Man Of Jackistan: Reason and Truth's Time and Place

Trump Approval Rating Rises Amid Coronavirus Crisis Rant #19 ( Opinion ) Originally March 24, 2020 Donald Trump ignored intelligence reports from multiple agencies in the months of January and February that warned of the coronavirus imminently infecting America, doing great damage to the economy and public health. The president publicly refuted the severity of the virus, famously called it a "Democratic hoax," and to this day despite having declared a national emergency continues to give bad advice about the illness, for example by claiming that chloroquine is a viable cure for COVID-19. And now, the president has begun flirting with the idea of reeling back the emergency measures meant to flatten the curve of the rapidly spreading coronavirus. It doesn't stop there, either. Here's a link to a video which very effectively displays some more examples of how he has totally mismanaged the crisis thus far. And yet, the president's approval rating has r...

The Fate of "Trumpism" Rant #18  ( Opinion ) March 23, 2020 The future of what reluctantly gets the label of 'Trumpism' has increasingly represented a topic of much speculation among those who spend their time thinking about politics. I have a few tentative thoughts on that, based mostly on sheer guesswork. Many have argued that after leaving office, the Republican Party will 'snap out' of its Trump-induced spell; politicians will write off their former support for him in one way or another to avoid association with that trainwreck. While that sounds like an appetizing outcome to me, that is very unlikely, in my opinion. The man has amassed too much popularity for him to just step off the stage and fade into the background. The vicious and aggressive tweeting he does will in and of itself continue to effect the public discourse and news cycles long after leaving office. If Trump loses in November, after a lengthy dispute about the integrity of the...

Black People and Conspiracy Theories, Plus Speculation About Biden's VP Pick and the Future of Trumpism Rant #17 ( Opinion ) Originally March 22, 2020; Posted March 23, 2020 Lately, I've thought a lot about something that confuses me. It seems that a lot of Black people  believe in conspiracy theories like New World Order, Illuminati, population control--a whole bunch of them.  Maybe that's a coincidence, and only overwhelmingly endemic among the Black people that I know. But it makes sense. As a White man, I can only speculate. On the one hand, I can totally see the roots of skepticism and distrust in the system: slavery, "separate but equal" segregation, Blacks being denied mortgages and credit through red-lining, the Tuskegee experiment, police profiling; there is a long history of this government and its elites quite literally conspiring to make life difficult for Blacks. What boggles my mind more than just a proclivity for belief in conspiracy theori...

On China; Also, Venting About Misconceptions From The Right Rant #16 ( Opinion ) Originally March 20,2020; Posted March 23, 2020 A Trump supporter recently criticized me for what he perceived to be my stance on relations with China. Initially, the man mentioned how if Biden wins the upcoming presidential election, despite the coronavirus revealing the weakness of over-relying on China for goods, the US will not move its supply chains away from there. Whereas under Trump, our country will apparently relocate its source of manufacturing. The man boasted about how Trump has already accomplished so much with that country, and then proceeded to attack my rejection of that assessment by saying that my view (or what he believed to be my view) was some "hippy Green Party crap, opposed to the 'evil corporations,' and naive like the last 50 years of presidents."  First off, I never said anything about business owners being evil or Green Party bullshit. I am saying...

Right Wing Hypocrisy #101: Immigration and Laissez-Faire Rant #15 ( Opinion ) Originally March 1, 2020; Posted March 20, 2020 While conservatism has many strains and sub-strains, a common right wing standpoint goes something like this: the market will decide for itself the best things for a society, and regulations only hinder the arrival at equilibrium, which ultimately suits us all best. Free markets and only free markets make our country free, taxes are bad, businesses can do what they want and it will in the end benefit workers as well when they are allowed to operate this way (providing more benefits than government-run programs which require higher taxes ever could). Another extremely common conservative stance, having only gained credence with the election of Donald Trump: we need strong borders. This is America, everything inside of it belongs to Americans; other people from other places come here and take jobs away from hardworking Americans, leach off of our coun...

