Signs of the Times

As the election season draws to a close, I have been wondering about some of the signs people have in their yards.

The usual suspects are BIDEN/HARRIS and TRUMP/PENCE and an assortment of state and national seats for State Legislature and Congress. Not surprisingly, there is a big difference between rural voters and urban voters, with Trump signs dominating farms and small towns outside Milwaukee, Madison and La Crosse (I haven't been to Green Bay, Eau Claire or the Fox Valley lately, so I can't speak for those communities, but I'm assuming I'd find much the same).  

One thing you have to say about Trump signs, they are BIG.  You could say -- yuge!

As part of a Trump boat parade on the Mississippi River earlier this year, Liz and I flew a TRUMP flag on Muddy Waters.  I have since moved the flag to our backyard arbor where it flies proudly for our neighbors to see.

I take my walk every morning through southside neighborhoods, meaning I'll pass more BIDEN signs than TRUMP.  What's interesting are some of the other signs that populate those yards supporting BIDEN.  You'll find the ubiquitous "Black Lives Matter", "I Believe" and "Hate Has No Home Here" signs (do you honestly think they don't hate Trump?).  And we all know they don't care about all black lives, just those breaking the law. 

It seems to me that Democrats have taken to telling the rest of us how to live our lives, in addition to letting us know who they support.  It's almost like they think they are so much better than the rest of us freedom-loving, religious deplorables.   So in the interest of saving the planet, women's reproductive rights, gays or whatever, they want us to know the way to their utopia.  Their nirvana.  While some of them may be highly educated, I know they are certainly not smarter.

Yesterday morning I came across a sign that raised the bar on yard signs.  It read "Unity Over Division - Biden/Harris."  It got me thinking about Biden's message during the Democrat's virtual convention this fall.  In his acceptance speech he said "I will draw on the best of us, not the worst.  I will be an ally of the light, not of the darkness."  He also said, "United we can, and will, overcome this season of darkness in America."

While those words make for a good speech, let's get real.  Take a moment to remember how Democrats have been uniting us over the past decade.

Remember how we couldn't criticize President Obama without being accused of being a racist?  Rush Limbaugh and millions who didn't vote for him were viewed as part of the resistance for not going along with Obama's vision of fundamentally changing America. Hoping he failed was viewed as "toxic" and any disagreement was labeled "hate speech."  

Democrats have been pushing to defund the police since President Obama's first term, but it took the Minneapolis riots this summer for it to become mainstream.  It's hard to understand how allowing 100 nights of rioting, with destruction of private property and minority businesses can bring people together.  Unless it's for a call for more protection against violence.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have called for the Green Deal to replace oil and natural gas.  I don't understand how paying $5 a gallon or more brings anyone closer together.  Unless riding the bus together qualifies as closer.  Disagreement over global warming even has scientists at each others throats, which is strange indeed for something called "settled science."  Didn't one of those yard signs say SCIENCE IS REAL?

From the first day of Trump's presidency, Democrats have been spying on his administration and planning his removal from office.  The American people have been subjected to four years of congressional hearings, false accusations of Russian interference and finally impeachment.  All in the interest of overturning an election that failed to elect a horrible candidate,  Hillary.

Education is usually a very unifying thing.  I remember wanting the best for our two boys and thought it was very important to support our schools.  I was not alone.  And yet, today education has been identified as one of the core reasons why so many young people hate our country and support socialism.  President Trump, during his Fourth of July speech at Mount Rushmore said, "Against every law of society and nature our children are taught in school to hate their own country.  And to believe that the men and women who built it were not heroes, but villains.  History has reversed our unalienable rights with slavery, oppression, racism and white supremacy."  On the issue of education, we can all agree, something has gone wrong.

Social media -- primarily Facebook and Twitter -- has done more to divide people than most wars being fought.  Tech giants like Google and Amazon are censoring content, controlling where we shop and manipulating how we search for information.  With the control Silicon Valley exerts, you would think we could finally agree on something -- was the latest Star Wars trilogy better or worse than the first trilogy? 

