Getting a Little Political in Book Five: Working Through the Maze 2018

I am continually horrified by my country.

The Baker Case was resolved yesterday. For those unfamiliar… a gay couple contacted a wedding cake business to make a cake for their wedding. The owner, a fundamentalist Christian, refused them service on the grounds that he would never support gay marriage. They took him to court for refusal of services on discrimination grounds. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Baker… but it is more complicated than that. Unfortunately, we live in a world and in a time where people read the Headline and then nothing else. So my father, my brother, large segments on the internet, and every Trump supporter I’ve ever met… is celebrating because the Supreme Court “finally got it right” and “protected a man’s right to live his values.” Except… that isn’t what happened. Discrimination is not an acceptable reason to refuse service. This is a repeatedly upheld ruling. You are not allowed to refuse service to someone based on their skin color, gender, nationality, or physical disability. AND here’s the trick… for far too long… “religion” was used as the reason to discriminate against skin color! So… back in the 1960s, a lunch counter owner said “It is against my religion to see the negro as an individual of equal rights or equal status to a white man.” The federal government said, “I don’t give a shit. We will not support discrimination.” So how are the two cases different? There are many reasons. The one to focus on, though, is the reason the Baker Case turned out differently. From my understanding of the case as read, the reason the Supreme Court ruled as it did was.... the Lower Court fucked up. The Supreme Court acts as a court of review… sometimes they review de novo (or anew) but it is very difficult to argue for a De Novo Review. Typically, the court will review the judgments of the lower courts to verify if the decision was made properly and for good legal grounds. The Supreme Court ruled that the lower courts did not do their job properly. Specifically, the ruling of the lower court was less about anti-discrimination and more about anti-religion. Obviously, the Supreme Court could not let that ruling stand. This is why arguments make such an extreme difference in the law. If the court says, “We find that an individual’s strongly held religious beliefs hold no legal power as to how business decisions are made. An individual that opens a business to the public forfeits religious objection as a basis for determining clientele.” that is different than saying “We find that an individual’s strongly held religious beliefs can be supported and held to be valid; however such beliefs must be weighed against the liberty and protection of civil rights as expressed by the Constitution.” Basically… the difference is “Religion isn’t legally valid” versus “Religion is legally valid, but a balancing test is required for legal disputes.” The Supreme Court held that a court cannot simply invalidate someone’s religious perspective without strong legal reasoning.

In short: TL;DR.... the Supreme Court said, “The lower court was prejudicial, lazy, and ruled for legally insufficient cause.” They did not say “Boo gay people.” However… as previously mentioned… people rarely read beyond the Headline anymore. So… I’m seeing a lot of vitriol and hate declaring “Hooray, Trump’s America gets it right! Gay people, you’re on notice!” Nope. Not what happened!

It gets so much worse (and heartbreaking) in the wake of the “Trump dis-invites Eagles to White House” news. First of all, 2018 Super Bowl took place on February 4, 2018. A little under 120 days ago. If the Eagles were going to accept the invitation, they would have done so before now. Therefore, Trump publicly dis-inviting them is (1) another way to sow division in America; (2) another way to keep Trump in the news; (3) another way for Trump to look like a winner to his fan-base. Second of all, the timing of it all is intentional. If the Supreme Court ruled against the Baker in the aforementioned case… Trump could use his “strong stance” on the NFL to rally the support of his base to say, “Again… the crooked Supreme Court rules against America. While I respect and HONOR the America we should be.” Instead… the Supreme Court ruled for the Baker. Which now begs an even more difficult question:
How is “1st Amendment Freedoms” an acceptable reason to refuse baking a cake; yet an unacceptable reason for peaceful protest? Aren’t both cake refusal and taking a knee both protected by 1st Amendment grounds and couldn’t both actions be seen as a form of protest?

