Q&A With a “White Civil Rights Leader”: does Euro pride constitute white supremacism?

Late last month, I had the opportunity to sit down with someone who might seem straight out of civics class to all sorts of people. Those political thinkers on the left would (and will) likely label Mark Hunter a racist and/or “White Supremacist” while their counterparts on the right wing, if they acknowledge him at all, are more likely to express annoyed indifference.

Is this equal treatment? Is it fair for someone to be immediately relegated to the sidelines as a hateful extremist simply because they’re proud of their European heritage?

These and a few other queries I posed to Mr. Hunter are provided for you below. Please do try and relax, focus and actually read what he is saying. I am by no means weighing in and saying “YES! FINALLY!” nor am I damning his opinion(s). I am, however, asking that no matter who you are, regardless of your station in life and no matter your predisposition on this topic that you keep an open mind in terms of letting the gentleman have “his day”,  so to speak. It is, regardless of my personal neutrality on everyone we interview, just as important for a European apologist to be permitted to speak and be heard in a safe, courteous manner as it is Louis Farrakhan.

Louis Farrakhan: the US Nation of Islam leader who insists he is neither anti-Semitic nor anti-White in general in spite of blaming the inner city struggles of black families on Jews and refusing to condemn the "Death to All White Babies" chants of the New Black Panthers on POTUS election day 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. BUT! He's not white so he gets a pass from the self-loathing, godless freaks in the Leftist media.
Louis Farrakhan: the US Nation of Islam leader who insists he is neither anti-Semitic nor anti-White in general in spite of blaming the inner city struggles of black families on Jews and refusing to condemn the “Death to All White Babies” chants of the New Black Panthers on POTUS election day 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. BUT! He’s not white so he gets a pass from the self-loathing, godless freaks in the Leftist media.

DeViney, Jonathan D.: Hi and thanks for taking the time to answer a handful of questions. One of your account names seems to refer to your not only being motivated but being motivated as a white person. Care to elaborate?

Hunter, Mark: I’m extremely tired of the anti-White agenda and propaganda that’s all around us nowadays. It’s been this way for quite awhile and has only become worse. Our so called political leaders seem to be okay with embracing every aspect of identity politics when it pertains to non-Whites, but refuse to embrace White identity in any other way other than to tear us down or call us names that they can’t even accurately define without exposing that the ‘names’ don’t actually apply, such as White supremacist. I’m done with that game. I think a lot of us are.

I want to help my people. That’s what motivates me. I want for all of us to know, without any burden of guilt whatsoever, that it’s perfectly acceptable, healthy, and natural to love our race, to fully celebrate it, and to quit letting the media and our now defunct and worthless ‘higher learning’ programs teach us otherwise. We need to stand up for ourselves. We’re the only group not allowed to do this publicly without being labeled in some kind of negative way, and that’s a hypocritical double standard that needs to come to an end.

DeViney: I’m sure you’re aware that the first thing probably half of the people who read this will automatically assume (before even reading a single word) is that you’re a “white supremacist”, a “racist” and who knows what other awful label that many, especially of the younger (under 30-ish) crowd don’t even understand. Why do you think that is?

Hunter: First, I’d like to say that I think a lot of the White under 30-ish crowd is more aware and awake than people realize when it comes to White identity, but I do know what you mean when you ask this, because a lot of young people are oblivious to facts, actual definitions, and deep cogitation based on facts instead of emotions.

Western society has been brainwashed by extreme propagandists for a very long time. Most Whites are terrified to show any pride in their people or their race because of these ridiculous labels and the propagandists know this. They’re seeing these words lose their power lately and it terrifies them, because without them, they have to resort to facts and engage in discussions that they can’t usually win without utilizing these fictitious ad hominem attacks as a means of some sort of ‘moral’ superiority and thereby magically allowing them to discredit us.

I’ve never met a White supremacist, nor am I one. That would mean that I think Whites are superior to all other races in every way, and that’s just not the case. Asians on average have a higher IQ than Whites. If I were a White supremacist, that would also mean that I want to rule over all other races and that’s not true either. I don’t want to rule over other races any more than I want them to rule over me.

