True Spirit of America Party: 2025

Sunday, October 19, 2025

No Kings Day Was A Monumental Success

No Kings Day was a monumental success! Power to the People, right on! Keep up the great work!

History has been made. And will continue to be made.

(Mic drop)

Saturday, October 18, 2025

Happy No Kings Day!

Happy No Kings Day! So far we are having an excellent turnout, be sure to keep it up!

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Dear Republicans, We Hereby Accept Your Resignation

Dear Republicans,

Now that the government shutdown that YOU are responsible for has crossed the one-week mark, We the People will take that as evidence that you have resigned from your positions. You had ONE job to do, and you couldn't even keep the government open. Because you were so rabidly gung ho about 1) taking healthcare away from vulnerable Americans, and 2) not wanting to release the Epstein files, you failed to see the forest for the trees. Again. And we hereby accept your resignation.

Sincerely,

We the People of the USA

And just in case we didn't make our message clear, well, in the words of your very own fallen idol: "YOU'RE FIRED!"

(Mic drop)

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

CEASEFIRE NOW!

It has been two years of almost non-stop brutal war since the horrific October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas on Israel. And that war is still going on, with horrific atrocities inflicted on the people of Gaza by the current fascist (or at least fascist-adjacent) Netanyahu/Likud regime that controls Israel.

CEASEFIRE NOW!

And do all of the following:

Release ALL hostages yesterday!
Impeach, remove, and try Netanyahu and his underlings for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and perhaps even genocide as well, before the International Criminal Court. Yesterday.
Do the same to any and all Hamas leadership who are still alive. Yesterday.
Do NOT build any sort of "Gaz-A-Lago", but rather rebuild Gaza properly and ethically.
Return to the pre-1967 borders (aka the "two-state solution"), end the illegal occupation since then, and end all illegal settlements. Yesterday.
Put Gaza under temporary international control before transitioning it to a new, local self-governing authority that is NOT adjacent to Hamas in any way.
Abolish conscription completely and transition to an all-volunteer military. Yes, really. Yesterday.
Give unconditional amnesty to all refuseniks (conscientious objectors and draft resisters).
Implement a generous Universal Basic Income (UBI) for Israelis and Palestinians alike, with NO strings attached (call it "Shekels Without Shackles").
Implement a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission".
And finally, give very serious thought to having men on both sides step down and let women take over completely. (I am only half-joking about this.)

So what are we waiting for? The USA is in a unique position to pressure both sides (but especially Israel) to implement such things. (But the Donald and his own fascist regime probably would NOT be keen on this at all, of course.)

P.S. If anyone thinks we are somehow being antisemitic by opposing the Netanyahu regime, the war in Gaza, and the illegal occupation and settlements, that is clearly false. We completely oppose any and all forms of antisemitism and any other bigotry based on race, creed, color, national origin, or any other demographic characteristics.

Saturday, October 4, 2025

Trumpty Dumpty's Great Fall Is Coming Sooner Than You Think

Trump's days as president are clearly numbered now more than ever. He is going off the rails mentally even MORE than usual. In fact both his mental health AND his physical health are increasingly being called into question. He is waging wars against his own people as well as abroad. He shut down the government, again. The ICE Gestapo raids and clampdowns continue to accelerate. He is manufacturing chaos to distract from the Epstein files and the fact that he is cracking up now. And his unhinged wannabe king/despot/dictator behavior is increasingly angering and alienating more and more people, including even in his own MAGA base (which is like Scar in The Lion King angering and alienating the Hyenas, basically).

And speaking of kings, don't forget to attend the upcoming No Kings Day protest on October 18th near you!

UPDATE: Beware of any fake rallies set up by the fascists and their sycophantic lackeys, triple check if it is legit first, and do NOT walk into any such traps!

Saturday, September 27, 2025

Excellent Article From Real Left About The Primacy Of Individual Rights

An excellent article from Real Left (formerly known as Left Lockdown Sceptics) makes an excellent case for the primacy of individual rights, and how without individual rights, there can really be no common good worthy of the name. This is a very important and necessary corrective for a grave and perennial error that has long plagued the political Left (both genuine and phony) for at least two centuries (on and off) to one degree or another. Namely, the specious idea that group rights > individual rights is essentially a form of moral relativism that ends up hurting not only the individual, but the collective/community as well.

