This exchange sums up the Kavanaugh argument for me. I was stopped and was asked: “How come Obama gets a pass for smoking pot in college and Kavanaugh is made out to be so bad for doing things that we all might have done?” Me: “What we all might have done? I never got pass-out…
Category: Gary Kroeger
To Beer Or Not To Beer
This article from The Atlantic should be read by everyone: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/10/conservative-women-kavanaugh-ford/572023/ It doesn’t draw a conclusion, but it brings to light a very real conundrum regarding methods and goals and the partisan divides. The word “hypocritical” is being used by both sides in the Kavanaugh debate. Calling this “extreme partisan politics” has traction on both…
No Country For Old Liberals!
Ok. Let’s rid the country of liberals. I read a conservative post that said that “liberalism is a disease.” Others chimed in and made it clear that liberals are “destroying America,” that they are “stupid” and “don’t live in reality.” So. Let’s deport them. That seems like an up and running directive these days for…
Time to hit the books!
Here’s how it went down: When extramarital rumors became investigations of Bill Clinton the right wing dug in and coined themselves as the “Party of Family Values” with no tolerance for a president who betrayed those values. It became clear that Clinton was denying the truth and that many of the accusations were, indeed, true. …
Progressive American Gothic
“Progress is impossible without change. And those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw The other day I was asked a question by a conservative friend with whom I often have dialogues. “Gary, what does it mean to be a progressive?” That appears as a simple question, but I knew…
Who Put the Free in Enterprise?
A lot is being said about the free market, a business’ right to enforce rules, private enterprise, the NFL as a business, players as employees, the right to protest, or quell protest, and the right to discriminate as an expression of free speech. These are not simple topics and I think a way to distill…
The Meaning Of Life
Pretty bold title, I know. And the following text is neither as funny or insightful as Monty Python’s epic satire. Yet, I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about the meaning of life. I say “inordinate” because any time thinking can be contrary to the act of living. Living is activity, not the cognition…
What is a Trump Patriot?
Here’s my dilemma: I preach civil discourse, peaceful protest, open minded thinking, and egalitarianism. I believe that we can attack policies without castigating people, but I also believe silence is compliance and that we have an obligation in a free society to address (and redress) grievances. The wave of nationalism that President Trump rode into…
Ass Grabbing 101
Here are a few disclaimers right off the top: First of all, grabbing anyone’s ass outside of a consensual relationship is not okay. Albeit, an ass is a rather funny protruding mass of fat that contributes little to overall personal aesthetics, but (pun intended) it is, after all, one’s own and of a personal nature. …
Popular Grief
We seem to be a nation in mourning quite often these days. Is it because we have learned to be more sensitive? Or are we programmed to experience more pain? Or…could it be that we feel less pain nowadays and need the circumstances of mourning to feel again in a de-sensitized world? When I was…