TomT

Which Witch? No American President ever posed as the victim of a “witch hunt” save former Donald Trump. It’s his favorite metaphor for all time. He has used it at least 387 times since 2017 or about every 6 days. From my point of view, there never was a witch hunt. The witch has always been in plain sight. However, Mr. Trump sees thing differently Sometimes it’s difficult to understand which witch he is talking about on any given day. Is it the same witch with different hunters or are there discreet witch-hunter dramas going on at the same time? When negotiations with Trump failed to return all stolen government documents (which he declared are Mine! Mine! Mine!) a search warrant was issued by a federal magistrate. As Trump had left many of the America’s most important secret documents scattered around his winter resort home of Mir-a-Lago, (Trump had moved to his New Jersey resort for the summer as he does in May). Trump described the August execution of the search warrant branding it "politically motivated" and a "witch-hunt". Also, as a “raid on his home by an out-of-control FBI.” He accused the Department of Justice of being on a Witch Hunt. The DOJ found over 11,000 stolen government documents including some of America’s most (formerly) closely guarded secrets. They were certainly not closely guarded when they were left scattered around Trump’s empty office for more than 90 days before the FBI rescued them. (There is probably no truth to the rumor that to get a “cleaning” job at Mir-a-Lago during those days the price you had to pay was well into 6 figures) Another witch hunter is the House of Representatives January 6th Select Committee. Donald Trump launched an angry verbal attack on the congressional January 6 hearings, dismissing them as a “rigged deal” and “one-sided witch-hunt,” although, logically, aren’t all witch hunts one-sided? To 5th or Not to 5th? The attorney general of the State of New York, Letitia James presented evidence of Tax Fraud by the Trump organization. A Manhattan jury has found two Trump Organization companies guilty on 17 charges of criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records connected to a 15-year scheme to defraud tax authorities by failing to report and pay taxes on compensation for top executives. Trump was given the opportunity to testify in defense of his company, and in defence of one of his closest friends for 20+ years, he chose the 5th over 450 times instead. In a statement, Trump vowed an appeal and claimed the verdict by 12 jurors was “a continuation of the Greatest Political Witch Hunt in the History of our Country.” The attorney general of the State of New York, Letitia James has also filed another criminal law suit against Trump and his 3 grown children of for committing business fraud over the last 10 years. Mr. Trump, for his part, has accused her of conducting a "witch hunt" and branded Ms James - the first black woman to be New York's attorney general - a "racist". About the judge in Trump’s trial, he said “His name is Arthur Engoron & he is a vicious, biased, and mean ‘rubber stamp’ for the Communist takeover of the great & prosperous American company that I have built over a long period of years" This may prove to be a tricky one for Trump when the trial starts next October. Will he take the 5th? But publicly blame his kids or will he take the blame like a normal father to protect his kids? I wonder what the betting line will be when that one opens. In the ruling Thursday, Judge Arthur Engoron appointed an official that will move into the Trump organization with full access to all financial records, legal actions, corporate actions and any associated Trump entity. This is the court’s move that restricts the company's freedom to do business independently. It means as a proven felon the company is unable to change its corporate structure, sell or transfer non-cash assets, or make deals without giving notice to the court. Trump in a Truth Social post described Engoron as a "Radical Left Lunatic Judge in New York City" who is "refusing to let go of the case. He is a partisan disaster. A Rigged & Corrupt System!" Of course, in this case, the witch hunt is over. When Trump was asked why he chose to take the 5th Amendment instead of defend his company and his friend, his response was because “I have absolutely no choice because the current administration and many prosecutors in this country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency.” At an Iowa rally, Trump said of Hillary Clinton: "Her staffers are taking the Fifth Amendment, how about that?" He added, "You see the mob takes the Fifth. If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?" Later Trump repeated, "Only the mob takes the 5th." During a presidential debate, Trump said: "When you have your staff taking the Fifth Amendment, taking the Fifth so they’re not prosecuted, when you have the man that set up the illegal server taking the Fifth, I think it’s disgraceful. And believe me, this country thinks it’s really thinks it’s disgraceful, also." Trump’s love/hate relationship with the 5th Amendment goes back quite a way. During his divorce proceedings with Ivana Trump in 1990, he invoked his right against self-incrimination close to 100 times according to Wayne Barrett’s book “Trump: The Greatest Show on Earth.” Most of the questions he was avoiding concerned his infidelity. For Trump fans only – seriously, no piling on… Question 1 – Which is the most real witch hunt? Is Trump the witch in his metaphor? Question 2- Given potential prosecutions related to Jan 6, lets guess 2 to 4 criminal counts, corruption in Georgia, lets guess 2 criminal counts, theft and hiding of government documents, give it 4 counts…. What do his fans think he should do. Take the 5th all the way? Try to defend himself on some or all charges? (Please don’t recommend he should claim he is still President and thus immune to everything) Question 3 - If Trump's friends and lawyers Giuliani, Eastman, Flynn, Meadows, Sidney Powell, Bannon etc. are all charged with crimes - should Trump testify in their defense? What is the winning strategy? What are the chances that Orange will become the New Black for Republicanism?

