Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Black Lives Matter


Black lives matter. Absolutely they do! The amount of melanin in one’s skin pigmentation does not add nor diminish to the inherent dignity and worth of any human life.  Of course, black lives matter.  The phrase itself is uncontroversial and inarguable to my mind. Every person is a child of God and created in His image.  As such, racism is a sin and a pernicious evil that is not to be tolerated by decent people of any color.

Now, the organization of Black Lives Matter is another thing altogether.  They are founded by self-professed “trained Marxists” who seem bent on destroying capitalism, religion, social mores, the nuclear family, and the very foundation of America.   One prominent Black Lives Matter leader told a news reporter just two weeks ago that the group is willing to embrace violence.  And they have proven this repeatedly in the ensuing weeks.  

Black Lives Matter (the organization) is not about black lives.  They could not care less about the dozens of black people killed every single week in Chicago, Baltimore, Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, Los Angles, and elsewhere in our country at the hands of others that aren’t police officers.  (Every city of which is governed by Democrats, but that is an entirely different matter… or not.)  They certainly don’t do ANYTHING to help improve the lives of Americans of color.  Indeed, if they wanted to help black Americans, they would realize that capitalism, faith, and the rule of law has brought unparalleled prosperity and peace to people of color in this country, especially in the past three years.  But BLM, the organization, only wants to foster hate and division when a black person is killed by a police officer.  It is a pretext for “burning the whole thing down” as one member said.

If a police officer is wrong in using deadly force on ANYONE, I am right there with you in protest and demanding justice --- just like every other decent American is, regardless of color.  What the rioting, burning, looting, shooting, and destruction of property largely by snot-nosed suburban white kids marching under the BLM banner does is to harm this cause for justice.  They are not about justice.  They want an excuse to engage in chaos, anarchy, and mayhem.  That turns the vast silent majority of Americans against them specifically and dilutes a just message by righteous protesters that then becomes lost in the ashes of rioting.

Further, the idiot rioters further prove their ignorance of history, or perhaps just display the fact that they don’t give a damn about it, as they tear down or vandalize statues of Fredrick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Columbus, and even a damned statue of an elk in Portland last week.  A freaking elk!  I was not aware that the elk were the most racist creatures in the forest.  The bottom line is that this not about black lives mattering.  It is about furthering a Marxist, godless agenda.
Teaching our kids that racism is a pernicious evil is the responsibility of all good parents.  Teaching them or allowing them to be taught that Marxist antifa and BLM groups which espouse violence and have very little to do with denouncing actual racism is a gross abrogation of parental duties.

I know this nonsense is commonplace as taught in our schools and colleges by teachers and professors with a militant leftist agenda these days.  America is always bad to these people and they indoctrinate and infect our students with this verifiably false load of crap.  Truth is the very first casualty in this socialist revolution that is bound to fail.

Sadly, there is real racism in America, but it is far more the exception than the rule.  It is NOT systemic, even in nearly all of the police forces throughout our nation.  We should be concentrating on eradicating real racism through an education of actual facts of history and current events instead of made-up and debunked agenda-driven programs like the 1619 project and BLM rhetoric.  How does a nation elect a black president and people of color to all offices throughout this country if it is overwhelmingly racist?  

What happened to George Floyd was horrific.  That said, the officers involved were fired, jailed, and will face punishment for their parts in his murder.  Every single decent person that saw that video agrees with that, regardless of color.  Mr. Floyd did not deserve to die and I fully support the righteous anger of the PEACEFUL protesters to that purpose.  They are preaching to the choir though, as I said, every decent person already agrees with them. 

We achieve nothing when Americans are busy hating America. Further violating the rule of law will only usher in a new Jacobian version of the “French revolution” here on American soil, except the ending for the radicals will be much different here.  Despite what the progressives teach in schools these days, there is a distinct difference between the American Revolution and the French Revolution.  Our revolution led to a representative republic based on the ideal that all men are created equal.  The French revolution, which the mob today is emulating, led to the Reign of Terror.  