(Quite frankly, this is one of the very, very few things the Left could and should agree with Ayn Rand on.)

If we can't hold onto our hard-won civil and human rights and liberties in a crisis (whether real or manufactured), then we cannot hold onto them at all, as they would thus not really be rights, but mere privileges doled out by the powerful, with more strings attached than a spider's web.

Genuine rights and liberties are NOT conditional, after all.

Now, this does NOT mean we should endorse hyper-individualism either, as in "I got mine, screw everyone else," or, as Margaret Thatcher said, "there is no such thing as society". That's the essence of neoliberalism, which is, in a word, evil. No man or woman is an island, after all. But affirming the common good need not, and must not, mean trampling individual rights either. The false dichotomy between individual and community is exactly that, false.

Without the primacy of individual rights (and the rule of law, to back up such rights), any attempt at democracy ultimately devolves to oligarchy, tyranny, and/or most likely of all, ochlocracy (mob rule). It basically becomes like two wolves and a sheep deciding what's for dinner. Natch.

The key takeaway: If the genuine Left ever wants to rise again in any way, shape, or form, they had best take heed! Or else, the phony neoliberal pseudo-left, the right-wing (including the far right and "alt-right"), and/or the "tankies" on the extreme authoritarian far left, will all gladly and eagerly vie with one another to fill in the moral vacuum left by the grave error of hyper-collectivism. And yes, hyper-collectivism is just as bad as hyper-individualism, if not worse still. They are two sides of the same ugly coin.

Long article, but definitely worth a serious read. We ignore it truly at our own peril.

P.S. In case the reader wants to trot out that old chestnut, we are well aware that shouting "FIRE!" in a crowded theater is not, and should not, be protected as free speech, for example. Duh! Indeed, there are nuances and edge cases, to be sure. But these are essentially the exceptions that prove the rule of (largely) absolute individual rights.

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

For The EPSTEINTH Time, RELEASE THE FILES!

What is the ONE think he REALLY wants us to stop talking about? You guessed it, so here we will say it over and over and over and over again:

EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN

(Mic drop)

Monday, August 11, 2025

In Defense Of Liberalism

A recent Vox article basically said out loud what so many people have been thinking lately. The (largely right-wing) self-styled enemies of liberalism have indeed been having some serious second thoughts after seeing first-hand and up close exactly what happens when the key pillars of liberalism are dismantled piece by piece. In fact, liberalism itself can best be defined by its three key pillars:

Individual rights
Democracy (particularly with universal suffrage)
Rule of law

That is the very essence of liberalism, that some might call the True Spirit of America. Like a three-legged stool, if even ONE of those three pillars are taken out, the whole edifice collapses. And all three are currently under attack by the Trump regime, as until now we took them for granted.

(Ironically, we actually already got the "free trial" of illiberalism during the pandemic, when you think about it.)

Winter is coming, basically. And, like the song says, we only miss the sun when it starts to snow.....

Of course, this is NOT to be confused with neoliberalism, which is best defined as "capitalism on steroids". That is a completely amoral ideology, to the point of being practically a secular religion of sorts, one which serves literally no real purpose at all except to rob from the poor, give to the rich, and torpedo what is left of the shrinking middle class.

Yes, in case you were wondering, economic progressivism, social democracy, organized labor, and a robust social welfare state are all perfectly compatible with genuine liberalism defined by its three key pillars above, unlike neoliberalism, which loathes all of the above and seeks to dismantle them. Don't let anyone tell you differently!

And for the love of all that is good, stop using the word "liberal" as a slur. It does NOT mean weak, spineless, milquetoast, squishy centrist, nor does it mean one who is hopelessly addicted to identity politics and ideological purity tests to the exclusion of all else. Seriously!

(Mic drop)

Sunday, August 3, 2025

Once Again, Louder, For The People In The Back

What is the ONE think he REALLY wants us to stop talking about? You guessed it, so here we will say it over and over and over and over again:

(Mic drop)

Saturday, July 26, 2025

Fascism Begets Fascism

First, they came for the immigrants.....

