Category: Bob Small

Trump Second Term, A Speculative Fiction

By Bob Small

Now that I’ve joined a monthly third Friday fiction writers group, this requires me to read other’s fiction. Mostly it is speculative fiction. The perpetually unfinished novel I’m working on, for instance, has to do with President Gore’s wars

But that’s not what this is about.

What, I thought, if Donald Trump had been the declared winner rather than what’s his name? It led to what is called a writing prompt. To quote Dana Loesch: “Trump did have some good ideas, I still despise him. Biden is no better for this country, maybe much worse.”

Here’s some of what popped in my head:

Foreign Affairs– 46 would continued his rapprochement with North Korea. Also we would have had a more nuanced relationship with Russia. On the other hand, our relationships with Western Europe, NATO and the UN would remain rocky.

January 6th-One speculates that there would still of been a January 6th, with a similar level of violence, perhaps, but the names of Antifa and RCP (Revolutionary Communist Party) would have entered the pages of history instead.

Voter ID legislation-Since the perception was that the GOP voted in person and the Dems by mail, the Democrats would be the ones supporting Voter ID, especially in our own state assuming we had turned Red.

Congress-Almost nothing would get through Congress, though there would be continual efforts to impeach 46, as he would now be called, If at first you don’t succeed….

Energy-By the time Trump left office the United States was the top exporter for oil and LNG.”From Dana Loesch’s Substack Chapter and Verse: Trump was good for energy if you’re a climate change denier who sees coal and oil as eternally renewable.

Pro Choice/Pro Life-The battle for the Supreme Court’s soul would continue with neither side listening to each other. Eventually 46 would probably appoint enough conservative Judges to tilt the balance to repeal Roe V Wade.

Covid-He would get more critical of Anthony Fauci, doing everything he could outside of directly firing him. He might even read RFK Jr’s book.

46 would claim Executive Privilege when possible.

The Democrats blame the Democrat Sanders. He would try to blame the Greens if he could remember who their candidate was.

By the end of the first year, some GOP might start quietly looking for an alternative.

Trump Second Term, A Speculative Fiction

Voter ID Has A Downside

By Bob Small

While researching the Proud American Patriots Network  I discovered they were boycotting the The Civic Alliance companies. 

 The Civic Alliance, like Walt Whitman, “contains multitudes”, but one of its main functions is as an anti-Voter ID group.  They are supported by Democracy Works,  which according to Influence Watch, is funded by “numerous left-of-center foundations.”  Influence Watch lists numerous organizations, the majority  left of center, but it also lists the RNC.

The boycott of some 200 Companies comprising the Civic Alliance is also for their  failure to speak up about human rights violations in China and other places.  

Now, some thoughts on Voter ID, one  non-political:  Do any of us, need one more card to fall in the back of the car or end up being dry cleaned?  At the very least, this would be easily misplaceable and not easily replaceable.

Secondly, isn’t voter ID a form of government mandate, the same governmental overreach many of us have been railing against. Some feel Voter ID is a solution in search of a problem.  This is not to say that voter fraud does not exist. Only that would explain many or our current and previous officials.

However, creating voter ID, and, of course, a Department of Voter ID, we must have that, then, isn’t it like killing a flea with a hammer?

Thirdly, the fine state of Georgia has not had a third party US House candidate on their Ballot since 1943, due to their restrictive Ballot Access Laws.  By the way, that ruling has been overturned, but is still being appealed.

 I e-mailed the Civic Alliance a week ago, assuming they would share my alarm about this, since they’re busy pillorying Georgia politics anyhow, but it doesn’t seem to raise alarm bells in their brainpan.  Is it incorrect to maintain that only permitting two Parties on the Ballot is, if not voter intimidation, a form of voter suppression?  Sometimes, both major Parties offer a choice that, as the British say, “is a Dog’s breakfast”.  Maybe more than sometimes.

If most people are locked out by the primary system from even being considered, be they renegade Dems, GOP, Independents or Third Parties, then think that should be one of the battles.

As said previously, most of what the Proud American Patriots Network does deserves support, so I would urge people to go to their website and support them.

Voter ID Has A Downside

Right And Left Have Surprisingly Much In Common

By Bob Small

At the annual Bill of Rights Dinner, Dec. 15, in Lancaster County — not to be confused with any ACLU commmemoration — I jotted information from various groups with the intent to research them. 

One lesson I’ve learned in my previous and current time in the Lefting, is that you can support a group if you agree with their main goal(s), even if not all of their 75 sub-goals.  This applies to any group I support unless their sub-goal is bringing back slavery or becoming a subject state of Communist China.

