Paineful Truth

History has a way of distilling complex historical things into oversimplified cliches. For instance, taxation without representation , therefore the American Revolution. America is evil, therefore Hiroshima & Nagasaki. With the facts come to light regarding the Russian dossier , it would be tempting to distill this complex issue down into an oversimplified one-liner. We need to make sure that the attitude is not merely Clinton good, Trump bad, nor Clinton bad, Trump good. If history is going to distill this incident down, it ought to remind us of what we truly need to learn. It needs to remind us that the moral character of our leaders does matter. Politics & Lies. But I Repeat Myself What is the complaint you hear most often regarding politicians? That they don’t tell the truth. The joke has always been: “How can you tell if a politician is lying? See if their mouth is moving.” Regardless of your political affiliation, we can all agree that we like people, and...

Oh, YouTube . Such a love/hate relationship we have. As soon as I allow myself to think, just for a moment, perhaps some sanity is returning to the world, YouTube shows an add for “Guns Down America” and I’m reminded that sanity is something the world is constitutionally incapable of possessing. Background: the NRA has partnered with Chubb and Lockton Affinity, two insurance companies, to provide NRA Carry Guard . It is insurance for if you are ever “forced to act in lawful self-defense.” Apparently, Guns Down America (under Color of Change , think Van Jones, ACORN, George Soros, etc.) believes that these insurance companies shouldn’t provide insurance “to gun owners who shoot someone and claim “self defense.”” They also believe that it’s time to speak out against them because this is “Murder Insurance.” Is due process is a thing of the past? Do those who utilize their right of self-preservation in a lawful manner not deserve protection under the law? The legal process ...

Twitter is a place where you expect to find ridiculous things. Including, but not limited to, most MSNCB news stories , many Donald Trump tweets, the mayor of San Juan wearing custom made t-shirts in the middle of a natural disaster , and pictures of cats doing yoga. However, as I was scrolling today, I came across what has to be one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen on Twitter. Right up there with #squigglebrows (do yourself a favor and don’t search it). At the top of the ridiculous charts was an article from Slate.com by Doug Pennington in response to the Las Vegas shooting - To anyone who has read the Constitution, or anything else from our Founding Fathers, the ridiculousness will be apparent on the surface. Mr. Pennington clearly has very different definitions for the words “simple” and “constitutional”. Not to mention his perception of the word “protect”. Let’s start from the beginning. Amendment II. The historical basis for the 2nd Amendment makes i...