Ironstone, There is now and has been a radical left-wing in America. In the 30's-50's it was the communist party. While "modern" left wingers begrudgingly have moved on, they have simply kept the core of "old timey communism" and wrapped in a thin veneer of moderenity. Now, instead of the proletariat vs bourgeoisie, it endless categories of classes, groups, genders, races, income levels, historically disadvantaged all fighting against the Male dominated hierarchy and the instrutions that enable them.. They have dominated the non-STEM programs of virtually every university in the US. Their orthodoxy is so rigid that they won't allow disenting opinions to be voice becasue "words are just another form of violence," that we must protect our students from having to endure. One tiny example: Columbia University 73% of students say shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking on campus is acceptable. 64% of students say they have self-censored on campus. 73% of students say they worried about damaging their reputation because someone misunderstands something they have said or done. For every one conservative student, there are roughly 6.8 Leftist students. Leftists pour poison into the American well in at least these areas. 1. Freedom of speech- restrained speech is not free speech 2. Destruction of the individual 3. Destruction of our heritage 4. Making equity the enemy of equality 5. Returning to race-based politics 6. Shell game politics Destruction of the individual At core of the American uniqueness is the fact that we are sovereign individuals. We are each born equal and with certain inalienable personal rights granted us by our creator. Each is equal before the law. Each is equal in their quest for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. American history is a story of the continuous application of these individual rights to more and more Americans. Except in Wyoming, women could not vote in until 1920; a full 144years after the founding. Black Americans did not reach full respect of their rights until 1965; 189 years after the founding. America has continued its mission to ensure that every individual citizen shares the same equality of opportunity as all other citizens. Equality of opportunity is not an achievement. It is America’s unending mission. Leftist dogma is that there is no such thing as a sovereign individual. We are all part of competing groups. Achieving power for our group is the only objective. We are all oppressed by one or more other groups and all groups are oppressed by the Male Hierarchy which rules the world. Every gain achieved by one group comes at the expense of another group. There is no such thing as an individual. Individuals are comprised totally of the insights, attitudes, life experiences and identity that come only from the groups to which they belong. Leftist like old line communists, need to see history as one continuous march in one direction; theirs. The process used is called “Presentism.” This is a way to see history through current values, philosophies and a self-righteous political lens. Thus, all of American history is one of total disaster awaiting only the arrival of the “new” age, be that Leftism or Communism. One result of this distorted view of history is to see only villain’s and corruption in America’s past. The founders are despised as slave holders, religious bigots, rapists of the environment, vicious despoilers of native people and cultures. Later America was run by warmongers, predatory Capitalists and corrupt political leaders. Of course, the only way history can be viewed this was is by applying current political, ethical and moral values to those who came before us. Their intent is to describe an America absent of any moral or ethical value. It’s founding documents only crafted to serve the political and economic interests of a tiny minority of rich white land and slave owners. Each American generation is called upon to expand equality of opportunity. The historic approach to expanding equality of opportunity is to identify the root causes of inequality and bring forward solutions in law and in social services such as education and healthcare. The fundamental belief is that equality of opportunity will result in a vibrant meritocracy in which each individual is free to achieve their aspirations through the ever-increasing value of their contributions. To Leftists, the solution to all forms of inequality is to call for equity. They believe that the single source of solutions is governmental regulations that provide direct advantages to those deemed “disadvantaged.” The leftist theory, extracted from communist dogma, is that it is responsibility government is to make outcomes “equal.”