Trump Needlessly Squandered Our Economic Relief Toolkit Rant #14 ( Opinion ) Originally March 19, 2020; posted March 20, 2020 Remember all those tax cuts enjoyed primarily by the rich and large corporations, which would supposedly create trickle-down growth, even though growth was almost exactly the same after Trump's tax bill as it had been before? You know, all those tax cuts that increased the federal deficit despite an already robust economy? Collecting money for tax revenue when we have a bustling economy--nah, not important. Increase the deficit and public debt. Many Americans stomached this, thinking that they would somehow benefit from the tax cuts when most did not or only did so slightly. Ironically, the average American will end up paying later for the money that the rich and big businesses didn't today. Lower taxes leads to lower tax revenue; assuming the budget doesn't change, this means the government needs to borrow money to pay for what ...

More Red Flags Than A Chinese Communist Party Parade Rant #13 ( Opinion ) Originally March 17, 2020 Not to say I told you so, to those who either bought that this president had the skills to effectively manage a crisis, or the many who bet that the country would not face something seriously threatening for 4 or 8 years...without gloating or anything, please don't say nobody raised concerns about his ability to lead. Of the many, many, many warning sides in a sequence of more red flags than a Chinese Communist Party parade: When trump used a sharpie to draw obviously altered lines over a map to show (falsely) that a hurricane would hit Alabama--in line with an earlier, incorrect statement--his more cognizant supporters wrote it off as clearly not true, but insignificant (whereas his die-hard base adjusted their understanding of that hurricane's path, trusting trump over NOAA, the nation's premier meteorological agency).  Instead of admitting wro...

If You Like AOC, Don't Donate To Her Campaign Rant #12 ( Opinion ) Originally March 15, 2020; posted March 16, 2020 I like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I think that she represents an important voice for both progressives and Millennials. DC definitely could use the new blood. And Fox News' fears of a first-term Congresswoman (who usually get no attention or clout at all) has actually amplified her popularity nationwide.  Every time I scroll through Facebook, I see these ads about donating to AOC's campaign. This has led me to conclude that if you truly support her and what she stands for, then don't give to her campaign this year! Instead, donate to Democratic campaigns in swing districts. Help Chrissy Houlahan (Chester County's Democratic Congresswoman since 2019); the Democrats cannot hold the House without holding onto seats like hers. She may run on a more moderate platform, but she's there when the Dems need the votes on important legislation. This H...

Pennsylvania Must Reconsider Closing Its State Liquor Stores Tomorrow My Take Originally March 16, 2020 Governor Tom Wolf recently issued his emergency plans for the state of Pennsylvania's coronavirus response. With my county among those now claiming confirmed cases, and in lieu of an adequate response from the federal government, I welcome something of the sort.But when I found out that on Tuesday March 17, Pennsylvania will close its state-run liquor stores (Fine Wine & Good Spritis) in response to the coronavirus, I immediately wrote this letter to the state's Department of Health reasoning as to why they should not do that. For my out-of-state readers, the state government in PA has a monopoly on most alcoholic beverages sales outside of bars, restaurants, etc--though that has begun to change in recent years, allowing places like grocery stores to sell limited quantities of beer and wine. Nonetheless, almost all alcohol sold in the state that the buyer does not...

"Psychoactive Substances' Presence In Narcissistic Nationalist Politicians" Rant #11 ( Opinion ) Originally March 13, 2020  Today, the president declared a national emergency in response to the spreading coronavirus, COVID-19. During the announcement , Trump gave his usual brash presentation. And yet, the way he spoke sounded a lot lower and slower than the way he usually speaks. Perhaps my observation here is a bit slanted: I only heard the address on the radio, so I don't know what he actually looked like during this. Also, I may be uniquely keen on noticing the effects of drugs on someone. So, was Trump on drugs?  The slurring, that weird draggy low voice: I don't know if you could go so far to say that there exists an 'opioid accent,' but the way he sounded reminded me of how many men tend to talk while on dope. Stringing together words has never been a challenge for this president. Those words might not make any sense at all, bu...