What is "Making America Great" About?

 Wow.  It has been a hot minute since I have posted in here.  A lot has been going on, and I just feel like I have opinions to rant about.  So, this one may be long.

First of all, in recent news, Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle were murdered.  I grew up with a lot of the movies he directed as some of my favorite movies ( "Misery," "The Princess Bride," "This is Spinal Tap," etc.) along with his role as "Meathead" in "All In the Family."  His death was tragic.  However, our president had the gall to blame Rob Reiner's political views as a reason he was killed.

Also, recently, this year was the death of Charlie Kirk.  Now, before he was assassinated, I didn't even know the name Charlie Kirk, what he stood for, etc.  As I found out later, he was a very strong Republican and one of President Trump's fans.  There were people who viewed his death as poetic justice too...  I, also, felt his death was deeply tragic.

One thing holds true in both of these deaths.  THEY WERE TRAGIC.  Period.  There is no excuse for viewing the murder of innocent people as "poetic" or "deserved" or "justified because of political affiliation."  NEVER SHOULD THIS MENTALITY EXIST.  Unfortunately, this is the extremist world we live in.

This brings me to my current topic: MAGA.  This is an acronym, "Make America Great Again."  Ok.  Back when this acronym was penned, this sounded like a great promise.  As Americans, we want America to be great.  This is a common belief everyone in America can get behind.  However, as time has gone on... I feel everyone has forgotten when America was actually great.

In a great America there is no extremism.  There is bipartisan collaboration.  People have different beliefs, different views, but are willing to compromise because by working together, that is when growth really truly happens.  It does not matter if you are on the far left, or the far right... your views are on the fringe.  And normally, those views (in a normal, mean situation) would usually be excluded from the mean.  Unless those voices are the loudest, which is now the case.

In a great America terms like "retard" to refer to people with disabilities or "people of differing beliefs [this does include the use of 'libtard' as a portmanteau of liberal & retard]" in the political hellscape, would stay gone.  It is absolute BULLSHIT that that term is being brought back.  A word that has been used in a derogatory sense towards people with disabilities.  People like myself, who happen to be autistic, but are smarter than what negative terms like that seem to suggest.  I had thought that our society had evolved into a society that was starting to treat people with disabilities with respect and support.  Now, that THAT word is being brought back into public consciousness, BY OUR OWN PRESIDENT, I worry that society is now devolving instead of being better.

In a great America people could talk freely without the worry of being canceled.  Late Night talk shows are being systematically targeted to silence free speech.  News stations, public TV, are also being targeted, with some being silenced due to difference in political opinion.  This is something that sound like the suppression of free speech.  Free Speech is one of our rights.  It is the first guaranteed right in our Bill of Rights.  The attack of Free Speech is something that EVEN conservatives should be against.  It is literally one of our earliest principles that America was founded on.  Our speaking up against the harsh taxes from the British and the fight to gain our independence was literally based on our rights to speak out against policies that were unfair to us.  Free speech gained us our independence and a loss of the right to free speech would literally be a slap in the face on how our county was founded.

In a great America, the quote on the Statue of Liberty would actually mean something again.  

 “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

This was a quote that suggested that we welcomed people from all over to come and enjoy freedom.  America used to be "The Great Melting Pot" because people from all walks of life, from everywhere could come here and enjoy the freedoms that come with being an American.  Now, closed borders and deportations are the law of the land.  The quote on the Statue of Liberty is now a lie.

In a great America the tragic deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle, Charlie Kirk, and frankly any other innocent person would be seen as what they are, tragic.  In a great America, extremism would exist at the far ends of the bell curve, as progress is made by discussions that happen in the middle, instead of right now, where the bell curve has shifted so far to the left, the extremists run the country, and the people in the middle just stay quiet.

In a great America, MAGA would still mean what we thought it meant when it was promised to us.  Now, the term MAGA gets thrown around extremist circles... recruiting more extremist ideologies of what people feel would make America great.  Honestly, I think the term "MAGA" has lost so much of its original meaning, it should just go away.  If we want to make America great again... let's first define what made America so great in the first place.  If we want America to be great, then we as Americans have to be "great."  We as people, rule this country.  The president's job is to serve the people, and to represent our country to the world.  Do not claim for a second that wearing a MAGA hat, and blindly following people who aren't "great people" will do a damn thing to make our country "great again."  It will not.  That is delusional thinking.  If you want America to be great again, then be "great people."  Great people help others, they lead others, they be charitable and humble.  Great people do not put people they feel are inferior down, they help people who are down, rise.

If you want want America to be great... be great Americans.

T.E.V.

Political Attack

Now normally, I do not post political ramblings.  There is enough of that on Facebook to make me want to rip the remaining hairs out of my head.  However, an event happened that made me change my mind (at least this week).