The Proud American Patriot Network of Warwick, Pa .  has a goal to elect “at all levels of government of candidates who will uphold the principles of the Declaration of  Independence, the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights”. They also support small business over large corporations, term limits for Congress members, and US manufacturing. 

These are all goals we, left or right, can agree with.

Another component they have is a disaster response team, which is a fairly unique team for a Political Organization to have,  Again, we should all be able to support this.

On to some more questionable efforts, to some people, would be their Kyle Rittenhouse National Scholarship. My support for Kyle has been unashamedly public and a source of controversy among some of my friends, so this depends on how you view Kyle

As to their previous support of the Three Percenters, President T. J. Kosin said that when he realized that disaster relief was not their mission. “the relationship ended”.

When you learn new information, then that is the time to change your opinion and/or your affiliations: Proud American Patriots presidents shares beliefs

 Lastly, they are anti mask mandates, and will probably be in DC on Jan. 23.  While I, personally, choose to wear a mask in certain settings (esp, in high-risk areas like Swarthmore).  I don’t believe in mask mandates, or in most mandates that are discussed,  My more feminist friends wonder if they should be called persondates, but that’s a discussion that may never have its time.

Right And Left Have Surprisingly Much In Common

The Un Vax Tax Happening Throughout The World

By Bob Small

My Philly friend, one Scott Normal Rosenthal, relocated to Vermont where he sends me blasts of e-mails on a daily basis.  One of these, though in an adjacent country.

The Premier of Quebec, Francois Legault, proposes that those adults who refuse to get vaccinated, must now pay a fine.  He wants these “refuseniks” to pay what he considers the increased cost on the health care system caused by thse unvaccinated.

It should be noted, that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, among others, has questions about this “tax”.  

Among other examples, a Quebecois father is being prevented from seeing his minor son due to being unvaccinated.  It should be noted that“Although nearly 90 percent of Quebec are vaccinated, they make up nearly a third of all hospital cases”.

According to Bloomburg News, these worrying sanctions are occuring throughout Europe;

Austria is planning mandatory vaccinations as of next month, with fines as high as 7,200 Euros ($8,151).

Greece is imposing a 100 Euro ($113) monthly fine on those unvaccinated and over 60.  In November, for example, only 60,00 among 580,000 of this population were jabbed.

Other countries, such as Finland and Slovakia,  are offering the carrot rather than the stick.  Slovakia is giving out 500 Euros ($573) to those over 60 recalcitrants.

Lastly Lithuania does both, requiring Covid immunityu for any indoor venue.  However, they are also offering 100 Euros ($114.50) to anyone over 75 who gets a booster before March 31^st.  For further examples, see These Countries Are Slapping the Unvaccinated With Fines …

Luckily, we live in these United States where neither the Federal Government would dare to dream of such a “Unvax Tax”.  And if they did surely it would go to a Court to be stopped while both online and offline writers fulminated, and tv and radio hosts spoke out against this.  Surely this would happen.  And anyway, don’t we trust the average American to know what a dictatorship is approaching, a “Faucism” to invent a combination word, and how to do non-violent resistance of whatever source they choose.  Surely, surely, surely.

As both Frank Zappa and Sinclair Lewis opined

“It can’t happen here”

The Un Vax Tax Happening Throughout The World

Activism Looms For 2022

By Bob Small

2022 will be the year of the Citizen-Activist, but with a twist. They will not be tied to the right or the left or to a political party. They will encompass the whole range of beliefs.

Let us start with an underreported phonomenon in Pennsylvania.  In 2020 there were a number of write-in Candidacies, as there always are, especially for local School Boards.  However, this time there were a number of winners.  Many of these candidates have tried, in some form of vain, to have their voices heard about what their children are being taught.  They waged grassroots non-violent campaigns and now Justin Wimer, and many others will have a chance to try and influence educational policy.   

 An example from Lancaster courtesy of LancasterOnline: Lancaster judge accepts write-in misspellings in Manheim …https://lancasteronline.com › news › politics › lancaster-ju..

In Chester County, two community members, a scientist and a nurse, committed civil disobedience to stop construction on the Mariner East Pipeline.  In October 2021, the state Attorney General’s announced 4! criminal charges for environmental crimes against the operators albeit the \ DEP  later approved new permits!  See #HaltMarinerNow  and also Del-Chesco United for Pipeline Safety – Home | Facebook and Activists Arrested While Halting Construction on Sunoco …

https://www.democracynow.org › headlines › activists_…

Remaining in Chester County (Willistown Township) a citizens group has formed to Save Rock Hill Farm and it’s open space.  This, like one of the cases in Swarthmore, is a scenario where developers see open space and translate it into dollar signs. 