Mr Hardner, That is a good question. What does right-wing mean? I don't think it is a vector. To me, right wing is moving dramatically toward fascism. Fascism has many variations but here are some of the characteristic that have applied since the Italians invented in WW1. Reverence & Deference for a Powerful Leader - without regard to his actions "all elections are rigged and corrupt" Hatred for those on the left - who are actively seeking to destroy our country i.e his enemies. Disregard for laws and a Constitution - i.e. January 6th and the attempted Trump takeover. Trump's many trials and prosecutions are only "witch hunts" by communists and those trying to destroy America. To fix America, Trump will have to break rules, regulations and articles of the Constitution. Exactly as Hitler did. The identification of the current government as unredeemable - the current government that have been identified as corrupt and filled with people who hate America and communists at all level of the government i.e. According to Trump defeating Democrats is the same thing as defeating communists. His words Blaming the "other." For Hitler it was the jews and communists that caused all the pain and suffering of the German people. Now is the "hoards" of criminal immigrants flooding into America, taking our jobs, replacing "true" Americans and for the pain and suffering of America. He has drawn near the those who also blame the Jews. He has called out paramilitary private militia on a "stand back and stand by basis.

Rebound, Keep the faith

As a life-long Republican voter, I find the term MAGA Republican repulsive. There is little doubt that my party has become more right-wing and more radical in how it expresses issues and more reactive to the smallest insults, but the pejorative MAGA Republican moniker is not acceptable. I am distressed by the way the party sees its political opponents as “the enemies of America” and define every political issue as a life-or-death issue. I worry about our new found affection for paramilitaries, predatory podcasters and QAnon. We have invited racists, holocaust denying neo-Nazis and white supremacists into the tent on a stand back, stand by basis. The thoughts of Trump are too often treated by the party like the thoughts of Mao; semi-divine and inerrant. He has taught us how to hate those that hate him and love those that love him. His enemies are our enemies. That list seems to grow daily. Honesty and integrity in word and deed is now a thing of the past because it never makes the news cycle. Standing up for America only if we win is not the party I once knew. We have changed important terminology such as replacing “dictator” with authoritarian. Now we are clamoring for a new “authoritarian” leader when the old authoritarian leader is still ready to make a comeback with $100 million of our money in his pocket. It is my hope that our Republican leaders as well as Republican critics can stop the MAGA Republican party rhetoric and simply refer to the Republican party as the New Republican Party. Perhaps by changing the name to the New Republican Party it might bring attention to the new ideas and policies in today’s Republican party unburdened by any connection to the Old Republican party that has seemingly passed into history. I am deeply disappointed in the New Republican party’s focus and fascination with winning the “culture wars.” In my opinion, the reason that Republicans have been so focused on the Culture Wars is that Americans don't actually like their policies. I disagree about the reasons for the culture wars. I don't think Republican policies are unpopular; they don’t exist. They are no longer a party of policy. Policy requires legislative skill, strategic thinking, integrity and a devotion to America over party. The current crop of Republicans is not capable of crafting solutions to large problems. In fact, they are incentivized to avoid solving problems. For instance, if they craft a new workable and popular policy for controlling our southern border, they would lose the much more valuable talking point about how Democrats have left the door open to a flood of immigrants on purpose as a means of replacing American jobs and ensuring Democrat party victory. This is a scare tactic they can't afford to lose. A divisive talking point is far more valuable and a whole lot easier than crafting a solution. Same holds true for the environment, inflation, energy independence, support for democracies/Ukraine, healthcare, social security, China, Medicaid, Medicare, NATO, Russia, racism, white nationalism, violent right-wing organizations, medical disinformation, etc. Not only are they incapable and disinterested in solving these problems, but by not dealing with them, they will have 24 months of open time for get even politics. Expect them to focus on: · Investigating Meta’s internet properties · Investigating Hunter's laptop · Investigating the January 6th House investigation · Investigating Biden’s southern border policy · Investigating the convictions of innocent American January 6th patriots by an out-of-control DOJ · Investigating