Who’s to Blame for this Mess?

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Since I live in deep, deep blue territory, everyone around me blames Republicans for the mess we’re in. The mess I’m referring to is this: we’re in the middle of a war while being led by Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth. It’s OK to scream.

The problem I want to address today is that the people who didn’t vote for Trump in 2024 simply point to those who did and blame “them.” Sorry, but it’s not that simple. Do you recall the early spring of 2024 when Democrats were unable to tell Joe Biden that he simply could not run again? I remember. I remember that in February of that year, I was screaming to my sister that this country simply had to come up with better choices than Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Well, we didn’t. Neither party had the ability to challenge entrenched leadership and demand better. So here we are.

My point is this: We did this to ourselves, so stop pointing fingers at the other guys. Do you believe that democracy is the best form of government? Then show me how we get out of this giant f**cking mess. I think we’ve proven that 250 years is all she wrote for this once-beautiful nation.

Perhaps you voted for Kamala Harris as I did. I don’t know what mess we’d be in if she had won, but I’m guessing that they wouldn’t be this particular mess that we face now. I’m not going to speculate on that. But I do think that if she had won a rigorous primary campaign, she’d have been a stronger candidate and could have won the election. Or else the Democrats would have emerged with an even better candidate who would have won.

Trump was not inevitable. We did this. Is there a fix? If so, I don’t think finger pointing is the solution. Let’s start by listening and talking and listening and talking some more. Or else it’s curtains for the US. IMHO as always. Please set me straight if you disagree.

Score One for Seattle

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I have criticized Seattle so many times that you must wonder if I have it in me to say anything nice about it. Well, yes, I do! The new waterfront redevelopment that replaced the aging viaduct along the shore of Elliott Bay is wonderful. The Nisqually earthquake in 2001 hit the viaduct hard – just not hard enough to topple it. Sadly, that meant that city fathers and mothers and various activist groups could spend the next 20 years arguing about what to do about it.

The viaduct carried a lot of north/south traffic through downtown, so somehow that traffic had to be accommodated. The cheapest solution would be to tear it down and rebuild it. But everyone who visited the waterfront hated the grime and the noise that dominated the scene. It offered nice views to the drivers who used it, but surely we could do better than just build a new viaduct.

Every other idea would cost many billions of dollars more, and it was hard to get agreement on which alternative offered the best bang for the buck. Meanwhile the viaduct was being inspected frequently while we all hoped that the next earthquake would wait until after something new was in place. As it turned out, Seattle was fortunate. Disasters happened all over the world, but Seattle was spared, and the posh new waterfront park, built on top of the new tunnel is finally open for business. And guess what: It’s awesome.

I can’t really describe it, but it’s the sort of city enhancement that we all wish for. Get down there and explore!

Seattle’s New Waterfront Park

The Liberal Patriot Bites the Dust

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When I say I’m no longer a Democrat, a few people ask why. The reasons are so numerous that I quickly get flustered trying to summarize them coherently. Fortunately, there is someone out there who can speak for me. Unfortunately, as articulate as he is, his project, The Liberal Patriot is closing down for lack of support.

When Yascha Monk saw the news, he immediately set up an interview with Ruy Teixeira to talk about the loss of TLP. I’m offering a link to their discussion because it covers a lot of the issues I have with current Democrats. Teixeira is worried that if the Ds don’t alter their stance on some key issues, they won’t be able to build a lasting majority. He cites several culture war issues, ones that Trump used effectively in his campaign against Kamala Harris.

As it stands, the Democrats are the party of college educated elites who support DEI over merit, equality of outcome over equality of opportunity, trans rights over women’s rights, assume disparities prove discrimination (except in pro football and basketball), and think only white Europeans ever enslaved anyone (forgetting that only white Europeans decided to end slavery).

Listen, or read the transcript. Let me know if any of the concerns that Teixeira cites shake up your thinking about anything.

The Liberal Patriot Bites the Dust

https://open.substack.com/pub/persuasion1/p/ruy-teixeira-3?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

The Arab Case for Israel

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Until the start of the latest war in Iran, I didn’t know that The Foundation for Defense of Democracies existed. But since then, I’ve listened to several videos of theirs. This one is not specifically on Iran. But given that a major focus of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the destruction of the state of Israel (the little Satan as opposed to the US which is the big Satan).

Hussain Abdul Hussain, the interviewee, is the author of The Arab Case for Israel. He is one of the few Arab natives of the Middle East willing to openly support Israel, but that was not always the case. I love this interview because Hussain discusses how his views evolved as he and his family moved from one country to another and met children from many different backgrounds.

Enjoy: The Arab Case for Israel
47 min.