An author changes sides
M. C. Armstrong
To @TheDemocrats:
This is my career suicide note, but it’s also a thank you from someone who is done with careerism. I’m a lifelong member of your party and I’m voting for Donald Trump. Why? It’s not just your industrial-scale censorship or your endless wars or the fact that you disenfranchised millions of Kennedy voters through lawfare. If that were all I had, it would be sufficient, in terms of conscience and rage, but there’s more to this story than anger. Your hatred and censorship has taught me to admire @realDonaldTrump and to love my fellow working-class Americans, and for that I thank you.
This vote is for all the traumatized people who have been canceled and banished just for saying no to the establishment. This vote is for the surveyor, the farmer, the HVAC man, the nurse, the hairstylist, the Deadhead, the veteran, and my fellow adjunct professors who have told me their stories about being bullied by the Democrats in their friends and family and their colleagues at work. This is for the young Black woman in my class last year who, on the day of Kamala Harris’s visit to campus, said, “You’re going to hate me, Dr. Armstrong, but I’m not going. I’m voting for Donald Trump.” Why would she think I would hate her for the way she votes? What has happened to our country?
Somehow, Donald Trump has changed my mind. Where I once saw a cartoon white supremacist, warmonger, and narcissist, I now see the man who renegotiated NAFTA and the only president in the twenty-first century not to start a new war. Where I once saw the pal of the neocons, I now see a man who has awoken from his slumber and disavowed Dick Cheney, George Bush, and John Bolton, even as my own party embraces these “men.”
Why has the greatest entrepreneur of my generation (@elonmusk) risked his career to side with Trump? Why has the most consequential grassroots environmentalist of my time (@RobertKennedyJr) sacrificed friends, family, and reputation to side with “The Orange Menace?” Why has the most courageous peace activist of the twenty-first century (@TulsiGabbard) left our party? Because Tulsi, Bobby, and Elon see what I see. Donald Trump is resilient and he’s risking his life to change the fate of our nation. Trump is transforming the Republican Party into the party of peace, free speech, and the working-class. He has converted George Bush’s billionaire boys club of Big War, Big Ag, and Big Pharma into a party that cares about public health and embraces regenerative agriculture.
Now I don’t think the GOP is all the way there yet, but they’re clearly the party that embraces dissent, and dissent—brave speech—is the fuel for evolution. So, for the first time in my life, I’m voting Republican. In the name of peace in Ukraine and free speech here at home, I’m casting my vote, as a Kennedy Democrat, for Donald Trump.
https://x.com/mcarmystrong/status/1842187462321561861
**************************************************IT CAN HAPPEN HERE: Free Speech Under Siege in Colorado as Well as in Brazil
The legendary rocker Joe Walsh once sang, “The Rocky Mountain way is better than the way we had.” But in Colorado, unfortunately, the Rocky Mountain way now more closely resembles censorship in Brazil than liberty in America.
More than 100 international free speech advocates, including five former U.S. attorneys general, joined an open letter to the Brazilian Congress last month condemning Brazil’s severe censorship, which includes suspension of the social media platform X.
While some may look on with mawkish curiosity at foreign intrigue they deem irrelevant to life in America, others may view Brazil’s authoritarian impulse through a lens of gratitude that it couldn’t happen here. Both are wrong.
One need only look to the state of Colorado to find an American example of governing authorities who seek to silence speech with which they disagree and compel reiteration of their preferred message.
More on that a bit later.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who owns X, has been engaged in a dispute with Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes that stems from de Moraes’ demands that Musk’s social media platform censor messages he disfavors.
On Aug. 30, de Moraes officially suspended X nationwide in Brazil. He also froze the bank accounts of Starlink, a subsidiary of Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX that provides internet access via satellite.
In his order, de Moraes said X presents a “real danger” of “negatively influencing the electorate in 2024, with massive misinformation, with the aim of unbalancing the electoral result, based on hate campaigns in the digital age, to favor extremist populist groups.”
Besides the former attorneys general, signers of the Sept. 12 letter to Brazilian lawmakers include three members of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords, The Daily Wire’s Megan Basham, bestselling author Rod Dreher, podcaster Tammy Peterson, Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon, X “Spaces” host Mario Nawfal, former Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and leading academics such as Princeton University’s Robert P. George.
Sifting through de Moraes’ parade of red herrings reveals that he and others in power in Brazil fear that allowing access to certain speech on X might lead to an electoral result they wouldn’t like.
As international pressure builds against Brazil’s scurrilous attacks on Musk, X, and the fundamental human right to free speech, many Americans are awakening to the rising global tide of censorship at home.
Now, back to Colorado, where current state law invades the sanctity of the counselor-patient relationship. For patients who desire to live according to their true identity as image-bearers of God, created biologically male or female, the state has declared that any message other than so-called gender-affirming care will put a mental health care professional’s license at risk.