the corrupt FBI for raiding the President's winter home and taking his stuff · Investigating the FBI for not finding massive fraud in the 2020 and 2022 elections · Investigating the corrupt Department of Justice who are conducting an unconstitutional and illegal witch hunt against Trump · Investigating our corrupt school system and the corrupt FBI's investigation of violent speech and threats made in School Board meetings · Investigating Rupert Murdoch for turning against Trump and saying not nice things about Republican "leadership" · Investigating how corrupt election systems allow "unelected" Democrats to win · Investigating the businesses that stopped donating to the Republican party after Jan 6 i.e. Forever to be known as "Corporate Communists" · Investigating ways to block abortion and punish people and businesses who "facilitate" legal abortions · Investigating the massive waste of taxpayer money to fuel a war against our strategic friend, Russia · Investigating ways to punish Trump's growing enemies list · Developing a list of Republicans convicted criminals who are contributors and "friends" to pardon as soon as Republicans win back the White House. · Investigating ways of getting more money into the hands of the richest Americans Given that the Republicans have nothing else to do for the next 24 months, they will be totally focused on punishing, disparaging and crippling their ever-growing list of enemies and rewarding their ever-shrinking list of "friends."

Wow. This is Trump's core business, but he knows nothing about it??? Stay tuned.

Perhaps Trump's statement about massive fraud allowing for termination of rules, regulation and articles is best understood in a broader context. Trump is not just talking about the 2020 or the 2024 election, he is talking about what is happening right now in America. America being overun by communists. In a recent video Trump said “People have been treated unconstitutionally in my opinion and very, very unfairly, and we’re going to get to the bottom of it,” he said. Trump also bemoaned the “weaponization of the Department of Justice” and said the country was “going communist.” Friday, former President Donald Trump accused a New York judge of being part of a “Communist takeover” of his Trump Organization. On the Trump stump, he said "You have to start by handling a humiliating rebuke to the radical left maniacs that are running in this election," Trump said. "You better believe that this Tuesday, you have to crush the communists in the ballot box. I don't say socialist. Socialist communist and Marxist direction of the radical Democrat Party is one of the biggest reasons that Hispanic Americans are joining our movement by the millions and millions and millions." Donald Trump delivered a speech in Ohio in which he denounced “communism” and threatened violence against political opponents. The speech rally was held in support of Republican candidate for Senate in Ohio, J.D. Vance. “Tomorrow, you have to crush communists at the ballot box,” Trump declared. He also called for executing individuals accused of drug dealing on the spot and sending the bullets to their families. You see, Trump sees a vast array of enemies to America i.e. judges, laws, courts, Prosecuters, IRS, FBI, DOJ, Democrats, Supreme Court. They, by pure coincidence, just happen to be his enemies too. It is easy to see that the only way to defeate these enemies of America is to give him all the Power he needs. Purely logical. He has 30 million devoted members of the "Orange Mafia" he can count on. He also is establishing a whole new base. Surveys indicate that 1 in 5 Americans believe in QAnon conspiracy theories. Trump is lobbying them daily on Truth Social. QAnon is a decentralized, far-right political movement rooted in a conspiracy theory that former President Donald Trump is waging a secret war against the “Deep State,” a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who control the world and run a global child sex trafficking ring, murdering children in ritual Satanic sacrifices in order to harvest a supposedly life-extending chemical from their blood known as adrenochrome. QAnon theories, which are popular among far-right extremists and some Trump supporters, are an amalgam of novel and well-established conspiracy theories, with marked undertones of antisemitism, anti-LGBTQ+ hate, and anti-immigrant bias. According to QAnon lore, nearly every recent president has been a puppet put in place by the so-called Deep State, but Donald Trump was recruited by top military generals to run for president in 2016. Trump’s mission: to expose and take down the Deep State, which will take place during “The Storm,” a violent day of reckoning in which Deep State actors and their collaborators will be arrested en masse and sent to Guantanamo Bay, where they will face military tribunals and be executed for their various supposed crimes against humanity. In order to fill his "destiny" Trump will have to remove whatever rules, regulations and articles that are currently preventing him from leading The Storm. For more info on QAnon, tune into Truth Social.