A long fight in Delaware County appears resolved when the Don Guanella property, adjacent to Cardinal O’Hara with the approval of Delaware County Council, to make it a County Park. https://www.delcotimes.com › 2021/11/17 › delco-conti…

Lastly, Swarthmore’s Tree owners battle with PECO continues.  In this case, use DuckDuckGo for searches as Google seems to have an issue with showing this website. Info can also be found at Stop!The Tree Chop Swarthmore!,easement study, under www.americandreamdigital.com. Trust a Swarthmore Citizens group to make it as complicated as possible to locate them.

Activism Looms For 2022

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Chipping Away At Freedom

By Bob Small

If you have to carry a card in your pocket (or pass on your phone) proving you injected a drug into your body to gain access to grocery stores, receive medical care or to freely move about society than you no longer live in a free country and you are no longer sovereign over your own body-And that should concern everyone-regardless of political party or medical choices.
Venessa Leianne

This even enters into the magical world of sports, and Flyers and Sixers fans will need proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

The average Philly Sports fan has a deservedly confrontative reputation. Would either of these fan-groups meekly agree to provide this information? Well, we humans have a way of rationalizing behavior to achieve certain
ends, and this means we’ll use whatever means we need for our ends.

Taking this a step further, would we agree to implanting a Flyers or Sixers “chip”, especially if this included free Flyers or Sixers merchandise. Surely no one would agree to this, surely.

In 1997, former 76ers basketball player Charles Barkley became infamous, for throwing a man through a bar window. When asked by a Philly sports radio show host why he threw him through the first floor window, he allegedly said “Because I wasn’t on the damn second floor.”

Even though he was no longer playing in Philly, we all supported him for being a “Philly guy”.

I’ve had the two vaccines so I have the card. However, I can’t think of any activity which is that important that I would give up my private information just so I could- So I’ll miss going to concerts, Poetry Readings, restaurants, sports, when not zoomable. And I will miss some of this.

Also, I’ve decided not to get a booster after inhaling the Robert Kennedy, Jr, book via my wife, who quoted from every chapter. (I’m busy reading Finks by
Joel Whitney about writers who were seduced by the CIA. This way I’ll know which mid-century writers not to read.)

Chipping of humans is either happening or being proposed in France, Mexico, Sweden, the UK, and numerous other countries. My favorite article, from October 2017 is Don’t Trust the Chinese to Make Microchips for the Military.

Chipping Away At Freedom

Medical-Industrial Complex Makes Finding Right Door A Problem

By Bob Small

For those of us trapped in old norms,  we have to rethink,  go to different ways of acting, thinking and speaking.  My previous norm was that there were males (including drag queens) and females.  There was Bi, Gay, and straight. There was the occasional adult Transexual and, to my shame, I never considered what bathrooom , of the two available possibilities, he/she would use.

Now the times and tides have changed.  It seems there are numerous High school Transexuals (more about that later), which has caused “issues:”

In Philadelphia, according to the Billy Penn Newsletter,  all schools must have an accessible gender neutral Bathroom (as of August) but not all do.

The great state of Illinois passed “The Equitable Restrooms Act with vote being unanimous in the Senate and 109-5 in the House. It was signed by Gov. J. B. Pritzker on July 29, 2019, which caused the Chicago Public Schools to announce on Twitter  that “all restrooms have been made mixed-sex to be “more inclusive” of students and staff who wish to use “facilities that align with their gender identity.   www.womanarehuman.com/all-chicago-public-school-restrooms-now-mixed-sex/

This is affecting Arizona, California, New York,  the UK,  etc. The Communist Party of the USA,  notes that “the forcible sex segregation of bathrooms is the newest struggle for transgender rights and gender expression.” in their diatribe under www.cpusa.org/article/the-trans-equality-struggle.  The Socialist Party of The UK has my favorite Headline “  Tories Tout Toilet Tensions” (see www.socialistparty.org.uk)

There are a half dozen more articles on this issue, but many high school students are transitioning, which leads me to the last topic;

Aetna Medical in their Requirements for Genital Reconstructive Surgery lists numerous criteria, prime of which is a person being 18 years or older.   They, and other Pennsylvania medical providers, generally agree on this, though  also saying they review  on a “case-by-case basis” . So why are there  so many Transitioning High School students?  My leftist paranoia brings up the phrase “medical-industrial complex”, with all the attendent industries that feed off of Transexuals. 

Three questions, then:

 One must be 18 to vote in Pa. and 18 to enlist (17 with parental consent), but younger to change your gender? 

 Why are there so many more transitioning teenagers in 2021 then ever before ?

 Is this a positive or negative development?  

Medical-Industrial Complex Makes Finding Right Door A Problem