It is heart-wrenchingly sad when so many ignorant, arrogant, and thuggish people want to burn down the nation simply so they can “govern” over the ruins.  The overwhelmingly vast majority of Americans are better than that, and while once again we are a sleeping giant, the righteous anger of Americans of all colors will eventually cause us to stand up and protect this divided nation from a small vocal and dangerous minority of anti-American would-be insurrectionists from within.  The first step is for good people to stand up together and say enough.  History has proven in past such incidents that We The People will indeed do so. 

Sooner rather than later would be better.

13 comments:

Rain Trueax said...

As usual, you said it all well. I found a post a while back that goes into this whether blacks all have no chance, by a minority with his experiences. Well worth reading-- The Fallacy of White Privilege as he points out from where real privilege comes and it's not skin color.

Darrell Michaels said...

Excellent article with which I absolutely agree. Thanks for sharing, Rain.

Vincent said...

Re inherent dignity and worth of any human life:

Yes, dignity and worth are vital factors in all this, but I don’t think you can say that they are inherent.

Like you I am white. My wife is black—Afro-Caribbean, as we say here in the UK. In the 17 years we have known one another, I cannot say I know how it feels to be black. I can only observe from very close quarters.

She behaves with dignity at all times and is fully aware of her worth. But she has to take extra care, because these attributes are judged by others that we encounter. One can be handicapped by the judgements of others in all kinds of ways. One can struggle to maintain that sense of dignity and worth. Some fail, and she cannot help but feel for them. She carries the same badge as they do.

You and I might in the course of our lives falter badly in our sense of dignity and worth. We might be judged harshly by others for our actions and attitudes. But we don’t carry them throughout our lives like indelible tattoos.

It took me a while to understand this. I had an argument with my wife about Black Lives Matter—why these uprisings in parts of the world where such mistreatments and murders have not happened? It’s especially because white people don’t understand, she said.

Only then did I understand. I was one of those white people. I cannot blame us. We’ve been born that way.

Darrell Michaels said...

I greatly appreciate your insightful comment, Vincent.

Regarding the dignity and worth of human life as being inherent, I consciously chose to use that word based on my knowledge and faith in God. It is my belief, that every creature formed by God the creator has inherent worth otherwise our perfect God would have not seen the need to create them. Further, my faith informs me that God created humankind in God's own image, thereby instilling them with an inherent dignity as being an image and reflection of our Creator.

Now that is not to say that some of us do not recognize or value or own worth and certainly many of us do not act towards others or ourselves with dignity. That does not negate the fact that humankind, regardless of outward or inward physical traits, are endowed by God our creator with inalienable rights, worth, and dignity.

As for your beloved wife, I am certain that her perspective will vary from ours, as a person of color, as a woman, as a unique individual with some life experiences that differ from our own. It is indeed a testament to her that she comports herself with dignity and worth, which I believe were hers from conception.

I do understand the point you are making. I was not very clear in making my original point on this matter. Our worth and dignity are ours by the very fact of our being. We can cherish and protect that dignity and worth by how we live our lives, or we can diminish it by failing to live up to it.

Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King were two men in particular that were mocked, abused, mistreated, imprisoned and so forth; however, both still acted on principle with a love, worth, and dignity that transcended the hate and evil perpetrated against them in the world. It is because of that fortitude in sticking to principle and acting with dignity while inwardly acknowledging their inherent worth that we know the names of these great examples of men today.

I hope this clarifies my perspective on this, as I greatly appreciate your thoughts on the subject.

Dave Dubya said...

Darrell,
Thank you for providing some food for thought.

I’m glad you and I are opposed to racism. We share that value.

What we don’t share is the desire to blame BLM and Black people for racism and to minimize and deny the existence of systemic racism. Ask African American drivers if they feel unsafe when stopped for “driving while Black”. Ask African American voters if they have equal access to voter registration and polls. Ask African Americans if they are under more suspicion and mistrust than white people.

The Republican Party is actively targeting them to suppress their right to vote. This reality has been established in the courts.

I noticed you hold Martin Luther King Jr. in high regard. Are you aware that conservatives of the day accused him of being a communist? Have you noticed many progressive figures in history were condemned by conservatives, only later to be recognized for their contributions?

It was conservative people who opposed the Revolution. It was conservative people who opposed emancipation. It was conservative people who opposed women’s right to vote.
It was conservative people who opposed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Today’s conservative people oppose Constitutional taxes, regulation of commerce, and providing for the general welfare. Today’s conservative people oppose public education and public healthcare.

