We often discuss the twisted logic used on campuses where faculty and students will profess support for free speech while censoring or canceling others from speaking. However, Fairfax Bar & Grill in Bloomington, Indiana, has taken this hypocrisy to a truly impressive level. The bar recently declared that it supports free speech so it will throw out anyone who criticizes Anheuser-Busch or BudLight for its campaign featuring transgender figure Dylan Mulvaney. Owner McKinley Minniefield told Newsweek “I won’t tolerate hate speech, and I think that’s where I draw the line.” It is that easy, you just declare opposing views to be hateful and then ban them from the bar.
The logic of Minniefield is so conflicted that it is enthralling. On Facebook, the bar posted the following:
“We are tired of all of the hate. We are very open to debate and discussion and it’s truly a shame that we can’t have open conversations about this important political and cultural topic. Bars, in our opinion, exist as public spaces where ideas should be exchanged. Unfortunately, due to all of the bigotry and hatred that has surfaced around the Bud Light controversy, any patron wanting to voice their concerns about the issue will be immediately asked to pay their bill and leave our establishment.”
Just to repeat: “We are very open to debate and discussion . . . any patron wanting to voice their concerns about the issue will be immediately asked to … leave our establishment.”
Minniefield added later
“We do not and will not censor opinions, but we do require civility in this establishment. So if you can’t play nice, then get out of the sandbox. That goes for everyone! Let’s remember why we even gather at a bar — to enjoy each other’s company — and raise a glass to civility.”
According to his policy, “playing nice” means not voicing an opposing view on this controversy. Yet, being tossed out of the bar is not considered censoring an opinion.
Notably, the ban is not on those who are shouting or engaging in disruptive conduct. It is anyone who “voices their concerns” about the transgender campaign.
Clearly, the bar has a free speech right to set such standards. Heck, we just discussed a bar that faced a boycott from the left over showing a Harry Potter game. It solved the problem with a cringing apology and promising to ban any Harry Potter images. This is not a denial of the right of the bar owner to impose his own views on patrons, but a criticism in how that right is being exercised.
Notably, many of the same people defended the right of players to kneel during the national anthem as an exercise of free speech. Yet, some support this bar tossing out those who express opposing views on the Bud Light controversy. What is maddening is for Minniefield and the bar to do so in the name of free speech.
All businesses and sites face tough choices in what to remove in terms of speech. Many blogs and newspapers like The Hill have now eliminated comment sections because it is too much work to monitor and make these decisions. On this blog, we use a WordPress system to remove profanity. We also remove a narrow range of threatening, doxing, or offensive content. However, we tend to allow a far greater range of speech than most sites, including speech that we find personally offensive and wrong.
The line drawing can be challenging. For example, most would agree that someone using racist or anti-Semitic attacks in reference to another patron should be asked to leave. However, it would be more problematic to toss out someone who is making a comment that is deemed inherently racist or intolerant. Such judgment can be highly subjective and biased.
In this case, the use of transgender advertising campaigns raises a host of issues for customers. I understand how many view this as an objection to the status of Mulvaney and a denial of her identity. However, there remains a major debate in society over the involvement of corporations to push such social agendas. We have to be able to discuss these issues. Indeed, I can imagine no more appropriate forum for discussing the Bud Light controversy than a bar. If a patron becomes loud and disruptive on either side of that debate, the bar has every reason to issue a warning and, if necessary, ask the patron to leave.
As discussed earlier, this Orwellian logic is being used widely on our campuses. Years ago, at Rice University, I debated NYU Professor Jeremy Waldron who is a leading voice for speech codes. Waldron insisted that shutting down speakers through heckling is a form of free speech. It is not. It is a rationalization for stopping certain views from being voiced or heard in higher education. CUNY Law Dean Mary Lu Bilek showed how far this trend has gone. When conservative law professor Josh Blackman was stopped from speaking about “the importance of free speech,” Bilek insisted that disrupting the speech on free speech was free speech. (Bilek later cancelled herself and resigned). Even student newspapers have declared opposing speech to be outside of the protections of free speech.
So now bars are claiming that being tossed out for expressing your views on Bud Light is not censorship. It is merely “enjoying each other’s company.” It is more enjoyable without you sharing your opinion. So much for Bud Light’s slogan that it is “the perfect beer for removing ‘no’ from your vocabulary.”
Bud light moment.
Plenty of non-woke bars.
Just sell beer and don’t tell people how to think.
Zzclancy, that’s too easy.
I’m encouraged that this boycott of AB has gotten sufficient traction to be noticed and discussed by the corporate big-wigs and many others in society beyond a single news cycle. It is having the effect of re-energizing the otherwise demoralized truth-loving population everywhere, giving them courage to stand against this woke insanity that we are living through.
Think of the woke lunacy as global warming on steroids, where the sea of death and deception is rising and threatening to inundate your soul with madness. This might be the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal – to quote a former president.
I also find it perplexing that someone would claim to be a free-speech advocate like Mr Minniefield would fall back on the idea of “you’re free to say anything as long as it agrees with me,” in presenting his bar’s official policy. His statement contradicts the concept of free speech, but that’s his opinion and he’s going to stand by it.
Far be it my personal policy of entering someone’s business just to loudly state an issue that I disagree with the owner about. I am satisfied to debate ideas in the proper forum. I will occasionally state disagreements to Professor Turley’s ideas within his forum, because that’s the proper place to present differing ideas while keeping them relevant to the subject being presented. It’s a matter of choosing the right place to hold the debate.
Mr Minniefield has already informed me (through the posting presenting in this column) that he won’t entertain me criticizing Anheuser-Busch in his bar. That’s fine; I get it. If I ever decide to visit his business, I’ll politely abide. But it would be much easier to not even bother with patronizing his bar. I can probably find another nearby bar that will accept my business and would not object to me not ordering certain beers that are on his menu.
I would prefer to make my choice known by not ordering certain products, than by loudly criticizing that which I would decide not to order. It’s always more fun to be peaceful.
“Ain’t That America?”
It’s pure American freedom – the free exercise of the absolute* right to private property. Only the owner may “claim and exercise” dominion. The owner may be self-contradictory. Consumers may go elsewhere (i.e. Bakers and florists may also “claim and exercise” dominion absolutely).
Owners of private property enterprises also enjoy the freedom of discrimination, thought, opinion, speech, press, assembly, belief, religion, and all natural and God-given rights and freedoms provided by the 9th Amendment. Anti-discrimination laws are unconstitutional communist dictatorship which deny rights and freedoms provided to Americans by the Constitution – the Constitution does not guarantee popularity, unfavorability, success, failure, acceptance, rejection, love or loathing (i.e. Andrew Jackson killed Charles Dickinson – Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton).
________________
“[Private property is] that dominion which one man claims and exercises over the external things of the world, in exclusion of every other individual.”
– James Madison
______________
* The right to private property is absolute, understanding that the sole qualification was included by the Framers, the right of government to “take” property for public use with just compensation.
I believe that this bar owner has every right to cut his own throat.
I know I would NEVER go to that bar.
Tot, he has rights.
Now this here is a real smart guy. He just lost fifty percent of his bar customers. I guess he never heard the phrase “go woke go broke.” Of course when his bar goes bankrupt he’ll blame Trump.
Turley seems to think that “freedom of speech” includes Trump lying about his “landslide victory” being “stolen” by a “rigged election”, so he exhorts his fans to “fight like hell or you’re not going to have a country any more”. Then, there are the lies about SmartMatic and Dominion Voting Systems machines manipulating vote totals. But, somehow, Turley doesn’t think freedom of speech is being curtailed by banning books or classes about anything dealing with race relations, slavery, anything related to LGBTQ people or drag queens reading stories to children. Well, Turley’s days as a paid pundit may be limited, because Fox reportedly lost 50% of its viewers when it fired Tucker Carlson, after he called one of his female bosses the “c” word. Tucker’s arrogance just went a tick too far–sure, he knowingly peddled lies to benefit Trump despite his own convictions, and he insulted people, falsely accused Democrats of many bad things, but biting the hand that feeds him was a bridge too far. So, Fox may not be able to keep affording to pay Turley to stir the culture wars if this drop in viewership continues because ad revenue will fall also. This proves what many have always said: Fox is not, and has never been, an actual news organization. A large portion of its viewers tune in to hear alt-right lies, attacks on Democrats, and for their daily affirmation in culture wars nonsense. The drop in viewership sort of puts a dent into those who keep crowing about Fox being more popular than other cable news outlets–Fox’s popularity is based on pandering to MAGA BS, and once it stops doing this, viewership drops. This proves that the people at Fox are not, and have never been, journalists–they are pundits.
As to the current piece, Bloomington is a college town–the main campus of Indiana University that has a medical school, law school, dental school, nursing school, various other professional degrees and offers degrees in the arts, including various kinds of music degrees, including choral, composing, conducting, instrumental, etc. IU is a home to educated people and people getting an education. This is not a place that would welcome the MAGA-loser attacks on trans people.
Gigi once again parts from reality. The Fox viewership is greater than MSNBC and CNN combined. Gigi just can’t find this never never land with the material between her ears known as gray matter. Earth to Gigi. Earth to Gigi. Do you read us. To much static.
TIT: not any more. Is this the best response you can come up with, given the fact that when an admitted liar who got fired for insulting his female boss by calling her the “c” word loses HALF of its audience? Fox regulars tuned in to hear LIES from an arrogant, admitted liar, and when it fired one of their most-arrogant liars, the disciples went elsewhere. What does that tell you about whether Fox is a news outlet or just a source for daily affirmation for MAGA disciples, who NEED daily affirmation because they resent the majority of Americans who aren’t uneducated, racist, xenophobic, misogynistic or islamophobic and they can’t get the lies and omissions of fact from mainstream media that they have been conditioned to distrust? It’s just like the stupid argument about the crowd size at MAGA rallies–the disciples will show up in large numbers, but that does not translate to winning elections or constitute a reflection of the views of the majority of Americans–something Trump doesn’t understand.
When has Carlson “admitted lying ? He has admitted that it was stupid of him to support the war in Iraq and he deeply and sincerely regrets that.
Has anyone on the left said the same ? Clinton ? Biden ? Harris ? Obama ? Pelosi ?