On June 14th, 2017, a gunman opened fire on several Republican members of Congress as they were practicing for a charity baseball game against Democrats.  4 people (5 counting the gunman) were shot during the practice.  2 people were listed in critical condition, 2 people were treated and released, and the gunman was killed.

The gunman was a contractor who had his business shut down because he caused more damage to the properties he was supposed to be inspecting.  He had been living out of his van in the Alexandria, VA, area for months before he opened fire that fateful day.

He had a bitter dislike towards the Republicans.

Now, the tough part of this.  I am not looking to get into a political debate because people like what they like, and they believe what they believe.  I'm not looking to try to "prove anyone wrong" because ultimately it is a waste of time, and a cause of lost friendships for no reason, whatsoever.

But one thing CAN be agreed on.  Violence is not the answer.  If you believe that violence is going to solve the problems in Washington, than maybe YOU need to be investigated, just in case, you plan on committing acts like this yourself.

Mr. Hodgkinson had a list of Congressmen he wanted to target.  His motive was unclear at this moment.  If he wanted to get the "old-timers" out of Congress, he didn't succeed.  If he did it as a Democratic loyalist, he failed that too, because all he did there was make Democrats look worse.

The thing that needs to be remembered is that he acted on his own accord.  He didn't meet with a bunch of Democrats and plan an assassination.  This was a mentally disturbed individual who committed these crimes.  And Democrats and Republicans participated in unity afterwards.  The shooter didn't accomplish anything.

For people who want to get the old-timers out of Congress, you have that power.  It is called elections.  While people do not vote for the President directly, they DO vote for the members of Congress at every election.  If you want a change in Congress, then vote for that change.  Otherwise, you are just the minority.  Killing people is not the answer.

And IF you are one of the sad, pathetic people who believes that murdering senior members of Congress is the answer, then newsflash.  It isn't.  The repercussions are far worse than what you think.  Because senior members of Congress were attacked, there will now be more motivation for gun control legislation.  This now hits home for Congress.  They are going to be more determined than ever.  And in the end, Congress isn't really more unified.  A lot of those Congressmen have been there a while, and are good friends, despite their disagreements.  People need to practice the same level of friendship.  That while we may differ on things, politically, we can still be friends, and we can still get along.

Any one who believes that someone needs to die because of their beliefs is part of the problem in this country right now.  If questioned about my political beliefs, I will share them.  You can tell me yours, and I'll respect yours, even if I don't agree.  That is part of what makes freedom so great.  But believing that violence is the answer is what is going to tear this country apart.  VIOLENCE NEEDS TO END!!!  That is one thing that NEEDS to be agreed on.  Republicans and Democrats alike don't want violence.  So, knock it off.  Act your age.  People are acting like babies throwing temper tantrums, and using weapons instead of words.

Post your opinions.  What do you think?  Do you think violence needs to end?  Will you be part of the solution?  Share this post if you agree.  Spread the word.  Love your neighbor, even if you don't agree with him/her.  You don't have to agree, but you have the freedom not to.  Do not eliminate your freedom by trying to eliminate someone else's.

Thanks for reading.

The TRUE America

How many people have seen comments along the lines of "This is America, get out!!"  And how many of those people have seen those comments directed towards Mexicans (or Latinos for that matter).  Yes.  Those are comments directed usually towards illegal immigrants.  And I understand the issue of illegal immigration (and I am sure I will be expressing my views on that in a later blog post).  But this one is for those who believe that this is America...  You are wrong.

Let us define America.  America is actually the name of what is referred to as a "supercontinent."  That is right.  A supercontinent is a group of continents that are connected by land.  In this case, I am referring to North AMERICA and South AMERICA.  That's right.  the Americas are two continents.  In fact, the United States constitutes a mere 23.27% of America.  Blows your mind, doesn't it.

So when did the United States claim stake to America?  Let us look at the name of the country.  We are the United States OF America.  That means the United States belongs to or are part of America.  It is NOT the other way around.  We are not America of the United States.

So, to tell people that "This is America, we speak English here" is completely ludicrous.  There are A LOT of countries within America that do not speak English.  The United States does not compose the entirety of America.

And if people want to make the claim that United States is big, then one must consider this.  Canada is bigger.  Canada makes up approximately 23.66% of the total area of the Americas.  So, size has nothing to do with it either.

But what makes us claim stake to "America?"  Is it that America appears in the name of our country?  Or is it that we as a country feel that we have the right to take what isn't ours to be taking?  After all, the United States has a tendency to police the globe and get involved in wars that we have no business participating in.  We have a tendency to push English as a global language instead of respecting the rights of other countries to speak how they choose to speak.  We for a long time there would push Democracy through out the world when in some countries they prefer Communism.  Who are we to dictate the views of the world?  We are just 23.27% of America, and we are only 6.59% of total land area in the world.  We are a very small part of the world, and we should accept our roles as a part of the world.

Seriously.  What's next?  The United States of America of Earth?  I am just waiting to read a comment that says: "This is Earth... get out!!"  Please.