I wonder if you might care to extrapolate from this some time. You may see your “heritage” more clearly.

It seems very difficult for you to separate BLM protesters from looters and vandals. It is tempting to paint them all with the same stroke, isn’t it?

Why not cite evidence of “trained Marxists who seem bent on destroying capitalism, religion, social mores, the nuclear family, and the very foundation of America”?

They are protesting racism and police brutality. If that is “Marxist”, why do you agree with them on this? Can you cite evidence where BLM has done something to “destroy” capitalism, religion, social mores, the nuclear family, and the very foundation of America”?

I suspect this is your “feeling”, rather than evidence based conclusion.

“Black Lives Matter (the organization) is not about black lives. They could not care less about the dozens of black people killed every single week in Chicago, Baltimore, Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, Los Angles, and elsewhere in our country at the hands of others that aren’t police officers. (Every city of which is governed by Democrats, but that is an entirely different matter… or not.) “

“Not about Black lives”. Wow. No evidence was offered to support this wild accusation. “They could not care less about the dozens of black people killed...” Wow, again. Same lack of evidence. These are powerful, cruel, and very demonizing accusations. Any racist would love to regurgitate these accusations. I think you are horribly wrong.

“Every city of which is governed by Democrats...” is yet another racist trope, endlessly repeated everywhere from Breitbart and Limbaugh to Storm Front. Absent from this criticism are the cities governed by Republicans. San Diego, Jacksonville, Fort Worth, El Paso, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Omaha, and Miami all have similar urban issues. The fact you must selectively ignore this fact reveals a strong and misinformed bias on your part.

But you wish to blame only Democrats. Your bias is crystal clear here.

“One prominent Black Lives Matter leader told a news reporter just two weeks ago that the group is willing to embrace violence. And they have proven this repeatedly in the ensuing weeks”.

No context or evidence was given. Blaming a mostly peaceful group for the actions of a few vandals is quite authoritarian. What makes you conclude he spoke for the entire group? Surely you must have troves of evidence to show “the group” espoused willingness to embrace violence. As I saw it, there were white punks throwing stuff at cops and vandalizing property. White supremacists were found to be acting as agent provocateurs They’re not BLM, are they? Why not blame them?

Dave Dubya said...

(Cont.)
I also saw dozens of cases of police brutality. Elderly citizens were knocked to the pavement, soaking it in their blood. Peaceful protesters were gassed and assaulted by Barr’s thugs BEFORE curfew to allow Trump’s “Bible photo op”’. The list grows. Why not blame them?

Why do you need to ignore all that police violence? “Bad apples” spoil the entire barrel, you know.

“It is a pretext for “burning the whole thing down” as one member said.”

If this was about Newsome’s interview on FOX(R), it is deceptively presented.

Newsome told the host, "I said, if this country doesn't give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it. All right? And I could be speaking ... figuratively. I could be speaking literally. It's a matter of interpretation.”

Racists and fearful conservatives take it literally. So do you. Fact: It CANNOT be literally true.

What does BLM want? Equal justice under law and an end to racism. How “un-American” is that? Is that “Marxism”, and if so, why do you also support it?

Did you know Newsome also said, “I love the Lord, and my Lord and savior” in response to an MLK quote? There goes your unfounded accusation about their “war on religion”.

Is conservatism indeed all about beliefs over facts? Meanwhile the death toll is over 140,000 under our “American Carnage President” who minimized and denied the lethal virus.

“...unparalleled prosperity and peace to people of color in this country, especially in the past three years. But BLM, the organization, only wants to foster hate and division when a black person is killed by a police officer.”

How comforting it must be to ignore Trump’s racist birtherism, his demand for executing the exonerated Central Park kids, and his denying Black renters. Here we have hate and division stoked by a president and leader of the Republican Party.

It was hate and division that killed those unarmed Black people, not the reaction to it. It is fear of cops when “driving while Black” that reflects hate and division, not the reaction to it. You have it backwards.

I love your MAGA talking point about “especially in the past three years”. If you’re referring to Black unemployment, Obama presided over the largest reduction of it.