What is it that you think Fox is lying about ?
You provided a list in another post and you were absymally wrong on all counts.
I am not a big fox or Carlson fan – but if we are picking the lessor evil – that is Fox and Carlson or Trump over Biden.
You have been lying about the Biden economy for 2 years. But it is impossible to hide anymore, and it gets worse by the day.
No one expects that 2023 growth will be over 1%.
Trump had 2% average growth over 4 years and 1.4% inflation.
Biden has 1.4% growth and 15% inflation – that still is above 6%
Americans gained 4500/year in real income under Trump.
They have lost 7500 so far under Biden.
Nor is anything likely to get better anytime soon.
Biden is a total failure.
Trump is not a fraction so great as he claims, but he remains the best president of the 21st century.
Whether you like it or not – that is indisputable.
However bad a president you think Trump was – he STILL was better than Biden. Obama or Bush.
It is too early to know exactly what the future will be, But Carlson is not going away.
Nor are his viewers, or the people who left Fox, They did not leave for CNN.
Firing Carlson is liokely the worst mistake Murdock has ever made.
And the best thing for independent journalism ever.
Soooooo, you don’t understand the concept of “free speech.” Check.
Gigi, I am concerned for your mental health. It may be painful but at our next session I will have to present this fact. Among total viewers, Fox News DOMINATED prime time with 2.262 million viewers, followed by MSNBC (1.165 million viewers) and CNN (587,000 viewers).Feb, 2023. I know this will be painful but if you are ever to be brought back to reality it is necessary to bring you to an understanding that your preconceived notion have no basis in fact. I know it is painful but the only way to recovery is to first admit you have a problem. Otherwise it’s wacko land forever.
The REALITY is that Fox peddles lies to people who need to hear lies–that Trump was a successful president, that he is popular, that there is a “Biden crime family”, that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump, that Kari Lake really won, that Trump would have won if the Hunter Biden scandal had been disclosed….the list of lies and culture wars nonsense Fox peddles goes on. The MAGA people are DISCIPLES–people who have an emotional need to be reassured by the lies peddled by Fox, but they don’t reflect the majority of the American people. Just like people with religious faith who will go to church no matter what, the MAGA disciples will tune in no matter what–but they are a very distinct minority of the American people. You cannot equate cable viewership to the total American population. And, this is just CABLE viewership. I don’t know the numbers you claim or where they got them, but Fox itself reported a 50% drop in viewers when it fired Carlson. If Fox was just a news outlet, that wouldn’t have happened. What need did Carlson meet for viewers? That question is answered by looking at the content of his broadcasts–lies, including the Big Lie and lies about voting equipment, attacks on Democrats, especially Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, AOC and Ilhan Omar, culture wars nonsense, and promoting Trump. The majority of Americans don’t agree and don’t need daily affirmation. That is the reality you cannot handle.
“that Trump was a successful president”
Bush – Growth over 8 years 2%
Obama – 1.48%
Trump 2% 0 with a pandemic.
Biden – 1.6% despite inheriting 5% grwoth post pandemic.
Virtually no one is predicting 2023 growth to exceed 1%.
Trump inflation 1.4% over 4 years. Biden 15% over 2 years./
“that he is popular”
Trump 2024 +4 over Biden. +30 over DeSantis. Biden +20 over RFK jr.
“that there is a “Biden crime family”,”
Manafort went to jail for far less than Hunter Biden.
There were no IRS or FBI agents claiming that the Trump admin was preventing the prosecution of Manafort.
There are no credible allegations that the Trump family is crackheads and human traffickers.
Eric Trump did not lie on his firearms application, not throw his gun in a dumpster.
There are not over 100 Suspicious Activity reports regarding the Trump family.
“that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump,”
Yet, thje majority of americans beleive that.
“that Kari Lake really won,”
If you do not want to have to deal with challenges like that
conduct elections fairly honestly tranparently and without massive errors.
“that Trump would have won if the Hunter Biden scandal had been disclosed”
10% of democrats polled say they would not have voted for Biden
That may not be true – but it is what the polls say.
Regardless if the number was only 0.5% the election would have flipped.
So if 19 out of 20 democrats who claim they would not have voted for Biden are lying.
Trump still would have won.
“the list of lies and culture wars nonsense Fox peddles goes on. The MAGA people are DISCIPLES–people who have an emotional need to be reassured by the lies peddled by Fox,”
Fox is down over 50% in key metrics.
Tucker Carlson had over 70M views of his short video essentially saying he is not going anywhere.
Contra your nonsense – these people are not influenced by Fox, Fox is influenced by them.
They did not leave Fox for CNN or MSNBC – which are all still int he dumps.
They left for NewsMax or OAN.
“but they don’t reflect the majority of the American people.”
Even AFTER the DVS and Carlson debalces – Fox STILL dominate all other networks.
Whether you like it or not that DOES mean they reflect the majority of people.
Further on issue after issue – Democrats are on the wrong side of the majority and Trump is not.
In fact – without the bagage of Trump, Trump’s platform crushes democrats.
“Just like people with religious faith who will go to church no matter what”
Pascal argues that a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas if God does exist, they stand to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (an eternity in Hell).
Do you have a problem with people going to church ?
“the MAGA disciples will tune in no matter what”
And yet they left.
“but they are a very distinct minority of the American people.”
And yet Disney lost 50% of its market Cap in 18 months. AHB has lost 7% in 2 weeks, and 17% in sales.
“You cannot equate cable viewership to the total American population.”
Correct – most of the rest of the country is less well informed and more conservative.
“Fox itself reported a 50% drop in viewers when it fired Carlson.”
Correct – pretty much falsifying your claim that these people are Fox thrals.
And yet AFTER a 50% loss, Fox STILL has 7 of the top 10 shows.
“If Fox was just a news outlet, that wouldn’t have happened.”
Why not ?
“What need did Carlson meet for viewers?”
The truth is one possibility.
“That question is answered by looking at the content of his broadcasts–lies, including the Big Lie and lies about voting equipment”
And yet to this day you can not prove that is a lie.
The collusion delusion is a lie.
The claim that the Biden laptop was russian disinformation is a lie.
The claim that SM did not censor conservatives is a lie.
The claim that government did not participate in political censorship is a lie.
Pretty much everything democrats have said is a lie.
But while it is highly unlikely that DVS flipped the election – that has not been proven a lie.
There have only been 3 counties in the US that audit DVS counts.
“attacks on Democrats, especially Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, AOC and Ilhan Omar”
You attack republicans all the time.
Name any GOP presidential candidate that has not been called a NAZI ?
“culture wars nonsense”
That is easy to solve – the left needs to not be so far over their skis.
“promoting Trump.”
Fox generally and Carlson specifically are anti-Trump.
They are just also anjti-left wing nut.
“The majority of Americans don’t agree and don’t need daily affirmation.”
Probably not. But you have no evidence that the makeup of the country is not similar to that of cable news viewers.
Regardless, on issue after issue the left is unpopular.
“That is the reality you cannot handle.”
Your the one posting debunked conspiracy theories.
Virtully nothing you said is true. I will just start with a couple of obvious things: the failed fake “presidency” the pig cheated to get. Trump inherited a successful economy he proceeded to trash with his stupid trade war with China that backfired spectacularly. Something the moron you worship doesn’t understand is that when he enacted tariffs, the increased cost of doing business didn’t come out of China’s profits–it was passed on to American consumers in the form of higher prices, which resulted in lower demand, especially after the pandemic hit and so many people lost their jobs–something else Biden fixed–he set a record for job growth This is why there has been a shortage of computer chips, that Biden has cured with passing the Chips Act to stimulate domestic chip production; but the lag in production has caused a shortage of certain consumer goods, especially those that require computer chips. Now that Biden turned around the economic disaster Trump left us with, demand is up, but production lags; higher demand with lower availability causes higher prices and is contributing to inflation. It’s especially rich when Republicans try to blame inflation on Biden. Then, there’s his insults to our EU and NATO allies and Trump’s active lobbying on behalf of Putin, which emboldened Putin into believing that he could just waltz into Ukraine and take over. He never dreamed that Biden could mend these rifts and pull together a coalition with our NATO and EU allies to help Ukraine to fight back. Finland recently joined NATO, an organization Trump regularly trashed. If the pig’s plot to steal Biden’s victory had worked, Zelenskyy would be dead, Ukraine would be defeated by Russia and Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would be fighting off Putin. WWIII might have been the result, and the US would certainly have been drawn in. Trump’s botched handling of the pandemic made it drastically worse than it had to be, and his lying about the seriousness caused, according to public health experts,130,000 unnecessary American deaths.
As to Republicans, they have literally NOTHING to offer America: their policy on near-total abortion bans is very unpopular–most Americans, including most Republican voters, support the Roe framework. Most Americans are not anti-trams, anti-gay or otherwise anti-LGBTQ. Most Americans don’t support banning books or rolling back environmental and consumer regulations or letting corporations or the very wealthy get away without paying their fair share of the tax burden to finance America. Republicans have virtually nothing to replace Obamacare, contrary to one of your hero’s lies about having a better plan. Obamacare is very popular. Americans don’t support ending school lunch programs, SNAP benefits, prenatal care, or cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, either. Americans support limits on prescription drug prices. Biden has gotten the price of insulin lowered to $35 per month–very popular with Americans. What do Republicans have to offer that’s better–nothing. Americans also know that if the pig were to be re-elected, there would be 4 years of unending vengeance, just like Republicans in the House are spending their time and our money doing, instead of working to solve our problems. Americans also know that Trump has no leadership skills–his only legislative accomplsihment was a tax cut mostly benefitting the wealthy. Biden got passed the Chips Act, Veterans Relief Act, Inflation Reduction Act, that lower the cost of insultin, a historic Infrastructure Act that will fix our bridges, roads and airports and create thousands of good-paying jobs. Trump is so incompetent he couldn’t even successfully run a casino without going bankrupt.
“Virtully nothing you said is true.”
Then you will have no trouble proving that with FACTS.
” I will just start with a couple of obvious things: the failed fake “presidency” the pig cheated to get. ”
Do you think that slathering on insults and negative adjectives actually changed facts.
The only party caught cheating in recent elections has been the democrats.
