Brass Tacks Politics

22/06/2024

A lot of people share quotes without thinking about them too much.

21/06/2024

A little bug once went ka-choo, next thing we know, Handmaid's Tale.

21/06/2024

The controversy continues over Louisiana requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom.

According to the bill that was recently signed by Louisiana's Governor:
“The legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) In 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States recognized that it is permissible to display the Ten Commandments on government property in Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677, 688 (2005).
(2) In 2006, the legislature enacted Act No. 602 of the 2006 Regular Session of the legislature which provided for the secretary of state to publish the Ten Commandments and other historically significant documents for posting in court houses and other public buildings to address “a need to educate and inform the public as to the history and background of American and Louisiana law
In 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States further recognized that the Ten Commandments “have historical significance as one of the foundations of our legal system. . .”, in American Legion v. American Humanists Association, 588 U.S. 29, 53 (2019) and, the court also ruled that the displaying of the Ten Commandments on public property may have “multiple purposes” such as “historical significance” and represent a “common cultural heritage”. id, 588 U.S. at 54.
(4) Recognizing the historical role of the Ten Commandments accords with our nation’s history and faithfully reflects the understanding of the founders of our nation with respect to the necessity of civic morality to a functional self-government. History records that James Madison, the fourth President of the United States of America, stated that “(w)e have staked the whole future of our new nation . . . upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.”
(5) Including the Ten Commandments in the education of our children is part of our state and national history, culture, and tradition.”

Do you think the Ten Commandments ought to be displayed in classrooms? How about modern ideological material such as LGBT flags? Should we just keep all such things out of the classroom, or should we set some guidelines?

Scott J. Lawson June 20, 2024 Louisiana is now the first state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom from kindergarten to public state-funded universities…

21/06/2024

Do you support women being automatically registered for the draft?

Hypothetically, If you are a married man and your wife gets drafted to go fight in a war, would you feel obligated to take her place?

21/06/2024

The Ten Commandments or the Pride Flag – What Should be Displayed in America’s Classrooms? Louisiana is now the first state to require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom from kindergarten to public state-funded universities. A bill recently signed by Governor Jeff Landry requires a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” along with other historical documents (Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Northwest Ordinance) in all classrooms. The heaviest criticism is of course coming from those that want to stick their own preferred symbols and beliefs in the classroom, the LGBT flag included. Read more at the link:

https://brasstackspolitics.com/2024/06/20/the-ten-commandments-or-the-pride-flag-what-should-be-displayed-in-americas-classrooms/

20/06/2024

19/06/2024

GOAT rapper Krayzie Bone with a message for Black Lives Matter and the black community.

Provided to YouTube by DistroKidWe All Hate Us · Krayzie BoneChasing The Devil: Chapter 2 “Salvation”℗ The Life ApparelReleased on: 2024-06-17Auto-generated ...

19/06/2024

Personnel is Policy – Project 2025 is a Conservative Attempt to Beat Progressives at Their Own Game
The Leftist freakout over
Is overblown. Link to article in the comments.

19/06/2024

Leftists, Democrats, and Progressives are freaking out over Project 2025. Project 2025 is nothing new in Conservative thought or policy, it is merely an organized expression of its most basis principles and a presentation of a plan on how to apply these principles and staff a Conservative Administration given current political realities. The Leftist freakout over the plan as some sort of authoritarian shift for America is quite frankly embarrassing. It should not be a surprise that Leftists do not like the plan, but if one reads it for themselves and matches it to the Leftist media talking points, the overreaction and misinformation on their part becomes obvious. Restoring America to its constitutional foundations will not be easy (even the plan’s authors admit it will be difficult and will likely take more than one Administration). Ensuring people in the Executive Branch understand their constitutional role and willfully limit their actions to constitutional duty alone is one of the most basic things that can be done to start us off on this restoration. Perhaps Leftists that see this as an attack on themselves should reflect on the supposed justification of their own actions and beliefs. If they seek to build an all-powerful administrative machine staffed by ideologically-driven administrators, rationalizing it as an expression of “democracy,” they ought not be surprised when the opposing ideological “side” wins elections, assumes power, and does the same. The important difference however is the eventual goal of Conservatives is to limit government power and secure the rights and liberty of the People from infringement by overly coercive authorities. Disagreement is inevitable, which is why it was always wise to limit such power and control at the Federal level to Constitutional actions in order to avoid disruption and insure domestic tranquility. Read more at the link:

Scott J. Lawson June 19, 2024 Before the Progressive Era in the early twentieth century, the President of the United States was thought of more as an administrator tasked with faithfully executing …

18/06/2024

Stop letting Biden and the corrupt warmongering Democrat Party establishment use you!

