An Open Letter to Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred

Commissioner Manfred,

I love baseball. Between playing, coaching, and watching baseball I have probably spent more time at a ballfield than anywhere else in the world. Unfortunately, today I am distraught. I love my country, too, but it is in danger.

Our founding fathers understood that people are better off when they are free to decide how to live their lives without government interference. Therefore, they had the brilliant idea of setting up a system where the power comes from the people up to the government, not the other way around. We do that by voting for people to represent us. As you know, we just had a contentious, disputed election where many states accepted ballots without knowing who or where they came from. This is not a baseless claim. Most states did not verify who cast the ballots that were counted. This is a fact. Whether you agree or disagree with the results, there is now a large portion of Americans who distrust our election results, and for good reason. Check out this funny video I made that shows why we need safeguards to secure our voting.

The state of Georgia is trying to restore faith in our elections by simply asking that we verify who is casting the ballots. Your decision to take away the All-Star Game that was supposed to be held this summer in Atlanta is punishing the state of Georgia for trying to protect our ability to choose our government officials at the ballot box and trust the results. Not only is it unfair, but you justified your decision by falsely claiming that the new law was meant to suppress voting. The people who make this claim say that requiring voters to show identification somehow prevents black people from voting. I don’t lightly throw around the term “racist” like many now do, but to say that black people are too dumb to show ID is definitely racist. If you truly want to honor the memory of “Home Run King” Hank Aaron, you need to turn away from the idea that blacks are inferior to whites, not embrace it like you are by furthering this lie about ID.

To be perfectly honest, when I hear that somebody is against voters showing ID to cast their ballot, I assume that the person just wants their side to be able to cheat and assure a political victory. It really makes me question your judgment when the best excuse you can come up with is in essence that no, you don’t want to cheat. You just think that only white people are smart enough to get an ID.

The part that really has me upset is that I don’t know what to do. Baseball is the greatest game ever invented. Many of the landmark moments in my life can be connected to what was going on in baseball at the time. Since you, the Commissioner of Baseball, have decided that cheating in elections is not something to prevent, many people are boycotting the game. Either you are for cheating, which is certainly possible considering the slap on the wrist that the Astros got, or you are a racist who thinks blacks are inferior.

Whichever it is, I have to decide what to do, and here is how I am going to rationalize watching baseball this season. The game on the field is still great. The people around it may not be, but it has been that way before. You may think that black people are not intelligent enough to show identification to vote, but until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, blacks were not even allowed to play in the majors, so you are not the first racist to be involved with baseball. If the game survived them, it can survive you.

Now, I want to give you the opportunity to defend yourself against charges of racism, but the only other possibility is just as bad. If you do think blacks are fully capable of getting an ID and are still against requiring ID to vote, then you just don’t want us to know where ballots are coming from in our elections so that cheating is easier. There is, fortunately, an easy way to tell which you actually believe. If you really think asking for ID discriminates against blacks, you will tell all of the ballparks in Major League Baseball that they are no longer allowed to ask for ID at beer stands. After all, if it’s racist to require ID to vote, it is racist to require ID to buy beer.

This tells me that you likely are just using race as an excuse for looking the other way when cheating happens. The Democrats and the Astros thank you.

Sincerely,

Steven Connally

In Defense of Naps, Golf, and Cancun

I am going to defend Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Ted Cruz from some undeserved criticism. As you can see, I am very consistent on this stance whether the person involved is someone I generally agree with or someone I almost never do. Both the right and the left are guilty of this attack and should both stop it.

Let’s start with the latest example. Recently, Texas Senator Ted Cruz was predictably blasted by the left for going with his wife and two daughters to Cancun during a terrible ice storm in his home state. My first thought was, “That sounds like a pretty good idea to me. If I had a choice between sitting in an ice storm with no electricity and sitting on the beach with a margarita, I know which one I would choose.” My next thought was, “Is that my reaction just because I like Senator Cruz? Would I have a different reaction if it was Bernie Sanders?” This is a normal question for me because we as conservatives should not have double standards like the left does. You know, like how Democrats cheered on rioting thugs for a year and then started denouncing rioting thugs on January 6 when they thought they could win political points. My conclusion: No. I would not feel differently if it was a political opponent.

I reached this conclusion by looking at times when Democrats have been criticized for wasting time on leisure activities instead of “doing the work of the people.” The example that came to mind was something that Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and many other presidents have been criticized for: golf. I specifically remember those three presidents being attacked for spending too much time on the golf course during their term in office. In every case I defended them, whether they were Republicans or Democrats, for this simple reason: the less politicians do, the better it is for us. As another golfer president once said, “government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.”

Both the left and the right need to stop with this criticism. Ideally, politicians would spend more time, not less, golfing or on vacations. Pondering this reminded me of one of our very best presidents. Calvin Coolidge was known for sleeping 10 to 11 hours a night and then taking a long nap in the afternoon. How much better off would our country be if politicians spent more time sleeping and less time interfering with our lives?

This gave me an idea. As you know, I almost always oppose government regulations, but I actually want to propose a rule for anyone elected to public office. Upon election, each office holder must take up a new hobby that occupies at least 5 hours per day. It’s a brilliant law because nothing would help the American people more than to keep politicians busy and out of our lives.