Facts:
1. Aug. 2011 the Bush Recession produced Black unemployment rate 16.7%
2. January 2017, the Black unemployment rate was at 7.8 percent.
3. Under Obama the Black unemployment rate dropped of 8.9%

But you praise Trump for a 3.4% drop. The Black guy did all the heavy lifting and got no credit from the racist Birther and his fawning cult. Why do you believe that man?

“Marxist antifa and BLM groups which espouse violence and have very little to do with denouncing actual racism is a gross abrogation of parental duties.”

There you go again with the horrible accusations based on your feelings over facts. Here’s some perspective for you.

Authoritarian, racist, and unqualified cops have killed numerous unarmed people. Antifa and BLM have killed NOBODY. Meanwhile the body count rises from White nationalists and racists. Only ignorance or bigotry can account for disregarding the facts of the matter. But you are obsessed with attacking those who protest the atrocities and racism.

What kind of parent are you?

“There’s very little “real racism”, and racism is all the fault of BLM, Blacks and Obama, not conservative whites and the police”, seems to be your message. I wouldn’t be surprised if your offspring got that impression.

Dave Dubya said...

(Cont.)
“Sadly, there is real racism in America, but it is far more the exception than the rule. It is NOT systemic, even in nearly all of the police forces throughout our nation. We should be concentrating on eradicating real racism through an education of actual facts of history and current events instead of made-up and debunked agenda-driven programs like the 1619 project and BLM rhetoric. How does a nation elect a black president and people of color to all offices throughout this country if it is overwhelmingly racist?”

If that is a valid point, then so is this: “The election of racist birther Trump proves the country is overwhelmingly racist.”

Nonsense. The election of a Black president only indicated MOST voters were not racists. That’s it. This is a lame deflection employed to minimize racism. See how shallow this reasoning can be?

I understand it is far easier to simply regurgitate Breitbart, Prager and other extremely biased white conservative Trump supporters.

If you want “facts and history” as well as an intelligent discussion of the 1619 Project, I suggest reading this article by Leslie M. Harris, a professor of history at Northwestern University, and historian of African American life and slavery:

I Helped Fact-Check the 1619 Project. The Times Ignored Me.

The paper’s series on slavery made avoidable mistakes. But the attacks from its critics are much more dangerous

But then, what’s the point? In your view, educators and historians are all commies unless they are conservative and blame BLM for violence and racism.

“I fully support the righteous anger of the PEACEFUL protesters”

...Unless they’re BLM. THAT is your message.

For some reason you need to smear all the kind and peaceful people of the movement. How is that any different from someone saying, “All Trump voters and supporters are racists.”

What you are doing is fortifying that argument, whether you see it or not.

“We achieve nothing when Americans are busy hating America.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Isn’t that what Trump rallies are all about? Remember “Democrats hate America”, all the Confederate flags, “Lock her up!”, and “I’d rather be Russian than a Democrat” images?

“Our revolution led to a representative republic based on the ideal that all men are created equal”.

An ideal is not a reality. Women and blacks couldn’t vote and slave owners imposed the electoral college that still deprives us of one man one voter equality. Women and blacks are still under-represented. No group has more representation in the Senate than small population states with mostly white and rural people.

All men may have been created equal, but conservatism has assured they are not equal in life, whether at the polls or by representation. You know this is true.

Dave Dubya said...

(Cont.)
You conclude by defining BLM as a “dangerous minority of anti-American would-be insurrectionists from within”. Right. Because they protest racism and police brutality. Never mind thugs in blue knock elderly citizens to the pavement, assault peaceful demonstrators, and mace children, etc.

Would it hurt the Right to understand there would be NO BLM or antifa if not for racism, minority voter suppression, and police brutality? No. It’s far easier to minimize racism, blame it on Black people, and ignore injustice and police brutality. As Vincent’s wife stated, “White people don’t understand”.

It is always interesting that only conservative white people deny systemic racism, while they claim the authority to define and minimize “real racism”. Instead they blame Obama and BLM for racism. This is what all white racists do. From Trump down to his rebel flag waving militia nuts, Proud Boys, 3%’ers, and other racist hate groups.

I would be very concerned for one’s true values or scope of understanding when they agree with these racists.