We have seen this movie before, and it does NOT end well at all! And remember, every time, the road to fascism is literally always paved with, "you're overreacting".

Trump's increasingly fascist agenda is currently picking up warp speed as we speak. Mass roundups and deportations of immigrants (and not only "illegals", by the way!), literal concentration camps (this time with crass merchandising too!), no due process, stifling dissent, unitary rule by decree, and so on, is bad enough as it is, and it will NOT stop there. And his gutting of Medicaid and SNAP, especially the part about the "work requirements", is clearly not only a classist agenda against poor people, but also a eugenicist agenda against disabled people as well. (From that very first time when we saw him openly mock that disabled reporter, we all should have known exactly what Trump was really all about.) Fascism and eugenics have always gone hand in hand, as we have infamously seen throughout history, just as much as it is aligned with misogyny and racism.

And now he has brazenly signed a sweeping and very disturbing executive order targeting homeless people, especially those with mental disabilities. They, along with disabled people in general, are the "canaries in the coal mine" of every fascist oppression and genocide. This, dear reader, is how it escalates even further. You were warned.

And the Democrats as a group, with a few exceptions here and there, have been pretty spineless throughout this whole ordeal. And even before the election, they were pretty lackluster and neoliberal too. Not only did they fail to implement a genuine, economically progressive agenda, but their divisive identity politics really seemed to get the better of them, and the asinine "catch and release" and "defund the police" approach to crime that some of them had regrettably supported, has served only to bait voters into voting for the self-proclaimed "law and order" (lol) strongman dictator.

For years, at least since his first successful campaign began in 2015, Trump has been proudly waving his red flags like a matador in front of a bull, while the majority of Americans responded with a collective shrug (that is, if they don't support him even more as a result). Though now, hopefully the tide is finally, if belatedly, turning against him.

(For the EPSTEINTH time, RELEASE THE FILES!)

That said, some activists on social media (Bluesky, of course, but also a bit on X and Substack too) recently seem to have missed the mark about exactly how we got here. Some have claimed that because we "rushed back to normal" from the pandemic and therefore somehow in doing so "threw disabled people by the wayside" when we ended the COVID "mitigation" measures, that was eugenicist and has thus led to the latest fascist and eugenicist tendencies. Sigh. Normally, I would not even dignify such a wild assertion with a response, but it has been said over and over again so many times that now I think I should address it.

First, the specious claim that we somehow "rushed" (lol) back to normal can be debunked right out the gate: waiting two years is NOT exactly "rushing"! It was more like taking the very, very scenic route back to normal. Remember, these so-called "mitigation" measures (lockdowns, mask mandates, antisocial distancing, school and business closures, and so on) were originally supposed to be for "just two weeks". Riiiiiight. How quickly we forget! And it's not like these illiberal and authoritarian measures were really effective, as the best evidence shows that these measures were worse than useless overall. So two years of rolling mandates of various flavors, was two years too long. The only way out of a pandemic is through, and "flattening the curve" only drags it out longer than it would otherwise be.

Of course, this is speaking in generalities. What about disabled people more specifically? Well, disabled people are NOT a monolith, so we need to get even more specific still: immunocompromised, medically fragile, or otherwise severely and disproportionately vulnerable to the specific virus in question. Again, there is zero evidence that these illiberal "mitigation" measures actually protected them one iota, and to the extent that they delayed the inevitable, such vulnerable people were essentially forced to isolate even longer until at least the very worst of the pandemic was over. And in the long run, doing so only increased their odds of exposure, while decreasing whatever natural immunity they would have had otherwise.

Meanwhile, plenty of people with various disabilities were directly and indirectly harmed by the measures themselves, the same or more so than the general population. This was true for all ages, of course, but a fortiori for children.

Thus, it would have been far better on balance had we simply adopted the "flu strategy", let natural "herd immunity" develop as a wall of protection around the truly vulnerable people, and kept society and the economy functioning as normally as humanly possibly throughout the entire pandemic, all while making an earnest effort to actually treat the disease. Forcing everyone to live as if they are medically fragile or immunocompromised doesn't actually help those who really are. And revoking civil rights and liberties ultimately helps no one except the oligarchs.