I love political fantasy. It is way better than the fairytale stories of my youth. I hope you have warm clothes on otherwise the cold water might be too chilling. 1 Secure borders - Border crossings had reached over 850,000(3rd highest on record) before Covid-19. Title 42 was invoked which kept migrants in Mexico. When the courts revoked title 42 it resulted in a dramatic increase in 2021-2022. 2. World peace - here are the armed conflicts that existed at the end of 2020. Yemen, Ethopia, Libya, Kasmir, Venezuela, Kurdistan, Syria and Ukrania with Russia fighting in the Donbas. Hardly "world peace." 3. Greatest economy of all time - Donald Trump promised to be the greatest job-producing president in U.S. history. During his 2016 campaign, he pledged to create 25 million jobs in the next 10 years. There were 3.1 million fewer jobs in December 2020 than in January 2017 when Trump took office. If Donald Trump had been able to keep his campaign promise, he would have beaten the current record-holder, President Bill Clinton, who created 18.6 million jobs during his two terms. 4. High paying mfg jobs coming back from far east - see #3 5. Strong domestic energy growth - on 9-11-20 the US produced 10,900 (thousand) bbl/day. On 11-15-22 the US produced 12,100 (thousand) bbls/day 6. Almost zero inflation - caviot - in 2019-2020 American shut down due to Covid-19. Inflation was only 3.1% but many were not working and the supply chain had not yet shut down. 7. Low gas prices - see #6. the daily gasoline usage in the US declined by 24% driving down prices. The average price of gas in the US on 1-1-21 was $3.13. Today the average price of gas her in Texas is $2.93

I think any clear look at Facism will demonstrate that is nearly exclusively a right wing extention. Here is what Wikipedia says in part Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,[1][2][3] characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy, subordination of individual interests for the perceived good of the nation and race, and strong regimentation of society and the economy.[2][3] Fascism rose to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.[4][5] The first fascist movements emerged in Italy during World War I, before spreading to other European countries, most notably Germany.[4] Fascism also had adherents outside of Europe.[6] Opposed to anarchism, democracy, pluralism, liberalism, socialism and Marxism,[7][8] fascism is placed on the far-right wing within the traditional left–right spectrum.[4][8][9]

My Analysis of the Dangers of Leftist Politics This is not a debate about policy. In the political arena, competition is required and expected. This is about attacks on fundamental America; its heart and soul. This is not about the confrontation of Liberals and Conservatives. Both of those terms have little to do with America’s current political polarity. The current Democrat Party is a very big tent stretched to and sometime beyond its limits. Within this tent are Blue State Centrist’s, progressives, socialists and neo-communists. On most issues these groups within the Democrat Party compete for patronage. This competition deepens their inherent polarization. However, for purposes of this discussion, the Left is comprised of aggressive progressives, socialists and neo-communists. The Left is championed by much of academia, by media at many levels, by some within the larger Democrat party and by some corporate leaders. The Democrat Party has become the party of urban America. There are zero Republican mayors in cities with over 1 million population in the United States. Of the 24 cities between 500,000 and 1million there are 20 Democrat mayors. As a result, their core constituency is focused on solving urban problems often using Leftist theories. However, Leftist politics in the cities and states where they dominate have generated the greatest degree of suffering. When in control, the Leftist’s do not follow their stated agenda, goals or political philosophies. In cities and states controlled by Democrats, there is the least affordable housing, the highest homeless populations, the most school districts basically separating rich and poor and the races. They have the highest tax rates, the highest crime rates and the greatest multi-generational poverty. Leftists fail America in at least these ways. 1. Freedom of speech- restrained speech is not free speech 2. Destruction of the individual 3. Destruction of our heritage 4. Making equity the enemy of equality 5. Returning to race-based politics 6. Shell game politics Freedom of Speech In university campuses across North America as well as social and broadcast media, anyone who varies in word or intent from the “accepted” Leftist word usage is called out and attacked. In recent years, new threats to speech have emerged on some college and university campuses. They include the concepts of safe spaces, trigger warnings, and micro-aggressions. Safe spaces can refer to university policies that shield students from uncomfortable or unwanted ideas either written or spoken. In this environment some “words” are defined as “attacks” from which students must be protected. This concept of safe spaces is threatening free speech, because the purpose of higher education is to expose students to different and challenging ideas. Trigger warnings refer to professors telling students in class before discussing concepts that may be upsetting to certain students. Whether requiring trigger warnings violate the First Amendment depends on whether a public college