Civil Discourse Now

Where the far left and far right overlap for fun and enlightenment

December 2019 Blog Posts (17)

Our health care is 37th & all but 2 of the 36 ahead of us have forms of socialized medicine

Several of my opponents in the GOP primary for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District seem unified in their positions on several issues. One is health care: they are against “Obamacare” (Affordable Care Act or ACA) and anything that smacks of “socialized medicine.”

The American Heritage Medical Dictionary defines “socialized medicine”: as “a term used in the United States to describe and discuss systems of universal health care: medical and hospital care for all by means of government…

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Added by Mark Small on December 31, 2019 at 9:14am — No Comments

Maybe I'm the only true conservative in this race

On December 7 a group called the Indiana Conservative Alliance held what it billed as a Freedom Forum in which six of the candidates for the Republican Party nomination for the United States House of Representatives in Indiana’s Fifth Congressional District, were invited to appear and share their views.

The event was held at the Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Airport Hotel. On the Event Brite notice of the event, the Coalition of Central Indiana Tea Parties is listed as also inviting folks…

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Added by Mark Small on December 30, 2019 at 8:06am — 2 Comments

Maybe Bill Maher was right: 1 party has no brains & the other has no ba...

People told me I cannot have certain views or I shall not “win.” What does it mean to “win” in these times? If one holds office but does only that considered reasonable? Let me get a few things out of the way.

People are fed up with one party being stupid and bigoted and the other being reticent - to say it politely - about taking certain stands. As Bill Maher said a cpl of yrs ago, one party has no balls - sorry if that seems gender or whatever specific, but nothing seems to carry the…

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Added by Mark Small on December 29, 2019 at 8:43pm — No Comments

GOP candidate Niederberger doesn't understand the "Electoral College" or the Constitution

Danny Niederberger is one of my opponents in the GOP primary for United States House of Representatives in Indiana’s Fifth Congressional District. I have addressed some of his positions on issues before. I have addressed the stands of others, and shall in the coming weeks continue to examine the issues and how they are embraced by my opponents.

The “Election Reporter” interview of Mr. Niederberger dated 10/8/19 is available online. His answer to one question is troublesome as it…

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Added by Mark Small on December 29, 2019 at 7:51am — No Comments

Anger of MAGA people is the same as when slavery was threatened

The roots of anger, held predominantly among older white males, are hard to ascertain. This demographic, to which I belong, has had greater benefits than nearly any other in history. The United States was tremendously affluent when we were born.

In general we have had good food, decent housing, and an economy that’s been quite stable - compared to the rest of the World. Our own economy has been relatively stable since FDR and the New Deal.

Bankers and stock brokers, in general,…

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Added by Mark Small on December 28, 2019 at 10:03am — No Comments

We need to stop people from dying in vain

Has anyone “died in vain” in service of this country? In the 1960s about U.S. military actions in Vietnam & more recently about Iraq & Afghanistan some have claimed that if the USA withdraws, the people who died there “died in vain.”

I never have heard that phrase applied to deaths of Vietnamese (or Laotians or Cambodians) or Iraqis or Afghanis (or any U.S. allies’ personnel). The blunt statement is that if we - the USA - stop killing, U.S. military personnel will have “died in…

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Added by Mark Small on December 27, 2019 at 9:18am — No Comments

Military actions w/o declarations of war make us less secure

The United States has not been in a formally declared war for the longest time in our history. Yet in the 74 years since WW II ended, ours has not been a nation of peace. Members of both major political parties have found undeclared military actions to be far more convenient than compliance with Article 1, sec 8 of the Constitution.

Such military actions have coincided with overthrow of democratically elected governments in favor of dictatorships to allow U.S. corporations to grab…

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Added by Mark Small on December 26, 2019 at 6:38am — No Comments

No one has a monopoly on December 25 as a holiday

December 25 is celebrated as the birthday of Jesus. If the gospel according to Luke is accurate, and if Jesus existed as an actual person, the date of birth, approximately, was in the year 6 Common Era (C.E.), according to most scholars without a point to make.

1) Romans were very intricate about records that related to taxes. The “census” mentioned in the New Testament occurred in the year 6 - there was no year “zero” - and that was a tax collection matter.

2) Shepherds, during…

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Added by Mark Small on December 24, 2019 at 8:06pm — No Comments

I won't try to out-Jesus other candidates in INCD5

Perhaps the cult of personality that has arisen around the current occupant of the Oval Office has begun to waken. One part of dt’s constituency that has seemed to surprise some has been evangelical Christians. Other candidates in the GOP primary for Indiana’s Fifth Congressional District seem to stridently express their devotion to their faith.