It should go without saying, but it still needs to be said. Liberty is NOT a zero-sum game! My liberty protects you, and your liberty protects me. And as fellow Americans, we should thus protect each other. See what I did there?

So, long story short, no one was actually "thrown by the wayside" in the name of "back to normal". And in any case, the pandemic is long over now: even though the virus still exists to this day, by 2023 (or earlier) it has mutated down to become far less dangerous, and practically everyone has already had it, often multiple times. It's basically the new common cold or seasonal flu now. So get that specious narrative out of your heads. And furthermore, if anything, these illiberal and undemocratic measures (and worse, the jab mandates) only paved the way for full-blown fascism by shifting the Overton Window in the direction of authoritarianism, while also at the same time angering the "silent majority" into being more likely to vote for the party that (ironically) did these things the least during the pandemic, and were much sooner to go back to normal. The Branch Covidians really have a LOT to answer for!

(No wonder the MAGA-aligned crypto-fascists were able to pose themselves as the "reasonable" or "based" ones, until they got (re-)elected and the masks came off once again. And the Dems lost a lot of credibility by stubbornly waiting so long to pivot on Covid, and then doing so abruptly.)

And when some people on the fringes argue that such illiberal "mitigation" should never have ended at all, well, they are literally giving ammunition to the fascists to not only reify and reinforce authoritarianism in general, but also to unwittingly bait them and even the fence-sitters into even more eugenics as well. You can just hear the fascists whipping up an even bigger eugenicist scapegoating frenzy now: "Those people over there are costing you, not only your hard-earned money, but your civil rights and liberties as well!", and people not being able to see the irony of it all.

Fascism begets fascism. Every single time.

(Mic drop)

P.S. Masks are still useless (or worse) for the most part against airborne viruses. See the 2023 Cochrane Review, for example. And as long as we are on the general subject of covering one's faces, albeit in a very different, non-medical context, there is NO good reason why any law enforcement agents (including ICE) should be covering their faces while making arrests. NONE. Seriously, if you really are so sure you are doing the right thing, then show your faces!

Friday, July 18, 2025

MAGA Is Cracking Up. The Trump-Putin Bromance Is Over. It's Only A Matter Of Time Now Before He Is No Longer President.

With the Epstein client scandal still persistently refusing to go away, no matter how much Trump tries to make it go away and distract from it, his once-solid MAGA base is fracturing and cracking up at warp speed as we speak. And Trump, who has been growing increasingly impatient with his buddy Putin over the latter's unwillingness to end his war on Ukraine (and thus making a fool of the former), is not so buddy-buddy with him anymore, it seems. Trump has already alienated the whole entire world with his stupid trade war, of course. And of course, the left and center of America now clearly loathe Trump even more than ever due to his mass deportations and roundups without due process (and now concentration camps), and overall increasingly dictatorial behavior in recent weeks and months. The Big Ugly Bill only further solidifies that.

He is now well on his way to becoming quite literally a "man without a country" in the very near future.

It's only a matter of time now before Trumpty Dumpty finally falls from power. The gig is up now. Get your popcorn 🍿🍿🍿, as this will get VERY, VERY interesting......

Monday, July 14, 2025

And So We Finally Learn How To Really Make The Donald Mad....

What is the ONE think he REALLY wants us to stop talking about? You guessed it, so here we will say it over and over and over and over again:

(Mic drop)

Friday, July 4, 2025

A National Day of Mourning

Well, the Big Ugly Bill passed and will be signed into law today. Today should thus be a national day of mourning for the America that COULD have been, as it's now Mourning in America. We can thus now add Independence Day to Three Kings Day, as days that Trump has permanently ruined.

QED

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Say NO To Trump's Big Ugly Bill!

Dear Congress,

Do the right thing and vote NO on Trump's Big Ugly Bill! No amount of lipstick can possibly save this pig!

Sincerely,

Literally anyone with any smidgeon of a conscience.

Any questions?

