Now that the dust is settling…

I have placed myself in a self-imposed “media blackout” since before Christmas. I have stopped reading, watching, or listening to, any news source, blog, podcast, call in show of any political stripe temporarily, and have not done so in several weeks.

I’m getting really tired of some of the comments I’m seeing from the conservative commentators, as well as ordinary people commenting on Facebook, Youtube, and other places. I am glad that Bill Whittle has prepared for this since before the election. But otherwise, I have made a decision, that any news source, commentator, podcast host, or other conservative voice who does not provide, listen to, or bring up the topic of SOLUTIONS, I will discontinue those subscriptions immediately. There’s only one thing that pisses me off more than left-wing trolling, and that is comments like, “Those godless Democraps will take us to socialism.” or “Clinton, Obama, Comey and their crew need to be in jail.”

Stop it, just stop it. Expressing angst on the Internet, or venting off preaching to the choir about what we already know solves absolutely nothing.  I understand the anger, and if venting makes one feel better than so be it. But they should also understand that it doesn’t help our cause.  To quote Shakespeare, “Wise men ne’er sit and wail their loss,
But cheerly seek how to redress their harms.” I have zero tolerance at this point for posts that simply tell us what needs to be done to the liberals and how “godless socialists” they are. By the way, I’m rather “godless” myself and I HATE when Conservatives throw those two together, as if they’re one and the same.

Which brings me to my final point. I begrudge no one their religious convictions. Judeo-Christianity is under relentless and very unfair attacks. Although an agnostic I have the ultimate respect for organized religion so long as they don’t try to lecture or convert others, or make civil law directly based on biblical law. That being said, phrases like “God has a plan” in reference to the future of Trump and/or MAGA and/or conservatism really flummox me. IMHO, that’s kind of a cop-out, it means we’ve exhausted all means of manmade solutions, which I do not believe we have. I don’t find that phrase per say “offensive” or even annoying, but it does irk me slightly when it seems like divine interference is someone’s primary game plan. I am not offended in the least by religious expression. I stand with the religious right at least as far as their right to practice religion.  But the reason THAT particular type of expression annoys me in this context, is because I see it as a cop-out, as at least implying that humankind’s role in this is over, we’ve got nothing else to do but to leave this in God’s hands. That type of thing I find dangerous.  The Jew, agnostic, and atheist parts of me are in agreement on one thing: Bad things happen because human beings have free will and human beings are flawed. God will help us but we have to help ourselves. I’m open to the possibility that there is some force or something that we don’t understand, and that science is not yet, or may never be, capable of explaining. However I don’t believe in a puppet-master controlling the world and giving us what we want just because we pray for it.

Okay, I said a little more than I meant to on the religion topic, but here’s the bottom line of this post: Be positive, look for solutions. I refuse to believe that we’re headed for dystopia and socialism. Not because I want to bury my head in the sand or continue in blissful ignorance, but because it’s now up to us to NOT LET THAT HAPPEN. The only reason I mentioned religion is that I think it can, in certain situations like this one, tempt us to put our fates out of our own hands too much. Many strides were made for the conservative movement over the past 10 years. I think the resurgence of the Tea Party (though maybe called something different) is in order. Put relentless pressure on the GOP legislatures to continue to investigate 2020 voting even if it is too late for this year, in order to strengthen their state’s voter security for next time around.

I believe we can take back the House and Senate in grand fashion in 2022, because American politics is cyclical that way. Hold the line on the election laws and we can take this back. But focus on what does work and release things that, no matter how cathartic, don’t work. By all means pray for us, but don’t consider it a substitute for human action.

But I would also advise to keep our messaging positive. The past is past. How we move on from here is much more important than venting about and name-calling the leftists. We’re better than that, the future can be ours, but we have to go out and take it.