To help get them started I even have some ideas for current politicians.

Senator Elizabeth Warren – Gardening: Senator Warren famously claimed to be an American Indian, earning her nickname, “Pocahontas.” Since American Indians taught the settlers how to plant corn, gardening would be the perfect hobby for her to reconnect with her roots.

Representative Adam Schiff – Writing: I don’t mean writing political op-eds for the Washington Post. I mean writing fiction books. Mr. Schiff is known mostly for pushing imaginary claims that President Trump colluded with foreign countries to interfere with the U.S. election in 2016. I think his wild imagination could come up with some crazy international political thrillers. He could be the next Tom Clancy!

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer – Poker: One of the skills that makes a good poker player is bluffing. Bluffing is simply the ability to look right at people and lie with a straight face. Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer have been perfecting this skill for years. They wouldn’t have any trouble setting up games either. We could fill the Amazon Room at The Rio with lying politicians!

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell – Yodeling: Honestly, I just want to see this.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo – Calling bingo at senior living communities

Senator Mitt Romney – LARPing: LARPing stands for Live Action Role Playing. Basically, a group of guys get together and pretend to be people that they’re not, like knights, elves, and wizards. Senator Romney should be good at that since he has pretended to be a Republican for years.

Senator Bernie Sanders – Stand-up comedy: I hear he looks a lot like Larry David.

Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib, aka “The Squad” – Start a band: “Performing next on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, singing their hit single, “Israel Has Hypnotized the World,”… The Squad!”

Joe Biden – Massage therapy: We all know that Joe Biden has already been known to massage women who cross his path. He may as well take some classes and get a little side gig going.

Ultimately, whatever they decide to do it will be better for the country than anything they are doing now.

Funny Prank Proves Mail-in Ballots are a Bad Idea

Check out my video. It’s pretty funny and it shows us that we need to fix our elections. Share it!

Give Us the Same Courtesy That We Gave You

The first paragraph of this article is here for a very specific reason. To promote the article on social media I had to make sure that there was no political speech in the first couple of lines so that it wouldn’t be censored. The original started here:

Democrats now control the White House and both chambers of Congress. They are calling for unity, but what they mean by that is, “Now everybody needs to agree with us.” That is not going to happen. I am not saying that in an obstinate way. I’m just being realistic and honest. People disagree and that is alright. Republicans were in charge for the last four years and many people disagreed with them, and I expected that as well because that is how life works.

This leads me to my one request to Democrats. Now that you’re in charge please give us the same courtesy that we gave to you when we were. That courtesy is this: When people disagree with you, don’t force them to do what you want.

This may surprise some of you after being told by the media for four years that President Trump was a fascist dictator, but I cannot think of anything that he forced us to do during his term. If you disagreed with President Trump and the Republicans, they did not make you do anything against your will. Republicans let people agree to disagree.

If, for example, you disagreed with the tax cuts that were passed, Republicans did not force you to go along with it. They implemented no penalties for people who wanted to keep paying the higher tax rates voluntarily. Yes, you can do that. Surprisingly, wealthy Democrats who complain that rich people don’t pay their fair share do not opt to pay more themselves when given that choice. Alright, maybe not so surprisingly.

Ultimately, this is the main thing that Republicans want: to be left alone. We want to control our own lives and let others control theirs. Another example; we may understand that homosexuality is immoral, but we do not block people from the practice. In fact, the Trump administration started a global effort to end the criminalization of homosexuality. (In contrast, Democrats kowtow to countries like Iran who put homosexuals to death.) Republicans also disagree with divisive groups like Antifa and Black Lives Matter, yet do not want them prevented from speaking or kicked off of social media. Another Republican belief is that God is central to the American way of life and necessary for our success, but we do not want to require church attendance. In other words, Republicans would like everybody to act in particular ways but think that people should be free to choose for themselves.

This approach is not a new one. It is actually one of the principles that our country was established on. Our Founding Fathers were wise men who understood that people would not always agree as to what should be done. They also knew that throughout history, when the powerful forced those who disagreed with them to conform to their will it sowed contempt, division and conflict. Their solution was liberty. If one group wants to do “A” and another group wants to do “B,” the answer is not to have the group in power force the other group to do what they command. Instead, the first group can do “A” and the second group can do “B.” They can try to use persuasion to win the other side over but they should not use coercion.

If Joe Biden really wants unity this is what he should do. Refrain from taking away our liberty. Allow people to have free will and do what they think is best for themselves. He can disagree with our choices but he should not overrule them. Here are ten great suggestions that the Democrats can do to respect the liberty of Americans:

If you decide to raise taxes, make it optional to pay the old rate like the Republicans did for you.
If you want people to wear masks, make it optional like the Republicans did.
Let scared restaurant owners who want to shut down do so, and let the ones who want to remain open choose to do that. If patrons want to show up they can but if they are afraid they should also be free to stay home.
Let churches decide whether to remain open or close down. If congregants do not want to attend they should not be forced to, but those who do should be allowed in.
President Trump stopped enforcement of the Johnson Amendment, which threatens to take away tax-exempt status from churches if the pastor endorses a political candidate. Continue with that policy and allow pastors to decide for themselves what to say from the pulpit without threat of retaliation from the government.
If somebody wants health insurance that covers pregnancy and drug rehabilitation they should be allowed to purchase it. If another person wants less expensive insurance that does not cover those things they should be allowed to choose that. If someone else prefers to pay out of pocket for medical care instead of buying insurance they should be able to do that.
Do not force law abiding citizens to buy guns. Likewise, do not prohibit them from buying guns.
If someone wants to do a job for $8 per hour, do not prohibit them from doing so and force them out of a job. Let people decide for themselves what wage to accept.
Do not force people who are against murdering babies to pay for the murder of babies. Do not use taxpayer money for Planned Parenthood.
Refrain from banning or restricting us from using certain products like incandescent light bulbs, straws, grocery bags, soda, and shower heads with good water pressure.