17/06/2024

Chuck Schumer tries to relate to the commoners with a BBQ photo on Father's Day and fails miserably. Deletes his post after getting himself grilled on the internet. 😂

17/06/2024

A church-going dad gets gifted a new rifle on Father's Day...

Internet weirdos... "Death cult!"

17/06/2024

A good sign someone doesn't truly believe in the equal worth, dignity, and fundamental inalienable rights of all human beings in a mutual moral community is if they try to suggest others cannot genuinely participate in important discussions because of some inherent physical characteristic or ability (or lack thereof). Assumption of sinister motives based on nothing more than such characteristics is equally distasteful.

16/06/2024

To all those that proudly rock their "Dad Shoes," Happy Father's Day! My kids got me a fresh pair.

14/06/2024

Happy Flag Day!

Official audio for "Ragged Old Flag" by Johnny CashListen to Johnny Cash: https://JohnnyCash.lnk.to/listenYDSubscribe to the official Johnny Cash YouTube cha...

13/06/2024

Look at this Canuck tryin' rhyme slick
Skatin' with his hockey stick that's your one trick
You'd be just another State if you joined our clique
B**ch know your place and stay up off our d**k
🤣

12/06/2024

Anti-Second Amendment Biden again butchers the "tree of liberty" quote and falsely claims the Second Amendment is more about hunting than We The People being prepared to oppose a tyrannical government and/or repel foreign invaders. Click the link in the comments to learn why his attempt to ban "assault rifles" is doomed to fail and why that is a very good thing.

11/06/2024

Hypothetical question for your consideration - You see a person with an unleashed dog in an area of a park where that is not allowed. Do you:

A. Mind your own business
B. Just say, "Hey, unleashed dogs are not allowed here, per the rules" and leave it at that.
C. Argue with the person until they comply with the rules.
D. Film them and put it on social media and/or try to shame them on social media.
E. Threaten to call the police if they do not comply.
F. Actually call the police.
G. Say, "Look, if you're going to do what you want, I'm going to do what I want, but you're not going to like it" and try to lure the dog over to you with a dog treat.

What duty do you have here if any? What is acceptable, what crosses into the realm of a "busybody," and what is excessive/crazy in your opinion?

10/06/2024

I love this Jonathan Stea guy because he is the perfect example of how not to argue online. It is bad enough he often goes after the low-hanging fruit by highlighting posts that have rudimentary factual errors like the Tim Mac post with the Galileo example below. He likely does this to try to score points against what he considers his ideological opposition by implying they are all fools. This is a common practice, but what makes his post worse is he is inaccurately applying the "Galileo Gambit Fallacy" to the post as well.

Simply mentioning, either as a statement or as part of a larger discussion, that Galileo was mocked and persecuted due to the scientific/authoritative consensus at the time is not committing the Galileo Fallacy. It only becomes a fallacy if it is being used as a part of an argument to support an unpopular conclusion instead of presenting valid and sound arguments. The statement itself is usually used as a response to an expressed or implied argument from authority fallacy, which commits the same type of error from the opposite perspective. Ironically, Jonathan Stea, by his criteria here, commits this fallacy quite often, so he should probably reconsider his approach to criticism unless he wants to be labeled a hypocrite.

A better approach when considering these types of arguments is to keep both of these extremes in mind as part of your framework for creating a criteria for judgment to consider the merits of scientific arguments and practical proposals. While it is certainly good to listen to authoritative experts in scientific fields when the topic is of a scientific nature, it is also good to remember that sometimes the authorities are wrong or not considering all the relevant factors to the overall situation. There may be other scientific experts within the direct field that disagree with the consensus on stated facts or a recommended plan of action, scientific experts in other fields that bring up good points regarding potential consequences given a recommended plan of action, and/or experts in other fields (political, moral, economic) that have valid criticism or question the costs of certain actions. And of course all this and the individuals involved are subject to the fallacy, error, ignorance, and corruption of humanity in general too. We are usually not talking about these things in a vacuum with black and white conclusions. There is endless nuance to consider.

It has been said that it is good to keep an open mind but not so open that your brain falls out. I think that applies to this situation from both ends. Do not leave your mind so open it cannot trust the veracity of anything at all. Do not leave your mind so open that it believes anything. Do not leave your mind so open that it cannot commit to any worldview and duty to the objective truth. Do not leave your mind so open that it gets infected with a narrow, in-field, dogmatic, dichotomous way of thinking, easily susceptible to puppet masters that know how to jerk the chains of such people for their own benefit.

03/06/2024

Our natural ability to reason suggests we ought to use it to determine the appropriate balance between freedom and responsibility.