or university mandates that college professors issue trigger warnings. Administrators mandating trigger warnings demand compelled speech. Compelled speech is anti-American, unconstitutional and destroys academic freedom. National newspaper writers have been fired for using a “prohibited” word. Leftist’s lead in the cancel culture that rules movies, tv and liberal media at every level. When a college dean wrote that “All lives matter,” she was required to publish an apology or face loss of her job. Left leaning social media moguls often ban individuals for their “speech.” Some are banned in total due to a perceived history of “dangerous and or “unapproved” statements. Leftist university policies leave students feeling that they can’t express their true feelings or ideas if they fall outside of the “accepted” point of view. In a majority of American universities, students report that they do not feel free to express opinions or have open inquiry. Here a just a few samples. Northern Arizona University 58% of students say shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking on campus is acceptable. 61% of students say they have self-censored on campus. 54% of students say they are worried about damaging their reputation because someone misunderstands something they have said or done. For every one conservative student, there are roughly 1.8 Leftist students. University of Washington 69% of students say shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking on campus is acceptable. 57%% of students say they have self-censored on campus. 63% of students say they are worried about damaging their reputation because someone misunderstands something they have said or done. For every one conservative student, there are roughly 5.6 Leftist students. Columbia University 73% of students say shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking on campus is acceptable. 64% of students say they have self-censored on campus. 73% of students say they worried about damaging their reputation because someone misunderstands something they have said or done. For every one conservative student, there are roughly 6.8 Leftist students. Destruction of the individual At core of the American uniqueness is the fact that we are sovereign individuals. We are each born equal and with certain inalienable personal rights granted us by our creator. Each is equal before the law. Each is equal in their quest for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. American history is a story of the continuous application of these individual rights to more and more Americans. Except in Wyoming, women could not vote in until 1920; a full 144years after the founding. Black Americans did not reach full respect of their rights until 1965; 189 years after the founding. America has continued its mission to ensure that every individual citizen shares the same equality of opportunity as all other citizens. Equality of opportunity is not an achievement. It is America’s unending mission. The fall of classic communism, resulted the murder of over 200 million of their own peasants, artists and intellectuals. American Leftists have now re-imagined all the clap trap that comprised classic communism under the banner of Intersectionality and Post Modernism. Post Modernism preaches that there is no one “truth” about anything. Reality is whatever you happen to believe at the moment. America is thus founded on “myths.” There is no such thing as equality or justice or anything other topic that has rules that must be followed. The complementary component of Leftist dogma is that there is no such thing as a sovereign individual. We are all part of competing groups. Achieving power for our group is the only objective. We are all oppressed by one or more other groups and all groups are oppressed by the Male Hierarchy which rules the world. Every gain achieved by one group comes at the expense of another group. There is no such thing as an individual. Individuals are comprised totally of the insights, attitudes, life experiences and identity that come only from the groups to which they belong. Of course, this is just an expansion of the Marxist theory of the battle between the bourgeois and the proletariat. In America it results in endless groups fighting for their “rights,” political power and status with zero concern about the existence or “rights” of the individual. Destruction of Our Heritage Leftist like old line communists, need to see history as one continuous march in one direction; theirs. The process used is called “Presentism.” This is a way to see history through current values, philosophies and a self-righteous political lens. Thus, all of American history is one of total disaster awaiting only the arrival of the “new” age, be that Leftism or Communism. One result of this distorted view of history is to see only villain’s and corruption in America’s past. The founders are despised as slave holders, religious bigots, rapists of the environment, vicious despoilers of native people and cultures. Later America was run by warmongers, predatory Capitalists and corrupt political leaders. Of course, the only way history can be viewed this was is by applying current political, ethical and moral values to those who came before us. Their intent is to describe an America absent of any moral or ethical value. It’s founding documents only crafted to serve the political and economic interests of a tiny minority of rich white land and slave owners. Making Equity the Enemy of Equality Two of the great political movements of America’s 20th century were for equal rights. The first fight was for equal rights for women. The second was for equal rights for non-white citizens. The moral, ethical and legal basis for these movements is secured by our Constitution. The Constitution established the right of equal opportunity to all citizens. There is no doubt that America has not yet achieved equal opportunity for all citizens. Many school districts in America graduate students that lack even basic skills in reading and math. Many Americans live in communities governed by street and drug criminals. Many Americans live in polluted environments that dramatically and negatively affect their health. Many in America find it very difficult to find affordable housing. 