I don't believe you are one of them, but you certainly share certain misunderstandings, bias, and false beliefs.

But that's what white identity conservatism is all about.

Darrell Michaels said...

I am dealing with a conundrum. I do not want to perpetuate the nonsense with which I used to deal with on my past blog, but I am loathe to squelch free speech too. Mr. Dubya wrote a comment that was the size of a Tolstoy novel and contained many of his un-supported assertions, misguided notions, and flat-out inaccuracies.

I have decided to begrudgingly publish his comments this time, but it is unlikely that similar such comments will see the light of day in the future here as I don’t have the desire to deal with all of the nonsense and inaccuracies. I also don’t want to spend my entire day doing a point by point rebuttal of each point he attempted to make. That said, here are a few issues for which I cared enough to respond.
In their own site, BLM the organization states that they are for far more than just ending racism. They are for the ending of capitalism and the establishment of Marxism. They are for “disrupting the nuclear family”, which is also a goal to further Marxism. They are for destroying “heteronormative structures” in order to champion LGBTQ issues. They are against Israel and for the Palestinian “rights” agenda. They want to end prisons and get rid of police.

https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/

They are self-professed trained Marxists: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyhy4IvkENg

“We disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure requirement…”

They are for using violence as necessary to further their agenda: https://video.foxnews.com/v/6167027878001#sp=show-clips

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8384065/Black-Lives-Matter-leader-declares-war-police.html

BLM in its Own Words

"We actually do have an ideological frame. Myself and Alicia [Garza] in particular, we're trained organizers. We are trained Marxists. We are super versed on ideological theories." — BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors, July 22, 2015.

"If this country doesn't give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it. All right? And I could be speaking figuratively. I could be speaking literally. It's a matter of interpretation.... I just want black liberation and black sovereignty, by any means necessary." — BLM activist Hank Newsome, June 25, 2020.

"Stay in the streets! The system is throwing every diversionary and de-mobilizing tactic at us. We are fighting to end policing and prisons as a system which necessitates fighting white supremacist capitalist heteropatriarchal imperialism. Vet your comrades and stay focused." — BLM Chicago, Twitter, June 16, 2020.

"There's no such thing as 'blue lives.' There is no hue of a blue life. Being a police officer is an occupation. It's a job. 'All lives matter'— it's like saying the sky is blue. I haven't heard how police are on the right side of history." — BLM co-founder Alicia Garza, ktvu.com, March 30, 2018.

Darrell Michaels said...

"It's hundreds of years of generational oppression and trauma and infrastructural racism that impacts our bodies and makes our bodies more vulnerable to something like a COVID-19." — BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors, Hollywood Reporter, June 2, 2020.

"We say #DefundThePolice and #DefundDepOfCorrections because they work in tandem. The rise of mass incarceration occurred alongside the rise of militarized and mass policing. They must be abolished as a system." — BLM Chicago, June 13, 2020.

"We are anti-capitalist. We believe and understand that Black people will never achieve liberation under the current global racialized capitalist system." — Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), of which BLM is a part, June 5, 2020.

"'All Lives Matter,' is little more than a racist dog whistle that attempts to both delegitimize centuries of claims of global anti-Black oppression and position those who exhibit tremendous pride in their Blackness as enemies of the state. Well, we are enemies of any racist, sexist, classist, xenophobic state that sanctions brutality and murder against marginalized people who deserve to live as free people." — Feminista Jones, BLM activist.

"We stand with Palestinian civil society in calling for targeted sanctions in line with international law against Israel's colonial, apartheid regime." — BLM UK, June 28, 2020.

"We are an ABOLITIONIST movement. We do not believe in reforming the police, the state or the prison industrial complex." — BLM UK, June 21, 2020.

"Yes, I think the statues of the white European they claim is Jesus should also come down. They are a form of white supremacy. Always have been. In the Bible, when the family of Jesus wanted to hide, and blend in, guess where they went? EGYPT! Not Denmark. Tear them down." — BLM leader Shaun King, June 22, 2020.

"We are living in political moment where for the first time in a long time we are talking about alternatives to capitalism." — Alicia Garza, BLM co-founder, March 2015.

