America Needs Some Patriotic History in order to Survive

On the first day of my American studies class this year we started off by discussing the Puritans of the New World. A man named John Winthrop was their leader and he delivered a famous speech called, “A Model of Christian Charity.” In it, he stated that the new society which they were creating would be a “city set upon a hill” for all of the world to admire and mimic. These moving words served as the foundation for a belief in American exceptionalism.

The idea is probably one of the most important in American history and has been alluded to by prominent political figures on both the left and right side of the political spectrum. JFK, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney have all made references to this shining ideal.

American exceptionalism, however, carries more weight than being a mere political tool for politicians to invoke in order that they may seem patriotic. It is the glue that holds the nation together. 

Unlike Denmark or Japan, America is not a nation state. Each of us has a different culture, values, and beliefs. However, we can all coalesce around the idea that the United States is a great country with shining ideals and a dream that everyone can hope to fulfill. It is an idea which makes us ask what we can do for our country and not what our country can do for us.

That is why I was so astonished when only 5 out of 30 students raised their hands when my teacher asked if we thought America was exceptional in some way. This lack of belief in American exceptionalism and the American dream doesn’t in any way reflect that it is dead. In fact, all of the people in the class have better standards of living than 99% of people on earth. All of them have iphones and homes and attend school at one of the richest school districts in the entire country.

Therefore, their disdain for America is not the result of a lack of material prosperity which breeds hopelessness. It is the byproduct of a school system that insists on treating America as the bad actor in history. It is the product of my eighth grade teacher assigning Howard Zinn’s, A Young Person’s History of the United States, in social studies class.

We are at a turning point in American history, where a significant portion of the population doesn’t believe that America is special. And if it’s not special, why not destroy it and replace it with something better? The rioters from prestigious colleges flatter themselves by arrogantly believing that they can accomplish this task. 

And the rioters who loot stores are able to convince themselves that if the American system is rigged with the injustices of the past, then their suffering is not self-imposed. They can ignore their own faults and throw responsibility to the wind.

Meanwhile, students in public schools are taught that America is a uniquely evil country with a foundation that is based on slavery instead of liberty. Then they go home and the media portrays anarchists and rioters as part of “mostly peaceful” and justified protests.

When asked by citizens what government had been created by delegates from the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin answered, “A republic, if you can keep it.” It takes more than laws to preserve a country, because laws can be changed and anarchy can rule. 

Even when America was committing gross atrocities it was and still is the most free and prosperous country in the history of the world. An education system which fails to reflect this fact is doomed to degrade our republic and breed ingratitude and hatred. The answer is not the glossing over of America’s dark spots. The answer is highlighting the bright ones which are a gift to the world.

Don’t Trust Biden’s Hard on China Schtick

The upcoming election is perhaps the most important in recent history in relation to foreign policy. It could very well decide whether the United States has the resolve to stand up and maintain its place at the head of world affairs, or it drifts into a state of complacency, with global powers trying to fill the vacuum left by U.S. influence.

The Chinese Communist Party would certainly like to see the latter scenario carried out. They would be quick to fill the void left by America in order to meet their timeline for territorial supremacy, especially in Southeast Asia where they wish to assert their dominance.

As such, in this election it is imperative that our president be willing to stand up to China. Democratic nominee Joe Biden has recognized this fact and attempted to counter President Trump’s claim that he is too soft on China. He has gone from encouraging China to be a “responsible stakeholder” to calling Chinese leader Xi Jinping “a thug.” 

However, as history has shown, rhetoric is no substitute for policy, and there is reason to believe that Biden would be as hard on China as he says he would be. In reality, his measures would probably be limited in the promotion of human rights and not at all capable of bringing about a geopolitical balance of power in favor of our allies.

As far as promoting human rights goes it is unlikely that Biden would make much ground. It is true that he has called the treatment of Uighurs genocidal and that he, “stands against it in the strongest terms.” However, his policy proposals for remedying this evil are less than effective. He stated that he would bring the case before the U.N. which is absolutely pointless given that both Russia and China have veto powers

Biden’s ability to create a balance of power in our favor is also extremely questionable. He prefers economic competition in alliance with East and Southeast Asian powers over the strengthening of military alliances. This would most likely take the form of a variant of the Trans-Atlantic Partnership Deal which was in effect during the Obama administration. The measure would have little effect in stifling China’s ambitions as it did not hinder the U.S. from having what President Obama called, “the most important bilateral relationship of the 21st century.” Suasion by denial is an extremely important part of the logic of strategy and ignoring the importance of military strength could prove fatal in our ability to combat China’s territorial expansion.

