The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

  I’ve long asked the questions, “Why is our nation so divided?” and “When did it start?” I’ve heard some on the left point fingers at right-wing talk radio, Fox News, and Donald Trump. Similarly, I’ve heard some on the right blame social media, identity politics, and Barack Obama. While I personally feel as though talk radio, networks like Fox, Donald Trump, social media, and perhaps to a lesser extent, identity politics, have exacerbated the divide in recent years, this is not where it started. As a matter of fact, the divide started long before – approximately 150 years ago. While technically the Union may have defeated the Confederacy, the Civil War never truly ended.   It’s been said that African-Americans were freed from slavery at the conclusion of the Civil War, but this isn’t entirely true. In the decades, generations, even centuries that followed, black Americans have had to fight for voting rights; employment opportunities; even being allowed in the same public ...

I recently heard about a person contending that television had a double-standard on slurs, as while they'd bleep out the n-word, they'd air the term "honky." I then had a friendly debate with a third party about the matter. First off, if we want to purely look at things from a black-and-white perspective (no pun intended), all slurs are bad. However, as is almost always the case, things are more complex than that. There are several reasons why the n-word is regarded as a more offensive slur than "honky," the biggest of which is historical context. The etymology of honky  is unclear. One theory is that the term originated in Oak Hill, West Virginia, where coal miners were segregated into three groups: 1) Whites, 2) Blacks, and 3) Non-English-speaking whites knows as "Hunk Hill." Another theory is that the term started in the meat-packing plants of Chicago, where black employees referred to white employees as "honkies." Yet another theo...

When away from the workplace, people are free to believe as they so choose, no matter how discriminatory or inaccurate those beliefs might be. They're free to believe in God, worship the devil, pray to a stuffed rabbit they call Tiger. However, when at the workplace, while we're still free to believe such things, we can't use them to impose on the freedoms of others. At least, that's what I thought prior to the most recent wedding cake-bakery decision by the Supreme Court, which sided with Colorado baker Jack Phillips and his denial of wedding cake services to gay couples. I'm sorry, but how can we legitimately call ourselves the "land of the free," a believer in the Constitution, if, in professional settings, certain groups of people aren't protected by the law? Jack Phillips is free to believe in the Christian religion, but like everyone else, he has to make some sacrifices when he steps outside of his home and into his workplace. We may be afforde...

John Daniel Davidson, writer at the far-right website The Federalist , just released an article entitled, "Sorry, College Kids, There's No Such Thing As Hate Speech," and I felt the need to rebut. In the article, while Davidson made some fair points, especially with regard to the seeming irony of violence at hate-speech rallies, he lost me with his claim that there's no such thing as hate speech, yet he feels liberals define hate speech as any opinion which runs contrary to theirs. Here's what he had to say specifically on the matter: "By hate speech, they (liberals) mean ideas and opinions that run afoul of progressive pieties. Do you believe abortion is is the taking of human life? That's hate speech. Think transgenderism is a form of mental illness? Hate speech. Concerned about illegal immigration? Believe in the right to bear arms? Support President Donald Trump? All hate speech. But in fact, there is no 'hate speech' exception to the Firs...

The state of Indiana has come under a lot of heat over the past year for their lack of discrimination protections for the LGBT community. Oddly enough, the Hoosier state is now receiving heat from a pair of conservative lobbying groups who believe the before-mentioned discrimination protections (RFRA) are too strong. That's right; the Indiana Family Institute and American Family Association of Indiana filed a lawsuit claiming the state's LGBT protections threaten their religious freedom, even going so far as to say the protections result in Christians being treated like "second-class citizens." No, I'm not making this up. Indiana Family Institute President Curt Smith elaborated on the matter, saying, "The 'fix' makes people of faith second-class citizens. Freedom is not fixed, finite commodity which the Legislature reapportions from time to time between and among the now-favored groups. Freedom must be first preserved and then, as possible, expanded...

I thought I'd finally reached a point where no right-wing "religious liberty" argument would surprise me enough to feel the need to write about it. Sadly, Texas Senator Ted Cruz proved me wrong. In a recent interview with Newsmax 's Ed Berliner, Cruz said the following on the matter: "Imagine if this were inverted. Imagine if there weer a gay florist - now I know that's hard to imagine, a gay florist - but just go with the hypo[thetical] for a second. Imagine if two evangelical Christians came to a gay florist and they wanted to get married, and the florist said, 'You know what? I disagree with your faith. I have problems with your faith.' You have no entitlement to force that florist to provide flowers at the Christians' wedding. We are a pluralistic nation that tolerates diversity." Actually, history would showcase otherwise, Mr. Cruz, for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 says that, "All persons shall be entitled to the full and equa...

