THE PROGRESSIVE SIDE

by Frank Mazer

I am standing in the stadium. The national anthem is being played. I am worried. Angry. The person next to me is not singing loudly enough. In fact, he is only mouthing the words. This will not do!  He is a traitor. He disrespects all that the anthem and my country stand for.

I need to report him to some authorities. There should be, in the future, special police, military police, to whom we can report such a person as soon as the anthem is finished with the word “free”. They can be “The Anthem Police”.

They can be stationed throughout the stadium for easy access by anthem patriots such as myself. The traitors need to be taken away and punished. (Perhaps they shall be forced to listen to a loud recording of American bombs bursting in air in Afghanistan until they go deaf in one ear?)

According to what we see these days there is a need for “Anthem Patriots”. The future shall be bright like “Bombs bursting in air and rockets red glare”. Our anthem shall serve as a measure of patriotism; as proof of belief in the American values upon which our grand country based itself for 240 years –– all men are created equal, freedom of speech, freedom of the press.

We are a proud country with high standards!  We have a history of leaders who represent us with dignity, wisdom, unselfishness, calm, maturity, kindness, and respect for others. Leaders such as Washington, Lincoln and Trump. I shall be on the lookout for those sorry people who do not believe in American Values like I do.

We Anthem Patriots can also spot the anti-Americans by where they place their hand on their chest during the anthem. Do they have their hand directly over their heart?

Or are they faking it  and thinking about the blond woman two rows in front of them and their hand is slightly below their heart or way too far to the side of their heart?!  This tells me they are faking being devoted to our flag and our military. Where are the Anthem Police? We need them today.

We all can be proud of the words of our anthem. The silly Swiss and Norwegians, for example, in their anthems sing of the beauty of their mountains and land and God creating their beautiful land! What’s that stupid stuff about?! What a waste of a chance to sing proudly of bombs bursting!  We know our words and we are proud of them. I fervently believe in equal opportunity. An equal chance for all to show you are an “Anthem Patriot”.

At each ball game why not insist upon providing this opportunity?! Five minutes before the anthem is to be sung the stadium authorities (or Anthem Police) shall select an adult, at random, from the crowd to come out and sing the national anthem to everyone.  To sing it alone at the pitcher’s mound, mid-field, mid-court or center ice would be a wondrous opportunity.  This person gets to show they are a real patriot. Of course, if they mess up the words in any way it shows they are NOT a patriot. They will be exposed in front of everyone in the crowd and on television. As it should be. The Anthem Police will deal with them severely immediately after the song is done.

Most likely they will need to be protected from the angry mob of fans who are true patriots.

My friends will soon be back from the snack bar where they have been stuffing their faces with hot dogs as a patriotic observance. I hear the anthem finishing with the words “land of  the. . . something”. With all the cheering I could not make out that final word. 

Definition of the U.S. Democratic Party (D)
Liberal | Left Wing | The Party of the People
The political party that promotes social and economic equality. They believe in the welfare system. They want the federal government to participate in the economy. Their concept of fairness is taxing the rich to help the poor. They support social programs such as labor unions, affordable education, universal health care, equal opportunity, consumer and environmental protection, LGBT (Lesbians Gays Bisexuals Transgenders) rights, Women’s rights, anti-gun laws, access to free abortion, freedom of many religions yet separate from state laws, free speech, free press, transparency, evolution, sex and racial equality, lenient immigration, lenient drug restrictions,  etc.. The majority of media lean left. Jews, African Americans, immigrants, “the poor,” millenials, celebrities from the entertainment industry, scientists, educators — tend to vote Democrat. 

THE DEMOCRAT SIDE

by Tedward Onward

The 2016 presidential election results will continue to be assessed in the years ahead as the yet resolved issue of collusion between the Trump presidential campaign and Russian Internet propagandists and pot stirrers is unveiled.  We do know that Russian interests did in fact work to impact the election in a variety of ways.  The simplicity and speed of social media captivates many with alarming ease.  There is much more to be uncovered by Special Prosecutor Bob Mueller, which may reveal to what extent that interference was successful.  Because of the power and influence of the Internet and social media, how political campaigns are run have entered new territory.  If our nation truly cares about democracy then it will have to seriously examine who and how political races are handled, establishing laws to limit illegal/outside influence.

It is known that many registered Democrat voters (particularly young and female) did not bother to vote for the candidate that represented their party, and thus self-inflicted harm to their own best interests.  Those who assumed that Clinton would win were caught in their own naïveté.  Voting is a critical component of our open democratic system of governance.  Not voting is foolish as it lessens one’s involvement, leaves it up to others.  Over half of those who could vote did not bother; a majority of them being Democrats.  It is unfortunate that voting is wasted on so many who do not bother to do so. Voting is a right, an obligation, and a privilege.  And for many the right to vote was and continues to be hard fought, a right that has been available for just a century or less to many.  The right to vote, unimpeded, continues to be an issue across many states.  I worry that there are not enough people in elected office and amongst the citizenry who actually care about the various issues that can and do impact elections, from the real potential of electronic vote tampering to intimidation.

In the case of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, not enough members of the media and the public took him as a serious candidate.  In hindsight, there are many members of the media who admit that they did not shine the bright lights on Trump sufficiently, rather saw him as an entertaining side show.  The collective belief by most on the left was that Trump was not electable yet they did not work hard enough to insure his loss at the polls.

As the Democrat candidate for the White House, Hillary Clinton left enough to be desired.  Though she was very experienced in matters of The District and the White House, there were many Independents who simply would not lend their vote to her in the national election.  Clinton ran on established, old-school values, which turned out to have limited effect on getting the additional support she needed.  Trump exploited certain key issues amongst white voters in those states suffering unemployment and underemployment.  No doubt fear and loathing by angry white voters helped Trump secure just enough votes to win the key states.  Well informed and thoughtful voters would not have chosen Donald Trump to represent them and run our nation.

In desperation, with no other seemingly viable candidate who called himself a Republican the Republican party and many of its members felt that they had to support Trump with their vote because they could not stomach the idea of Hillary Rodham Clinton as their president.  The United States is simply not ready to put a woman in the White House, foolishly choosing someone with no political knowledge nor experience, who never actually believed he could get elected.  The cost to the United States and beyond will be felt for many years ahead due to indifference by too many.

And of final note, FBI Director James Comey’s mishandling of the Clinton emails matter shortly before Election Day, coupled with not disclosing the extent of the investigation of the Trump campaign’s interactions with a foreign power put a dagger in Clinton’s hopes.  Regardless if by error in judgment or other motivation, the impact of someone with the power of the FBI Director cannot intervene/interfere in a race, all the more so shortly before votes were cast.