These weak-willed measures are not just worrisome for American citizens concerned about our global prominence. People in Asia are also conspicuously pro-Trump. Many are rightly concerned that a Biden victory would mean a reversion to cooperative diplomacy with China rather than effective countermeasures to mounting aggression.

An anonymous writer from Japan’s Foreign Ministry stated that, “having a poorly implemented but fundamentally correct strategy (under Trump) is better than having a well-implemented but ambiguous strategy.” 

Another Singaporean official worries that Biden would be too focused on peripheral issues and unable to effectively confront China. “She (Susan Rice, Biden’s suggested candidate for secretary of state or defense) was amongst those who thought the United States should deemphasize competition to get China’s cooperation on climate change, which is a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of international relations.”

Although Biden has started condemning China more fervently, it is unreasonable to believe that he would be willing to completely change the failed policies he supported during his years as Obama’s vice president. His strategy for dealing with China is fundamentally lacking in the heavy-handedness which is necessary to deter the Chinese Communist Party from pursuing its territorial ambitions. His change in speech has not evoked a change in policy, and this should be worrisome to all who are concerned with stopping China from becoming the world’s dominant power.

Your humble servant, 

Silence Dogood

People Who Allow the Exploitation of Children Always Have Excuses

People who perpetrate terrible acts and those who support them often have well thought out excuses. The murderer has his alibi and the abused wife defends her husband’s actions. The same phenomena occurs in the realm of policy making and in the culture. Those who are in power serve as shields for criminals and sometimes sex offenders who perpetrate abhorrent and disgusting acts. 

These excuses can have far reaching and influential consequences which perpetuate society’s gradual slide into the abyss of a society without morals. In the past year we have seen drag queen story hour, a California law reducing the sentences of sexual offenders, and a movie that is so disgusting in its portrayal of children that people are calling for its creators to be arrested. Whether or not you think these events should be legal or not they are undoubtedly odd, perverse, and shouldn’t have any moral supporters. Despite this, large groups of people have been standing up to defend them from what they call “right-wing” attacks.

An event which gained widespread attention in 2019 is called drag queen story hour, where grown men dressed up as drag queens read story books to children and their parents. The description is creepy enough. Why would a grown man want to read books to children he doesn’t know at a library?

Some were there for obviously bad reasons. In fact, one of the drag queens reading to kids at the Houston Public library was a convicted sex offender. Despite the obvious drawback of exposing kids to a concept like “gender fluidity” I’m sure that most of the drag queens weren’t horrible people. But exposing children to men who dress up as hypersexualized caricatures of women seems like borderline exploitation. However, I’ll admit that I didn’t think of this as indicative of any broader trend to take away the innocence of children.

Then California happened. State Senator Scott Wiener introduced a bill that would stop adults from being automatically put on the sex offender if they sodomize or perform oral sex on a minor between 14 and 17 whom they are less than 10 years older than. This bill was passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Gavin Newsom. It is unclear how sex between a 24 year old and a 14 year old or anyone in their twenties and a 14 year old could be consentual, but the bill leaves room for that sort of behavior.

Senator Weiner’s logic behind the bill was that California state law was more lenient for people who performed vaginal sex than those who performed the types more commonly engaged in by LGBTQ+ individuals. If this be the case then he easily could have crafted legislation to make laws harsher for those who engaged in the former type of sex. The fact that he did not is telling. For those who protest about the exception for an 18 year old who has sex with a 17 year old, it is important to note that thiss exception already exists and those cases are often tried as misdemeanors.

However, the thing that truly exposed this movement as a left-wing phenomena which is now gripping the country is the film Cuties. The IMDb parent guide warns viewers that there are “Frequent scenes of 11 yr old girls dancing lewdly where the camera pans in and zooms in on the children’s buttocks and midsections.” It goes on to describe a number of sexual acts performed by the children.

  It is hard to imagine who in their right mind would support this film or portray it as morally acceptable, yet this is exactly what the left did. They stated that it “dramatizes the difficulties of growing up female” and called it “a Moving Coming-of-age Drama,” because the movie is meant to show sexualization in a bad light. However, it doesn’t seem justifiable to sexually exploit child actors in the name of raising awareness about sexual exploitation. This all happened while conservatives were criticized for their “creepy obsession” with the movie.

