Sound Off: June 19, 2024

The new patriotism

I hear the upside-down American flag is now a symbol for MAGA followers. How is this patriotic? Taking a knee, which is a Christian sign of respect is vilified, but this is okay? Hypocrisy is rampant here. “I can do it, but you can’t” is their motto now.

Greed

Elon Musk will receive a $45 billion payment package. It’s scary to think that he has enough money to buy elections, influence judges and bribe congressmen if he wanted to. And his money comes from electric cars while we are fighting over oil and gas usage.

Bump or no bump?

During an earlier portion of my life I carried a fully automatic (select fire) M16. I can only remember using the full-auto option maybe twice. Indeed, the full-auto tactic significantly reduced accuracy and dumped the 20-round magazine in an amazingly short period of time. This left you defenseless while looking for and inserting another magazine. Indeed, the “spray and pray” method is really at its best when facing a Banzai charge, not when staring down a red circle on a piece of paper. Honestly, going full-auto is a real adrenaline-producing experience I’d recommend to anyone interested in shooting sports. That said, not every individual with $99 can properly handle that adventure. I would advocate for a required training and licensing program before purchasing a bump stock, not just universally banning the product.

Foreign seafood

I don’t understand all pessimism about our seafood dealers going out of business. They have been selling foreign seafood for well over two decades. If you don’t believe me just visit a fresh seafood market. You will witness fish with labels from many different countries. Local shrimp will still be caught by local shrimpers. As long as there’s a demand for fresh shrimp it will be available.

Dementia

I keep seeing references to President Biden having dementia for a few misspoken words, but Donald Trump speaks gibberish all the time and it is not reported as dementia. This is clearly a double-standard in the press favoring Trump, but his supporters denigrate the press, except for the right-wing press.

What’s next

Rachel Maddow is 100% correct when she says if Donald Trump were elected president, he would put her in jail. Trump has openly said that he is going to pardon his cronies that are now in prison. What he didn’t say, yet everyone knows, is that he is going after anyone who ever spoke badly about him. Have you noticed that the ten Republicans who voted for his impeachment are all gone from the Republican party? Trump was the mastermind of that. He proudly has said that he gets even, and he is not lying about that.

Food tax

I noticed on my grocery store receipt an extra food tax. It was marked “Tax4 for 2.0%”. I looked it up, Tax 4 is for prepared food, such as deli chicken, potato logs, chicken tenders, etc. So on top of the 7% groceries tax you are now paying an additional 2% tax is for prepared food. Unbelievable!

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