“Trump inherited a successful economy”
He Did ? Certainly not according to the data. The obama 8 year average Growth in standard of living was approx 1.6%/yr.
That is very nearly as bad as you can get without going into recession. Bush was slightly better at just under 2%.
Biden actually did inherent an economy that was bursting to get moving – Growth was 6% in January 2021. That is what Biden inherited.
Trumps average Growth was 2% including 2020 which had 2 negative quarters due to Covid – one massively negative. But Trump managed to get 2020 to an average of 0% – with Covid – by having massive growth in Q3 and Q4.
“he proceeded to trash with his stupid trade war with China that backfired spectacularly.”
This is an incredibly stupid argument – why ? Because with very few exceptions Biden is continuing nearly all of Trump’s trade policies.
I do not completely agree with Trump’s trade policies. But they do not suddenly become magically good when they become Biden’s trade policies.
“Something the moron you worship doesn’t understand is that when he enacted tariffs, the increased cost of doing business”
Yup, and it still does.
“didn’t come out of China’s profits”
Chinese profits on US sales are not that large as China subsidizes lots of US Trade, both directly and by pegging its currency.
The actual result of this is that US consumers get lower prices at the expense of the chinese people.
“It was passed on to American consumers in the form of higher prices”
In specific areas that did occur – and the moneyh went into the cofferes of the US government – that is where tarriffs go.
They are just like sales taxes and funded the federal government from 1787-1916.
“which resulted in lower demand”
2016 imports from China were 150B.
2020 imports from China were 250B
2022 imports from China were 300B.
“especially after the pandemic hit”
The pandemic was globally economically devastating – entirely the result of lockdowns and business restrictions in the US and elsewhere.
2Q 2020 was the worst single qtr economic decline in US history. 3Q 2020 was the largest single Q gain in US history.
Net Growth for 2020 was 0% Thye pandemic had about a 3% negative impact on the US economy – as it did throughout the world – mostly because of bad Covid policy.
“and so many people lost their jobs”
People did lose their jobs – though mostly in blue states.
“something else Biden fixed”
Nope, Biden just continued trends that predated him.
There was a huge blip in jobs as a result of covid – but it was mostly over before Biden took office.
“He set a record for job growth”
Nope.
“This is why there has been a shortage of computer chips”
Nope. 3 major facts created the Chip shortage. Pandemic impacts on production in Semiconductor producing countries.
a 13% spike in demand as a result of the stay at home economy. A severe draught in china that resulted in a shortage of ultrapure watter needed for Chip production.
“that Biden has cured with passing the Chips Act ”
An incredibly stupid bill.
When will you left wing nuts learn economics.
The laws of supply and demand guarantee that the Semiconductor problem – like every other similar problem anywhere ever would ultimately solve itself.
I would note that the YOY growth in Semiconductors in 2020 was 22% – about the same as it has been every year for the past 2 decades.
“to stimulate domestic chip production;”
The US is the leading producer of high end semiconductors – and always has been.
Taiwan is the worlds largest semiconductor manufacturer – producing 40% of global semiconductors – though less high end that the US.
China produces about 10% of the global semi conductors – but NONE of the high end chips. They do not have the capability to do so.
It is likely that China share of the market will grow – because they are good at producing commodity semiconductors dirt cheap.
This is actualy very good for the US and the world. Most of the semiconductors used in IoT application – come from China.
The Smart in your Smart Light, comes from China. But the CPU in your iphone comes from the US or Taiwan. And the CPU in your laptop or Desktop comes from the US.
Certain parts of the US semiconductor market are seriously threatened – By Taiwan and South Korea.
I worked for Micron for several years. The largest US manafacturer of Memory chips – 3rd in the world, But Micron is losing to South Korea and Taiwan.
To Samsung. Not to China.
Regardless, the Chips bill is just a typical government boondoggle – like Government funding of Solar – how well did Solyndra work out ?
“but the lag in production has caused a shortage of certain consumer goods, especially those that require computer chips.”
False – please read my remarks above. There was a global shortage – mostly gone. But there was no actual drop in production.
There was a spike in demand as a result of the pandemic.
“Now that Biden turned around the economic disaster Trump left us with”
GiGi – there is no need for me to argue this – your claim is ludicrously stupid.
Buy nearly every metric Biden has been an economic disaster.
Over Trump’s 4 years REAL WAGES went up by 4500/family for Working class families.
In two years real wages have declined by 7500/family for the same working class families.
And the bloodshed is only starting. Bidens average growth so far is 1.4% – but the GOOD projections for 2023 are 1%.
And many projections are for negative growth in 2023.
It is likely we will see more bank failures. layoffs, and worse.
Much of this is baked in – it is the consequence of what the Fed needs to do to combat inflation – Trump’s grotesque Covid spending is responsible for about 1/3 of that inflation. But Biden’s profligate spending is responsible for the rest – that includes the IRA and Chips act which you tout.
These are MISTAKES that are making things worse not better.
Worse still there will be massive political preassure on both Biden and the Fed to bypass the deliberately caused recession that we need to clear inflation.
The worst possible outcome for the country in 2023 would be to NOT have a recession, because the alternative is years of stagflation.
Whether you like it or not – we are either headed for recession or stagflation – the consequences of the profligate spending by Biden.
And the Fed monetizing US debt. I would note that the Bank Bailout they just pulled off – dumped another 300B into the economy – making inflation even harder to fight.
“demand is up”
Not significantly.
Demand increased by 1.5T from July 2020 to Jan 2021. It has only increased by .5T since Jan 2021.
“but production lags”
Production is not legging persee – the Demand you are claiming – is weak and producers respond.
“higher demand with lower availability causes higher prices and is contributing to inflation.”
Nope.
Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomena.
Milton Freidman.
I would note this is tautologically true. The NORM for a functioning economy absent a federal bank is mild DEFLATION.
Production increases – that is the norm. Money supply does not increase, Overall Prices MUST drop.
You can have price spikes in specific commodities – such as oil – as a result of supply disruptions.
But this price spikes are always short term and MUST be balanced by proce drops elsewhere – if money supply is fixed.
You can only have inflation – economy wide net price increases if money supply increases faster than production.
“It’s especially rich when Republicans try to blame inflation on Biden.”
No it is just a fact.
AGAIN:
Inflation is ALWAYS a monetary phronomena – too much money chasing the same amount of goods.
“Then, there’s his insults to our EU and NATO allies”
Do you really think that NATO and the EU is happy that the US blew up the Nordstream Pipelines ?
Do you really think that NATO and the EU are happy that Biden triggered an unnecescary war in Ukraine ?
“Trump’s active lobbying on behalf of Putin,”
Honestly you left wing nuts are banana’s.
Who colluded with Russians in 2016 ? Not Trump – But Clinton ?
Who got paid 500K for speaking in Russia – Bill Clinton.
Who received 140M from Russian Oligarchs ? The Clinton foundation.
Who negotiated the Uranium One Deal ? Clinton and Obama ?
You do understand when we talk of the Biden corruption in Ukraine – that is Money the Biden;’s received from RUSSIAN oligarchs.
I can go on and on.
From 1989 Forward the US goal regarding Russia should have been GOOD relations with Russia. Universally Russian aggression has been the result of US meddling in Russian neighbor states. These are mistakes made by Clinton, Bush, Obama. NOT Trump.
Putin started wars against his neighbors during the Clinton. Bush. Obama, and Biden presidencies – NOT Trump.
Trump is the only president since Ford to NOT start a foreign conflict.
“which emboldened Putin into believing that he could just waltz into Ukraine and take over.”
There are numerous actual Russia experts who have predicted every Russian act of aggression.
I would suggest searching for John Meerscheimer on Youtube for a start.
He predicted the Georgia Invasion, the Crimea invasion and the current war.
Each of those was started for exactly the same reason – Loose talk by the US about incorporating GA or Ukraine into NATO
Further Russia did not invade Ukraine in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, or 2021.
They invaded Ukraine in 2022 – After Biden had been in office for a full year.
Like the botched afghan Withdraw – Biden owns this.
“Finland recently joined NATO, an organization Trump regularly trashed.”
Are you capable of grasping that The US should diminish its role in NATO concurrently with that Finland and Sweden should Join ?
One of the things that should be self evident from the Ukraine War is that Any two consequential countries in the EU on their own are capable of standing up to Russia today.
I do not support Trump in many things. Though he is still far better than left wing nuts in most everything.
Trump as an example participated int he militarization of US local police – something Biden lead in the Senate, and continues to as president,
There is no good role for the Federal Government in Local Law Enforcement PERIOD, and the efforts of Democrats and Republicans at the federal level regarding local law enforcement has ALL been entirely bad – though the militarization of the police is the WORST – and Biden is one of the architects of that. And Trump a willing participant.
But one of the places Trump has been among the best presidents since Nixon is foreign Policy. That absolutely surprised me. I did not expect that Trump would be good on that.
Regardless the World is changing – much of that change started BEFORE Trump. But Trump more so than anyone recognized that change and got on board early.
Whether you like it or not Biden at Best is lagging slightly behind Trump there. But still on the same page.
So lets discuss the WORLD – Not Trump or Biden.
We are at the end of the US as the Policeman for the World era. It did not work out that well, and we do not have the political will or the power to do that anymore.
The US Navy is down from 600 ships to less than 300. While we have the most capable Carrier Battle Groups in the world – nothing even comes close.
AirCraft Carriers that the US has mothballed, scrapped or sunk are far superior to anything any other nation has. Neitehr France, the UK, Russia, China, or India have an aircraft carrier that matches a US Forestal Class carrier – that is a Vietnam Era pre-nuclear carrier. No one else has nuclear carriers. no one else has carriers as large, no one else has carriers with catapults. These are all very important difference.
But for all the strength of our CBG’s what we can not do – which the US did in conjuction with the British until the mid 20th century and alone into the 21st is secure global Trade.
The US has left the Persian Gulf both diplomatically and militarily – and we have seen Tankers being pirated by Iran – and we are doing nothing about it.
Just to be clear – I am GLAD that the US is no longer the policeman of the world. I am glad we are out of the Persian gulf.
But whether I am glad or not – this is happening. We are not willing to commit to that level of military anymore.
Not Trump, Not Biden.
The War in Ukraine NEVER should have happened – likely more than 300,000 people have died as a result.