Leftists also pointed to the director’s comments for a moral justification of their position. She stated that, “Today, the sexier and the more objectified a woman is, the more value she has in the eyes of social media,” which is a problem for underage girls. However it is completely incompatible for leftists who are praising WAP by Cardi B as a deeply feminist song to also complain about the sexualization of underage girls who are on the internet. The utterly confused nature of their position shows their lack of principles.

Alexander Hamilton stated, “If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything.” Leftists have proved that their moral relativism and ends justify the means approach to life prevents them from standing for anything. And they have fallen for supporting activities that are encouraging to pedophiles and allow the exploitation of children.

Your humble servant,

Silence Dogood

Subsidizing College is Subsidizing Revolution

An extremely prominent policy proposal which has been embraced by the liberals in the United States is that public universities and colleges should be tuition-free institutions. A Pew Research poll conducted in 2020 found that 83 percent of democrats and left-leaning independents support this proposal. Despite its popularity, the idea of “free” college in the United States is one that is extremely dangerous, because it continues to be embraced by moderates and opens the door for government indoctrination.

One of the reasons why this policy is so prominent in the national discourse is because it is not just embraced by radicals like Bernie Sanders. Presidential nominee Joe Biden, who presents himself as a moderate, adopted a modified version of Sanders’ plan in a bid to gain more progressive voters. His plan would make public colleges and universities tuition free for people earning less than $125,000 per year which is a significant portion of the population. It is also important to note that this is a plan that was proposed by Bernie Sanders in the past. 

His embrace of this radical policy illustrates an important dynamic within the democratic party which you could call the progressive lag effect. It occurs when a progressive leader like Bernie Sanders infuses an idea into the public mind like free college for some people. Although it might have seemed absurd in the past, it gradually gains traction as people come around to his way of thinking. 

Meanwhile, progressives have moved on from wanting free college for some and want free college for everyone. Eventually, the lag will catch up and democratic party leaders will be calling for this proposal while Sander’s followers move on to something more progressive.

However, the main danger with the idea of tuition free college for everyone, or even just people making less than $125,000 per year does not have anything to do with increased taxes or the removal of individual responsibility (although these are also problems). The main danger of “free” college is that it opens up the door to total government run indoctrination. 

In fact, one of the reasons why indoctrination is so prominent on college campuses is because tuition increases allow universities to hire more administrators that serve their leftist purposes. However, they are only able to make these tuition increases because of government subsidies which guarantee loans to students. By making all public colleges “free” the government would be eliminating many cost barriers to universities, which would allow them to hire even more administrators, who often drive on campus neo-marxist events. 

Subsidizing college even more would actually be subsidizing revolution. The people who are currently rioting and their leaders, are often college educated. They have been steeped in critical race theory nonsense which erodes the foundations of society. When they go to college they don’t hear anything about America being good, all they hear is that it is evil at the core. When you tell someone this, how do you expect them to react? If America is truly like Nazi Germany, then that would make black people like the Jews. The Jews certainly had a right to kill and burn and pillage in the streets of Nazi Germany. So why shouldn’t these college grads do it to America?

If free college were ever made a reality, those who supported it would be contributing to our society’s destruction. College is merely a credential and people measure its value through a cost benefit analysis. If your future earnings aren’t going to be improved enough for you to pay off your degree and have a higher standard of living, then you shouldn’t go to college. However, people like Bernie Sanders know that college has become much more powerful than a credential. It is a center for indoctrination that allows neo-marxists to push forth seemingly just views on unsuspecting students. Subsidizing college is subsidizing revolution.

Your humble servant,

Silence Dogood

The Left Wants Cities to Burn and Unrest to Continue

BLM rioter throws tear gas at police in Portland

Over the past few months, as cities have been burning, democrats and their supporters have been largely silent on the rioting. Only a few have come out to mildly condemn rioting. On Sunday Joe Biden stated, “I condemn violence of every kind by anyone, whether on the left or the right.” However, he has been living under a rock for the past few months or just wanted to save his poll numbers. 

At the same time as he condemned the violence Biden also called on President Trump to do so as well. This despite the fact that when Trump tried to send federal troops to Portland, Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris supported a bill that would prohibit him from doing so. Therefore, it’s safe to say that the Biden/Harris ticket doesn’t actually care whether or not your cities burn.