Colorado’s “pro-choice” legislators, who frequently pontificate that the issue of abortion should be left to women and their doctors, also banned doctors from offering women progesterone to counter the effects of the abortion pill.
Thankfully, legal challenges to this Colorado law are underway, but the chilling message from the Legislature is clear: The only state-approved choice once an abortion pill is taken is the one that results in the death of an unborn child. And that’s the only choice about which women can be trusted with information.
Government as gatekeeper to information in Colorado isn’t limited to the state. Local school officials decided that parents didn’t need to know their daughter would be required to share a room on an overnight field trip with a male who identified as female. Apparently, the parents couldn’t be trusted to make the “right” decision for their child. Much better to leave it to the “experts,” of course.
Colorado is also home to Lorie Smith and Jack Phillips.
Smith, who witnessed the now decadelong persecution of Phillips, a Christian baker and self-described cake artist, at the hands of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Smith took that body to the U.S. Supreme Court, where she won the most significant victory for free speech in many years.
Smith, a graphic artist, won for herself and other artists across the nation the Supreme Court’s recognition that coerced speech and censorship are two sides of the same unconstitutional coin. Phillips now waits to see if the Colorado Supreme Court will affirm this same principle for him.
At the heart of the matter in Brazil and Colorado is the widening gulf between the governing and the governed. It is a tempestuous sea of mistrust.
Government officials assume the role of arbiters of truth and the authority to decide what information the masses should have at their disposal. It is a story that has played out on the world stage many times and one that rarely has ended well for the common man or freedom.
America, owing to its extraordinary constitutional protections for the God-given rights of the individual, has been an exception to the general rule of history for nearly two and half centuries.
As Walsh would put it, “Life’s been good.” To remain so requires vigilance in defense of liberty at home as exemplary leadership for the world.
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After 5 years, teacher Wins $575K Settlement After Being Fired for Not Using Student’s Preferred Pronouns
Peter Vlaming, a longtime high school French teacher in Virginia, was fired in 2018 for refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns. On Monday, after years of litigation and a win for Vlaming at the Virginia Supreme Court, the school board finally capitulated and agreed to settle the case for $575,000.
But the West Point School Board’s refusal for five years to protect Vlaming’s free speech and religious freedom rights came with an exorbitant price tag.
In 2018, one of Vlaming’s female students at West Point High School began identifying as a transgender male. Although Vlaming consistently used the student’s preferred name, the French teacher carefully avoided using third-person pronouns so as not to violate his own religious beliefs.
That courtesy wasn’t good enough for West Point’s school board and school administrators. When Vlaming refused to use preferred pronouns, they fired the teacher for “creating a hostile learning environment.”
That’s right. Vlaming wasn’t fired for what he said. He was fired for what he didn’t—and couldn’t—say.
Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom and a local attorney, Vlaming sued in state court in 2019, asserting claims under Virginia law and the Virginia Constitution.
The school board didn’t flinch, but instead tried to move the case to federal court.
And no wonder. If the West Point School Board succeeded, it could invoke the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in another Virginia case called Grimm v. Gloucester School Board, which largely adopted gender ideology in its reasoning. That case—and its deeply flawed reasoning—would have mandated the use of preferred personal pronouns.
Thankfully, the school board failed in Vlaming’s case. But it took nearly two years of litigation simply to determine what court should hear it.
The school board then asked the state lower court to dismiss the case. The judge agreed and tossed Vlaming’s lawsuit, ruling from the bench without an opinion.
Vlaming appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor in December 2023 and reinstated his lawsuit.
The majority decision, written by Justice D. Arthur Kelsey, was a landmark victory for religious freedom and free speech. The state Supreme Court held that the Virginia Constitution protects religious exercise—not just religious speech—unless it threatens the public’s safety or order.
In so ruling, the state’s highest court rejected U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s highly criticized majority opinion in Employment Division v. Smith. That decision gutted religious freedom when a challenged law could be considered both neutral and generally applicable to everyone.
Instead, Kelsey’s opinion for the state Supreme Court relied on the Virginia Constitution’s text and its framers’ views on religious freedom. The Virginia Constitution, the court explained, protects not just beliefs but also the right to act on those beliefs in every aspect of life.
The court also ruled for Vlaming on his claim of compelled speech. Merely “objectionable” or “hurtful” speech, it emphasized, poses no threat to public safety or order.
Vlaming’s refusal to use preferred personal pronouns based on his Christian religious beliefs thus was protected even if others subjectively took offense to his silence, Kelsey wrote in the opinion.
“[I]f liberty means anything at all,” Kelsey wrote, “it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. … All the more, it means the right to disagree without speaking at all.”