It was avoidable. and it is ENTIRELY Biden’s fault. In MULTIPLE ways.
He botched the Afghan withdraw leaving the impression we are weak.
He restricted US energy growthb – empowering and emboldening Putin, and giving him massive leverage.
And finally his administration engaged in lose talk about Ukraine joining NATO.
Putin has made clear – and Most Russians support this, that neighboring countries joining NATO is his Line in the sand, his Red Flag.
Russia is a dying superpower. They will be irrelevant in a decade or so.
We did not need a War to accomplish that.
Neither Putin nor Russia have the right to decide who joins NATO.
But wise people do not back wounded animals into a corner.
Every US President since Clinton has had to deal with Putin invading a neighbor EXCEPT TRUMP.
Trump did not cause this – he OBVIOUSLY prevented it. But you are too clueless to see the truth.
This war has been Eye-Opening – BUT it has only shown us what wise people already KNEW.
NATO is actually capable of taking care of itself. Russia is a shadow of its former power.
Russia is no longer a military threat to Europe.
Trump Pushed NATO HARD to Stand up to Russia and to take responsibility for its own defense.
He was not alone in that – Both Bush and Obama quietly pushed for that.
But Trump was vocal about it.
Regardless, the Future is pretty clear – Europe will be fully responsible for its own defense, and the US will diminish its role in NATO.
Russia will fade.
All of that was inevitable, and could have been accomplished without a War, and hundreds of thousands of dead people, and the risk of global nuclear war.
The onlything Unusual About Trump in that regard is that he SAID this out loud. Regardless, it is happening.
I would further note this ALSO factors into the Mideast. The US does not need the Mideast. We started getting out before Trump.
But we were getting out regardless. Between US energy, Canadian, Mexican and that of South america – the US and the western hemisphere are entirely energy self sufficient.
We do not need the mideast. EUROPE DOES. The US role int he mideast must and will be replaced by the Europeans.
That is THEIR source of energy. Not OURS. We should not be shedding blood their.
Trump managed an historic peace deal there, and got the US out of the mideast.
Biden is pissing off the Saudi’s. He appears to have been wise enough to abandon efforts to appease the Iranians.
Regardless, I fully expect as global economic conditions worsen – that the mideast is going to become even more unstable.
This is NOT our problem. Europe depends on the Mideast – the US does not.
China depends on the mideast. The US does not.
Today China needs US naval power to protect the global trade that is critical to its survival. The US does not.
We can easily protect the trans atlantic and trans pacific trade that is critical to us, or the growing south american trade.
The US no longer needs to care about mediterainian Trade, or Indian ocean Trade.
Those are problems for the UK, the EU and China.
Further we want countries like China to have to start trying to protect their own Trade.
The burden of doing so will reduce their ability to threaten their neighbors.
Today it is China that has the long vulnerable supply lines – Not the US. The tankers Iran has pirated recently are all chinese.
Regardless,once again the world is in the midst of a global restructure – Trump did not cause that, but he was ahead of most of us in recognizing it.
The Big US role in the near term is in Asia – particularly the pacific Rimand consists of containing China.
Obama sought to do so – BADLY, Trump did so far better – uniting pretty much all countries surrounding China with the US.
Trump gave the Australians US Nuclear Submarines – that is a HUGE containment of China.
Trump got the Philipines to Reopen Subic Bay to the US – that is a massive improvement in our ability to maintain naval power off the pacific coast of China.
Trump struck the deal creating a giant island Aircraft carrier jointly with Japan in the South China Sea.
Trump has shifted Japan back to being a regional military and most importantly Naval power.
Japan’s current aircraft carriers are superior to those of China. And Japan has publicly committed to the defense of Taiwan if China attacked.
India has a long way to go to be a capable naval power – that takes almost a century to develop – but they are working on it.
Each of these is at odds with Chinese ambitions.
Obama actually tried to accomplish unifying Pacific rim countries to contain China – Trump succeeded.
I would further note that China’s relationship to the world did not go off the rails until Xi took over in 2013.
Prior to that China was a rising economic powerhouse NOT a military one, and not a threat to its neighbors.
“If the pig’s plot to steal Biden’s victory had worked,”
Can we actually get a grip on reality. The only misconduct in 2016, 2020, 2022 was by Democrats.
Republicans did not push this Russia. Russia, Russia nonsense.
Republicans did not use Covid as an excuse to run a lawless election.
Republicans did not censor the crap out of their political enemies.
Republicans did not spend 1/2 billion to take over local election machinery in the 6 key cites that tipped the election.
Republicans did not engage in massive ballot harvesting that is illegal in every state but California.
Republicans did not push various alphabet federal agencies to participate ILLEGALLY in the election.
” Zelenskyy would be dead, Ukraine would be defeated by Russia and Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would be fighting off Putin. WWIII might have been the result, and the US would certainly have been drawn in.”
Or more likely – The US would be producing more energy and Putin would not have beleived he had any leverage over Europe,
The US withdraw from afghanistan would not have mader the US look weak.
The US would not have engaged in stupid and lose talk of Ukraine Joining NATO.
The claim that Putin has territorial ambitions is NONSENSE. Russia/Putin has made it perfectly clear that NATO at Russian borders is an unacceptable Threat.
Its prior forays into Georgia, and Ukriane were ALL triggered by idiotic moves to bring those countries into NATO.
Why did Putin invade his neighbors during The Clinton Bush, Obama, and Biden presidencies and NOT Trump’s ?
Simple. Trump was not looking to Expand NATO into Russia backyard.
Trump actually talked about a stronger NATO – Paid for by Europe, that was capable of DEFENDING itself.
Not of NATO threatening its neighbors.
I would further note that or the first 90days of the Ukraine War Biden’s role was entirely rhetorical.
The US had ZERO ability to provide Ukraine with consequential Aide rapidly.
Ukraine fended off Russia because of the US weapons and training it received starting after the 2014 invasion of Crimea,
And Because Ukraine had prepared itself.
Biden gets credit for continuing military aide to Ukraine in 2021, but nearly all the weaponry that enabled Ukraine to hold the Russians off the first 90 days came to Ukraine during the Trump administration – Not Biden.
For the first 90days of the War all the US had to offer was rhetoric.
That is not Biden’s fault – it is just the way things are.
The only way the US can deliver aide to Ukraine was via airlift, and it is way beyond any countries ability to supply more than very basics via Air.
I would further ntoe – as we have seen – even the delivery of US weapons systems have taken months.
HIMARS did not arrive in Ukraine until the fall of 2022. That was a massive shift int he war. Prior to that Ukrainian forces were ALWAYS under the Russian artillery,
But only very front line Forces were under Ukrainian artillery.
It has taken almost a year to negotiate supplying Ukraine with tanks – prior to that they have been surviving on their own Soviet era Tanks, plus repaired Russian tanks off the battlefield. Ukraine has recovered about 1000 Russian Tanmks over the past year – and may have more working Russian Tanks in Ukraine than Russia does.
I would further note that though US financial aide dwarfs that of NATO a substantial portion of the weaponry – aside from advanced weaponry has been coming from Europe – especially eastern block countries like Checklosovakia, and Poland.
You are also ignorant of the fact that Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, and Poland are outside of the US among the more significant arms producers of the world.
Germany wanted checklosovakia prior to invading Poland specifically because of their Arms manufacturing.
Most of us – including the entire Biden administration were shocked when Ukraine was still there 96 hours after the invasion started.
Aside from training and weaponry provided long before the start of the War by Obama, mostly Trump and then Biden,
The Ukrainians were on their own at the start. The onlything Biden had to offer was Words.
The BIGGEST thing the US did – was NOT providing Ukraine with weapons, But Honoring Trump’s committment to guarantee European Energy supplies.
That had lots of bumps – because Biden had moved in the wrong direction on Energy.
But just BARELY the US was able to replace energy to Europe as the Russians cut back.
Separately – though bad for the Ukrainian military. Europe had a historically warm winter. Which was HUGE
Otherwise Europe would have had to choose between people freezing to death in their homes and shutting down European industry.
Biden delivered on TRUMP’s promise. But he did so using infrastructure that TRUMP had allowed.
The US replaced all of Russian Gas exports to Europe with LNG from the US.
You can pretend all you want – but it takes 4 years to build that kind of LNG infrastructure.
And the ONLY consequential source of LNG in the world is the US.
LNG is a much more complex technology than Natural Gas that it derives from.
Massive shipments of LNG are outside of the capacity of any country except the US.
Europe did get NG from countries other than Russia – such as Poland.
And that was very important. But it was not ever close to sufficient.
You do not hear much about the US energy War with Russia – which is the most important – because without it Europe would not have supported Ukraine.
You do not hear much about it because – aside from Trump cutting red tape to make it possible it was accomplished entirely privately.
And left wing nuts never give the ACTUAL economy credit for the fact that That is where our entire standard of living comes from NOT government.
“Trump’s botched handling of the pandemic made it drastically worse than it had to be”
Again according to JHU Covid killed 1.2M people in the US. It has killed almost 10,000 in the past month.
If Trump botched Covid – so did every nation on earth, and Biden certainly is doing no better.
But the FACT is that There was nothing government could have done about Covid.
We have NEVER EVER stopped a respiratory virus once its gets a toehold.
That you countinue this Covid nonsense is more proof that you are disconnected from reality.
To the extent Trump “botched” covid – that woul dbe the same as Biden has, and every other world leader.
And that is in damaging their economy in fruitless efforts that did no good and a great deal of Harm.
I noted that 1.2M americans died of Covid according to JHU.
But the actual number of “excess deaths” is 3 times that – and nearly all of those are under Biden.
These are people who died of drug oversoses, of suicides, of health problems that got poor treatment as the medical fascilities focused on Covid – not cancer, not heart disease, or from growing violence, or from adverse effects from vaccines.
Regardless, the very things you think we needed to more of killed far more people than Covid.
“and his lying about the seriousness caused, according to public health experts,130,000 unnecessary American deaths.”
And what have THOSE experts been correct about ?
These are the same people who lied to us about lockdowns, Masks, the origens of Covid, Vaccines, Schools, …..
Why do you beleive any of them ?
Regardless, they are actively trying to cover for the fact that FOLLOWING their policies is the actual cause of not 130K excess deaths – But Millions in the US alone.