However, the people that they are beholden to- radical politicians, their progressive base, and the media- are not merely passive about what is happening, they are actively rooting for, justifying, and covering up the violence.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler is one of those people. His August 28th letter to President Trump shows that he is a liar and a fraud. In the letter he refused help from Trump, saying that the president had failed at his COVID-19 response and that he wanted images of violence for his reelection. 

If it was true that images of unrest were good for Trump’s reelection, then why would he refuse federal help? The federal troops would obviously be employed to stop the violence. Also, if he is worried about COVID-19, then wouldn’t he want to enforce physical distancing which is absent at the riots? The truth is that Ted Wheeler doesn’t care about the violence. If we are to judge his motives by the outcome of his actions we could easily come to the conclusion that he likes it. Despite saying that “Those who commit criminal acts will be apprehended and prosecuted under the law,” officials in his city have dropped the charges of numerous people, some of whom were accused of felonies

Kamala Harris also likes the riots despite her claim that she disavows violence. On June 1 of this year she posted a link for the Minnesota Freedom Fund on her personal twitter account. The goal of the fund was to post bail for people who were arrested while protesting in Minnesota. 

Despite what she tells us now, she has always been in favor of the destruction, because she believes, like her democratic colleagues, that America is systemically racist. If this is true, why wouldn’t you support rioting? If the system is truly rigged, then you are justified in destroying the system.

The media is also covering up and justifying the violence which is occurring in cities across America. CNN has run multiple chyrons which prove this beyond a reasonable doubt. On “The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer” CNN displayed a chyron which read “8PM Curfew Ordered After Violent Protests Over Police Shooting Of Unarmed Black Man In Wisconsin.” However, fifteen seconds after it appeared, CNN’s employees removed the word “violent” from the screen. There is no way to read this other than that they don’t want people to know what is happening in major cities. They care more about the democratic politicians who run those cities than about the people who are having their livelihoods destroyed.

However, major news organizations have gone even further than merely covering up the violence. “Your most trusted name in news” also justified it. Another CNN chyron read “Fiery but mostly peaceful protests after police shooting.” It was displayed as CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez stood in front of a burning building which had been torched by rioters. CNN and other news organizations blatantly justify the violence that is occurring in cities.

Although democrat leaders have suddenly decided to disavow violence, they are merely showing that they are vicious opportunists who do not care about the American people. Don’t count on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to stop this violence. Their progressive base and the media support it. And if Harris wasn’t the VP nominee, she would too.

U.S. Position on Iran Doesn’t Risk Isolation

President Trump’s hard-line stance with Iran has not escaped criticism from many people who feel that his diplomatic style is too incendiary and provocative. Many believe that his scrapping of the Iran deal and the recent vote to extend the Iranian arms embargo will force us into an isolated foreign policy which will be damaging to the U.S. However, critics of an aggressive strategy on Iran suffer from a severe case of eurocentrism, forgetting that we have many non-European allies. Far from risking isolation, the hardball U.S. foreign policy against Iran is an important counter-measure to hostile actors who want to see a dangerous and powerful Iran in the Middle East.

Those who criticize U.S. foreing policy as risking isolation against Iran completely ignore our status in areas of the world other than Europe. While it may be true that Western European countries wish to preserve the shoddy Iran nuclear deal, we have many Middle Eastern allies who support us in our fight to stop Iranian aggression. One such ally is Israel who has been a harsh critic of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Back in 2018, in a bid to convince the U.S. to leave the deal, Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu brought forward evidence detailing how Iran lied about its nuclear goals before singing the Iran deal in 2018. Israeli operatives recovered 55,000 pages of evidence in a Tehran warehouse. 

Critics of Netanyahu argued that he was engaging in political showmanship in order to convince the Trump administration to leave the Iran Nuclear Deal. Even if this is true it is important to realize two things 1.) The Iran Nuclear Deal is meant to stop Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon 2.) Israel doesn’t want Iran to get a nuclear weapon because Iran wants to destroy them. If the nuclear deal actually did its professed job of stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear warheads, Israel’s criticism of the deal would be incongruous with its desires. From the beginning Israel recognized the fact that the deal will not stop Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon and they are prepared to stand with use in our fight for international stability.

However, U.S. policy is not merely a bilateral pact with Israel. Other Arab countries are also in strong opposition to Iran because it is a threat to the entire Middle East. The U.A.E.-Israel peace deal offers a prime example of how U.S. policy towards Iran is a recognition of Middle-Eastern interests. The peace deal is as much (if not more) about stifling Iran’s regional ambitions as it is about promoting peace. Recognizing this fact, Iranian officials were quick to criticize the deal as a “huge mistake.