These are all things that Democrats have tried to dictate in the past. If they truly want unity this list would be a solid first step. Instead of using tyrannical power to control those of us who disagree with them, try going back to our founding vision of liberty. It’s the least they can do after Republicans did it for them the last four years.

Is President Trump Our King Josiah?

As President Trump leaves the White House I have been contemplating his similarities with another great leader who challenged the status quo and “drained the swamp.” The biblical king, Josiah, was the last good king of Israel’s southern kingdom of Judah before they were defeated by the Babylonians and taken into captivity.

Both the United States and Judah had gone downhill quite a ways after some downright bad leaders who “did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Don’t get me wrong, both nations also had some good leaders, except that they failed to roll back all of the evil policies of the bad rulers. When reading through the books of Kings and Chronicles you begin to notice a pattern arise where the good kings usually had one fatal flaw mentioned. It seemed to always be described like it was here with King Jotham:

And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord; he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done. However the high places were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. – 2 Kings 15:34-35

These high places were generally set up in Israel by the bad kings and were used for pagan worship and idolatry. Even the few kings who “did what was right in the sight of the Lord” failed to remove the high places, with two exceptions: King Hezekiah and his great-grandson King Josiah.

It made me wonder why the other good kings allowed the high places even though it was obviously wrong. Then it struck me. It’s for the same reason that our good presidents have not reversed the immoral policies of our bad presidents. They knew that many people would not like it and they lacked the political courage to follow through. There was probably a lot of political pressure by the people who worshipped and sacrificed at the high places, and even the good kings bowed to that pressure.

Kings Hezekiah and Josiah did not. They both had the backbone to stand up for what was right and removed the high places from the land. In the United States, conservatives have been frustrated because even when we elect good leaders they have lacked the courage to do what is right. Like Hezekiah and Josiah, President Trump has not. Here are some of his landmark accomplishments:

The first wicked king of Judah was Solomon’s son Reheboam. When he became king the people came to him and said, “Your father made our yoke heavy; now therefore, lighten the burdensome service of your father and his heavy yoke which he put on us, and we will serve you.” (1 Kings 12:4) In other words, regulations. The government was forcing them to do too much and interfering with their lives. Reheboam took the bad advice of his friends and responded, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!” (1 Kings 12:14) Our bad presidents have greatly increased the bone crushing regulatory burden on the people. Our good presidents, like George W. Bush and his father, said they were for smaller government but did not actually lessen regulations. President Trump did. He made a guideline that for every new regulation, two had to be removed. This led to a booming economy and record low unemployment.
Both good and bad presidents have said that we should recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move our embassy there. None of them had the guts to actually do it. President Trump did.
Speaking of Israel, President Obama greatly damaged our relationship with God’s chosen people and our greatest ally. He treated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with contempt. His administration chastised Israel for defending themselves. He backstabbed them and allowed them to be attacked in the United Nations. Most notably, he put Israel in grave danger by appeasing Iran and making a deal to remove sanctions against them and give them billions of dollars without even forcing them to end their nuclear program. President Trump was the most pro-Israel president of my lifetime and maybe ever. He defended Israel in the United Nations, acknowledged their sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and ended the appeasement of Iran by pulling out of the dangerous Iran Nuclear Deal. He was even able to broker peace deals between Israel and Bahrain, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates.
About ten years ago my health insurance started to rise precipitously in price. President Obama had forced through the government monstrosity now known as Obamacare, which also took away our freedom with regards to our healthcare decisions. President Trump eliminated the individual mandate, taking the teeth out of Obamacare and giving individuals back more control of their healthcare.
After years of weak defense of our nation’s borders, President Trump was able to get over 400 miles of wall built.
There is one rule that is repeated in each of the first five books of the Bible; that murderers should be put to death. The federal government has failed in this responsibility, as only 3 murderers had been executed between 1963 and 2020. President Trump has enforced the death penalty for murderers again, with 13 federal executions being carried out in the last year.
Good presidents and candidates have been lied about and vilified by our biased and corrupt media for decades, frustrating millions of Americans because previous presidents just took the abuse. President Trump fought back and constantly called out the media for their unfairness and propaganda.
One of the great reforms of King Josiah is found in 2 Kings 23:10. “And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or daughter pass through the fire to Molech.” To make your child pass through the fire meant to sacrifice them to the Moabite god Molech. This evil practice was not only allowed to happen in Israel by the wicked kings, but kings Ahaz and Manasseh actually sacrificed their own sons. The United States has a similar practice that is protected by the wicked presidents: abortion. Unfortunately, even our good presidents have been inept at curtailing this evil act. President Trump has stepped up to the plate and defended babies. He was the first president to attend the March for Life. He has found a way to block funding for Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the country. Most importantly, he has appointed three pro-life Supreme Court Justices.