But we’re in a world of absolute insanity here. The President continues to say he could pardon himself if charged with a crime. Except if that were true… Nixon would have done that… Clinton would have done that. It isn’t like there isn’t significant legal precedent for all of this… but that is why Presidents are usually either Military men or people who’ve gone to Law School. Because if you’re going to be the Chief Executive Officer of the Country, you should know the freaking laws of that country. And… growing up, I never thought I’d say this next sentence: I agree with Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton recently said that if the President were a Democrat, Impeachment proceedings would have already been initiated. And he is 100% correct!! However, Trump is currently “The Great Rodeo Clown” and the GOP is using him brilliantly. HONEST STATEMENT: The GOP and President Trump have consistently denied Climate Change and removed the words “science,” “evidence,” and “climate change” from government documents regarding Global Temperature and Extreme Weather Reports… and yet… Trump has begun to install walls and structures around his golf courses to protect against rising sea levels. You know what that says to me? The same thing every GOP move has said to me lately! And that is, “The government is not here to protect the people. The government is here to allow those with means to use those means as they see fit.” And those with means are using those means to (1) keep their means by any means available; (2) prevent those without means from getting means; and (3) setting themselves up so that… when the world they’ve fucked up finally hits Peak Fucked Up… they’ll be protected… while the people who’ve been trying to help the whole time get swallowed up by poverty, rising sea levels, famine, and lack of access to clean drinking water.

I used to be ULTRA conservative. True story. Because Tipper Gore pissed me off. Because “spending money is always the answer” pissed me off. Because “anti-religious expression” pissed me off. In other words… I was ULTRA conservative because I believed in the following sentence: “The government should be financially cautious, while allowing people to live the life they have chosen and built for themselves.” Guess what! That is certainly not what the GOP means anymore. At all!! George W. Bush gave us “too big to fail”… a nice way of saying, The American People must pay for the sins of large banking institutions while those large banking institutions need experience little to none of the pain of their own actions. And sure, with Obama the GOP were screaming their heads off about Financial Responsibility and Caution. But as soon as the GOP got power? Financial Caution and Intelligence is entirely abandoned! The only logical translation of their actions over the last 13 years is: “Tax payer money going to help the people is inappropriate. Tax payer money going to help businesses and the rich is appropriate.” Which… that is NOT Lincoln’s GOP.
“The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but can not do at all, or can not so well do, for themselves – in their separate, and individual capacities.” ― Abraham Lincoln
Or as has been simplified by others, “The government should do for the citizen what the people cannot do for themselves and nothing more.”

Meanwhile… I’m seeing more and more people around me treating Trump as some great White Savior. Trump will deliver America back to Americans… and yet they don’t see that statement as inherently racist. I do. I know Americans that are American Citizens but they were born in India, or Ghana, or Germany, or Scotland, or Ireland, or Mexico, or Canada. I know Americans that are American Born Citizens but their ancestry is India, Iraq, Korea, Vietnam, Serbia, Cambodia, Nigeria, Chad, Colombian, Irish, Italian, German, Norwegian, Swedish, Native American, British. If you want “America back for Americans” you should be rooting for a government that delivers the power TO THE PEOPLE and not a government that delivers the power TO BANKS AND CORPORATIONS. THAT is what it means to win America back for Americans. What Trump is doing is trying to distract those who can be distracted and lie to those who can be lied to. He’s saying “America is going to fuck other countries because we’re awesome!” and so he releases tariffs against our allies and enemies alike. He does his best to make America look like an isolationist country… all while openly agreeing to help China get more jobs! That was a head spinning bullshit moment. He announces tariffs against China for illegal dumping… but then promises China to help them get more jobs.

All Trump has done is ruin America’s stock overseas… made our Country look like we can’t keep our promises (Iraq Deal), enforce our deals (Climate Change), or be treated with respect (Middle East Fiasco)… he has removed science and intelligence from government… he has removed education from the Education Department… and his Cabinet has consistently flaunted the Ethics Department (shit, Pruitt keeps making rookie level ethics violations). Yes, the stock market is doing well… and if you use the stock market to gauge American success, you didn’t learn anything from 2009. The people who already HAVE the money are the ones controlling the stock market… so to keep stocks up, keep THOSE people happy. But what about Main Street? What about the other 99% of the country? What about our country’s ability to negotiate abroad?

After seeing a lot of comments today from various sources… I feel like, at least in my local surrounding area… the passionate push is “Trump is a hero”… but the logical lesson is “Trump is the rodeo clown distracting the bull of the public. And that bull is going to get slaughtered sooner than later.”