To the extent that Trump is responsible – that would be because he did SOME of the stupidity that Biden did.
Regardless, like everything else you are on the worng side of Covid.
“As to Republicans, they have literally NOTHING to offer America”
Ameirca needs very little from government.
As Adam Smith noted 250 years ago
Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice; all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things. All governments which thwart this natural course, which force things into another channel, or which endeavour to arrest the progress of society at a particular point, are unnatural, and to support themselves are obliged to be oppressive and tyrannical.
“their policy on near-total abortion bans is very unpopular–most Americans, including most Republican voters, support the Roe framework.”
Roe was reverse decades ago. The Pre-Dobbs framework was Casey Not Roe.
I would note that the lefts ranting over abortion is stupid – Had Dobbs not occured – it is more than certaint hat more restrictive state laws would have been upheldunder Casey – Which is a viability standard – not a trimester standard. Super majorities of americas – YOUR criteria for legitimacy want a near absolute ban of abortion after 20 weeks. A majority after 16 weeks.
I would further note that while Dobbs has had temporary political consequences – it has no ACTUAL consequences.
And this was predictable. Abortion laws have ebbed and flowed accross the US for a century. But the frequency of abortions remained constant.
Even Passing Rowe actually made no icrease in the number of abotrtions nor any increase in the number of women dying from abortions.
It merely changed whether they were legal or not.
Post roe – as the court supported slowly more restrictive abortion laws – the ACTUAL consequence was women acting Sooner.
That is all. Gutmacher – an arm of Planned Parenthood is the Source for that data.
Restrrict late abortions – and women decide earlier. Restrict abortions entirely and women practice better birth control.
I would further note that th eleft’s fixation on “The greater good” rather than individual rights as the foundation for govenrment powers,
Will ultimately result in banning abortion from the left entirely.
Why ? Because the consequences of declining birth rates are economically devastating.
China has entirely reversed its one child policy and is now pushing women to have 3 and 4 kids.
It will not be long before China bans abortion. And the rest of the left will follow.
As you are a great advocate of Abortion – I would suggest watching “One Child Nation” on Amazon Prime.
It is free with a prime subscription.
Under China’s one child policy more babies were aborted – mostly late in pregancy and some after birth than people living in the US today –
more than 350M abortions in china.
I will warn you the imagery and discussions are not pleasant.
https://www.primevideo.com/detail/One-Child-Nation/0GZ2LE5BY2CRP61ER2IEOTWHEG
This makes the holocaust look pale in comparison.
“Most Americans are not anti-trams, anti-gay or otherwise anti-LGBTQ.”
Correct – probably 98% of all americans are not Anti-LGBTQ+.
Nor are they raceist and sexist.
This is more word games by the left.
I have zero problems with Gay people – I probably have more gay friends than straight.
I do not give a schiff if you are trans.
But I do care about alot of things that left wings nuts call Anti-LGBTQ+ that are NOT.
1). Do not sexualize children. PERIOD.
2). Parents, not government not teachers are the controlling force in the lives of Children.
3). People who have entered puberty as a male can not participate in domains that have been exclusive to women – such as sports.
No biological males in womens sports, in womens locker rooms.
4). No compelled speech. If you tell me I MUST call you by some pronounds YOU chose,
You will be lucky if I call you by your name. you can have whatever you want if you ask me politely – and I can remember, which I probably wont.
But if you mandate anything – you get NOTHING. I do not care What you are, nor what the topic is about – Compelled speech is wrong, and evil and immoral.
If you can live with the above – we will get along fine. If you can’t – we are at war.
And YOU are on the losing side.
That is not Anti-LGBTQ+ – that is ACTUAL antiFascist.
YOU are the fascist.
YOU are the racists.
“Most Americans don’t support banning books”
No one is seeking to ban books – that is a gigantic red herring.
To the extent anyone is looking to restrict books in Schools – that would be the Left not right.
CA bans Steinbeck, Salinger, and Twain from public schools.
“rolling back environmental and consumer regulations”
I suspect you are wrong. Regardless, whether you are right or wrong about the polls the FACT is that those regulations are stupid.
The entire history of humanity has been towards improving our conditions.
Whether you like it or not – Earth is HOSTILE to human and other life – such that it has taken billions of years for life to get to where it is today.
It has taken 300K years for Humans to get from Caves to cities.
The entirety of that process has been trying to make the earth more habitable for humans.
Fire saved Humans from freezing to death as well as allowed cooking food making it much safe to eat.
For much of human history we burned wood, or peat or Dung – $hit for heat and to cook food.
In much of the world we still do. No single thing humans do is more harmful to life expectance – Except lack of heat, and lack of cooked food.
We switched to coal in the western world – long ago – because it was cleaner and safer than wood, dung, or peat.
We did not do so because it was cheaper. It was not. We did because it was cleaner and safer.
And we have switched from Coal to oil, and oil to Natural Gas and Gas to electric – not because these are cheaper – they are not, but because they are cleaner
We have not made these transitions because govenrment demanded them. We have made them because as standard of living has risen we can afford too.
Regulation has NEVER driven human advancement. Whether it is environmental or product safety.
The improvement in the human condition – environment, left expectance, woprking conditions has ENTIRELY been driven by rising standard of living.
In the US manufacturing businesses provide far greater workplace safety than OSHA requires – Why ?Because workplace injuries to increasingly productive and valueable workers with a higher standard of living are harmful to the bottom line.
Further with extremely few exceptions the entirety of human history has been progress towards longer life, safer work, cleaner living.
The left likes to celebrate indigeouous people. Like it or not the lifestyle of indigeonous peoples are MORE destructive than those of moderns.
You can not safely support a nation of 350M people – living like various indiginous people do.
One of the reasons that indiginous people place the elderly in high regard is that very very very few people live to those ages in those worlds.
Life expectance for Cave men was about 25 years. By the mid 19th century we had gotten that to 45 years in western countries.
Today the western world has life expectance almost to the 80’s and much of the developed world to the late 60’s.
None of this is the consequence of Government.
With specific respect to polution – in the US and throughout the world the greatest poluters are government.
The largest source of water polution int he US is municiple waste treatment.
The hundred of millions of americans who do NOT have municiple waste systems contribute almost NOTHING to water polution.
The most environmentally disruptive event in human history was World War II – particularly in the US.
Contra the Left – the history of humans is almost an unbroken change of improving conditions – for humans and other life.
WWII is the single4 largest reversal of that as the US focused on winning the war not saving the environment.
The Infamous love canal was almost entirely burried chemicals from Military production in WWII or the Korean War.
The Use of the land for peoples Homes was entirely Driven by GOVERNMENT.
If you want real improvement – Get Government OUT of these things.
But as is typical of the left – you are unfamiliar with reality, with Facts,
Recently I watched Ken Burns documentary on the Dust bowl. From end to end Burns fawns over government efforts to end the dust bowl.
Farming methods were changed., Land was bought by government, Animals were bought and slaughtered by government
All to no avail. The dustbowl ended when the drought ended and the rains returned.
The dustbowl has not returned – because farmers discovered a massive aquifer 300-400 ft below the prairies and have tapped that to irrigate
and so no return of the dustbowl.
“letting corporations or the very wealthy get away without paying their fair share of the tax burden to finance America. ”
More nonsesne from the left.
The US has the most progressive taxation of any nation on earth by FAR.
As I recall the top 1% of wealthy pay 20% of all taxes, The top 20% pay 90% of all taxes.
The bottom half of all tax payers pay about 2% of the cost of government.
This is a major problem – the less of the cost of governmnt that ordinary people pay the more they see government programs as free – because they do not pay for them. This is a massive moral hazard.
In poll after polls – every single left wing nut government program from Obama Care to Student loan forgivenes has supermajority opposition if people beleive it will cost them as little as 100/yr in higher taxes.
The only people in the US that need to pay more in taxes are ordinary people. THAT is what will bring disasterous govenrment spending under control.
But those ont he left are partly right about one thing – Ultimately corporations and the wealthy do not pay taxes – and they never will.
Every single dollar in taxes on corporations and the wealthy is ultimately paid for in higher costs for goods and services.
I would note that the laws of economics actually dictate that. If the wealthy and businesses could not pass the costs of taxes down to consumers they would cease producing. PERIOD.
You can increase what the wealthy and businesses pay in taxes – but that cost will STILL be born by YOU.
I would further note we are already at or very near peak tax revenue though taxes. Christine Romer – Obama’s Cheif Economic advisor determined that the highest tax rate on income that did not result in a LOSS of tax revenue was between 33% and 35%. In the US we are between 40% and 50% depending on the state.
So you can game the tax system all you want to Punish the wealthy – that are already paying far more than “their fare share”.
But you will not get more tax revenue, and you will end up with higher prices and lower growth.
This is BTW the failure of European Social Democracy – an exodus of the wealthy, and low growth and weaker growth in standard of living.
Taxes in Europe are still too high – and their weaker economies and lower growth reflect that. But they are much lower than they used to be – especially on the wealthy.
“Republicans have virtually nothing to replace Obamacare, contrary to one of your hero’s lies about having a better plan.”
Correct., They do not need to. While there are things we could do better – just get the governmnt entirely out of healthcare.
Quality will improve and price will decline. Regardless, no program to replace Obamacare is needed – because none is necescary.
Obamacare is an expensive failure. It is costing us about $2T/decade FOR NOTHING. Health care is more expnesive – but not better.
There is no fundimental difference in healthcare – even for the poor.
“Obamacare is very popular.”
I doubt that. It does not apply to most people, and those it does have in many instances been more harmed by its limited choices than what they had before.
“Americans don’t support ending school lunch programs, SNAP benefits, prenatal care,”
Really ? Most americans are clueless about those programs.
Regardless, Conservatives and Bill Clinton actually reformed all of that with great success 2+ decades ago.
With 2008 Obama brought much of that back – to no beneficial effect.
“or cutting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, either.”
No one supports that. But if we do nothing – it will happen regardless. We have two choices – do something about it now – or better still we should have 2 decades ago. Or let the problem be even worse in the future.
We are very very close to the point where entitlements consume ALL government tax revenue. And whether you like it or not – we are already at – or likely past peak possible govenrment revenue. Those of you on the left can bury your head in the sand if you want.