Almost immediately after I stepped into a bar last night, I was approached by someone who wanted to tell me about a Fox News segment he recently saw regarding the Black Lives Matter movement. I didn't say much of anything because I could tell he was intoxicated, the two of us were on opposite ends of the political spectrum, and four days following the death of a friend, I was really in no mood to involve myself in a heated argument. So, as I often times do, I just listened, tried understanding his point of view, but in the end, felt he missed the bigger picture. His major point, as I often times hear with conservatives, was, "Black lives matter? What about black-on-black crime? Blacks are killing other blacks, so why don't these blacks prove that black lives matter by not killing each other?" He then cleverly looked at the opposing argument, saying, "I got into a heated debate with a black friend of mine, who pointed out white-on-white crime, but there's ...

I'm frankly getting tired of writing about "religious freedom" laws and arguments, yet it seems that at least once a day, I read a new headline and story regarding the matter. The latest such case involves Linda Summers, a former deputy clerk at the county clerk's office in Harrison County, Indiana, who was fired from her job for refusing to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple due to her religious beliefs. In light of this, Summers has decided to fight back against her employer's decision and take the matter to court, as she's filed a lawsuit, contending that employers whom force employees to issue same-sex couples marriage licenses are the bigoted ones in this scenario. I'm going to try and condense this response as much as possible, because, as I just stated, I'm getting quite tired of reading and writing about this topic. Freedoms are not absolute. While we may be freer than most people in the world on a fairly regular basis, those freed...

Whenever I hear Christians claim that expanding gays' rights decreases theirs, I can't help but shake my head and roll my eyes. Apparently LGBT Americans garnering equal rights as heterosexual Christians is severely hampering Christianity and some members' seeming need to judge, discriminate, and condemn members of the LGBT community (you know, because that's what Jesus would do). That deranged mentality was on full display at Amyx Hardware & Roofing Supplies in Grainger County, Tennessee this past week. Following the Supreme Court's marriage equality ruling, owner Jeff Amyx posted a sign outside his store which read, "No Gays Allowed." Following the inevitable backlash, Amyx replaced the sign with one which read, "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone who would violate our rights of freedom of speech & freedom of religion." When asked about the signs, Amyx said, "They (homosexuals) gladly stand for what they believe i...

I'm really getting tired of writing about stories like this, but unfortunately, they've seemed to be ubiquitous in recent days and weeks. Not long after Indiana's controversial RFRA bill was signed (Religious Freedom Restoration Act), a Grandville, Michigan auto repair shop has decided to let their discriminatory views be known. Brian Klawiter, owner of the Dieseltec, decided to share these views on his Facebook page, where he wrote the following: - "I am a Christian. My company will be run in a way that reflects that. Dishonesty, thievery, immoral behavior, etc., will not be welcomed at MY place of business. (I would not hesitate to refuse service to an openly gay person or persons. Homosexuality is wrong, period. If you want to argue this fact with me then I will put your vehicle together with all bolts and no nuts and you can see how that works.)" - "Our rights as conservative Americans are being squashed more and more everyday. Apparently if you are...

Like Indiana Governor Mike Pence for recently signing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the owners of Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana is receiving their fair share of criticism as well due to their comments about not serving pizzas for same-sex couples' weddings. As one of the owners, Crystal O'Connor, told ABC 57, "We are a Christian establishment ... [and] definitely agree with the bill." Humorously enough, Ms. O'Connor also added this gem: "We're not discriminating against anyone. That's just our belief and anyone has the right to believe in anything. [Also, I don't think the bill is] targeting gays. I don't think it's discrimination. It's supposed to help people that have a religious belief." Allow me to go to the trustworthy dictionary for a moment here. The term "discrimination" is defined as the "treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor or against, a person or...

As difficult a time as I have understanding male politicians pushing against women attaining equal rights, I have an even more difficult time understanding female politicians doing something similar. In the upcoming midterm elections, Republican Monica Wehby will be challenging Democrat Jeff Merkley for an Oregon Senate seat. On Sunday, KGW's Laural Porter asked Ms. Wehby the following question: "What about equal pay for equal -- for women? You said you'd vote against that, and it doesn't seem to go along with what you represent." In response, Wehby said this: "I would absolutely favor any legislation that supports equal pay for women, but this was a flawed piece of legislation. It did not take into account experience, hours worked, education. I would be more concerned that it would make it more difficult for businesses to hire women, because of the fear of lawsuits. They would tend to steer away. And I think that that's an unintended consequence ...

While Minnesota Congresswoman and lead candidate to star as Linda Blair's character in a remake of The Exorcist - Michele Bachmann - won't be running for re-election, she's decided to let the crazy words fly for as long as she's still in office. After Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoed SB 1062 late last month, which would have allowed professionals to refuse service or employment to individuals due to their religious beliefs (::cough:: gays ::cough::), Bachmann decided to make the following statement on the matter when speaking to conservative radio host Lars Larson this past weekend during the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference): "There's nothing about gays in there. But the gay community decided to make this their measure. I think the thing that is getting a little tiresome, the gay community, they have so bullied the American people, and they've so intimidated politicians. The politicians fear them, so that they think they get to dictate ...