One such strident voice is that of Micah Beckwith, who is a pastor at several churches in Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, Kokomo, and Anderson,…

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Added by Mark Small on December 23, 2019 at 7:43am — No Comments

Has Mr Bopp's GOP organizational "blueprint" spread to other States?

The Indiana Republican Party (“Party”), as previously noted, is an assumed business name of the Indiana Republican State Committee, Inc. (“Committee”). These entities were “born” on 10/24/05 when they were incorporated, with the Indiana Secretary of State, under the laws of the State of Indiana, by Terre Haute, Indiana, attorney James Bopp, Jr.

The Party’s “rules” state: “Subject to the Republican Party of the State of Indiana in the State Convention duly assembled, the State Committee…

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Added by Mark Small on December 21, 2019 at 9:15am — No Comments

Where are Indiana GOP's bylaws?

Why are the by-laws of the Indiana Republican Party not readily available to the public? There is no link to them on the website of either the Indiana Secretary of State, the Indiana Republican Party or the Indiana Republican State Committee, Inc.

As I wrote a while back, the Indiana Republican Party - I’ll refer to it as “the Party” - is a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Indiana, incorporated by Citizens United attorney James Bopp, Jr. Is listed as an…

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Added by Mark Small on December 20, 2019 at 7:33am — No Comments

An anti-Trump GOP candidate in Indiana's 5th!

The current occupant of the Oval Office lost the popular vote in 2016, but took office via fraud and help from a hostile foreign power. To adhere, or give aid and comfort, to an enemy of the United State constitutes treason. That he has been impeached is a positive thing.

As a candidate for the GOP nomination for U.S. House in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District, I am running against the fascism that is the cult that worships the current occupant of the Oval Office.

I run “for”…

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Added by Mark Small on December 19, 2019 at 2:53pm — No Comments

Pentagon Papers Redux: when do people die in vain?

For years American elected officials - of both major parties - and American military leaders misled the American public about the prospects for military success. The same elected officials and military leaders misled the American public by implying there was a strategy to the effort.

Thousands of American military personnel and many more thousands of Asians native to the places U.S. forces attacked also died. The people in the countries where U.S. forces went, supposedly to advance…

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Added by Mark Small on December 16, 2019 at 7:39pm — No Comments

The Confederacy was all about slavery.

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley stated this week that the Confederate flag stands for “service, sacrifice, and heritage” and lamented that Dylann Roof, who killed nine African-Americans in a Charleston, South Carolina, church on June 17, 2015, had hijacked the Confederate flag. Ms Haley pointed out that, as governor, shortly after the shootings she ordered the Confederate battle flag removed from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse.

There are misconceptions about the…

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Added by Mark Small on December 8, 2019 at 9:05am — 1 Comment

Lincoln's name should not be mentioned in the same breath...

The results of a poll commissioned by The Economist and conducted by YouGov.com should disturb people: 53 percent of Republicans believe the current occupant of the Oval Office is a better President than was Abraham Lincoln.

After January 20, 2017, spoof headlines began to lose their dynamic of absurdity. Each day brings new examples of incompetence and corruption gratis the individual who, for the time being, is POTUS. I checked and this poll had occurred and the result had been as…

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Added by Mark Small on December 4, 2019 at 7:11am — No Comments

GOP's cult of personality must end

Cults of personality do not turn out well for the nations over which they rule. The ruler is neither skilled in ability to rule nor smart in solving problems. Irony abounds in that the dictator in each such cult usually has little personality. Charisma and luck play their parts. Brutality is necessary, too.

A hallmark of a free society is the ability to disagree - especially with members of one’s own political party. People have to be able to discuss issues and acknowledge certain…

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Added by Mark Small on December 3, 2019 at 10:05pm — No Comments

Danny Niederberger: Mourdoch 2.0?

I examined the positions on issues held by other candidates for the GOP nomination for the United States House of Representatives for the 5th Congressional District of Indiana. I will address these issues and candidates in no particular order. Today I focus on one candidate and one issue, or set of issues.

My view is that if you are a woman and you are raped, you should not be forced to take to term a fetus to that results from that involuntary union.

Usually people say “let’s not…

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Added by Mark Small on December 1, 2019 at 7:09pm — 2 Comments

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