You may be wondering why I chose Josiah to compare President Trump to instead of Hezekiah since they both stood up against the status quo and removed the high places, and I have two reasons. First, Hezekiah came earlier and that leads me to compare him to another great president who upset the apple cart, President Reagan. Second, Josiah was only 8 years old when he became king, and President Trump does tend to speak without much tact like a kid might. It is disappointing that too many people couldn’t get past that lack of tact, because like King Josiah, he may be the last great president we ever have. Thank you, President Trump, for making us great again.

Why the Cleveland Indians Name Change Makes Sense for a Leftist

Last week the Cleveland Indians decided to change their name. Since it was announced, the far left sports media has been heaping praise on the organization for being so forward thinking and proactive. My initial reaction was annoyance and disappointment, but then I thought, “I should really look at it from their perspective.” No, I don’t mean from the perspective of Indians, because as even Washington Post polling from just a few years ago shows, most Native Americans were not offended by the Washington Redskins football team name, much less the Indians. I mean from the perspective of a leftist.

Think about it. A great sports team name is tough, powerful, and formidable. There are Panthers, Giants, Vikings, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Braves, Titans, Lions and Tigers and Bears. Oh my! Some might say that the nickname for the team closest to me, the Angels, sounds pretty harmless, but as we know from A Charlie Brown Christmas, when an angel appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of our Savior they were “sore afraid.” An angel is probably very intimidating. If you are not on the left you might think Indians are also tough, but remember, we are putting ourselves in the shoes of a leftist. The left doesn’t see Indians as powerful. They see them as whiny, overly sensitive, easily offended wussies. Who would want their home team represented as that? You might as well call them the Cleveland Flower Girls. It makes perfect sense that you would not want your team to have such a pathetic, weak name.

About now some of you are shocked. “I can’t believe he just said Indians are whiny, overly sensitive, easily offended wussies! That is racist!” Except I don’t think that. I think Indians is a great team name. I know that the team was actually nicknamed for Louis Sockalexis, the first Native American player in Major League Baseball. I think that Native Americans can be tough and formidable. It is the left that thinks Indians are fragile wimps that need protection from being seen as anything other than victims. Apparently even leftists who want to give out trophies to everybody are too competitive to name their team after people they consider helpless victims.

I must admit, when looking at this through the eyes of a leftist I caught myself a couple of times using logic instead. One of the first things that popped into my head was Abbott explaining to Costello that there’s only one Feller on the Cleveland Indians. It was very hard for me to put aside my assumption that Abbott and Costello were trying to do a hilarious bit about legendary Indians pitcher Bob Feller, and instead think that they were trying to make Native Americans cry. Then I thought about Willie Mays Hayes, Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn, and Harry Doyle chiming “juuuuust a bit outside” in the classic baseball comedy about the Indians, Major League, and realized that a leftist cannot in good conscience watch that because the film caused irreparable damage to the lives of our indigenous population. Please don’t ask me what damage it caused because I’m new to thinking like a leftist and I have no idea. I think I’m supposed to avoid your question by calling you a racist for even asking it.

The name change actually does make logical sense if you think so little of Indians. People on the left will deny that this is what they are saying about Native Americans when they object to using the name Indians, but they can’t have it both ways. Don’t let them fool you. That is what they are saying. If they didn’t think indigenous people are overly sensitive wimps who would be offended by hearing a sportscaster say that the Indians beat the Tigers 8-3, then why the push to change the name? The only other option is that leftists are delusional enough to think that the sportscaster actually did mean to attack Indians by including the team in his report. If that is the case it seems like the least successful offense against Indians since the Little Bighorn.

Voting and Online Dating Similarities

“I think I’m going to be sick,” I said to my friend as we sat down to eat. It was the early 2000’s and I was part of the first generation of online daters. Back then there was no Tinder or Bumble. We used AOL and talked to girls through instant messages. I looked over at the girl behind the counter. Her name tag matched the girl to whom I had been talking. Her voice matched what I had heard on the phone, but it wasn’t the same girl. I had seen a picture of her. She was a thin brunette with large breasts and a seductive look on her face. The girl who had given us our food was about 5 feet tall and had to be over 200 pounds. I didn’t want to accept it, but I knew the truth. The girl had pretended to be somebody she was not. This phenomenon has become so common that there is even a word for it now – catfishing. I learned an important lesson that day. You have no idea that a person is who they claim to be until you verify it.

I once again have that sick feeling and this time it is far more important. President Trump finished election night with massive leads in almost all of the swing states. Unfortunately, many states allow votes to be counted that we have less verification of who they are coming from than I had with that girl. These mail-in ballots could have been sent in by anybody. In fact, I pick up the mail from the mailbox at my apartment, so I easily could have taken my roommate’s ballot, filled it out, and sent it in to be counted. I looked at the ballot. There is no verification process that would have prevented me from doing that. Most states have made catfishing the ballot box easier than catfishing a naïve, girl-crazed boy.

