of trauma.

(4) Finally, a vote for Vine pushes back against the absurd attack against her, orchestrated by the DCCC, a local activist, and the mainstream media (MSM). Spurious ethics complaints and outright lies were thrown at me when I ran for Congress, and I can assure you the ethics complaint against Vine is so much BS. Yet that hasn’t stopped the MSM from giving it all kinds of coverage, basically parroting Melissa’s detractors’ talking points. I challenged two MSM outlets to give equal coverage to the real scandal of DC election meddling. They declined. Continue Reading →

The conversation people avoid about Kristi Noem killing her dog

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Farm and ranch families comprise less than 2% of the US population, so most Americans might not be familiar with the rural expression “take the dog for a ride.” That’s a euphemism for “we got a bad dog and we gotta put it down.”

Common law dating back to the 1800s supports a farmer’s right to kill a dog to protect livestock. Additional state statutes allow farmers and ranchers to shoot dogs that are chasing, harassing, or attacking their livestock. That’s as it should be.

Yet the national media have pounced on Noem, some even calling her a monster. The truth is, if you’ve got a dangerous dog, especially one that has killed livestock, the responsible thing to do is to get rid of it.

Now, perhaps Noem should have taken Cricket to a shelter. It might have been adopted by someone with the skills and patience to train it. More likely, it would have been euthanized.

Bottom line: If a dog kills livestock, shooting it is an appropriate and legally defensible response. Continue Reading →

Campus protests are hugely impactful

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In my view, the campus protests are historic and will profoundly impact both policy and politics. Already, officials at three universities — Brown, Northwestern, and Minnesota — have agreed to address students’ demands to divest funds from businesses enabling Israel’s annihilation of Gaza.

This enlightened response represents a stark contrast to what’s transpired at Columbia, UCLA, and many other universities — where heavy-handed intervention by law enforcement has resulted in over 2,000 arrests.

Politically, though Democrats want me and other honest commentators to shut-up, the protests are hurting President Biden’s reelection prospects. Badly. If the administration insists on staying its course of lip-service criticism while funding the war, Biden will lose in November.

Democrats need to learn from 1968, when in response to the Party’s support for the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon was elected president in a landslide and Republicans picked up seats in both the US House and Senate.

It’s not too late for Biden to do the right thing… Continue Reading →