It seems as if Nevada state Assemblyman Cresent Hardy and many other Republicans have a difficult time understanding the word "equality." Just recently, Hardy told the Las Vegas Sun that if elected as a state Representative, he'd vote against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would bar workplace discrimination on the basis of one's sexual orientation or gender identity. Elaborating on why he'd vote against this measure, he said the following: "When we create classes, we create that same separation that we're trying to unfold somehow. By continuing to create these laws that are what I call segregation laws, it puts one class of a person over another. We are creating classes of people through these laws." For the record, ENDA already protects employees against discrimination based on: Race, religion, gender, origin, age, and disability. The before-mentioned bill would simply expand upon that list to include sexual orientation ...

Sometimes I'm embarrassed of being a man. No, I'm not thinking about having an operation and changing my name to Justine Beaver. However, between many men seeing women as nothing more than mere sex objects and fighting with all their might to away women's rights, I have to shake my head and do my best girlfriend or wife impersonation by giving these men the evil eye (any straight guy who says he doesn't know about this "look" doesn't know his left ear from his right testicle). As men continue to try and take away women's reproductive rights, prevent them from getting contraception included in their employer-based healthcare coverage, as well as prevent them from receiving equal pay, the Iowa Supreme Court decided to continue this lovely trend on Friday. A male dentist (James Knight) fired his female assistant (Melissa Nelson) because she was viewed as too physically attractive and threatened he and his wife's obviously wonderful marriage. A cou...

Far-right die-hards in the media seem to be obsessed with the end of the world. Perhaps it's because they're somewhat suicidal, yet feel they won't go to heaven if they commit such an act, so they hope someone either ends the world so they rise up to heaven or Jesus comes again and takes them away from this God-awful place (how I never understood that phrase...). Perhaps they're tripping acid quite regularly and as a result, are more coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs than Hugh Hefner is disease-ridden and horny. There are a number of possibilities. The reason I bring this up is due to what Fox News contributors Todd Starnes and Erick Erickson had to say recently regarding the Supreme Court's pending gay-marriage rights decision. When speaking on American Family Radio, Starnes said the following: "You know, it's as if we're second-class citizens now (Christians) because we support the traditional, Biblical definition of marriage, or perhaps we are pro-life, an...

I've heard some pretty dumb arguments against any kind of gun control, but former NRA President Marion Hammer may have rattled off the dumbest of them all. On the NRA's "news" show, Hammer said the following: "Banning people and things because of the way they look went out a long time ago, but here they are again. The color of a gun, the way it looks. It's just bad politics." Wow... So, certain guns are suffering from discrimination in this country similar to African-Americans? Latinos? Asian-Americans? Muslims? If that isn't the most ridiculous anti-gun control statement I've heard or read, I don't know what is. That's right, because guns started breathing at one point. Guns were referred to in the Constitution as 3/5 of a person. Guns battled slavery. When applying for jobs, guns have often times had to deal with their color being a negative factor to some employers. Guns have been mugged and killed due to their color. A group b...

There's a war on women being waged in this country by the Republican Party, so say the Democrats anyway. Republicans tend to disagree. So, where's the evidence to support such a claim? Oh, let's see here... Congressional Republicans have proposed bills that would do the following: Re-define rape, require "invasive" vaginal ultrasounds before abortions, cut off Planned-Parenthood funding, make it legal for any employer to deny reproductive health coverage to women on moral grounds, restrict health services to low-income women, etc. In 2011, the Center For Reproductive Rights "monitored over 600 anti-choice bills that would undermine women's autonomy and fundamental rights to health and well-being" at the state level. The report went on to state, "The Center is hard-pressed to cite a time in the last twenty years that can rival -- in volume and in severity -- this most recent period of anti-woman, anti-child, and anti-health legislative actio...

Republicans Ask Jesus Questions Michael Buffer: "Before we get started today, I must go over a few things. As you all know by now when we gave you body cavity searches, cameras are not allowed at this event. Our speaker could be blinded by the flash and as a result, the world could end. Guns are allowed, however. I see a couple of rocket launchers over there. Very nice. How are you doing, junior? Is that too heavy for you? No? That's my boy! Well, since our guest knows everything, there really isn't a need for you to ask the questions. However, as no one else here knows everything, I'm sure our guest will understand us doing so. When any of you ask a question, please be kind, courteous and halfway intelligent. With all of that in mind, I ask that you put your hands together to welcome the man who guides the Republican Party, who makes robes and sandals look cool, who saved every one of us...here is the one, the only Jesus H. Christ!" JC: "Alright. Far out...