We have to fix our voting system so that we know who we are dealing with. I got better at it when it came to online dating, so we can use some of the same concepts. Generally, some sort of visual proof is necessary to figure out if a person is who they say they are. They didn’t have reverse web searches back then, and even now those do not always find the picture you’re looking for. Some guys would just assume that if a girl sent pictures that were too attractive she was fake, but that is not always the case, and you don’t want to miss out on a girl who really is the hot girl in the pictures. I’m looking at you, Minnesota Megan.

The first verification method I experimented with was to get multiple pictures instead of trusting just one. It has the benefit of preventing a girl (or maybe even a guy) from grabbing any old photo off the internet and saying it is them. It is an improvement, but you can find multiple pictures of the same girl all over the web, so it is also an easily beatable system. What you have to do is ask the person to send you real-time, spontaneously posed pictures. For example, you would tell the girl to send you a picture of her posing with her pinky to her mouth like Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies. Then tell her to send a picture of her balancing a book on her head. Generally, if she can send you those pictures immediately, she is really the girl photographed.

We can use that method to verify voters, but it poses many logistical problems. We need to trust the people doing the verification, so each voting precinct would have to have people supporting both candidates there for the verification process. It would be a tedious and lengthy undertaking, as every single mail-in voter would need to be contacted, one at a time, to confirm their identity matches the name on the ballot, pose for the random pictures and text or email them in, and confirm that the vote on the ballot is the correct vote that they sent in. As you can see, the randomly posed picture solution would be very difficult to pull off without it taking years.

Fortunately, I eventually figured out the one foolproof way to know that you are speaking to the person in the pictures. The only way to be sure is to physically meet the girl in person and match the picture to the actual human being. I know it’s a crazy concept, but I haven’t looked directly at a girl and been fooled into thinking she was someone else since Hayley Mills. How can we put this approach into practice in our elections? Easy. All we have to do is require people to vote in person on Election Day so that we can match them to the photo identification that they provide.

A very smart lawyer that I know basically told me that because Democrats made fraudulent votes nearly impossible to prove, those votes are legal and we shouldn’t say that they are fraudulent. Fine. Let’s just say that the Democrats are catfishing us. He also implied that the only thing we can do is try to get the Democrats who are in power to change the fraudulent system that got them into power in the first place. Good luck with that. I say we need to fight and fight now. If we don’t we may end up in a four-year relationship with Joe Biden, which would certainly be the end of our love affair with liberty.

Intolerant Democrats Get Jewish Man’s Yarmulke Shop on Etsy Shut Down

This story starts a couple of years back when my mother started getting into family genealogy. She mapped out what we already knew, but then had a few family members spit into a tube to send to 23andMe and Ancestry.com to find out more information. We expected most of the interesting stuff to come from my mom’s side. How involved was the Italian part of our family in the mob way back when? Were we even Italian, or were we more Albanian as one of the tests showed? Was my aunt really the mailman’s daughter as they joked with my grandparents?

Interestingly enough, the most surprising thing we found out was on my dad’s side. The test came back and said that he is half Jewish. We had no idea that we had any Jewish in our DNA at all, much less 50%. If you know my dad, his reaction was exactly as you would expect. He took me to the Katella Deli and ate corned beef, latkes, matzah ball soup, babka, gefilte fish, knishes, challah bread, and blintzes. I love my dad.

Fast forward to Christmas, 2019. I wanted to get my dad something imaginative that he wouldn’t expect and would also give him a laugh. Then an idea hit me. I looked online for a “Make America Great Again” yarmulke. It was perfect! I found one on Etsy, a website where people can make crafty products and set up their own “shop” to sell their wares on. The gift was a hit.

Fast forward again, this time to August 27 of this year. In my email I find a message from the guy who I bought the yarmulke from. It began like this:

Dear Valued Customer,
Please forgive us for sending you this unexpected email, you are receiving this because you purchased a “Trump Make America Great” Kippah or Yarmulke from our Etsy store during the past two years. First, I want to thank you for the purchase, you should know that this store was a labor of love to help my kids pay for their Bar and Bat Mitzvah’s, my family is ever grateful to you for being part of that.
We really need you to know the recent sad events that have transpired at our Etsy shop, Etsy who sides in many leftist causes came under pressure from the social media mob and have succumbed and permanently suspended our shop where we sold these MAGA kippahs. It appears a customer showed off their wares on TicTok and got a tsunami of leftist outrage. We were used to getting nasty messages on Etsy but this time Etsy sided with this outrage mob and has shut us down.

My jaw dropped. It isn’t surprising that leftist bullies would go on the attack. Democrats do not tolerate disagreement. The astonishing part was that Etsy had let them get their way and actually closed down this man’s shop. I responded to the email and asked if I could speak to him about what happened and he agreed.

We spoke on the phone last week and he asked that I don’t use his name out of concern for his kids. He told me that his son is a supporter of the president and has been harassed at school and has even been called out on what was described as a “mean girls” kind of webpage meant to “cancel” people. For that reason I will call him Daniel in this article.