Even countries who haven’t normalized relations with Israel are highly supportive of U.S. measures to neutralize the Iranian threat. Saudi Arabia voiced its support of the U.S. decision to leave the deal back in 2018. According to their Foreign Ministry, “Iran used economic gains from the lifting of sanctions to continue its activities to destabilize the region, particularly by developing ballistic missiles and supporting terrorist groups in the region.” The powerful gulf states have affirmed their position that they see Iran as a threat to be countered with the help of the U.S.

Those who believe that the U.S. is wrong for voting to extend the Iranian arms embargo without the support of other UN security council members or for leaving the Iran Nuclear deal suffer from the arrogance which causes powerful countries to impose their will on other states. President Trump’s Iran policy is a recognition of what is best for the peace and stability of the Middle East. The great powers of the region in question have spoken and they are allied with the U.S. in its fight to stop Iran from being a dominant power.

The U.N. is a Weak Facade to Disguise Rivalries

Photo Attributions: Tom Page / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

No single organization in the history of the world has been more over-hyped than the United Nations. Despite extravagant pushes for reform, it is severely limited in its goals. While the U.N. may purport to promote peace building, this does not change the fact that while it was in existence we have had multiple international conflicts including the Vietnam war, Korean War, Iraq War, and the war in Afghanistan. Additionally it did nothing to save the 100 million people who died from communism or prevent the nuclear standoff between the United States and Russia. The U.N. is merely a nice facade which serves the purpose of making power rivals seem more civilized. In reality, the U.N.  is ineffectual, subverts the interests of its greatest members, and gives power to dictators. Despite the organization’s nice title, the nations of the world could not be more disunited and private alliances between countries will always take precedence over the U.N. Its inability to counter Iran and its de facto disregard for human rights make it a neutered and weak organization.

The U.N. has shown its incompetence in regards to checking hostile foreign powers in its conduct towards Iran which has been a designated state sponsor of terrorism since 1984. A 2019  Report conducted by the U.S. Department of State reported that Iran has continued to instigate violence throughout the Middle East by supporting “Hizballah, Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza, and various terrorist groups in Syria, Iraq, and throughout the Middle East.” Additionally, “Iran used the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to provide support to terrorist organizations, provide cover for associated covert operations, and create instability in the region.”  Despite this, four days ago the U.N. rejected an extension of an arms embargo which has been in place in the country since 2007. This move would allow weapons to be shipped directly to the Tehran regime by October 18 of this year. Unsurprisingly, the two countries that voted no were Russia and China. However, 11 countries abstained because the Europeans were worried that it would destroy the shoddy Iran nuclear deal. The fact that the U.N. cannot pass resolutions to stop state sponsored terrorism is absurd and points to its ineffectuality.

The U.N. also spouts high-handed rhetoric about the need to preserve human rights. In 1948 the organization passed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which outlined basic human rights. However, despite this supposed desire to uplift humanity, the U.N. has virtually no power to actually enforce the recognition of human rights. It can’t even condemn member states who don’t live up to its standards. Take China’s treatment of the Uighur Muslims. If someone were to bring forth a resolution condemning the Chinese Communists Party’s evil behavior, they could automatically veto the resolution. Another country that has veto power on all resolutions is Russia, whose power hungry president has been maneuvering for years to continually stay in power. Last month these two countries vetoed a resolution to extend humanitarian aid for millions of Syrians suffering from violence. Due to the veto power of these two dictatorships, the resolution was defeated despite the fact that every single other country on the security council voted to approve the measure. An organization that relies on Russia and China for support can do little to uphold human rights or bring about a substantial change in geopolitical relations.

The United Nations -as implied in the name- can only work if nations are united. It does not magically heal a divided world or silence the repression of brutal dictators. It is a weak and hamstrung organization that cannot effectually bring about substantial change. Because the U.N. relies on tyrannical regimes to cooperate in its quest for noble goals it can do little more than spout moralistic rhetoric and provide aid to countries that Russia and China deem as non-threatening. This organization is nothing more than a nice facade which covers the bitter power rivalries which plague our world.