35% of Americans rent. 38% of America’s children live in a single parent home. These and many other participants in the American experience find their opportunities unequal. Each American generation is called upon to expand equality of opportunity. The historic approach to expanding equality of opportunity is to identify the root causes of inequality and bring forward solutions in law and in social services such as education and healthcare. The fundamental belief is that equality of opportunity will result in a vibrant meritocracy in which each individual is free to achieve their aspirations through the ever-increasing value of their contributions. To Leftists, the solution to all forms of inequality is to call for equity. They believe that the single source of solutions is governmental regulations that provide direct advantages to those deemed “disadvantaged.” The leftist theory, extracted from communist dogma, is that it is responsibility government is to make things “equal.” Men make, on average, more money than women in the workforce. The equity solution is to “require” that in all employment men and women doing exactly the same jobs must be paid the exact same compensation. If a company has 100 engineers, they are expected to hire 50 men and 50 women. Black Americans comprise approximately 13% of the population but because of “historic” underemployment, the government requires that employers must be audited to insure they are hiring Black Americans at rates greater than their share of the population. Because Leftists see the American population as a large number of competing groups, they believe that the role of the government is to provide equity by balancing the rights among and across all those groups. The fundamental theory is that government alone is capable of creating a vibrant and equal society by incentivizing certain “victim” groups over other groups to a higher place in the social, economic and political hierarchy. To Leftists there is no such thing as “meritocracy.” You are higher in the social and financial hierarchy because you have “privilege” and not because you earned it. You were born with it. Return to Race-based Politics Because Leftist believe that politics is competition for the allegiance of groups, their policies and practices have returned the Democrat party back to the party of race-based politics. Today 87% of black American voters vote Democrat. That is partly because a large part of the black population occupies urban areas. However, it is also a result of a calculated plan to sow fear of Republican policy which they see as benefitting suburban, rural, rich and white voters. While this appears on the surface to be a very effective political ploy, the impact on the urban black population of American has been devastating. There has been little or no improvement in the life of urban black Americans for the past 120 years. By every standard of measuring quality of life, urban back Americans have been left behind. Their politician’s commitment to Leftist theories enrichens Leftist politicians but leave non-white communities in ruins. Shell Game Politics Housing There are 18 states in the U.S. where Democrats control the legislative and executive branches or else have some veto-proof majority in the legislature. What do Democrats actually do when they have all the power? First, they ignore the Democrat Party Platform. There are nearly 554,000 homeless people living in these 18 states. At the same time the 25 wealthiest Americans in those states pay little in income taxes compared to their fortunes, sometimes nothing at all. In California housing policy is a demonstration of Leftist shell game politics. The Democrat Party platform uses the word “housing”over 100 times. Children who are born in neighborhoods with degraded environmental conditions, with a lack of access to high-quality public services, poor schools, poor public transit are at a permanent disadvantage. And they even say verbatim, “Housing in America should be stable, accessible, safe, healthy, energy efficient and above all, affordable.” “Housing is a human right.” “Housing is a human right.” “The rent is going through the roof. Housing is a human right.” There is little or no affordable housing in California because in California, the cost of housing is so high that for many people, it’s simply unaffordable. The state has simply, for the most part, stopped building housing at a rate insufficient to keep pace with California’s population. The median price of a home in San Diego County is now $830,000. All around California, there are cities full of people who say that they are Leftists, progressives, and liberals. They say they believe in a more equal America, a more diverse America. Their single-family neighborhoods are actually the