Daniel is an interesting man with some insightful perspective on how the left is using Marxist tactics to silence anybody who disagrees with them. You see, Daniel is a Russian Jew who fled here in 1979 at the age of 9. He has seen the left in action in the Soviet Union and is alarmed at the similarities he sees with the Democrats in the United States today. He fears that Democrat policies and tactics will lead to the communism that his family fled from in the Soviet Union. He sees how the left is promoting division and pitting everybody against each other by pushing a victim mentality on people; rich vs. poor, black vs. white, gay vs. straight, male vs. female. He sees the left trying to silence people for having different opinions.

Daniel mentioned another tactic that is being used here in the United States and compared it to something I had never heard of before and had to look into, Josef Stalin’s “Doctor’s Plot.” In it, Stalin falsely accused Jewish doctors of plotting to kill Soviet leaders. Jews were denounced as poisoners and Daniel’s grandmother, who was a doctor with many patients, was reduced to seeing just a handful of patients in secret. Daniel sees Democrats doing the same thing by spreading horrible propaganda against people and vilifying them for political purposes. Just look at the slander the left has perpetrated against the police in our country and you can see the obvious comparison.

I told Daniel that it mystifies me that some Jews in America could ever vote for Democrats after seeing the rising antisemitism in that party. Between Representative Ilhan Omar’s openly anti-Semitic comments, Democrat’s support of the Iran Nuclear Deal that freed up $150 billion for a country that shouts “Death to Israel,” Democrats walking out on a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Obama turning his back on Israel in the United Nations, some Democrats supporting the “BDS” movement, and the Democratic Convention booing an amendment to their platform that mentioned God and supported recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, it seems unfathomable that any Jew could support Democrats. Daniel told me that many secular Jews have forgotten their roots. He said that “Democrats have been letting Jews down for 80 years.”

I asked Daniel what he thinks us as Americans can do. He said that we need to focus on bringing the culture back. He said, “The left has won the culture war.” When we have major commercial websites shutting down shops for selling items that show support for our president, I fear he is right. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what kind of censorship and persecution we can expect if Democrats win next week.

Daniel had sold over 7,000 Trump yarmulkes before his shop was shut down. Whenever he tried to contact Etsy they told him that his complaint would be sent up the ladder but he never got anywhere with them. I reached out to Etsy and have not received a response. I also looked on Etsy at what other yarmulkes are allowed to be sold and found many, including “Biden/Harris” and “Black Lives Matter” versions.

Daniel has moved his business over to Ebay, and although he does not want me to confirm his identity, if you would like to support him just search on Ebay for “Trump kippahs” and many of the results will be from his shop. Just pick your favorite design and it is likely coming from him.

Can We Trust Our Elections? Grading Each State

There should be an area of agreement between all reasonable people in the United States. For our country to survive we must be able to trust the integrity of our elections. If elected officials are abusing their power like they are in places like California right now, we need to have the ability to vote those people out of office or else there is no check against tyranny. When dishonest politicians are able to steal elections, they will.

Both Democrats and Republicans say that they want honest and fair elections. Both parties have complained about the integrity of our recent and upcoming elections. Unfortunately, they have different ideas about what is taking away the trust in our elections. We heard a lot from Democrats about Russian interference in the 2016 election. In fact, they have spent much of the last 4 years investigating it over and over again. Many of you may wonder how they allege that the Russians changed the outcome in 2016. Did they somehow hack our voting systems and change the vote counts? Did they fly in Russians to swing states where they cast illegal votes? No. The alleged Russian interference is that they said mean things about Hillary Clinton on Facebook. While that may be frustrating to Hillary fans, it does not actually make it easier for anybody to cast fraudulent votes. Plus, how many of you would change your vote because some stranger said something mean on Facebook?

Republicans ask a different question about voting that we should all agree is important. Do we know who is casting the votes in our elections and that no shenanigans are happening with those votes? If we don’t it opens the door to voter fraud, stolen elections, and the end of our government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Do not fall for the media line that very few people get convicted of voter fraud so nobody does it. That’s like saying a Las Vegas club that doesn’t check ID’s has no underage people inside because no underage people got caught.

How can we be more confident about who is voting and that they are correctly counted? The only way to be sure is to require in person voting, on Election Day, with matching photo ID to verify that the person is who they say they are. It’s easy and it’s common sense. Unfortunately, not everybody wants to have honest elections.

Each state sets up their own election laws, so some are far more reliable than others. Some are unwisely pushing for mail-in voting, with nobody there to verify that the person who filled out the ballot is the actual person that the ballot belongs to, and with no guarantee that the ballot will be delivered or counted. In fact, there is already an investigation into military mail-in ballots that were apparently opened and thrown into the garbage in Pennsylvania. The only time a mail-in ballot should be accepted is for overseas military personnel. All 50 states now allow some form of mail-in voting, so nobody gets a perfect score on preventing voter fraud, but some states at least have a few precautions set up.

Unfortunately, other states not only lack rules to prevent election shenanigans, but they come up with ideas to make cheating so easy that the Houston Astros wish they had thought of it. “Ballot harvesting” is the shady practice of allowing a third party to collect ballots and deliver them to be counted. This has all of the negatives of mail-in voting with the added problem of having partisan people targeting which ballots to bring in. In California this practice caused congressional districts that had always voted one way to flip. In many of the cases the returns had one candidate ahead at the end of election night only to swing wildly to the other side the next day. Whenever the results from election night change like that it raises major red flags as to the integrity of those votes.