Your humble servant,

Silence Dogood

The Democratic Party is Not the Party For Workers

Colin@TheTruthAbout / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

Democrats often posit themselves as the party that will defend and protect workers to their last breath. Each of the democratic presidential candidates this year supported vastly changing employer/employee relations. The democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris support a $15 minimum wage, forcing people who work in unionized places to pay union dues, and raising teacher wages by $13,500. Despite this fiery rhetoric in favor of workers rights, democrats are not the party of the working class. Either democratic politicians are ignorant or they are trying to fool workers into voting for them. They discourage new hiring and their policies cause unemployment. If the democratic party were allowed to achieve all of its goals they would do much more to harm workers than to help them.

The list of jobs which democratic states could have created but discouraged with their policies should be enough to serve as an indictment of the far left policies which the democratic party continues to endorse. This week, in an effort to protect workers, a California superior court ordered  Lyft and Uber to reclassify their drivers as employees. Before, they were classified as independent contractors.  This new classification would force Uber and Lyft to provide full benefits to people completing a part time job to earn extra money on the side. Uber has threatened to leave California altogether if the state remains steadfast on this ruling. 

It is also important to note here that Joe Biden would support measures like this on a national level because he wants to fight the “gig economy” by forcing many companies to reclassify independent contractors as employees. Electing him would be an endorsement of these failed policies. It is hard to understand how democrats could be so completely oblivious as to think that discouraging a company from hiring people and causing it to lay off its employees could be good for workers. My guess is that they didn’t ask the some 100,000 Uber drivers in California, who make their livelihood from the company, whether or not they disagreed with the ruling.

Workers in New York have also suffered from the failed scheming of democrats. The infamous Alexandria Ocasio Cortez caused Amazon to pull their plans to build a campus in Queens, New York. She was not alone, though. State senator Michael Gianaris led the movement. They cost the city the 25,000 jobs that Amazon would have created. AOC then had the audacity to ask “haters to apologize,” after Amazon decided to open offices in a New York neighborhood. Apparently she doesn’t realize that a single office location won’t bring the 25,000 jobs that an entire headquarters would have. To be fair, Governor Cuomo and Mayor De Blasio did support Amazon’s initial move, but it is hard to imagine that this ever would have happened in a state that was run by republicans.

In addition to discouraging individual companies from moving to their cities, democrats’ plans would also cause layoffs throughout the entire country. This is due to the fact that they want a federally mandated $15 minimum wage to be implemented. It is an undisputed fact among economists that minimum wages hurt low income workers by causing layoffs of people who are not considered to be worth $15 an hour. According to a study done by the Congressional Budget Office in 2019, a minimum wage of $15 would  increase wages for some but, “1.3 million other workers would become jobless, according to CBO’s median estimate.” It  is extremely disingenuous that a party who presents itself as pro-worker could call for this radical policy which would cause over one million people to be laid off. The only reason they would do such a thing is either because they are ignorant or they like demagoguery.

Despite imploring workers to vote for them and promising a number of protections, democrats are in no way the party for workers. They are out of touch with reality and call for radical measures which would hurt America’s working population almost beyond repair. Demonizing the companies that provide people with jobs and imposing stringent regulations on them is a surefire way to make it so that workers have very little opportunity to work.

Your humble servant,

Silence Dogood

Kamala Harris is an Opportunist Who Won’t be Able to Heal a Divided Country

Today, in a spectacular turn of events, Joe Biden chose the woman who accused him of racism when discussing forced busing -Kamala Harris- as his vice presidential candidate. This will likely be one of the most important veep picks in history as Harris will wield significant influence in the White House as Joe Biden’s mental health declines. Voters certainly know this and that is why, instead of attacking Biden on his selection skills, Trump instead decided to call out Harris’s absurd policies in a White House press conference. This makes it particularly clear that this race is mainly between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. The most important question to moderate voters that Harris will have to answer in her campaign is this: Can she bring stability and healing to an extremely divided nation? Her record clearly answers this question in the negative as she has failed to condemn violence and tried to crush opponents using slanderous and inconsistent tactics.

Currently, the most important question for our politicians is whether they can stop the Antifa initiated violence that is engulfing cities. The violence is bad for people of every race, creed, and culture. Harris is certainly not the person to bring an end to this chaos. Instead of commending (or at least not criticizing Trump) when he sent federal troops to Portland, she decided to introduce the “Preventing Authoritarian Policing Tactics on America’s Streets Act.” If passed, it would have prevented the Trump administration from sending troops to Portland to stop the Antifa led violence in the streets. 