03/06/2024

Oh yes, how dare they (checks into the story) keep a graphic novel version of a book out of a library for grades 6-12 that has images of sexual violence and nudity.

The actual novel itself remained in the library. The graphic novel version is what was kept out. All you need to do is search google images and you can see why they might reasonably want to keep it out of a library that sixth graders are using. Leftists seem to think this is a massive injustice. This is yet another example of a mindless overreaction being amplified in social media by people not considering all the facts. The comments on the endless social media posts about this story suggest as much. This isn't "censorship" or "book banning" it is just common sense.

01/06/2024

The Left is worried Trump's situation may actually help him. The last thing they want is for Trump's support base to become even more galvanized and even increase due to perceived persecution at their hands. So they are working overtime to combat any perceived martyrdom. The meme doesn't try to equate Jesus and Trump in terms of their lives, values, actions, or anything of the sort. That is the assumption of the commenter. It is a statement of the form, "Just as Jesus was convicted in a sham trial, so too was Trump. I follow Jesus despite his conviction in the sham trail, and I also will continue to support Trump despite this conviction in the sham trial." So the operative concept is that the speaker of said statement does not put as much weight in the authority of legal verdicts as they do their convictions based on other factors. It is more an explanation of a position than a position in itself. We can from that point argue the merits of all the rest, including whether or not the trails were indeed "shams," but as a statement it is saying one thing and one thing only. Personally I think it is a bad idea to try to equate Trump or any politician with Jesus but it should be acknowledged the point trying to be expressed in this meme makes some logical sense and isn't exactly making such an equivalency.

31/05/2024

Is your giddy friend really relieved the “Rule of Law” was preserved upon the verdict in the most recent high-profile legal case, or are they just supporting “lawfare” that bolsters their pre-conceived conclusions?

“The Rule of Law,” conceptually, is contrary to modern Leftist doctrine, which is subjective and coercive in nature. Leftists and Dems always try to claim legal outcomes are a victory for “the Rule of Law” when it suits their purposes, but not when legal outcomes contradict them. The focus for them is on the particulars of cases and how they aid their ends goals in relation to the system they want built. This of course is a misuse of the term, and really is more in line with the opposite notion that the true “Rule of Law” concept is meant to keep in check.

The “Rule of Law,” as the American Founders understood it, is a reflection of an objectively-derived morality, with a recognition of natural law and reason as the basis for practical action. The first principles involved are universal and unbiased. Fundamental inalienable rights are derived from this and all subsequent man-made law must be compatible with, and complementary to, these higher rights and principles. Action ought to come from a respect for, and duty to, these concepts and processes. This is the “government of law, not of men” mentality. Opposite of this is the “government of men, then the law” mentality, which places subjective determination at the forefront, working backwards to mold law, practices, and direct action to these desires. Western thinkers, since at least Aristotle (as expressed in his Politics), have wrestled with this dichotomy, with most, including the American Founding Fathers, concluding it is better to base a society and legal structure on the Rule of Law via reason than that of a Rule of Men that is more arbitrary, less stable over time, and more subject to tyranny and error. The genius of the Founding Fathers was creating a practical political system that struck a logical balance between fundamental inalienable rights, democratic interests, and liberty and security (stability). The Rule of Law concept fits nicely into the true idealized American system of law and justice.

While injustice can occur within either system, it is much more prevalent in the “government of men” system, and is in fact built into the structure of it. The popular “Nobody is above the law” aspect to the “Rule of Law” concept applies in both systems, as does the notion of following set procedures, but as the concept is explored further it becomes apparent these are not necessarily the extent of it nor are they the abused or controversial part in themselves. In a “government of men” system, powerful factions of the day gain unjust influence over the determining criteria, and the rights and interests of others will inevitably be coerced “for the greater good.” This is how “lawfare” gains legitimacy. Similar to some of the valid critiques of “structural discrimination” in the past, proponents of lawfare tactics can claim a legitimacy via legal precedent when really the basis for the actions is illegitimate and/or the situation at issue is not a solid example of the supposed moral/ethical breach the law is meant to address. The error can transcend procedure. Often times the rationalization is sketchy at best, and usually it is inconsistently applied. Inevitably, loopholes will begin to be exploited in the increasingly bloated legal system, allowing the connected to manipulate outcomes with technicalities and guided prosecutorial avenues in their favor. Often lawfare is aimed at seeking revenge for some notion of perceived general error rather than an actual concern for wrong caused by a specific act of injustice. Selective lawfare as a norm allows for the magnification of the petty so blatant wrongs can loom in the background or even become thought of as acceptable. It is also inherently divisive and sure to be politicized.