The simple fact of the matter is that the people who so often use these terms are either completely ignorant as to what they mean, or are using them intentionally (knowing full well that they aren’t really applicable) to take advantage of their negative connotation in order to dismiss us. 

They’re just words and the first step to getting past this tactical word warfare as a White person is to completely stop caring when they’re used on you, thereby dismissing them in return.

DeViney: As we discussed on Twitter, in America it is okay for a black person to be proud of their African or Caribbean (or whatever) heritage. It’s acceptable for a Korean or their rivals of Japanese descent to be proud of their cultural achievements, historical figures from their culture, etc. Granted there’s only the three truly distinct races (before you get into hybrids like Mexicans & we’ll just leave that alone) of Caucasian, Negroid, Mongoloid(sp?), and then all manner of ethnic groups disseminated from there. About the only Caucasian (or “white”, in this country) ethnic groups that may express any real sorts of pride here to a limited extent are the Jews (who, while Caucasian per the Census Bureau, even a lot of their fellow Caucasians despise) and the Italians. Why is there this feeling where if you don’t hate being white you must be a white supremacist?

I gotta admit...this shit's pretty scary
I gotta admit…this shit’s pretty scary

Hunter: We’re held to higher standards than everybody else. Every race has done horrible things, but people focus on the things that Whites have done way more than they do any other race. No one really blames Turkey for their history of colonization or genocide. You don’t hear the expression ‘Turk Privilege’ or hear about Turk guilt. All races have participated in slavery, but no one really blames any other race, even though some are still practicing slavery to this day. We ended slavery and we rarely get credit for that.

We’re held accountable for things that other races have done, or are continuing to do to this very day, and I think part of the reason we’re not allowed to show pride in our race is because we’re badasses. We’re amazing. We’ve done incredible things, remarkable things, and a lot of people hate us for it.

Globalists also want to conquer us and they’ve been working on it for a long time. If Whites wake up to how amazing we truly are and quit apologizing (stupidly) for being amazing, then globalists will have a harder time beating us. So, they continue to bash us every chance they get, to put us down, to attack us, and to punish any of us that ‘get out of line’ and show any kind of pride in our race. They love to do this publicly too so that they can instill fear in anyone thinking of breaking free.

DeViney: I’m sure you’ve been lumped in there with this guy before, but someone whose name has been in the news again recently: former Louisiana state representative David Duke. I personally am from Louisiana (having been born in Metairie, an unincorporated section of the Greater New Orleans Area, and we’re so sick to death of him being the only reason our state came up until primary day. That said, while I’m uneducated on his past and have read a couple of his essays, for instance, do you not find it fascinating that the vast majority of Americans just keep running on the treadmill at the YMCA in the morning or afternoon and whenever they’re at work again automatically launch into a discussion of, “Oh Duke? Oh yeah he’s a racist!” Is that not troublesome? Not the notion of him being a known racist but that, again particularly the younger crowd, they don’t even ask anymore?

While well-educated and an articulate, charismatic-ish speaker, something about Duke, something BEYOND the overt race-baiting, pisses me off to no end. Oh, wait! After setting back the Louisiana GOP by years in his crushing defeat to Edwin Edwards, he STILL won't go away! Louisiana is just...so...grateful, Mr. Duke. And by grateful I mean about as grateful as Rosie O'Donnell's children on Father's Day.
While well-educated and an articulate, charismatic-ish speaker, something about Duke, something BEYOND the overt race-baiting, pisses me off to no end. Oh, wait! After setting back the Louisiana GOP by years in his crushing defeat to Edwin Edwards, he STILL won’t go away! Louisiana is just…so…grateful, Mr. Duke. And by grateful I mean about as grateful as Rosie O’Donnell’s children on Father’s Day.

Hunter: Absolutely. It is troublesome and it’s completely insane, but it’s not just the younger crowd. The older crowd sold them that narrative. I’ll freely admit that I know very little about David Duke, but I absolutely know he was in the KKK. Mind you, it was many, many years ago, and it was in a nonviolent way, but still, the mainstream media and other people around me have made sure to point out his KKK involvement — over and over and over and over again.