She has not once condemned the violence which had been going on for over fifty nights before federal law enforcement arrived. It appears that she wants to capitalize on the support of her radical left base. There is no easier way to promote violence than by using tactics such as she does. She fails to condemn the chaos while repeating the rioters’ talking points thereby ensuring that those who are committing crimes will continue to do so, because they see results. Harris is definitely not the candidate to stop violence and chaos in the cities.

She is also not the candidate to unite us at a time when we are very divided. One important way in which we can increase discourse is by at least not trying to slander those you disagree with. She certainly did not live up to this standard during the Brett Kavanaugh hearing. In fact, after he was appointed to the supreme court she released a statement saying that Christine Blasey Ford had, “serious and credible allegations of sexual assault” and that the appointment of Kavanaugh was “a disservice to survivors everywhere.” In essence, she tried to destroy his life based on the claims of an inconsistent woman who didn’t remember any details about the night of the alleged assault. Political banter has always been a part of politics but when someone tries to destroy their opponents with slanderous lies, it certainly does not promote discussion between people with different political affiliations.

Additionally, those who believe that she may have been sincere in her “believe all women” craze need to recognize that she is on the ticket with a man accused of sexually assaulting Tara Reade. When asked about the allegations against Joe Biden she stated, “I believe them, and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it.” This shows that she doesn’t have the principles necessary to be a uniting leader in a divisive time. She attempts to hype up a progressive base by endorsing absurd ideologies and attacking people and then backs off of those positions when it is politically convenient.

This election moderates will be concerned with who will provide stability and a sense of normalcy. The ideological beliefs of the candidates are certainly important to voters registered along party lines, but the vast amount of independents just want the craziness to stop. After four years of Trump, many are ready to throw in the towel and vote for Biden. However, it is important to remember that Biden is merely the puppet of those who hold his leash. If Harris is holding that leash -as she will be if he is elected- things will certainly be worse for the country. She will fail to stop violence in our cities and she will cave to progressive causes and ideologies the minute it suits her purposes.

Your humble servant,

Silence Dogood

China’s Actions in the Middle East are Meant to Cause Chaos

On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that China helped Saudi Arabia develop technology to advance it in its quest for nuclear capabilities. The facility that the two countries created together is used to extract uranium yellowcake out of uranium ore, which is essential in the development of nuclear weaponry. Although the country is a long way from being able to develop nuclear warheads, officials stated that it was a big step in the country’s drive to perfect nuclear technology. On the surface, it is unclear why China would raise such a controversial issue which is sure to raise a significant amount of backlash from Israel and her Western allies. Additionally, China is already allied with Pakistan which has nuclear capabilities and is in the same region as Saudi Arabia. They also have an estimated 320 nuclear warheads which can be delivered by sea, air, and land.

However, China has always been an agent of chaos on the world stage and its actions are an attempt to spread that chaos to other regions. In fact, they often benefit from instability. It allows them to maneuver outside of public view, when countries have their attention focused on other issues such as global pandemics. 

China is also able to weather the crises which it creates with much more ease, because of the totalitarian government which holds the country in its grip. People who live in democracies are not used to the suffering and uncertainty which conflict brings, but Chinese citizens must deal with it daily, and are much more tolerant of measures that are subversive to their rights. Hence, China likes international and regional instability.

There is certainly no better way for them to fuel this instability than by continuing to pit the Middle East’s two biggest powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, against each other. Iran has been striving to attain nuclear weapons for years, but China’s actions may accelerate this struggle by creating a nuclear arms race between the two countries, which are divided along both religious and political lines. Effectuating this race would allow China to choose a side (Iran) and significantly strengthen its ties with that country.

This would put the U.S. at a significant disadvantage as they would be obligated to discourage both countries from obtaining these types of weapons. With the U.S. as a mediator and observer, we would be unable to aid any side in the race for nuclear weapons.

If the United States wishes to curb Chinese ambition it must strengthen relations with existing countries to create a block of stability in the wake of Chinese chaos. It can do this in the Middle East by continuing to provide Israel with advanced weapons and by unilaterally supporting Israel’s right to the West Bank. Additionally, it can make foreign military sales to Saudi Arabia (which is our largest buyer) contingent on limited involvement with the Chinese government. China has been continuing to exploit weaknesses on the world stage for a long time and it is important to make sure that our alliances our secure and dominant in order to counteract Chinese ambition. 

Your humble servant,

Silence Dogood