2017 in Photos
- July 13, 2017: Health insurance reform? What health insurance reform?
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I recently received a “Truth About Republicans Survey” which asks me a whole bunch of questions about topics the National Republican Congressional Committee thinks are important. And then it asks me for money, of course. Which they are not going to get because one very important issue is missing:
Where in this survey is a question about restoring our ability to purchase health insurance? The closest is question 14, which, given how they literally left out any question about their number one promise over the last seven years, I’m surprised they included.
In good news, the Senate today added the Cruz-Lee Consumer Freedom Option to the Senate version of the repeal. Given the intransigence of Republicans on living up to their past promises, this may be the best option to reduce the cost of health insurance and health care after the ACA caused them to skyrocket.
- June 23, 2017: The last time an actor assassinated a president?
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Johnny Depp asks, “when was the last time an actor assassinated a president?” That’s an interesting and odd question, because the last time an actor assassinated a president was when Democrats were very, very angry that a Republican president had ended slavery. Democrats did everything they could to keep President Lincoln from successfully waging war against the Democratic base among slave-holders.
And they continue to do so today. The control-left still wants that kind of control over everyone, especially minorities. They’re angry as hell, and filled with hate, that people not only voted against their agenda in November, but that, despite a hate-filled media onslaught people continue to vote against that hate-filled agenda through four special elections.
Why would Johnny Depp want, in this climate, to remind everyone that Democrats perpetuated slavery in the United States, defended slavery in the United States, still promote policies of dependence in the United States, and turn violent whenever anyway tries to end those hate-filled policies?
Why would he want to remind them that the climate of hate that the left is promoting now has been with them since at least the Civil War and the Democratic-founded white-sheeted terrorism that followed? That violence was directed against Republicans, too.
Is he secretly a friend of Abe? Perhaps Gary Sinise should reach out to him.
- May 31, 2017: Trump vs. the Media: authenticity and humility
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Several days ago I saw a Vox meme come across social media. It compares what then-Senator Barack Obama wrote at the Israeli Holocaust memorial in 2008 and what President Donald Trump wrote during his recent visit.
Obama wrote:
I am grateful to Yad Vashem and all of those responsible for this remarkable institution. At a time of great peril and promise, war and strife, we are blessed to have such a powerful reminder of man’s potential for great evil, but also our own capacity to rise up from tragedy and remake our world. Let our children come here, and know their history, so that they can add their voices to proclaim ‘never again.’ And may we remember those who perished, not only as victims, but also as individuals who hoped and loved and dreamed like us, and who have become symbols of the human spirit.”
Trump was more succinct:
It is a great honor to be here with all of my friends—so amazing & will Never Forget!
Now, I actually agree with the gist of what this meme says. What then-Senator Obama wrote was the kind of stuff that might go into history books.1 What President Trump wrote is not. It was written for the people showing him the memorial, not for later visitors.
If that sense of historical importance is what you want in your politicians—and it is reasonable that many people do—you are going to be disappointed by President Trump.
But my initial reaction on seeing that meme was not how great Obama’s side of the meme was. It was that the poster, who had until then been reliably anti-Trump even when Trump agreed with him, had come around to seeing Trump favorably.
My initial reaction on seeing this was favorable to Trump. Because where Trump’s note differed from Obama’s is that Trump was personal and humble. His note was filled with a feeling of both honor for what an actual person did to show him something he hadn’t seen; and humility for how much has been sacrificed.2
Trump left a personal note, not one scripted by a team of writers, crafted to play well back home and through the years. It was genuine gratitude for his hosts—and humility.
It was authentic.
More 2016
- 2016 in photos
- For photos, memes, and perhaps other quick notes sent from my mobile device or written on the fly during 2016.
More Live Blog
- 2020 in Photos
- For photos, memes, and perhaps other quick notes sent from my mobile device or written on the fly during 2020.
- 2019 in Photos
- For photos, memes, and perhaps other quick notes sent from my mobile device or written on the fly during 2019.
- 2018 in Photos
- For photos, memes, and perhaps other quick notes sent from my mobile device or written on the fly during 2018.
- 2016 in photos
- For photos, memes, and perhaps other quick notes sent from my mobile device or written on the fly during 2016.
- 2015 in photos
- For photos and perhaps other quick notes sent from my mobile device or written on the fly during 2015.
- Five more pages with the topic Live Blog, and other related pages