result of specific policies, intentional policies that keep these neighborhoods spread out and full of single-family homes, as opposed to higher-density buildings like duplexes or apartment complexes. Strict zoning of single-family (low density) housing is strangling California’s premier work centers. Over the past eight years, the San Francisco area has added 676,000 jobs but only 176,000 housing units. Palo Alto wanted to change it from low-density housing to higher-density housing so that they could build a 60-unit affordable housing complex for elderly members of the community. The overwhelmingly liberal residents of Palo Alto decided to hold a vote to overturn the decision, to revert it back to low-density, single-family housing. And it passed. And the zoning was overturned. So now when you go to this plot of land, instead of an affordable housing complex for the elderly, what you’re going to see is this, a row of just a few houses, all of them massive, and worth around $5 million each. That is why Leftist politics is a cynical shell game. Say all the “right words” but never implement them. Here Leftist policies actually focus on benefitting the richest citizens at the expense of the poor. Taxes Democrats say they believe in a progressive tax system, where the rich pay a larger share of their income than the poor. This is like the most basic policy vision of a progressive movement. It’s front and center in Democrats’ policy platform. Another example of the Leftist Shell game can be seen in Democrat run Washington State. The Democratic Party talks about taxation, saying that our tax code has been, quote, “rigged against the American people.” Democrats all the time are decrying the fact that tax cuts are going to the wealthiest Americans. “It is time for a wealth tax in America.” However, in Washington State, you will find that less-affluent families pay a much larger share of their income in taxes than the wealthiest residents of Washington State. People like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, two of the state’s most famous and wealthy residents, are in this lovely situation of paying less in taxes as a share of their income than the poor people who live in the same state. This is a fundamental inversion of the values that the Democratic Party professes. There is no state with a more regressive system of taxation than Washington State. Other Leftist run states also are in the top 10 of most regressive tax regimes, like Nevada and Illinois. Education Another major theme in the Democrat Party platform is education. The Democrats say, quote, “We must provide a world-class education in every ZIP code, to every child, because education is a critical public good.” They use this word “ZIP code” to represent the fact that in America, schools get their funding based on the real estate taxes of the houses within that school district. The more expensive the neighborhood, the more funding goes to the school. In Illinois, which is the quintessential liberal state. In Chicago they have decided to divide themselves into more than 140 school districts. So now you have all these tiny school districts which are like gerrymandered around the richest part of town. Thus all of the taxes from these rich homeowners go into one little bucket and then only get distributed to the schools within this rich region of the county. It can be on the same block that the town line runs through the middle of it. And if you live on one side of that line, you’re consigned to an inferior education by virtue of the fact that you and your neighbors don’t have as much money. And if you live on the other side, you’re basically a member of a club that is sponsoring a private school, essentially, for the benefit of that small group of kids who are lucky enough to live in that affluent community. Poor communities have less money to educate their children and rich communities have more money to educate their children. Leftist actions speed louder than their words. In the Democrat city of Chicago, the kids who have the greatest needs have the fewest resources. The same thing is happening in wealthy, liberal Connecticut and other blue only states. But for some of these foundational Democratic values of housing equality, progressive taxation and education equality, Democrats don’t actually embody their values. Blue states are the problem. Blue states are where the housing crisis is located. Blue states are where the disparities in education funding are the most dramatic. Blue states are the places where tens of thousands of homeless people are living on the streets. Blue states are the places where economic inequality is increasing most quickly in this country. All the while affluent liberals show up at marches and talk about how they love equality. Leftists do not live their values. People who live in blue states, people who profess liberal progressive values, need to look in the mirror. They are not taking the actions that are consistent with their liberal, progressive values. Not just in small areas but in some of the most important policy choices, they are denying people the opportunity to prosper and to thrive and to build better lives. And it is happening in the places where Democrats control the levers of policy. Bottom line: Leftists, progressive and neo-communists cannot construct and deliver real world progress, equality and opportunity. Their politics is a shell game. Say one thing knowing that all those lofty sounding “theories” are not workable or acceptable to the American people.