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

Government Gift Card Rant #22 ( Opinion ) April 3, 2020 Automatic stabilizers for recessions makes the most sense as a policy in order to smooth out economic slowdowns. That concept means that basically as soon as the markets show signs of slowing, the federal government automatically disburses checks of a set sum until a recovery begins. It would not replace things like unemployment insurance, but rather serves as a way to put extrra capital in the pockets of Americans. Then, when the economy gets going again, the Federal Reserve would take the training wheels off, so to speak. Failing that (or even as a way to augment it), I have an idea for future US stimulus checks. We should send people gift cards, essentially, the value of which expires at the end of the fiscal year, or 365 days later or something. Maybe people get one every month and the value goes down by 10% each month it is unused, expiring entirely at the end of one year or 18 months. In a scenario with no autom...

This Black Conservative Didn't Own Anything But A Poor Argument Rant #21 ( Opinion ) April 1, 2020 This video just bugged me as soon as it began: https://www.facebook.com/thehodgetwins/videos/813591575818557/ Wow, the one Black Trump supporter in that state soo "owned" the liberal there... K, first off, the KKK may've been originally founded by somebody who was a Democrat. Ok. And? Lincoln was a Republican. The parties had a different alignment back then. By no means do the party divisions of the Reconstruction era some 150 years ago have much to do with where they stand today on most issues. As a rough generalization, the GOP came about as a party which supported urbanization and manufacturing (the legacy of Hamiltonian ideology), eventually giving way to representing big business. But before that, the Republicans--beginning with Lincoln--did things to encourage education, by establishing public colleges; fostering railroads so that it could connect t...

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...

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 ...

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...

Insulting CNN To Shift The Center Rant #9 ( Opinion ) Originally March 8, 2020; Posted March 10, 2020 Why is CNN the scapegoat of the right, rather than MSNBC, which has more clearly liberal commentators? I'll tell you why: by attacking a fairly neutral news station as "liberal," it makes right wing nutjobs who oppose basic facts and Democrats look a little less crazy to people who pay less attention to politics. The public starts to believe this bullshit narrative about CNN marking the epitome of the far left. First of all, let's clarify some semantics here. Terms like "media," "mainstream media" and "the liberal media" get tossed around a lot, often interchangeably. Media is really just any medium of communication: TV, newspapers, even this website all technically comprise the media. CNN and Fox News both equally fall under the label of 'media.' Those two would also make up the "mainstream media," ...