When the media started in recently on Duke endorsing (which I don’t think he fully did) Donald Trump, and Trump disavowed him numerous times, they continued to push the issue over and over again. That was 100% intentional on their part. It’s what they do. I’ve never known anyone involved in the KKK and I personally would never be involved in it, but the mainstream media sure make it seem like membership is booming and the KKK is extremely active, which I don’t believe at all, and neither do most of the manipulative news organizations and people pushing that narrative either.

This is the same media and the same people that speak highly of gang members, killers, drug dealers, etc. as long as those people say that they’ve changed their ways and are now focusing on better things. Then all of a sudden, they become heroes, role models, but not David Duke. Nope. No way. He was in the KKK. Had he been in MS-13 and actually hurt people and then changed his life to accomplish the things he has now, he’d be known as an amazing individual.

The interesting part about all that is after the Duke/Trump thing, I watched a video of Duke explaining his position and found him to be extremely articulate, intelligent, well spoken, and logical. I’m sure his enemies are grateful for his past, because now they can write him off instantly and get lots of others (non-thinkers) to follow suit. If people actually took some time to listen to him, they might find themselves agreeing with some of what he says. Good thing we can just call him a White supremacist and move on, right?

DeViney: Sure, we’re a 60-ish percent majority in the United States. Worldwide, however, Europe aside, Caucasians are a minority. We’re not talking Christianity here, which is the world’s largest religion, shaped Europe and thus the U.S., thus the rest of the world…I mean, to cut through the fat, Caucasians. White people. So why the seeming knowing mislabeling by the American media and almost willful misunderstanding, even by whites in this country, particularly on the left?

Hunter: I’m amazed with how many people don’t know that Whites are actually a global minority and very few people are offering to step up and educate them about it. If they did, it would break down the narrative. We might even turn the tables on them completely. Their double standards and hypocrisy are mind blowing and the fact that so many Whites do it too makes me believe that a lot of them are just so brainwashed and screwed up by a constant anti-White agenda that they’re incapable of logic and reasoning. I think virtue signaling, as disgusting as it is, also plays a huge part. 

DeViney: Speaking of the left…even conservatives, moderates, etc. Basically every single white person I’ve ever known acknowledges things like slavery and The Holocaust to be massive evils. No man should own another man, and there’s no need to even begin a description of what Adolf Hitler did. I don’t know (and therefore don’t associate with) any neo-Nazis or other White Supremacist group(s)…but why is it that the leftist whites have to take it a whole level lower, it seems, in not only acknowledging our sins as a race but basically wanting to degrade and destroy their own race? Doesn’t it seem that way?

Hunter: Not only does it seem that way, it is that way. I find myself wondering why so many White people want to destroy their race. I can’t understand it at all. Their level of self-hate must be completely maxed out. What I do know is that I don’t trust most of our perceived history, because I think it’s in the hands of terrible people. If I’ve learned anything so far in life, it’s that there are pluses and minuses to almost every situation and a lot of people struggle with comprehending that, let alone what they are. Whenever I hear the Holocaust mentioned now, I instantly find myself thinking of the Holodomor as well.

Imagine what the world would be like if Adolf Hitler hadn't failed as an aspiring artist?
Imagine what the world would be like if Adolf Hitler hadn’t failed as an aspiring artist?

