Publisher’s Positions
Idiotocracy: The Beat Goes On
I appreciate all the many comments received from readers of last week’s editorial about our new “Idiotocracy.” We may begin a new regular feature whenever some idiot reaches new heights of idiocy. We already have a new contender for “Idiotocrat of the Week.” Jamaal Bowman, the fire alarm-pulling congressman from New York and the Squad’s token male member deserves that designation and is almost certainly a prime candidate for “Idiotocrat of the Year.” Bowman is pushing a bill to hold the federal government responsible for slavery at a cost of $14 TRILLION in proposed reparations. Now, Bowman says that can be accomplished without raising a dime of taxes. To quote Bowman: “When COVID was destroying us, we invested in the American people in a way that kept the economy afloat. The government can invest the same way in reparations without raising taxes on anyone.”
“Where did the money come from? We spent it into existence,” Bowman said. Evidently, the congressman never got over his uncle producing a quarter out of his ear as a child.
Bowman also insisted the “incarcerated should be able to vote.” “And I definitely think that when they come out, they should automatically be enfranchised.”
Jamaal Bowman is not only an idiot, but ignorant as well. A school principal before being elected to the House of Representatives, Bowman seems not to realize the federal government fought a civil war over ending slavery. Nor does he have any grasp of economics, claiming our country can spend money into existence.
It is an idiotic idea, sponsored by an idiot and has earned Jamaal Bowman the “Idiotocrat of the Week” award. I doubt it will be his last.
Good Job, Tim
On the other hand, our congressman, Tim Burchett, is reintroducing a simple, yet important bill for consideration by the U.S. House of Representatives. Burchett’s bill may be one of the shortest bills to be introduced in Congress thus far. The Burchett Bill reads: “After the reading of a bill title, the Clerk shall read the estimated cost, if any, of such bill as determined by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office.” Law requires the Congressional Budget Office to estimate the potential cost of any legislation passed by the House and Senate once it has received the approval of a committee.
The state legislature similarly has an estimated cost to bills being considered in Nashville. Requiring the Clerk of the House of Representatives to reveal the projected cost of legislation can’t hurt a thing, and nobody would be able to say later he/she didn’t know what it was going to cost. I don’t doubt for a moment some of the price tags would cause eyes to pop and, in some instances, heads to explode.
Our country is more than $35 TRILLION in debt as it stands and cost matters. Statics indicate the cost of that debt equates to $101,288 per person in the country and $264,090 for each individual taxpayer. That’s a good reminder there’s no such thing as “free” stuff from the government, somebody pays for it.
Someone should ask that genius Jamaal Bowman why don’t we spend the debt out of existence. To give him credit, he and his fellow Squad members are trying to spend it all.
Rachel Maddow: What A Joke
Rachel Maddow, the anchor of DNC/NBC “News,” could be the poster child for the Idiocracy of the American Left. Smugly self-righteous, secure in her self-righteousness and her belief she is smarter than just about everyone else on the planet, Maddow presumes to speak as if she were the embodiment of the spirit of the late Walter Cronkite, an icon of the news broadcast in the United States. While Ms. Maddow opines and talks about “truth” and “lies” on her own show, she wouldn’t know the difference if either were to run her over. When she accused one network of being the most “obsequiously pro-Trump right wing news outlet in America” that was “paid Russian propaganda,” that same network filed a lawsuit against her. What’s interesting about that case is an Obama-appointed judge dismissed it, citing in her dismissal Maddow’s audience, small as it is, realizes her show consists of mere opinion, as well as “hyperbole” and “exaggeration.” It was an open recognition that Rachel Maddow’s broadcast is not news, but rather a broadcast to share her own leftist views. Ms. Maddow is as far from a journalist as the Earth is from the foot of God’s throne.
Antisemitism Is Unamerican
The rise of antisemitism in this country should be highly disturbing to all intelligent people. The world has seen nothing like it since the heinous regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Investor Leon Cooperman, who has donated tens of millions of dollars to colleges and universities, recently said too many young people have poop for brains. That isn’t exactly what he said, but you get the idea. Cooperman noticed some students parading around with signs proclaiming themselves to be “Gays for Palestine,” while likely having no clue Israel is the only country in the Middle East that accepts gay people. Nor do the students realize Hamas spent its foreign aid to build underground tunnels, leaving their people to suffer in filth and poverty, while Israel has spent foreign aid on humanitarian programs.
It is utterly disgusting to read a Holocaust memorial has been vandalized – – – twice in a matter of days. The first incident was a swastika, the symbol of Hitler’s Nazi Germany, painted near the memorial. In the second incident, garbage was literally strewn about the Horowitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza.
When people forget history, terrible things happen to a civilized society.
Stay Safe
With Knox County under a heavy blanket of snow, all of us here at The Focus pray you and your family have begun to emerge from the awful cold unscathed. We hope you remained warm and endured no more hardship than being homebound.
Virtually everything came to a standstill with businesses and government offices unable to open, employees stranded and unable to report to work. Even the Post Office seemed unable to deliver mail to residents for most of the week. Knoxville hasn’t seen anything like this winter storm since the blizzard of 1993, which dumped 14 inches of snow on Knox County.
The terrible weather has delayed the intended opening of the Tennessee General Assembly. Legislators are supposed to gather in Nashville on Monday, January 22, 2024, although it may still be problematic. We must face one problem at a time.