It’s pretty unbelievable, but some states do not even require you to show identification when you go to vote. That means we have no idea who is casting votes in those states. Here in California, if I walked into a polling place and said my name is Fred Johnson, then I’m Fred Johnson. Apparently in Pennsylvania their Secretary of State said that they would not even throw out a ballot if the signature doesn’t match.

What we need is a report card to know which states have safe enough elections to trust the outcome. Below you will find it, with a grade based on how many precautions are set up to make sure that each vote has been properly cast by the correct, legal voter.

State	Voting Only on Election Day	Voting In Person Only	ID Required to Verify Who Is Voting	Ballot Harvesting and Other Notable Rules	Grade
Alabama	Yes	No, but an excuse is required	Yes	Absentee ballots require witnesses and must be received before the close of polling	A
Alaska	No	No	Yes, but non-photo ID accepted	A special needs voter can have a representative return a ballot	C
Arizona	No	No	Yes, but non-photo ID accepted	Family member, household member, or caregiver can return ballots	C
Arkansas	No	No, but an excuse is required	Yes	Ballot harvesting allowed, but limit two ballots per authorized agent	B
California	No	No, and everyone receives a mailed ballot	No	Ballot harvesting allowed	F
Colorado	No	No, all mail-in election	No	Ballot harvesting allowed	F
Connecticut	Yes	No, but an excuse is required	Yes, but non-photo ID accepted	Others can return votes for disabled voters, with restrictions	B
Delaware	Yes, but early voting passed for 2022	No	ID is requested, but voters can sign an affidavit to avoid showing ID	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed	D
Florida	No	No	Yes	Others can return votes for disabled voters, with restrictions	C
Georgia	No	No	Yes	Others can return votes for disabled voters, with restrictions	C
Hawaii	No	No, all mail-in election	ID is requested, but voters can recite their date of birth and address instead	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed	F
Idaho	No	No	ID is requested, but voters can sign an affidavit to avoid showing ID	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed	F
Illinois	No	No	No	Ballot harvesting allowed	F
Indiana	No	No, but an excuse is required, and coronavirus is not a valid excuse	Yes	Mail ballots must be received before the close of polling	B
Iowa	No	No	Yes, or another voter can vouch for their identity	Ballot harvesting allowed	D
Kansas	No	No	Yes	Ballot harvesting allowed	D
Kentucky	Yes	No, but an excuse is required	Yes	Others can return votes for disabled voter, with restrictions	A
Louisiana	No	No, but an excuse is required, and coronavirus is not a valid excuse	ID is requested, but voters can sign an affidavit to avoid showing ID	Mail ballots require a witness signature and must be received before the close of polling	B
Maine	No	No	No	Ballot harvesting allowed, but limited to five at a time	F
Maryland	No	No	No	Ballot harvesting allowed	F
Massachusetts	No	No	No	Ballots may be delivered by a family member or from a healthcare facility	F
Michigan	No	No	ID is requested, but voters can sign an affidavit to avoid showing ID	Family member or certified election assistant can deliver ballots. Ballots must be received by 6 pm on Election Day	D
Minnesota	No	No	No	Designated agent can return up to three ballots	F
Mississippi	Yes	No, but an excuse is required	Yes	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed. Mail ballots require witnesses and must be received before the close of polling	B
Missouri	Yes	No	Yes, but non-photo is accepted	Ballots can be returned by a family member or a team of election authorities and require witness signatures	B
Montana	No	No	Yes, but non-photo is accepted	Law limited who could return ballots and only six per person, but a judge has held up the law	D
Nebraska	No	No	No	Others can return up to two ballots except for campaign workers	D
Nevada	No	No, and everyone receives a mailed ballot	No	Ballots may be returned by a family member	F
New Hampshire	Yes	No, but an excuse is required	If ID is not presented, the voter signs a challenged voter affidavit and votes a regular ballot. After the election a mailing is sent and the voter must sign and return it; if it is not returned, the voter will be investigated for voter fraud.	Family members, nursing home staff, and residential care staff can return up to four ballots which must be received before the close of polling	B
New Jersey	No	No, and everyone receives a mailed ballot	No	An authorized messenger can return up to three ballots	F
New Mexico	No	No	No	A caregiver or immediate family member can return ballots	F
New York	No	No, but an excuse is required	No	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed	F
North Carolina	No	No	No, although a voter ID law was passed by voters, it was blocked by an Obama appointed judge.	Ballots require witness signature and may be returned by a near relative or legal guardian	F
North Dakota	No	No	Yes	Others can deliver up to four ballots, cannot be a candidate or be compensated	C
Ohio	No	No	Yes, but non-photo is accepted	Ballots can be returned by a family member	D
Oklahoma	No	No	Yes, but non-photo is accepted	Copy of ID, notarized ballot, or two witness signatures required	C
Oregon	No	No, all mail-in election	No	Ballot harvesting allowed	F
Pennsylvania	No	No	No	If voter becomes too sick to vote a representative, deputy sheriff or constable can deliver an emergency absentee ballot	F
Rhode Island	No	No	Yes	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed	D
South Carolina	Yes	No, but an excuse is required, and coronavirus is not a valid excuse	Yes	Ballots may be returned by others except candidates or paid campaign workers and require witness signatures	A
South Dakota	No	No	ID is requested, but voters can sign an affidavit to avoid showing ID	Photo ID required for a mail ballot. An authorized messenger may deliver ballots, but if more than one they must notify the person in charge of the election	D
Tennessee	No	No, and a judge ordered them to allow no-excuse absentee voting	Yes	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed	D
Texas	No	No, but an excuse is required	Photo ID requested. Voters who do not possess an acceptable form of photo ID and cannot obtain one, may present a supporting form of ID and execute a Reasonable Impediment Declaration	Photo ID required for a mail ballot. A household member, relative or person lawfully assisting a voter who is disabled or cannot read the ballot may return the mail ballot	C
Utah	No	No, all mail-in election	No	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed	F
Vermont	No	No, and everyone receives a mailed ballot	No	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed	F
Virginia	No	No	Yes, but non-photo accepted	Witness signature required for mail ballots. A designated representative can return ballot for a voter who is incapacitated or hospitalized	C
Washington	No	No, all mail-in election	No	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed	F
West Virginia	No	No, but an excuse is required	Yes, or be identified by a poll worker	Anyone can return up to two ballots	B
Wisconsin	No	No	Yes	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed. Photo ID required for a mail ballot and witness signature required	C
Wyoming	No	No	No	Unspecified if ballot harvesting is allowed	F