DeViney: Speaking of Hitler…that’s a perfect caveat into a general, macro-race question here: so Caucasians/Europeans (i.e., “whites”) have had figures belonging to their race to have committed horrible crimes against humanity, y’know, genocide, and so on and so forth…Adolf Hitler (Germany), Joseph Stalin (Russia) and more recently Slobodan Milošević (Serbia)…and I don’t look at crimes, at sins, in that particular way, like a “white” sin, but you sure hear a lot of race when it comes to crime and punishment, especially. I just wasn’t raised by parents like that in a family who have always fully embraced a city that, sure, has its’ faults, but by and large New Orleans is a home to all who want to be a part of something special, that “melting pot”, the Western European city nestled in the Gulf South…well if we step out of that viewpoint and take that whole, “white” crime v everybody else, which when you think of it that way is retarded, but Africa? The Zulus? The Carthaginians? Many slaves became such in the Western world due to one tribe conquering another and part of the victor’s method of finance was selling some (if not all) prisoners-of-war into slavery. Well who’s the worse criminal? The personal who sells the slave or the person who buys it? More recently, Boko Haram and the undeniably wicked genocide and murderous brutality towards Christians, women, children…it’s unconscionable…turn East to Asia, where there’s Genghis Khan, the many (too many to list, obviously) brutal and ruthless Chinese dynasties who maintained power in a way Machiavelli would’ve recoiled to hear recounted, then of course more recently the NVA and their methods of maintaining power in Vietnam, the Japanese and the atrocities committed during their invasion of China during World War Two, and, how could we forget, Tiananmen Square protests of 1989…mortifying incident(s). I’ve just rattled off some of the darkest events in human history, recounted more industriously only by Mick Jagger in his lyrics for “Sympathy for The Devil”…and yet, to hear it told in this country, it’s “The White Devil”…any thoughts?

The aftermath of the African Islamic thugs, Boko Haram, and a peaceful demonstration, a "show & tell", if you will, of their peaceful variant of a major world religion.
The aftermath of the African Islamic thugs, Boko Haram, and a peaceful demonstration, a “show & tell”, if you will, of their variant of a major world religion.

Hunter: People love to blame Whites for everything. It makes it easier for them to destroy us and that’s precisely what a lot of them want to do. That’s the plan. A lot more Whites need to wake up and see the gravity of our situation. If they don’t, then all of us are going to lose. Our children will lose. Do they really deserve to live in countries where they’re despised and hated? I don’t think so.

DeViney: Y’know, and I hate this kind of talk with the world because it’s like, where does this lead? Nowhere. It’s not going to heal the country. It’s not going to impede the mass incarceration of any group. It’s not going to soften the hearts of (some, yes, trigger-happy) police. It’s not going to extend the life of the average black male. But it continues. I read on ESPNFC.com’s soccer boards a few weeks ago, a young black man made the admittedly-flawed point that if only America’s biggest stars in sports played soccer we’d win the World Cup. Obviously there’s a lot more to it than that, but before most got to address him a young white man asserts, “Well if it’s about blacks playing soccer why hasn’t an African nation ever advanced beyond the Quarter-Finals [the 2st of 4 knockout rounds plus the group stage with three games] at the tournament?” That also is a useless point considering the opportunities and resources that other areas have to develop, learn and play the game versus huge portions of the African continent still in pre-industrialization mode. However, neither is the point! Why is this sort of societal poison so common? And do you see an end to it?

Hunter: I think it’s a valid point. Yes, there are resources and opportunities and yes, that makes it easier for people that have those at their disposal, but why do those exist? They exist because White people made it happen, and now we’re supposed to pretend we’re not great, that we’re not amazing, that we’re not incredible, and I’ve just had enough of it. Being humble is one thing. Being led to feel guilty for being great is a form of mental illness. It’s sick. It’s weak and I want nothing further to do with it.

The ‘societal poison’ you’re speaking of us is common because we’re all different. Races are different and far too many people want to act like that’s not the case, that race is a social construct, and that’s just asinine. The fact that we’re being forced to live together in multiculturalism and diversity is killing us. It leads to constant conflict. Lots of people don’t want to openly admit this, but it’s the truth.

Will it end? Probably not until we’re all so blended together that we lose all that we have and are, and that’s precisely what globalists want and fantasize about (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/10/changing-faces/schoeller-photography). I on the other hand do not, and I know I’m not alone when I say that.

DeViney: In closing, have you ever noticed that the bulk of the people who attempt to make you feel bad for feeling good about your European roots are white? How most black people don’t really voice any angst about statements like, “I just loved visiting my roots in England” or “being French can be kinda cool sometimes…such a beautiful language” and I know those are lame examples, but have you noticed it’s majority whites and a few “civil rights leaders” who stand to profit from racial hatred (Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, et al) who make these statements?

Hunter: After opening the @WhiteMotivation account, the negative feedback has made me realize that Whites and non-Whites both actively participate in that game. I do find that more Whites say things overall though. I think a lot of weaker Whites virtue signal regularly. It’s truly a vile act.