But you can not have government consume much more than 1/3 the economy. And we are already past that. Not only wont it work, but it will not actually happen.
You ranted previously about Trump’s tarriffs – which Biden has mostly maintained.
Those do increase the cost of foreign goods. But they also raise some money for the treasury.
Regardless, you are going to have to get it somewhere – and while you can raise taxes on coprporations, and on the wealthy – and you can slow the economy even further as a result. You CAN NOT get more tax revenue. youare already past peak revenue.
\The only source of additonal taxes – whether you like this or not, is the working class – because they can not escape them.
The left is absolutely correct – Elon Musk does not need 400B, He does not need $1B.
He would live as well on 1/500th of what he has.
Musks Billions do not go to making his life better – they go to making YOUR life better. They go to jobs or products.
If you tax Musk further – if he does not find a way to avoid your taxes – he will STILL be fine.
But there will be less investment, less jobs, less economic growth.
You can rant all you want about taxing the wealthy – but you are just taxing yourself inefficiently and indirectly.
“Americans support limits on prescription drug prices.”
Of course they do. But price controls have never worked anywhere EVER.
:What do Republicans have to offer that’s better”
Republicans ? I do not know. Libertarians – have free markets.
The only thing anywhere ever than has actually sustainably reduced the cost of anything.
BTW this is again a mathematical tautology.
Rising standard of living REQUIRES humans producing more of what humans value with less human effort.
The only way standard of living rises – is if efficiency and productivity rise.
There is no other way.
If Biden has actually reduced perscription costs – which I highly doubt, that just means we are paying more for something else.
Absent more efficientcy and productivity you can not reduce the actual price of anything.
“Americans also know that if the pig were to be re-elected, there would be 4 years of unending vengeance, ”
Absolutely – that is what half or more of the country is begging for.
The great Failure of Trump’s presidency is that we elected someone whose motto was “YOUR FIRED!”
I have not voted for Trump ONCE, but if he committs to housecleaning in the federal government – he has my vote.
We do not need the vast majority of people who currently work for the federal govenrment.
We would ALL be far better off if they were working privately.
Government work produces nothing. Standard of living means
PRODUCING MORE. Put 3M federal employees into the free market and we would likely see about $3T in economic growth.
So absolutely I want Trump to “get revenge” – buy firing large portions of the federal government.
As to going after political enemies – Do you really think that most people Care if Trump goes after the people who unconstitutionally and illegally went after him ?
I would greatly prefer we did not weaponize government power for political purposes – But you have already done that.
Few are going top listen to your crocodile tears – turn about is fair play.
You should be very much afraid of political vengeance. You should be very afraid that your political enemies will treat you like you treated them.
And whether you like it or not – very large portions of this country WANTS exactly that.
The WANT to punish you.
The backlash against Bud Light is NOT mostly about Mulvaney and trans issues – despite the fun meme makers are having with that.
It is Because Anheiser Busch made the mistake of giving half the country a clear and easy way to express their anger at political nutjobs like you.
When Kid Rock is machine gunning Beer Cans – it is not about Dylan Mulvaney.
It is About YOU. It is about the stupidity of the policies you are inflicint on all of us.
In fact MUCH of what you call racism, or anti-LGBTQ+ is more about YOU creating a way for ordiunary people to say F#$K YOU – to You and your policies.
Not just Idiotic policies like sexualizing kids or ruining the health of teens. But all the idiotic anti-freedom polices you are selling.
And the damage you have done to the country.
“Jus like Republicans in the House are spending their time and our money doing”
They are doing exactly what people want – Just as the investigation of WaterGate did.
What they have found is far worse than WaterGate. What is bizzare is that those of you on the left and the democratic party are NOT upset about what has been found.
“instead of working to solve our problems.”
The only problems that government can solve are the ones Government created.
“Americans also know that Trump has no leadership skills–his only legislative accomplsihment was a tax cut mostly benefitting the wealthy.”
You are correct that is his only legislative accomplishement – Thank goodness.
The only government legislation I want to see would REDUCE the power of government.
At the same time – I and many others have repeated the long list of actual accomplishments of Trump
As well as the failures of Biden.
Both Trump’s successes and Biden’s failures have almost nothing to do with legislation.
But they do have to do with actual leadership.
Biden has almost never been a leader and he still is not.
Certainly not a good one.
Trump is a difficult person – all good leaders are.
“Biden got passed the Chips Act, Veterans Relief Act, Inflation Reduction Act, that lower the cost of insultin, a historic Infrastructure Act that will fix our bridges, roads and airports and create thousands of good-paying jobs.”
In otherwords price controls that do not work, spending that will increase inflation. and subsidies that do not work.
After all those legislative accomplishment WHY is it that Growth is DOWN from 6% in Jan 2021 to 1% today and an average of 1.4% over the past 2 years.
Why is it that inflation is at 6+% which we have not seen for 40 years.
After all these accomplishements why is EVERYTHING going wrong ?
“Trump is so incompetent”
If Trump is incompetent – “Please Sir Can I have More?”
We can not afford any more of what you call Biden’s competence.,
“he couldn’t even successfully run a casino without going bankrupt.”
Great success requires risking failure. Trump has failed many times.
He has also succeeded many times.
While he is NOT a “self made man” – going from a multi-millionaire to a multi-billionaire is impressive, but it is not a rags to riches story.
But Trump has succeeded in residential realistic, commercial real estate casino’s – despite your claim, hospitality,
domestically, globally, in entertainment, in politics,
Trump has made Billions – and he has made billions for others.
If you had $100,000 to invest – would you invest it in Trump ? Or in Biden ?
If you put your money on Biden – it is no wonder you are so angry and unhappy with life,
and so jealous of those like Trump or his supporters.
Not receiving much reporting – probably because this type of voter fraud has been rampant since we allowed mailin voting in 2020.
Also while it appears the people being prosecuted here are republicans – because god forbid the FBI would both to investigate the hundreds of thousands of instances of the same thing that were done by democrats in 2020 and 2022, still we can not feature this too loudly because someone might notice how easy mailin voter fraud actually is. Or that this occured massively and almost openly by democrats in 2020 and 2022.
https://youtu.be/SFiJnbCKOZw
Gigi, can you provide an example of a book that’s been banned? Also, unless under oath, lies are free speech. I’d like to know if you’ve ever told a lie. If you have, have you been prosecuted and found guilty of a violation of free speech laws. It would be difficult, as there is no law abridging speech. While you’re at it, can you find someone, anyone who was unable to vote due to voter suppression?
I watch Fox News & Fox Business. I am hoping that Trump does not get the nomination. Folks like yourself are convinced that he’s a racist and that you refuse to engage in any discussion, and I’m tired of listening to your screeching ad hominem attacks.
Brendan: why not watch the “Velshi Banned Book Club” for a list (he added a new one just this morning that high schools won’t allow because it deals with transgenderism and abortion) or take a look at the list DeSantis came up with? Trump is a pig, pure and simple, and he constantly lies, pure and simple. Regardless of whether his lies are covered under the First Amendment, they are still lies, and those lies are not innocuous–they are tearing apart our country, especially the Republican party. Trump called Mexicans “rapists, murderers, criminals and animals”. He also wrote an Executive Order banning anyone from a Muslim country from coming to the US, even people with valid visas, including people who were US university students. If that’s not racist and xenophobic, what is it? He spoke of getting away with grabbing women by their genitals–if that’s not misogynistic, then what is it? He referred to women as “fat pigs”–misogynistic. What about Mexico paying to build the wall, like he promised or that he had the largest inauguration crowed in history, disproven by photos, and saying at 2:00 a.m. that he won the election, even though all of the votes weren’t counted yet? Aren’t those lies, too?
I hope he does get the nomination, so he can lose a third time. But, he will still keep on lying, he won’t accept the loss, and he will keep on trying to divide us, so long as any losers show up and cheer for him, which is his reason for doing what he does–that dangerious, massive ego of his. Right now, he claims that polls prove he would win–another lie. The problem is, there are people who will believe whatever lie he tells and who will not listen to or believe the truth. If you don’t think that’s dangerous, then your thinking is skewed
Velshi??? Bahahhahahah.. No thanks. You keep watching your state run Media sources, and we will continue to laugh at you.
Here are 2 other resources. When are you members of Cult 45 going to figure out that people like you don’t speak for most Americans, and therefore, have no basis for claiming that “we” think or do anything? You are in the distinct minority.
This list is from “Banned and Challenged Books” for children:
Allan, Nicholas. Where Willy Went
Allard, Harry. Bumps in the Night
Allard, Harry. The Stupids series
Allington, Richard. Once Upon a Hippo
Ancona, George. Cuban Kids
Avi. The Fighting Ground
Babbitt, Natalie. The Devil’s Storybook
Bailey, Jacqui, and Jan McCafferty. Sex, Puberty, and All That Stuff: A Guide to Growing Up
Bannerman, Helen. Little Black Sambo
Birdseye, Tom. Attack of the Mutant Underwear
Blume, Judy. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret
Blume, Judy. Blubber
Brannen, Sarah S. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding
Brittain, Bill. The Wish Giver
Brown, Laurie Krasny, and Marc Brown. What’s the Big Secret? Talking about Sex with Girls and Boys
Brown, Marc Tolon. Buster’s Sugartime
Butler, Dori Hillestad. My Mom’s Having a Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy
Carle, Eric. Draw Me a Star
Christensen, James, C., Renwick St. James and Alan Dean Foster. Voyage of the Basset
Clutton-Brock, Juliet. Horse (DK)
Cohen, Daniel. Ghostly Warnings
Cohen, Daniel. Phantom Animals
Cole, Babette. Mommy Laid An Egg
Cole, Joanna. Asking About Sex and Growing Up
Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. Jump Ship to Freedom
Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. My Brother Sam is Dead
Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. With Every Drop of Blood
Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War
Coupe, Peter. The Beginner’s Guide to Drawing Cartoons
Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963
Dahl, Roald. James and the Giant Peach
Dahl, Roald. The Witches
de Haan, Linda. King & King
DeClements, Barthe. Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You
Elliot, David. An Alphabet for Rotten Kids
Fierstein, Harvey. The Sissy Duckling
Fogelin, Adrian. My Brother’s Hero
Fox, Mem. Guess What?