Mad Libs: Write Your Own Joe Biden Speech

Have any of you ever wanted to be a political speechwriter? This year could be your chance! Our media is so biased that they are pushing a candidate who has trouble remembering where he is, much less stringing two sentences together, just because he is the Democrat. We have already seen him talking about kids rubbing his hairy legs, roaches, and kids jumping on his lap. He has told us that, “poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” He recently gave a speech that was completely unintelligible where he rambled about Covid taking 100 years. Just last Friday he actually read “end of quote” straight from the teleprompter during a speech. Joe Biden needs your help!

It’s actually easier than you think to help out Joe. It was sitting right under my nose the whole time. On my bookshelf there is still an old Mad Libs book from when I was a kid. You may remember them. They would ask you for random words and then you would fill those words into a story to make it your own zany version, just like Joe does with his speeches. To make our own Joe Biden speech, all we have to do is take a section from a recent speech, take out some words, have a friend pick some replacement words without looking, and fill in the blanks. Let’s try it with the section right before his rambling Covid quote, which starts at the 11:07 mark in this link. First, I will give you the template to write an extremely realistic Joe Biden speech of your own! Then, I will show you an example Joe Biden speech using the template.

First, ask your friends for corresponding words to the list below without looking ahead at the speech. Then fill in the blanks with the words they gave you. Then use it in your portfolio to apply for a job with the Biden campaign!

VERB (PAST TENSE): ________________________________
ADJECTIVE: _______________________________________
ADJECTIVE: _______________________________________
PLURAL NOUN: ____________________________________
NOUN: ___________________________________________
A PROFESSION: ____________________________________
A PROFESSION: ____________________________________
PLURAL NOUN: ____________________________________
ADJECTIVE: _______________________________________
NOUN: __________________________________________
VERB: ___________________________________________
A FAMOUS PERSON: _______________________________
A PROFESSION: ___________________________________
PLURAL NOUN: ___________________________________
NOUN: __________________________________________
A NUMBER: ______________________________________
NOUN: __________________________________________
NOUN: __________________________________________

Now read the speech with your words to fill in the blanks.

I’ve ____(1)____ with police in this country for many years. I know most cops are __(2)__, __(3)__ people. I know how they risk their ___(4)___ every time they put that shield on and go out the door. I’m confident I can bring the police to the ___(5)___ as well. I’d make sure every ___(6)___ and ___(7)___ had the support they needed from the federal government. But I wouldn’t be looking to use the United States military against our own ___(8)___. If I were president, my language would be less ___(9)___, I’d be looking to lower the ___(10)___ in this country, not raise it. I’d be looking to ___(11)___ the nation. But look, if ____(12)____ wants to ask the question, “Who will keep you safer as ___(13)___?” Let’s answer that question. First, some simple ___(14)___. When I was vice president, violent ___(15)___ fell _(16)_% in this country. We did it without ___(17)___ and ___(18)___.

Finally, as I promised, here is an example Joe Biden speech by speechwriters Uncle Mark and my friend Nikki.

I’ve farted with police in this country for many years. I know most cops are ugly, questionable people. I know how they risk their testicles every time they put that shield on and go out the door. I’m confident I can bring the police to the beer as well. I’d make sure every insurance agent and sex therapist had the support they needed from the federal government. But I wouldn’t be looking to use the United States military against our own baseball players. If I were president, my language would be less stupid, I’d be looking to lower the woman in this country, not raise it. I’d be looking to eat the nation. But look, if George Clooney wants to ask the question, “Who will keep you safer as mechanic?” Let’s answer that question. First, some simple puppies. When I was vice president, violent birds fell 69% in this country. We did it without pizza and speakers.

There you have it! Had I not told you how it was made you probably would have thought it was straight from the campaign trail of the best Democrat the party could come up with.

How did yours turn out? Leave it in the comment section and let us be inspired!

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