DeViney: If you could say anything, ONE brief statement to the non-white peoples of America on race and America and how it all ties together going forward; to all of them at once and it were possible that all would hear you and take in whatever you say (nice concept for any critical thinker, no?) what would you say and, if applicable, why?

Hunter: I don’t want to rule over you anymore than I want you to rule over me. I don’t expect you to bow down to me and I sure as hell am not going to bow down to you either. I don’t think we can fix the race relation issues or cultural conflicts we have in a way that is going to truly be healthy for most of us and appease a lot of us without some form of balkanization. I’d like to think we can resolve these issues peacefully, but I’m not sure that’s realistic anymore. I’d like it to be though.

Six Degrees of Knowin’ Nothin’: [Untitled]

And on the 8th day, God made bears. Lots and lots of bears.

Does this era need introduction? Or, rather, may a suitable introduction be written? I report, you deride.

1: In any rational era, the sudden appearance of lurid photographs of well-known public figures tends to happen without the consent of those captured in the images. Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Anthony Weiner, et al. Notable exceptions to this are of the celebutante variety who sport last names such as Hilton and Kardashian, but then, their deliberate release of self-incriminating material isn’t indicative of a rational era.

That there’s a Stairway to Heaven but a Highway to Hell is indicative of expected traffic volume.

The great Jerry Falwell, Jr., well his undeniable greatness as an Evangelical Christian minister and university president is so ineffable, so vast, that he was no longer able to be confined by any notion of modern decency. If that’s still a thing, that is. Either way, the photograph posted containing the erstwhile head of Liberty University (and descendent of the late and decent Jerry Falwell) is disturbing on several counts. Let’s take a look:

Now, I’m not sure if it’s the ghastly attempt at humor (yeah, “black water”, haw haw haw!), the self-caricature of the gut and the unzipped pants combined with the awful rug on his counterpart (who is not his wife, for those keeping score at home), the fact that students of said Evangelical university get expelled for drinking and/or extra-marital sexual encounters, or that this wasn’t a leak at all that makes this such a disgrace. He could’ve just said it was a faux Black Dog in his glass and been done with it.

The man (so-called) “leaked” it via his own social media aperture, and then delivered a truly abysmal mockery of an apology on-air, and I quote: “I’ve promised my kids I’m going to try to be…I’m gonna try to be a good boy from here on out.” Rock and Roll, Jerry!

Oh and Mrs. Falwell, when your marriage does end, remember: you [expletive deleted] your rebound, and that’s it. You don’t permanently abscond from reality and keep [expletive deleted] them long-term and/or marry them. Especially, I might add, if you plucked them from the extras of “The Walking Dead.”

Silly me. But seriously, though: booze and Evangelicals and social media shouldn’t mix.

2: At times, the headlines write themselves. In their own attempt to swing loose with reality, as it were, Iran has a fabricated aircraft carrier resembling one of those wielded by the United States Navy. “Why”, you ask? An entirely unscripted and well-placed question. For their own propaganda purposes that is, until the entire experiment blew up in their faces. Living out their own version of “delirium tremens”, Iran was so successful in this charade that their accidental destruction of a prop US Navy aircraft carrier poses a threat to a major thoroughfare in the oil trade. Posing an existential threat to traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and things apparently unbeknownst to Iran such as tides can shift the wreckage, endangering oil tankers.

Give the Ayatollah our best. Speaking of “the best”, if you’re going to challenge the world’s preeminent naval power, you’d better come correct. The Battle of Evermore this is not.

3: Biden must face Trump in debate(s). Yes, it’s answering a “double dog dare” from the POTUS and no, you don’t want to give in to the whims of a bully. But if you don’t follow through then it looks like you’re hiding in a basement and afraid to face Donald J. Trump on the stage. What’s the worst that could happen? They then “triple dog dare” one another to a lindy hop dance-off to the “Misty Mountain Hop” or hand out four sticks (one to both members of each ticket) to swing with? Why would you be afraid of that if you’re in the Biden camp unless, per the Trump camp’s assertions, the former Vice President will be unable to remember whether he’s going to California, or another, “y’know, the thing” that the Founding Fathers said? The great equalizer is the human ego. They’ll debate.