Pervasive censorship of thought and opinion has divided this country, and we should be deeply concerned about it.  If we live in a supposedly free society, then we shouldn't have cancel culture ruining comedy, limits on who can speak on campuses or Big Tech blocking important news stories like Joe and Hunter Biden's sell out to China and Ukraine.

Democrat Senators and Representatives are supporting violence against conservative judges and calling for a stacked Supreme Court.  The Botox queen, Nancy Pelosi, refuses to accept a targeted GOP stimulus package in the interest of eating expensive ice cream from her $10,000 freezer.  At least we are all united in our like of Haggen Daz coffee ice cream.  

Forcing people away from their employer provided insurance and onto the the government tit for health insurance will surely unite people.  Please don't look behind the curtain and question the destruction of the world's premier healthcare system leading to millions of jobs lost when hospitals and clinics close.

But hey, if a yard sign says Biden/Harris will unite, not divide who am I to argue?

thanks to Independent.co.uk

The laughability of thinking Biden/Harris would bring us together does raise a good question.  As we go into the 2021 election -- and more importantly after the election -- what do the people of America have in common?  Can we agree on anything?  

We can't even agree on whether riots are bad.  People for some destructive reason are calling them peaceful demonstrations.  Tearing down statues are acceptable when the left does it, and those protesting the removal of those statues are labeled white supremacists.  

We have never been more divided on taxes, education, health care and race relations.  Politics has found its way into movies, television, music and theatre.  It used to be that I could boycott Barbara Streisand, but now it's hard to watch or listen to almost anything.  It has found a way into our culture to the extent that we are fighting all the time.  Half of us are going to be happy, the other half mad as hell.

When it comes to politics, the Democrats don't accept defeat.  Too many are poor losers who change the rules to make winning easier next time. Don't believe me?  

Look what happened when Trump won the first time.  Protests in the streets, and threats of violence.  The left chanted "Not my President!" encouraging young people, anarchists and Marxist organizations like Black Lives matter to attack restaurants, department stores and innocent minorities trying to defend their livelihoods.  If he wins again, more of the same is guaranteed, only amped up to higher levels.  

Our Founding Fathers so deeply feared the tyranny of the majority that they rejected the idea of a direct vote for President and created the Electoral College, where big and small states were given an equal voice.  Thankfully, it has prevented large states like California and New York from determining who wins elections.  Democrats, who are not happy winning the popular votes, but losing the election are aiming to do away with the Electoral College and replace it with something called the National Popular Vote.

Making it hard to find common ground is a lack of institutions we can all believe in.  Think about how sports used to unite cities and states around a common goal.  To win the Super Bowl, World Series or NBA championship.  Support for your home team in a common goal can make our differences disappear.  Not that long ago we all shared pride in our country when we won an Olympic gold medal.  

For a hundred years or more, institutions like the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts found common ground that united parents and children of different income levels, race and nationality.  It was great spending a week at summer camp, where our sons and daughters learned about taking care of our environment, helping those in need and loving our country.

But what has happened?  Politics (always from the left) has ruined these great institutions.  The right defends tradition (church, holidays and our history) and wants them to remain.  The left is constantly looking to remove them.  How are we to agree on anything if we can agree on making America great again?  

Professional sports' attendance and viewership are at all time lows.  The Boy Scouts are being sued in retaliation for supposed sexual abuse, but they became a target because of their emphasis on religion, patriotism and encouraging masculine character.  They will be lucky to survive.

So it's tough to find a way back from the edge.  

I'm just barely old enough to remember John F Kennedy as president.  When he said "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" everyone understood that it was a call for the public to do what is right for the greater good.  

I wonder -- if the Democrats won't listen to Republicans, will they listen to one of their own?  And do Americans love America more than they hate Trump?

Following Tuesday's election, we will all know.