Fox, Paula. The Slave Dancer
Garden, Nancy. Holly’s Secret
Geisel, Theodor Seuss. Hop on Pop: The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use
Geisel, Theodor Seuss. If I Ran the Zoo
George, Jean Craighead. Julie of the Wolves
Gordon, Sharon. Cuba
Grove, Vicki. The Starplace
Hahn, Mary Downing. The Dead Man in Indian Creek
Hanford, Martin. Where’s Waldo?
Harper, Charise Mericle. Flashcards of My Life
Harper, Kathryn. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Harris, Robie. It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health
Harris, Robie. It’s So Amazing!: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families
Harris, Robie. Who’s In My Family?: All About Families (Let’s Talk About You and Me)
Henkes, Kevin. Olive’s Ocean
Henson, Jim. For Every Child a Better World
Hergé [Georges Remi]. Tintin in America
Hergé [Georges Remi]. Tintin in the Congo
Herthel, Jessica, and Jazz Jennings. I Am Jazz
Hill, Douglas Arthur. Witches and Magic-Makers
Homes, A.M. Jack
Ignatow, Amy. The Popularity Papers
Jukes, Mavis. It’s a Girl Thing: How to Stay Healthy, Safe and in Charge
Kehret, Peg. Stolen Children
Kellogg, Steven. Pinkerton, Behave!
Kilodavis, Cheryl. My Princess Boy: A Mom’s Story About a Young Boy Who Loves to Dress Up
Kotzwinkle, William, and Glenn Murray. Walter the Farting Dog
L’Engle, Madeleine. A Wrinkle in Time
Lewis, Richard, comp. There Are Two Lives: Poems by Children of Japan
Lindgren, Astrid. The Runaway Sleigh Ride
Lowry, Lois. Anastasia Krupnik series
Lowry, Lois. The Giver.
Madaras, Linda. What’s Happening to My Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons
Madaras, Linda. What’s Happening to My Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters
Martin, Michael. Kurt Cobain
Mayle, Peter. Where Did I Come From?
Mercado, Nancy E., ed. Tripping Over the Lunch Lady and Other Short Stories
Merriam, Eve. Halloween ABC
Merriam, Eve. The Inner City Mother Goose
Mochizuki, Ken. Baseball Saved Us
Nelson, O.T. The Girl Who Owned a City
Newman, Leslea. Heather Has Two Mommies
Okimoto, Jean Davies, and Elaine M. Aoki. The White Swan Express: A Story About Adoption
Opie, Iona. I Saw Esau
Orgel, Doris. The Devil in Vienna
Pardi, Francesca, and Tullio F. Altan. Little Egg (Piccolo uovo)
Park, Barbara. Junie B. Jones (
Parr, Todd. The Family Book
Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia
Paterson, Katherine. The Great Gilly Hopkins
Perritano, John. Amityville
Peters, Lisa Westberg. Our Family Tree: An Evolution Story
Pilkey, Dav. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby: The First Graphic Novel
Pilkey, Dav. Captain Underpants series
Pittman, Gayle E. This Day in June
Polacco, Patricia. In Our Mothers’ House
Pullman, Philip. His Dark Materials series
Quinlan, Patricia. Tiger Flowers
Reavin, Sam. The Hunters Are Coming
Richardson, Justin, and Peter Parnell. And Tango Makes Three
Rodgers, Mary. Freaky Friday
Rosen, Lucy. I Am Bane
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter series
Ruby, Laura. Lily’s Ghosts
Sachar, Louis. The Boy Who Lost His Face
Sachar, Louis. Marvin Redpost: Is He a Girl?
Schniedewind, Nancy. Open Minds to Equality: A Sourcebook of Learning Activities to Affirm Diversity and Promote Equity
Schreier, Alta. Vamos a Cuba ( A Vist to Cuba)
Schwartz, Alvin. And the Green Grass Grew All Around
Schwartz, Alvin. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat
Schwartz, Alvin. Ghosts! Ghost Stories in Folklore
Schwartz, Alvin. Scary Stories series
Sendak, Maurice. In the Night Kitchen
Sherman, Josepha, and T.K.F. Weisskopf. Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts
Silverstein, Shel. A Light in the Attic
Smith, Jeff. Bone series
Snyder, Zilpha Keatley. The Egypt Game
Speare, Elizabeth George. The Sign of the Beaver
Steer, Dugald. Wizardology: The Book of the Secrets of Merlin
Stine, R.L. Goosebumps series
Stroud, Jonathan. The Amulet of Samarkand
Stroud, Jonathan. The Golem’s Eye
Stroud, Jonathan. Ptolemy’s Gate
Tamaki, Mariko, and Jillian Tamaki. This One Summer
Taylor, Mildred D. The Land
Taylor, Mildred D. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Telgemeier, Raina. Drama
Texier, Ophélie. Jean Has Two Moms (Jean a deux mamans)
Toriyama, Akira. Dragon Ball: The Monkey King
Willhoite, Michael. Daddy’s Roommate
Winter, Jeanette. The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq
Winter, Jeanette. Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan
Yep, Laurence. Dragonwings
This list is from PBS:
Here are the titles included in the American Library Association’s “Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010-2019”:
“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie
“Captain Underpants” (series) by Dav Pilkey
“Thirteen Reasons Why” by Jay Asher
“Looking for Alaska” by John Green
“George” by Alex Gino
“And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
“Drama” by Raina Telgemeier
“Fifty Shades of Grey” by E. L. James
“Internet Girls” (series) by Lauren Myracle
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison
“The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini
“Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins
“I Am Jazz” by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“Bone” (series) by Jeff Smith
“The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls
“Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan
“A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo” by Jill Twiss
“Sex is a Funny Word” by Cory Silverberg
“Alice McKinley” (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
“It’s Perfectly Normal” by Robie H. Harris
“Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult
“Scary Stories” (series) by Alvin Schwartz
“Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson
“A Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley
“Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out” by Susan Kuklin
“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
“Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic” by Alison Bechdel
“It’s a Book” by Lane Smith
“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain
“The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien
“What My Mother Doesn’t Know” by Sonya Sones
“A Child Called ‘It’” by Dave Pelzer
“Bad Kitty” (series) by Nick Bruel
“Crank” by Ellen Hopkins
“Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich
“Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi
“The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby” by Dav Pilkey
“This Day in June” by Gayle E. Pitman
“This One Summer” by Mariko Tamaki
“A Bad Boy Can Be Good For A Girl” by Tanya Lee Stone
“Beloved” by Toni Morrison
“Goosebumps” (series) by R.L. Stine
“In Our Mothers’ House” by Patricia Polacco
“Lush” by Natasha Friend
“The Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger
“The Color Purple” by Alice Walker
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon
“The Holy Bible”
“This Book is Gay” by Juno Dawson
“Eleanor & Park” by Rainbow Rowell
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer
“Gossip Girl” (series) by Cecily von Ziegesar
“House of Night” (series) by P.C. Cast
“My Mom’s Having A Baby” by Dori Hillestad Butler
“Neonomicon” by Alan Moore
“The Dirty Cowboy” by Amy Timberlake
“The Giver” by Lois Lowry
“Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank
“Bless Me, Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya
“Draw Me a Star” by Eric Carle
“Dreaming In Cuban” by Cristina Garcia
“Fade” by Lisa McMann
“The Family Book” by Todd Parr
“Feed” by M.T. Anderson
“Go the Fuck to Sleep” by Adam Mansbach
“Habibi” by Craig Thompson
“House of the Spirits” by Isabel Allende
“Jacob’s New Dress” by Sarah Hoffman
“Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov
“Monster” by Walter Dean Myers
“Nasreen’s Secret School” by Jeanette Winter
“Saga” by Brian K. Vaughan
“Stuck in the Middle” by Ariel Schrag
“The Kingdom of Little Wounds” by Susann Cokal
“1984” by George Orwell
“A Clockwork Orange” by Anthony Burgess
“Almost Perfect” by Brian Katcher
“Awakening” by Kate Chopin
“Burned” by Ellen Hopkins
“Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card
“Fallen Angels” by Walter Dean Myers
“Glass” by Ellen Hopkins
“Heather Has Two Mommies” by Lesle´a Newman
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” by Maya Angelou
“Madeline and the Gypsies” by Ludwig Bemelmans
“My Princess Boy” by Cheryl Kilodavis
“Prince and Knight” by Daniel Haack
“Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology” by Amy Sonnie
“Skippyjon Jones” (series) by Judith Schachner
“So Far from the Bamboo Grove” by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
“The Color of Earth” (series) by Tong-hwa Kim
“The Librarian of Basra” by Jeanette Winter
“The Walking Dead” (series) by Robert Kirkman
“Tricks” by Ellen Hopkins
“Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” by Sarah S Brannen
“Year of Wonders” by Geraldine Brooks
Gigi: You got so caught up in your own vitriol, you Foolishly included in your list all the books challenged a/o banned by liberals/the Left. They include classics like “Of Mice and Men;” “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” the “Harry Potter” series, and several Dr. Seuss titles.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/conservative-liberal-book-bans-differ-amid-rise-literary/story?id=96267846
https://www.newsweek.com/when-it-comes-banning-books-both-right-left-are-guilty-opinion-1696045
To Gigi, from lin, XOXO
https://metallicman.com/laoban4site/the-many-things-that-democrats-want-to-ban-running-list/
I do not have a list of all the books that CA has prohibited in Public School Libraries.
But UNLIKE every single book on YOUR list.
The works the LEFT is “banning” are among the greats of american literature
Like Mark Twain, John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, and JD Salinger.
I would note not one of these is a conservative author.
The FACT is that Public School Libraries CAN NOT contain every possible book.
It is not “banning” to note that a public school library is a limited resource.
So what is appropriate for Public schools ?
First and foremost those books that TIME has proven worth while.
My kids read DeFoe, Voltaire, Twain, and many many many great authors – without regard for politics.
I have zero problems with adults and even children – – young children with the approval of parents reading whatever they want.
But it is NOT the schools job to indoctrinate kids into allegedly literature that has not yet passed the test of time.
I do not give a schiff if parents allow their kids to read playboy at home. That does not mean it belongs in schools.