This is an event waiting to go wrong. Don’t hang out with bears. [image credit to Daily Caller & Barstool Sports]
4: Meanwhile, the National Park Service has posted a warning urging American adventurers not to confront bears but, if they do, to not take advantage of their slower companions. And no, this is not made up. Nor is the response of a pack of humans, recently, to a bear arriving in their midst. They didn’t flee or otherwise attempt to discourage the bear; instead they took pictures of their merry band whilst feeding the bear. Good call, ‘Murica.

5: Bill Barr’s appearance was a disgrace for everyone except the Attorney General. For committee chairman Nadler, to open the hearing with that statement was an outrage; and Jordan, thanks for the monologue on things that happened before Barr was back on the job and for God’s sake put your damn coat on!

6: Stat of the Week: the POTUS’ campaign is knocking on 1 million doors a week; the former VPOTUS’ camp is knocking on 0. As in ZERO. Z-E-R-O. This sort of nonsense only seems like nonsenseuntil the time when the levee breaks. Underestimate the mad media genius of The Donald at your peril.

Y’know what? Let’s just cancel everything. If everything’s priority one, then nothing is priority one.
Read More

Contrast: Black Lives Matter v. All Lives Matter (et al)

Black Lives Matter: Let’s cut through the fat together, shall we? Yes or yes? Good. With that, we have a problem in America. Several, actually. We live in a police state, for one thing, and for another, paramount now, is said police state taking a particular interest in African Americans.

Let’s also consider the unbelievable, highly-classified powers of FISA courts to spy unopposed on our own people without their knowledge indefinitely, the ability of the Federal government to suspend the Constitutional rights of American citizens suspected of terrorism via the Patriot Act and the inexplicable repeal of the Smith-Mundt Act (which forbade the Federal Government from using propaganda on American soil). Are you drinking what I’m pouring?

With no malice in my heart toward the many fine police officers across the land (a few I’ve known personally), I say again: we live in a police state.

Over the past decade alone, we have seen increasing examples of the use of excessive force on a disproportionate number of black Americans. Data clearly shows that Whites compose 76.5% of America’s citizenry while Blacks make up 13.4% of it, the former were shot to death by police 370 times versus 235 for the latter.

For those who want to bring out FBI data displaying prevalence of crime amongst inner city black neighborhoods, recall the negligible difference in drug use between whites and blacks and the parity in gun culture between the two.

America glorifies violence, and that crosses ethnic lines. Don’t believe me? Look at what I call “Dollar Voting”, in essence, what we value and spend our money on. What does our art and culture reflect? If we’re being real, it ain’t peace. Does hip hop culture lend itself to violence? Listen to the top ten hits of the genre and get back to me; but before you get back to me, let me know what Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Jerry Reed and “The Dukes of Hazzard” were all about while you’re at it.

As for the movement itself, “Black Lives Matter” is driving home a simple point: yes, every house in the neighborhood matters but only one of them is on fire.

We hardly need a hashtag for Blue (Police) Lives Matter; they roam about largely unopposed, vested with a badge and lethal weaponry, and we provide a safety net (union, pension, et cetera) and, in general, blanket support to include the high probability that bad actors aren’t held accountable in court.

All Lives Matter? Do they? Maybe I’d be more decisive in answering these questions if every new episode of “Death By Cop” didn’t always star a black man.

– Jack DeViney

*************

 

New Orleans Police Department preps for ongoing confrontation and protest throughout downtown.

All Lives Matter(?): Two things can be true at once. In fact, very few things in our world are mutually exclusive of themselves. One can, for example, be in favor of the events in the George Floyd case never happening again and find the phrase “Black Lives Matters” offensive. They are not mutually exclusive. Both can be true. This depends on your definitions of words. Words matter. Words have meaning. Facts matter. Facts have meaning.

If by any definition, one is not a racist, but they will not stand shoulder to shoulder with Black Lives Matter signs, or they won’t kneel down in front of a mob of protestors, they become….what? Insensitive? Divisive?

To be true to this point, I believe “All Lives Matter” or “Blue Lives Matter” are equally asinine. We don’t protest on things we agree upon. We don’t stand outside and shout “the sky is blue”!