We are seeing more and more of this, both in our domestic politics and in foreign affairs. In both cases, the best solution is to return to a more Constitituonal system of governance that limits top-down authority, reduces bureaucratic power, simplifies and clarifies law, and restores Federalism, checks and balances, and separation of powers. We must also revisit our norms and expectations regarding prosecutorial discretion, 10th amendment theory, and jury nullification. Regarding foreign affairs, we must also recognize the dynamics of the current anarchic world state system and ensure our actions and expectations from others are not contrary to universal principles and values. Saying one thing and doing another is not indicative of a rules-based system or reflective of the moral principles upon which they are built. We cannot do any of this however unless we start once again respecting the Founding ideals of this nation, that being those of objectively-derived moral principles/maxims and natural law.

With propaganda and social engineering becoming even easier to implement with the aid of internet and social media, powerful interests can have us obsessing over trivial acts by controversial individuals or groups while real crime, corruption, and rights violations ominously increase around us, usually at the hands of the propagandizers. “Lawfare” becomes a tool against the “Rule of Law” when it allows for the systematic destruction of its actual basis, or in other words, creates an inherent contradiction. None of us will be safe if we universalize such a maxim, and ironically, it helps destroy the democratic process and “social justice” goals that Democrats claim to love so much. Don’t be a tool for the lawfare crowd to wield in their quest for political and ideological dominance. The next time you hear someone say “This is a victory for the Rule of Law” ask yourself if their collective words and actions suggest they support America’s founding ideals or if they seek to “fundamentally transform” America towards a more subjectively-oriented system preferred by the Left. While they may or may not have a decent rationale for their statement on the case at issue either way, keeping the answer to this question in mind offers a valuable lens through which to consider their argument.

29/05/2024

Bobby goes down for Biden.

29/05/2024

This will be the only post on this page about "Pride Month" this year. Everything has already been said that needs to be said about it and it feels like people are burned out on this topic. Time for everyone to try ignoring the noise. For perspective on the issue, see the link to the article from last year in the comments.

29/05/2024

Nikki Haley, AKA "Warmonger Puppet," signing an Israeli bomb possibly on its way to kill innocent Palestinian children.

Imagine thinking this is a politically advantageous photo op. In reality, she wrote "Finish Them! America ❤ Israel Always, Nikki Haley" on the bomb. 🤮

29/05/2024

🤡

Welp, it looks like the leftist decay has finally finished off whatever may have remained of the Libertarian Party. Gone are the days of Ron Paul calling for the government to end the Fed and Rand Paul's defiance of COVID mandates.

27/05/2024

"Every year, on the last Monday of May, we pause as a Nation to commemorate all who have made the ultimate sacrifice in armed service to our country. From each generation, heroes have risen up in the heat of battle and given their last full measure to ensure America remains the “Land of the Free.” Today, we honor the courageous men and women who have been killed in the line of duty. We humble ourselves in gratitude for the immense sacrifice they and their families made. We find inspiration in their courage, perseverance, and devotion to duty.

But for Marines, this day is more than an opportunity to pay tribute to our fallen warriors. It is also a day to rededicate ourselves to the cause of peace and to carrying on the legacy our fallen heroes forged; a legacy of excellence and of upholding the highest standards. Marines, I know you are up to the challenge!

As you gather with your loved ones over Memorial Day weekend this year, I want to thank each of you for your dedicated service to our Nation. Enjoy the holiday, stay safe, and take care of each other. Semper Fidelis."

Eric M. Smith, General, U.S. Marine Corps, Commandant of the Marine Corps.

26/05/2024

"In his speech, Butker said, “Our Catholic faith has always been countercultural. Our Lord, along with countless followers, were all put to death for their adherence to her teachings. The world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves whenever they go against the tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We fear speaking truth, because now, unfortunately, truth is in the minority.” Referring to the students he was addressing, he later added, “Make no mistake: You are entering into mission territory in a post-God world, but you were made for this. And with God by your side and a constant striving for virtue within your vocation, you too can be a saint.” This captures the true essence of his remarks. We must understand what is right first, and we do this by using our “God-given” faculties of reason to recognize objective universal moral maxims and ethical principles. Our structures, whether religious, social, or political, must be compatible with, compliment, and promote this truth. Question any supposed authority that does not do this, willfully submit to and/or support those that do." Read more at the link:

Scott J. Lawson May 26, 2024 Since Harrison Butker gave his “controversial” speech at Benedictine College on May 11, 2024, the focus in the blogosphere has been primarily on his remarks…

25/05/2024

Update on the "Free, Free Palestine" tower in Highland Park, Mi. It now has "America First" painted over it.