As many of you know, one of my favorite verses in scripture is the question Jesus asked, “Why do you attend to the fleck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and ignore the plank in your own?”
Last week I wrote of listening to people who had the courage to examine the planks in the eyes of their own side of the political spectrum. To be true to myself, today I will attempt to examine planks in the eyes of my own side of the spectrum. I stress the planks are as I see them. They are my opinions.
I am a life-long Democrat. I have many concerns about the modern Democratic Party. Today I will restrict my comments to major issues regarding the last election. I have additional concerns about my party.
Intelligence. First, Democrats cannot assume that we are the only intelligent people and people on the other side are garbage, deplorable, ignorant, or stupid. Are some Republicans ignorant or stupid? Certainly, and the same is true for Democrats. But there are also many thoughtful intelligent people in the Republican party and to think otherwise is to stereotype and we are supposed to be against stereotyping.
Illegal Immigration. Second, to support illegal immigration is to support illegality. No amount of intellectual gymnastics can avoid that simple truth.
In my opinion, if we believe in Democracy and we want more immigrants, we must convince people of the need to change the laws and get the votes. Until we do that, we should obey the law and work for change.
I do not believe other countries emptied their jails or that immigrants ate pets. I do not believe illegals got extensive federal government benefits or immigration is only for white Christians. I do not believe they provided thousands of illegal votes, but I do believe borders should only be crossed in a legal manner. Many thoughtful people agree with that position.
Again, if we want different immigration laws, we should get the votes to change the laws. Until we do, we should accept the current law as a consequence of living in a democracy.
Abortion. Third, many thoughtful people have differing views of abortion. I understand — not necessarily agree with — 4 positions: 1. To prevent conception is a sin. 2. Life begins at conception. 3. Viable life is different than Zygote life. 4. A woman has the right to an abortion until birth.
Interspersed with the four are the ideas of a woman’s health and situations where the woman did not have a choice about sex, such as rape. Some people believe abortions are wrong under any condition. I think most people believe abortions should be allowed in the case of rape or the endangerment of the mother’s health.
Both the third and fourth positions would allow for abortion. The third position allows for abortion until the child is viable. At that point there are two bodies with rights. A child in the womb has the same rights as a child out of the womb, and the government has the right to say there are consequences for taking the life.
The fourth position is what I understood as the Democratic position to be. The woman has the right in consultation with her doctor to decide to have an abortion up until birth. The government has no right to tell a woman what she can or cannot do with her body and a viable child is a part of her body.
As I understand the Democrat position it would allow for late term abortions. As technology improves that would allow a woman to have an abortion for any number of reasons if a doctor agreed. At the extreme this means the abortion could occur because of the child’s gender or even worse because the parents do not want the inconvenience of a child with a disability.
I am not selecting a position. I am saying the fourth position is not the only thoughtful position. To have one of the other positions is not anti-women. To hold any of the positions is the right of the individual and the party. But holding a position, without being insensitive to the other three does not help electability.
Also it is my opinion that support for late-term abortions is not a majority opinion and hurts electability.
DEI. Fourth, I have encouraged read John McWorter criticism of the extreme side of “Wokeness.” He gives a thoughtful criticism rather than a knee-jerk total rejection.
Clearly some of the extremes of DEI were factors in the last election. The concept that whites should all feel guilt for something that happened 150-200 years ago does not agree with everyone. Certainly a first-generation white immigrant does not feel responsibility for things that happened 200 years ago.
Reparations in addition to affirmative action, requirements to use black businesses and other government programs is not a popular idea among people struggling to meet ends meet.
The concept that whites should not get preferential treatment for jobs but Blacks should get preferential treatment is another problem. For example, currently the presence of blacks in advertisements exceeds their 14 % representation in our population. Black representation clearly exceeds the Hispanic representation which is 16 % of our population. The disparity adds to the perception that Blacks got the advertising jobs on the basis of race rather than competency. If whites get jobs based on race we say that is bias. Therefore, many people question why is it right for Blacks to get jobs based on their race? That is not a stupid question and an important issue that is not raised in Democrat dialog.
Transgender. Finally, the failure to recognize science and claim people should be able to compete because they identify with the opposite sex hurt the Democrats. To me it is important to note the distinction between a person having the right to be transgender and the right to compete in sports in the gender of choice. If a person wants to transgender that is the right of that person. However, that right does not automatically mean the person may compete in a sport in the gender of choice.
I am impressed with the move by the LPGA that recognizes the right to be transgender but cites the science of the physical advantages if a male has been through puberty before transitioning.
Democrats would do well to study the model.
I assume other planks are possible. I expect some people disagree with my assessment of the present planks. I welcome dialog.
This and That
- In addition to planks, I have strong criticisms of Joe Biden as well as how the Democrats handled the campaign. For example, I believe they did a very poor job of explaining all of the causes of inflation as well as the strengths of the current economy. Also paying Al Sharpton to appear on his show is not something I favor.
- The final stage of LPGA Qualifying school was held in Mobile this last week. We got a call from a friend asking if a recent graduate of Ohio State could stay with us while she was playing the last stage. We said yes and she was a delightful guest. We are excited because she made the top 25 players in the 3rd stage and got her playing card. She was the only player who started in Stage 1 to make it all the way. We wish Caley McGinty success on the tour
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Jerry
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