Are things worse now than the mid-1960’s? Or do we see public discord in 3D now? We report, you deride.

The assertion that a black man can not step from his home without fear of imminent death from a racist ‘Mericuh is as equally preposterous as the media’s “1619” narrative that America is as systemically racist as at any time in our history. Really? Where’s the poll of young, black men asking them if they’d rather live in 1865, 1965 or 2020? I must’ve missed that astute revelation.

Instead of regurgitated statistics that the left/media refuse to acknowledge anyway, how about we come at this from a novel approach. [So] what is your suggestion? I mean, with all of the statistics stating the exact opposite of your point, what are we doing wrong? Are our hiring standards too low? Is training being swept aside to fast-track officers onto beats? Do we provide immunity to officers that is unnecessary and counter-productive? Let’s get to the “nut cutting” as they say.

If we want to turn this into another narrative where the right just refuses to admit there is a substantial issue and is instead hiding behind years of conservative practices…show me! Where are the statistics that support any of this nonsense? That show America is systemically racist and prejudiced against black Americans? Where are the politicians that you are particularly citing as responsible for these aggressions? Or is it just “orange man bad”, with his “basket of deplorables”?

“You’re killing your father, Larry!”

Once again, the left/media have overplayed their hands. We were told millions of Americans would die if we didn’t shut the world down indefinitely. Now if you have a small business and want to re-open smartly so that you don’t lose everything, you’re killing grandma! We were told that if we would just allow LGBT marriages, all examples of bigotry would be history. Now if you’re a Millennial male that won’t go out with a trans-woman (a man by all scientific facts and definitions), you’re a homophobe! And now, if you won’t march to the beat of this drum, well, you’re just a racist. Or worse, an “Uncle Tom.”

It’s tiring. It’s divisive. It’s unnecessary. This issue is one we must agree on, or we don’t have a country. You cannot have law and order if one group is being systematically hunted down and killed by those sworn to protect us.

Facts matter. Statistics matter. Two things can be true at once.

– Michael R. DeViney, Jr.

Read More

Fabriqué en Babylon: Meanwhile

With the majority of public discourse non-existent and what discussion does occur usually ending acrimoniously, I recalled a lesson (from the past) learned the hard way: in life, there are times the rules are such that, indeed, sometimes the only way to win is not to play.

Politics is considered the art of the compromise, or “the game of compromise,” to suit the lesson. Now, I don’t know if IQs dropped, if we forgot, if the entire paradigm changed despite the entire pantheon of examples (of public discourse), or if it’s an all-of-the-above that’s closer to where we’re at, but we’ve forgotten. One way or another, it’s that simple.

As “The Great Experiment”, that means that this is a failure as a nation. A failure to even try to communicate and find some semblance of common ground, to find a way to even try to be civil and respect one another’s time to speak, to actually listen to a message before deciding what it means and how we view that meaning, to even agree to try and communicate at all.

You see, the trick is in self-control. Before picking up your pitchforks and torches or, worse, leaving altogether, let the damned man have a few final words.

Fistfight breaks out in Turkish parliament

I say “self-control” is the key, if there is one, because in order for public discourse to function where there’s debate, dialogue and (hopefully) resolution at some point, we must individually approach this forum with the intention of conducting one’s self in a civil manner no matter what the opposition says or how they say it.

The first impulse is outrage, I’m aware, followed by some variant of, “So what do we do when [insert example of national Democrats and/or Republicans] start acting the fool?” And that’s precisely where, following my abandonment of my personal Facebook and Twitter accounts that the lesson learned previously (“sometimes the only way to win is not to play”) I remembered that silence isn’t always concession. Sometimes, it might be easy to think, “Ahp! Yep, see, DeViney’s silent so he’s conceding,” when, the truth is, I’ve also come to embrace another tactic summarized best as, “Let them talk; most people will hang themselves given enough rope.”

CNN was really on to something when they debuted the policy debates, featuring an epic duel between Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) versus Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) engaged in an actual, substantive, non-campaign debate. Too bad they didn’t keep the series alive.

