Recently I’ve had a few people ask me to write a little bit telling you how I think … which I thought odd considering how much I write for this site.  I realized they want a better idea of my worldview and how I analyze current events.  So here it is.

My basic worldview is pretty simple – people should be responsible for themselves, the world doesn’t owe you anything, government should reflect this sentiment, government should remain as small as possible, people should be charitable, race doesn’t make a bit of difference anywhere, intellectual diversity is a good thing, and America is a superior western culture guided by profound ideals that unlock man’s best qualities whilst limiting his worst … or at least that’s what it used to be. These ideas aren’t new and I don’t claim they’re unique to me.  I assert that this rubric is the most efficient route to empowerment and the truth. Simply put – I believe that most problems are yours to solve, America is a great nation, and its virtues truly moral. ** I must admit that I will sound nothing like this while driving in heavy traffic with the poor drivers of the greater New Orleans area. **

In that context, I have been thinking about a few things lately – mainly the incredible amount of shifting happening in multiple political factions.  The Democrats have violently shifted on Syria policy and the use of the nuclear option, the media has shifted on the Trump/Russia narrative, the core Trump base is shifting WITH Trump on multiple issues, and the leftists are shifting even further to the left (if that’s even possible).  Let me flesh these out a little bit. 

First, the Democrats are unsurprisingly hypocritical on so many things (I’ve been hammering Republicans for weeks so it’s the Dems turn now) — among them is the use of the nuclear option.  As we have discussed in previous blogs (here), the nuclear option is the use of simple senate majority vote to approve a presidential nominee.  In 2013 the Democrats employed this option to put through several Obama nominees to the lower courts … and the media praised them for it. (SOURCE) Liberal pundit Marc Lamont Hill went to far as to say “that’s what happens when Republicans lose elections … but they’re not accepting the consequences.” This is the same guy that said black people meeting with president Trump were “mediocre negroes.” (SOURCE) Well when Republicans follow the precedent set by the Dems, the media chastises and criticizes them … and the Democrats are leading the charge. (SOURCE) What a ridiculous position to occupy … you unethically change the rules to benefit your own party and then criticize the other party for following those rules.

Same playbook employed with the policy prescriptions surrounding Syria,  In 2011 and 2013 Assad began using illegal chemical weapons on his own people.  Obama draws the infamous “red line in the sand” and threatens Assad. We never did anything about it, but Obama and Kerry ran around telling everyone that Assad had turned over his chemical weapons … simply because they asked him to (SOURCE). Well …. I guess we now know that wasn’t true. Enter the hypocrisy of liberals screaming for Americans to save the children from this horror not by actually addressing the problem of Assad’s actions, but rather advocating for treating the symptom by bringing the Syrians into western democracies. Now that Trump actually looks like he’s addressing the root of the problem they become hysterical and call Trump the monster who is killing people. I don’t know why I am surprised at the incredible lack of principle in the leftist ideology.

This brings me to another flip flop — Donald Trump. This guy spends all of his campaign and most of his presidency claiming that Assad can stay in power and he wants nothing to do with that problem ……. and then when Assad actually flexes his muscle under that rhetoric he decides to bomb him. Now don’t get me wrong — this is the correct move (assuming he has a plan to contain or unseat Assad) but the hypocrisy is certainly annoying. It seems to me there isn’t much to do after this without putting troops in the region.  It makes him look like he has no consistent set of principles. Maybe he doesn’t … either way it bothers me.

Lastly, the media is, yet again, absolutely disgusting with their bias. First it was Trump paid no taxes (straight out of the Harry Reid 2012 playbook against Romney), then it was the Russians hacked the election, then it was Trump and his team colluded with them to do it, then it was Trump was monitored because of reasonable suspicion, then Trump tweets about it, then all of a sudden there was no surveillance, and when ALL KINDS OF EVIDENCE comes out against all of this they bury it or don’t cover it at all. Now there is evidence that the Obama administration not only got a flimsy FISA warrant to spy on Trump associates but also unmasked identities of them for purely political purposes (SOURCE – SOURCE – SOURCE) (please note this is simply an abuse of power but not altogether illegal).  As we have discussed in the wiretapping blog, it’s not difficult to get a FISA warrant despite what news outlets will tell you.  99.7% of requests are granted (SOURCE) something that this article conveniently glosses over.  When the warrant was received to wiretap Trump associate Carter Page — guess where he was spending a lot of his time? That’s right —- Trump Tower (SOURCE). Looks like Trump’s wiretap tweet is looking more right than wrong save for his direct blame of Obama …. even though it pains me to admit this.

So what’s the point of going through all of this? I want to get across to you the danger in simply reading headlines and accepting them as true. Thinking for yourself and maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism coupled with a long memory will serve you well — in politics and in everyday life. More importantly, you should have a rubric or set of principles through which you evaluate the world.  How do you get that? You couple your own values with as much information about history, legal mechanics, and general sense of how the world works. No one knows everything (that includes me – surprise), but we shouldn’t be changing our opinions with whatever way the wind blows. The media today is not interested in telling you the complete truth … and if you rely on them with no rubric of your own you’ll be miserable. Look back in history to see if this stuff is considered standard or if it’s even consistent …. the insanity of today’s times will jump out at you.

I sincerely hope you have a great week – I am going to be extremely busy the next month, but I’ll sneak in a few blogs. I am lucky to have the opportunity to work hard and so are you … let’s make the most of it.