Ben Shapiro at Daily Wire is exactly right about S-H's latest Twitter blurt:
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump opened a new can of worms via Twitter, this time regarding flag-burning. “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!”
There are a number of questions to be asked. First, why would Trump raise this issue right now? Flag-burning hasn’t been in the news. It’s not a hot-button issue. The Supreme Court decided in 1989 in Texas v. Johnson that flag-burning was protected by the First Amendment. While politicians including Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) have raised the issue for political gain in recent years, it’s been a dead letter nationally for two decades at least. That means that Trump is attempting to distract from other issues – or perhaps, to offer some red meat to his allies before announcing some heresy that will anger them.
I'm inclined to concur with Ben that this looks like a smokescreen:
Trump loves to pick a fight. That’s what he’s doing here. And it’s not a politically stupid fight – he’s happy to once again attempt to play to his populist base against the effete coastal elites who would stand alongside Occupy Wall Street hippies burning the flag in front of veterans. But that doesn’t mean that his proposed penalties are decent or right. They’re not. Perhaps they’re not intended to be. After all, this is a distraction.
Now we just have to wait to see what Trump wants to distract us from.
And are we really going to have to endure four years of those idiotic exclamation points?
I'd be ashamed of many of your remaining conservative heroes who seem to be intent on kissing up to him for power. Such are principles I presume.
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ReplyDeleteNewtie and I agree that Trump's tweet about winning the popular vote due to alleged and as yet quite unsubstantiated claims of illegal immigrant voter fraud is His Arrogance's most rotten tweet yet. Rush was chortling that allegation within a week of the election. Sad part is all the Trumpstera believe a boob like Rush over the NYT which appears to double down on him since his gripe session with his hometown paper that hates him. Only 2 major newspapers in the country endorsed Trump, Los Vegas & here in Jacksonville where I currently am. These folk think they're finally getting the truth. I think we're only beginning to feel the tragic consequences. As president, will he tweet when the next mass shooting occurs? When a Russian or Chinese vessel fucks with ours? When someone who hates him dies? Gawd. Some really respectable politicians have bought into him too. I just shake my head. I'm through with leaders. Everywhere. Back to Libertarianism to fight the authoritarianism that seems to be sprouting up everywhere on the globe. God likes this, huh? And righties damn the current Pope.
ReplyDeleteAre you really going to embrace libertarianism? the whole package? Austrian economics?
ReplyDeleteI already did for 2 Presidential elections. Ghastly authoritarianism won this election and to all authoritarian leaders around the world now and yet to slouch towards varying degrees of power I flash double birds and proffer my untanned buttocks to kiss, not whip!
ReplyDeleteI don't think von Mises and Hayek dig single-payer health care.
ReplyDeleteOr government retirement plans.
We might be ready for it after 4 years of TrumpPay. Or 8, God forbid, though some crazed fundies think God got him elected this time. But it might be the devil that made the majority of those eligible stay home.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think of Tom Price's HB 2300?
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