In order to pull this off, one must listen to their opponent’s words and, I don’t have chapter and verse from Harvard or Little Sister’s of The Poor and this that or the other study to cite, but I do know that it is humanly impossible for you to absorb as much of what someone else is saying while you’re running your piehole. An easy life “hack” for this (I’m trying to meet you halfway, my fellow Millennials) is to engage in one of America’s most obvious traditions and gently shove, well, pie or any other food one prefers into their gaping maw, which should, advisably, prevent the pie-eater from interrupting while someone else is speaking.

Another idea, and I only mention it in passing, is to teach your children these same concepts so that there’s a generational sort of reboot here, if you will.

Another really good concept, and this brings me back to what we’ve lost in terms of public dialogue, as a nation, as a people, is drop the assumptions. Do I really need to say that, as a Federal republic of 325 million-plus people scattered across 50 nation-states over 3 million-plus square miles, people come from different backgrounds and therefore automatically have their own way of doing things?

Apparently. Just remember: how good is it? Really good.

“Why does any of this matter?” one might ask, certainly a wise and reverent question, and unscripted at that!

As I face the active task of delivering closing remarks that are dually comprehensible and comprehensive, my personal political platform has never stood out more and conversely never kept me directly out of the fray as often. That’s weird. We’re living in a weird era.

As a centrist, I see, for instance, the keen insight President Trump into the general failings of a bloated Federal bureaucracy that feeds right into the national angst of an alienated body of followers who argue the value they get for their investment as taxpayers isn’t worth spending in excess of $4 trillion annually. However crude one views his “one-in, two-out” policy regarding regulations, he was onto something. Specifically, the broader argument that, not because of lack of desire and hardly because of lack of money but because of the inadequacies and failings that are part of the very fabric of a bloated, administrative state; in short, our Federal government is a monstrosity. A monstrosity, I might add, that needs to be shrunk, not given more money.

On the other hand, I also see the benefits of a strong, but limited, leaner Federal government with a decisive Executive having multiple opportunities for reform in bipartisan areas (fringes on both sides notwithstanding) with Congress, and I see those very same opportunities going wanting right now. And that is where, yes, I can see the personality crises stemming from being willing to be at odds with anyone, anytime over anything bringing about, indeed, a sort of “Trump Fatigue.”

That cuts both ways as well: while the people grow weary of the constant drama President Trump’s approach relies upon, they also tire of every single failing in DC being laid at his feet.

The same President who picked a fight (via social media, but of course) with an Autistic foreign teenager over climate change he maintains doesn’t exist to begin with also felt like the status quo that denied opportunities to felons post-release was unfair (See: “The First Step Act”). The very same POTUS who inexplicably disavowed support (however briefly) for our Kurdish allies also did what every Administration since Carter had threatened to by being the American Executive who stood up to Communist China’s underhanded trade practices and illegal valuations of the Yuan (their currency), which gave them unfair advantage(s) in imports/exports against other countries.

I don’t blindly support any politician, and I’m leery of ideologues. I don’t have any heroic, holistic advice on how to approach the President or his (many) conflicts, some contrived and some born of circumstances outside of his control.

These thugs didn’t issue executive orders that restricted travel from other countries into their own. They killed people they didn’t like and/or want. Perhaps a bit of caution, then, before ascribing the President Trump to the ignominious league of names like “Hitler” and “Stalin”, methinks?

But I do know this: the sooner we can get one extreme to stop canonizing every wacky idea the President utters and convince the other side that, no, Sugar, dictators don’t ask other countries to stop immigrants, they just have them shot. Dictators don’t ask, and they don’t Tweet about being treated “very badly” by the judiciary and the media. They don’t have to.

Look at the big picture, and tell me where you’d rather be that would be a better country from which to launch Endeavor A or stand up for Civic Cause B, et al. So, you don’t like the President. I don’t know how much the President likes the President. But you ought to be able to know the difference in there being room for (bigly) improvement in our mixed capitalist system, and in living in a concentration camp as you and your fellow undesirables are systematically exterminated by an authoritarian state.

A dictator? Hitler? Really? See: “Godwin’s Law”

Sound extreme? So do y’all.

Read More