Seeing the writing on the wall, the West Point School Board finally relented. In a settlement finalized Monday, the board agreed to pay Vlaming $575,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees. It also agreed to expunge Vlaming’s firing from his employment record.
And for good measure, the school board took the initiative and changed its policies to conform to new educational policies from Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, which protect free speech and parental rights.
The school board fought for five years to avoid respecting Vlaming’s rights to free speech and the free exercise of religion. In the end, that fight cost the board (or, more likely, its insurance provider) more than half a million dollars.
That’s to say nothing of what the school board had to pay its own lawyers.
It turns out that compelling a teacher’s speech carries a hefty price tag and causes quite a lot of trouble.
In the end, Peter Vlaming’s courage in defending his right to remain silent is exemplary and achieved far more than money. His stand resulted in one of the clearest statements in history from the Virginia Supreme Court that religious exercise is robustly protected under the state Constitution.
This is a victory that we all can celebrate. Hopefully, it also serves as a stark reminder to school boards and school administrators that mandating the use of gender-based personal pronouns just isn’t worth it.
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Biden-Harris Inflation Wreaks Supply Chain Havoc With Dock Strike
On Monday, nearly 50,000 workers at 36 ports with the International Longshoremen’s Association began striking, the latest failure of Biden-Harris economic policies.
The workers are demanding higher pay, a backlash against the record 20% cumulative inflation under the failed leadership of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
This strike could have major inflationary effects as it affects a shocking half of the country’s goods. Depending on the severity of the strike, it could play a major role in November’s elections—an October surprise, of sorts.
A prolonged strike could create price spikes, even as inflation and elevated prices starting in 2021 are still hurting consumers. That would unfold as wholesalers and retailers are already expected to pass higher transportation and shipping costs to consumers.
It’s no secret that Biden and Harris’ White House has been an economic disaster for all Americans, especially for low-income and middle-class Americans, because inflation is essentially a tax. Poorer and working-class Americans are hit the hardest because they spend a greater proportion of their incomes on consumer goods.
Depending on how long this strike lasts, it could have a significant impact on family budgets. Under the strike, cargo stuck in ports doesn’t make it to store shelves, leaving fewer options and supply chain disruptions. Fresh and perishable foods could be lost.
Former President Donald Trump noted the contrast in a statement released after the strike began: “The situation should have never come to this and, had I been President, it would not have. This is only happening because of the inflation brought on by Kamala Harris’ two votes for massive, out-of-control spending, and her decision to cut off energy exploration.”
As economist Stephen Moore notes, during Biden’s nearly four years in office, inflation is up roughly 20%, but during Trump’s four-year term, inflation rose a much smaller 8%. As other observers noted, while protectionism can raise prices and should be avoided, Trump’s relentless focus on building American-made goods also protects against the shock of disruptions to foreign-produced supply chains. And protectionism is not the same as ensuring that foreign countries engaging in unfair trade practices are held directly accountable.
“Americans who thrived under President Trump can’t even get by because of Kamala Harris. This strike is a direct result of her actions,” Trump continued. “American workers should be able to negotiate for better wages, especially since the shipping companies are mostly foreign-flag vessels, including the largest consortium ONE.” (The Singapore-based ONE is the sixth-largest shipping company in the world, according to Politico.)
The strike could cause furloughs and job losses because jobs connected to ports could be affected, including truckers delivering goods, warehouse workers, manufacturers, and other workers dependent on the ports. These workers could be furloughed or let go if the strike is prolonged.
That’s why it’s not surprising we are witnessing generational shifts among blue-collar workers, including Teamsters union workers (breaking from their union leadership), trending toward Republicans like Trump. It’s because Harris’ policies–which are indistinguishable from Biden’s policies, according to the White House—are a disaster for working-class Americans, and the dock strike is a case in point.
This generational shift is a significant blow for Democrats, who have taken organized labor for granted for decades. Over the past 10 years, the Republican Party has shifted to the working-class party in many areas. This came following record household wealth and income gains seen under the Trump administration (prior to COVID-19 shocks) among women, black, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. These gains came thanks in part to the 2017 tax-reform bill passed by a Republican Congress and signed into law by Trump.
In the battleground state of Arizona, new polling from Suffolk University and USA Today found that 29% of black voters are going to vote for Donald Trump. That’s a significant shift away from Democrats for black voters, with Harris garnering only 67% of black support in that state. (Historically, nationally, black voters often break 90% or more for Democrats.)
Nationwide, including projections for all battleground states, RealClearPolitics’ estimates place Trump with 281 Electoral College votes and Harris with 257, with 270 needed to win. The dock strike could continue to shift those trends further toward Trump, what with Harris’ inflationary policies.
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http://jonjayray.com/covidwatch.html (COVID WATCH)
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https://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com (TONGUE-TIED)
https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)
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