"Anti-racism is anti-capitalist, and vice versa. There are no two ways around it. To be an anti-racist must demand a complete rejection of business as usual. An end to racism demands transformation of the global political-economic setup." — Joshua Virasami, BLM UK, June 8, 2020.

“BLM's worldview is based on a mix of far-left theoretical frameworks, including critical race theory and intersectional theory. Critical race theory posits that racism is systemic, based on a system of white supremacy and therefore a permanent feature of American life. Intersectional theory asserts that people are often disadvantaged by multiple sources of oppression: their race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and other identity markers.

Black Lives Matter and other purveyors of critical race theory and intersectional theory reject individual accountability for behavior, criminal or otherwise, because, according to them, blacks are systemic and permanent victims of racism. Such racism, according to BLM, can only be defeated by completely dismantling the American economic, political and social system and rebuilding it from scratch — according to Marxist principles.

Black Lives Matter seeks to replace the foundational cornerstones of American society: 1) abolish the Judeo-Christian concept of the traditional nuclear family, the basic social unit in America; 2) abolish the police and dismantle the prison system; 3) mainstream transgenderism and delegitimize so-called heteronormativity (the belief that heterosexuality is the norm); and 4) abolish capitalism (a free economy) and replace it with communism (a government-controlled economy).” - Soeren Kern

Rain Trueax said...

That was a good list of what BLM actually wants, Darrell. I liked what you said on my blog, which was that they are drowning out the real concerns with which blacks have a right to see corrected.

I've heard the black leaders say they worry that the vandalizing and stealing are taking away from really looking at the need for reform that would make things better for the police and the blacks. No good police officer benefits from the abusers. They make their job more dangerous.

But BLM and Antifa don't care about blacks as human beings. They see it as a cause that they can ride and they are. Before their demands got nowhere and now they have a political party supporting them.

I think for those who support a march toward Marxism, they need to look at how that actually works. Read Marx for a start as to what he had in mind.

Darrell Michaels said...

That is absolutely the case, Rain. Antifa, BLM (the organization), and other anarchists are simply using the legitimate peaceful protests of just causes of wanting to address and end illegal police violence. They hijack these and make it about destruction, violence, and the furthering of Marxist or anarchist agendas. It does indeed dilute or negate the valid message that was wished to be conveyed through peaceful demonstrations. What these rioters are doing is evil.

Marx would be proud, as these useful idiots are following his play book exactly. They seemingly want to remove a phantom "authoritarian government" so that they can put in place their own "progressive" authoritarian government which one dares not deviate from for fears far greater than just what the current cancel culture does. Again, this is evil.

Darrell Michaels said...

Well, one of our longtime readers has once again quickly regressed to his old ways. I was out camping for the last week, and evidently that only exacerbated his anger as he thought I was intentionally ignoring him. He wrote several of his typical name-calling and leftist shaming comments which even he admitted I would probably not publish, and indeed I won't. Most of his nonsense is just that... cancel culture, leftist virtue signaling propaganda crap. I am not going to waste much time on him, because it really serves no purpose.

That said, there are a few items I will address. Dave asks what I define racism as. I think Merriam-Webster does an adequate job of defining it: "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."

Based on current leftist rhetoric, the definition of racism has morphed from anyone opposing any of President Obama's policies on principle, to any white person that is not shamefully sorry for being white and there-by oppressive to people of color.

Evidently Mr. Dubya missed the entire first paragraph of this posting where I explicitly stated that of course all black lives matter and that racism is a pernicious evil. But that isn't enough for many of our leftist brothers and sisters in today's cancel culture. You have to support the Marxist, nuclear-family-disrupting, pro-LGBT, capitalist-abolishing, defund the police and prisons BLM organization or you are obviously a racist in their eyes. You see, you cannot just fight racism; you must fight for leftist causes too.

I refuse to accept the validity of their premise. It is absurd and is nothing more than a political agenda to further their own disproven ideologies. I gave a sample of BLM's(the organization)views previously in these comments in their own words. Dave and the left want to mitigate or ignore those comments though.

The bottom line is, like I said, I will be happy to publish comments that are contrary to my own thoughts, but I will not put up with name-calling, cancel-culture BS. You can lie and do that on your own blog, which apparently Mr. Dubya already has.