Banning books and deciding what is age appropriate are NOT the same thing.
And the one thing that has resulted in some of the greatest american authors of the past – ALL on the left, getting banned is the use of the “N word”.
Because ignorant left wing nuts are incapable of grasping that kids are not turned into white supremecists by hearing the N word.
Twain in particular was excoriated in his time for portraying black characters as human and for exposing racism.
No one who has actually read Twain would think he is a white supremecists. Exactly the opposite.
But you left wing nuts are clueless.
Several of the books in your list have been banned from schools by the LEFT.
JK Rowling has the distinction of being bother the most popular author of all time, as well as having been banned and cancelled by both the Right and the left.
Regardless, If you are going to rant that the right is busy banning boooks – it would be a really good thing If YOU were not doing it too.
At this moment in time the single most high profile banning – possibly of all time – is the Lefts efforts to ban JK Rowling.
An effort that has failed.
Warning the following video contains text from the “banned books” that is not appropriate for children or young adults.
I would note that “banned” – as used by the left means – not available in some elementary school libraries.
Not a single “banned book” is unavailable on Amazon – Though the Left seeks to “ban” Mark Twain and JK Rowling Everywhere.
Aparently even bars are not allowed to show videos of recent JK Rowling books.
Conversely the Books the Left claims the Right is banning – what that really means is that they have been age restricted in some schools.
Sometimes that mean sthey are not available in elementary schools. In other instances not in middle schools.
In rare instances they are not available in High Schools. In many instances – they are available – With your parents permission.
In other instances they are available in school libraries but have been removed from school curiculums – i.e. the Teachers can not use them as part of courses,
But students are still free to go to the library and check them out.
This is what the left calls right wing censorship.
When the left goes after something – they do not want it in schools, on amazon. In fact they do not want publishers to publish the books they do not like.
So keeping sexually explicit material from elementary schools students without parental permission is book banning.
But trying to stop the publication or viewing of JK Rowling books – not because of the content of the books, but because JK Rowling has offended the left in her personal views – that is OK.
https://youtu.be/D_aRzXXCv4s
“On this blog, we use a WordPress system to remove profanity.”
Now, if only WordPress would develop a system to remove the otiose and prolix…
“O she os” alright!
Thersites, if thee otiose were removed there would be nothing left…
“More than half of Americans support Bud Light boycott, poll shows.” TND
LOL
You’re in the minority. A loser, as you say.
I am grateful for this epitome example of free speech. I periodically am in Bloomington and now I will not accidentally go to this establishment.
Good luck with that! Nothing says ‘logical business’ like telling your customers they aren’t welcome if they talk. I swear to God, so many of these fools are emotional 5 year-olds. It is truly unreal. Snowflakes like this would have never survived the 70s or 80s, which is ironic given how they have idealized those eras. We have become mighty spoiled and privileged in the West. 🙄 Air drop ’em all into the middle of Cambodia with no phones or credit cards and see how they do.
James,
Well said.
Across the street from the bar’s parking lot is the Mount Ebal Cemetery. I’m sure they can grab a few names from the headstones to add to their new “Customer” list.
“Dead Jokes!”
That ain’t right, man.
At first I thought this was about the Indiana Bar Association, lawyers – that’s how low my opinion of lawyers and their respect of the 1st amendment has become considering the Stanford Law School etc.!
You can’t fix stupid!
Beer drinkers should vote with their feet and go elsewhere. Why would you want to go where free speech isn’t allowed anyway?
There are lots of bars to drink in. I don’t drink, but I would take my friends to a different bar.
Paul C. Schulte??? GREAT to “see” you.
I don’t drink; I know bars.
PCS, do you still allow your Asian(?) wife to vote?
What’s the temperature in Phoenix today?
Of what concern is it or even should be to the bar owner or anyone else for that matter what their patrons are talking about to and among themselves? Anyone who invites themselves to participate in the conversations of others and then polices the discussion to the extent of giving force to their own biases and prejudices is a consummate authoritarian exercising their absolute control and will over others. In a better setting one would hope the autocrat would take the time to be sure the discussion is in fact bigoted and hateful. And if it is, is it enough to break up the group of patrons who for all intents and purposes for all the owner knows may enjoy intellectually engaging one another and in the end simply agree to disagree.
In defense of the bar owner, we should take into account his likely victimization at the hands of illiberals who have successfully implanted into the the minds and psyches of a great many persons that any disagreement with their preferred social norms is to be wholly dismissed as only bigotry and hatred. Unfortunately, it works all too well. Once it is unleashed everything else gets totally shut down. Then it’s time to move on and enjoy your Bud Light or its alternative at the next bar.
Ron A. Hoffman, what a crock. Illiberals have not implanted thoughts onto the patrons. You’re not that obtuse. What if patrons were already bigoted against those ideas before any of this came about? Is that not a possibility? All kinds of BS
arguments spring up at bars all over the country. This one particular argument has clearly grown tiresome to the bar owner and as the owner of the establishment he has every right to demand those types of arguments stop or be thrown out. Turley does this himself. His rules of civility clearly state he will not tolerate openly racist comments despite being a “free speech absolutist”. He’s banned people for violating his civility rules. Just like the bar owner he wants to keep a ‘respectful’ level of discourse but he won’t let it get so out of hand with racists and bigots freely taking over his blog. Even a “free speech absolutist” limits what you can say on his blog. So why wouldn’t a bar owner who supports free speech be able to do the same?
When Turley says, “Clearly, the bar has a free speech right to set such standards”, he’s also saying so does he. If the bar’s standards are acceptable to you, so should be Turley’s. The “hypocrisy” you assign to Turley has long been only your twisted mantra and yours alone. In the real world it clearly does not exist. It seems to me the only reason you keep repeating it is that you hope to goad Turley into allowing racist speech on his blog. Once he does, then you would have him in your sights for a final blow you cannot yet deliver, which is to have Turley recognized as one who condones racism and therefor a racist himself. It’s foolish, Svelaz. You beat your head against a stone wall trying to convince Turley he should allow racist commentary on his blog. I keep thinking sooner rather than too much later the pain will become excruciating enough for you to suspend with the sheer and utter nonsense that Turley is hypocritical.
“When Turley says, “Clearly, the bar has a free speech right to set such standards”, he’s also saying so does he.”
But Turley is chastising the bar owner for being a hypocrite. Turley’s oblivious to his own hypocrisy in that he has been doing the same thing.
A free speech absolutist should be allowing openly racist comments and vulgarity. To be an absolutist means no grey areas. Just an absolute position.
Free speech is free speech and as vile and unsavory as racist comments are as an absolutist he should be allowing them.
He is chastising a bar owner who claims support for free speech for exercising some control over a topic he believes is not welcome in his establishment is precisely no different than Turley’s insistence on no openly racist comments on his blog despite calling himself a free speech absolutist is indeed hypocritical. That kind of hypocrisy chips away at his “credibility” as a free speech absolutist.
I’m not trying to convince Turley he should allow it. I’m pointing out the massive hypocrite that he is in being a champion of free speech and a declared free speech absolutist that at its core principle is all about letting speech, ideas, views no matter how offensive and detestable they may be are not infringed or censored.
According to his own supposedly sincere beliefs in free speech there shouldn’t be a limitation on openly racist comments.
If you still don’t get it then it leaves us with one unavoidable fact. That you’re being willfully ignorant.
“If you still don’t get it then it leaves us with one unavoidable fact. That you’re being willfully ignorant.” Who is the “us” in your tiny little circle of malcontents? Never mind. It’s certain most respondents to this blog know who the “us” are, for they surely know what you are.
It’s not racism the bar owner had warned his patrons against. In fact, judging from all the negativity you have expressed about bars I might agree with you that as an owner of a violence prone bar the bar owner might well be okay with patrons expressing their racist views. What the bar owner didn’t want to hear was negativity expressed about a Bud Light commercial that features a controversial transgender woman the top echelon of Anheuser-Busch wish had never been hired. What Turley does not want is racist expressions that have no place in civil discussions about genuinely arguable events of the day.
Like a fly on manure you are locked in on what you are determined is Turley’s “hypocrisy”, and no amount of logic will dissuade you otherwise. No one will dissuade you because you are too imperceptive to understand that what you preach is a false equivalency. To conflate the bar owner’s standard, which by the way he appears to be back tracking, and Turley’s standard to have persons check their racist views at the gate to his blog is a fallacy of inconsistency.
At this point all that can be said is to give back to you your very own contemptuous statement: “If you still don’t get it then it leaves us with one unavoidable fact. That you’re being willfully ignorant.”
You are the obtuse one failing to appreciate that calling one a bigot and/or hater has become more often than not the all too easy and thoughtless response some have for those who simply disagree with their mores. No thoughtful discussion or debate allowed and no civil discourse shall be obliged. Just tell them they are bigoted and keep going on one’s militant way.
You are not going to start getting shamefully personal with me are you?
His bar, his rules. I assume Bloomington has more than one bar. Let the free market decide.
Freightdog99,
I agree.
Lets see if the bar is still there in a year, under the same owner.
Absolutely,
Freedom means the freedom to act stupidly.
Let the market decide whether they want to patronize Fairfax Bar & grill.
freightdog99, UpstateFarmer, and John Say: Agree, agree, and agree.
John, while letting the market decide, there is another decision to be made. The owner said the person could pay up their bill and leave. How dare that fool throw me out before I finish my beer. Therefore, I would happily leave that establishment of stupidity, but I wouldn’t pay the bill.
They appear to have back tracked on their original stance.
https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/indiana-bar-backtracks-pledge-to-boot-customers-who-talk-about-bud-light-controversy-fairfax-bar-grill-bloomington-dylan-mulvaney
Of course they did, the triggered conservatives were losing their minds because hypocrites like Turley were chastising him.
54% of Americans have supported the boycott.
Stealing the election again in 2024 will be top priority for demoncrats.
ONLY in Indiana, is that a Mike Pence bar?
So this guy decries what he considers “bigotry” in others – but fails to recognize it in himself. In Pittsburgh PA, our kindest description of him would be jagoff!
His bar will be patronized by all the beer-drinking, sports-loving, liberals. There are probably a few of those in Bloomington, but likely too few to stay in business. A good example of “stupid-smart.”