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Conscription: The Machiavellian Solution In Search Of A Problem (And Why It Will NOT Help The Youth Rights Movement)

With World War III looking more and more likely on the horizon each day that goes by due to current events, it is only a matter of time before one of the biggest American taboos returns to the forefront. The specter of bringing back the military draft (conscription) has been raised occasionally since it was last abolished in 1973, but it never seemed to catch on since then for a number of reasons: 1) it was unnecessary and redundant with today's technology, 2) it would mess up and dilute the increasingly professional all-volunteer military, 3) most Americans don't support such a policy. And that's to say nothing of the collective trauma from the ill-fated Vietnam War that has lingered ever since to one degree or another.

And there are also the fundamental philosophical-ethical arguments against conscription as well, of course, including Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative: "Always treat humanity as an end itself, and never solely as a means". And predictably, Niccolo "ends justify the means" Machiavelli himself, often seen as Kant's philosophical foil, was a huge fan of conscription, as he felt that mercenaries would be untrustworthy in terms of loyalty (gotta love that false binary there with no room for nuance whatsoever).

But every so often, the old zombie arguments (often in superficial shiny new drag) in favor of bringing back the draft resurface like a bad case of herpes. They can be grouped into the following: 1) Necessity, 2) Equality/Equity, and 3) Social Engineering. And here we will not only debunk them, but also debone, slice, dice, julienne, and ultimately lay waste to their scorched remains.

The "necessity" argument is probably the only good and coherent argument strong enough to justify the forcible confiscation of labor services (i.e. slavery, which is what conscription really is) of innocent erstwhile civilians in an otherwise free society worthy of the name. That is, if the necessity in question is actually true. Spoiler alert: for most wars throughout history, to say nothing of peacetime, that was not really true. That is because a) most wars throughout history were unnecessary wars of choice that could have been avoided, and thus inherently wrong except on the side legitimately defending itself, b) there are almost always alternatives to conscription even if a war is necessary, such as (gasp!) paying our troops more, rather than forcibly doing it on the cheap, and c) a country that needs a draft to defend itself deserves to lose. (And being the world's de facto police force is really NOT a war of necessity, by the way.) And all of these apply a fortiori with today's technology, which reduces the need for the large numbers of troops in the wars of the more distant past.

(And any fair-weather "allies" halfway around the world who are unwilling or unable to defend themselves without forcing Americans to fight their battles for them, also deserve to lose by the way, a fortiori.)

Indeed, in a truly "just war" that meets all of St. Augustine's criteria (which, let's face it, is about as rare as a unicorn!), conscription would be unnecessary and redundant, since volunteers would be plentiful, at least for a while.

Of course, to be fair, given a large enough scale AND a long enough duration of a war that really is NOT a war of choice and absolutely can't be pulled out of, the necessity argument CAN perhaps become valid in those select cases. World War II and the American Civil War are textbook examples of such from history. (Ditto for, God forbid, World War III, assuming it isn't largely an air and nuclear war, which would supersede this argument, albeit in a bad way). But these "edge cases" are the exceptions that prove the rule.

Then comes the "equality" or "equity" argument, sometimes called the "poverty draft" or "skin in the game". That is, poor and working class people (who often join at least partly for economic reasons) are disproportionately overrepresented in the all-volunteer military, and the rich are grossly underrepresented. That thus makes it easier for our elected leaders and their wealthier supporters to be cavalier about making war in general, knowing that they or their kids won't personally be affected. Also along with that, it is seen as a gross injustice towards the poor and working class, and especially for racialized minorities, that they do such a disproportionate share of the fighting and dying. While there is a kernel of truth to both components of this argument, that does NOT change the basic fact that the elites have ALWAYS been able to get themselves out of harm's way, draft or no draft, and practically ALL wars in recorded history have been primarily fought by the poor and working class for the benefit and wealth of the rich. And the real corrective for that is to simply abolish poverty and the desperation that goes with it with a robust social welfare state including, but not limited to, Universal Basic Income, single-payer Medicare For All, and free college. And yes, per the iron laws of supply and demand, we will have to pay our troops significantly more than they are paid now, or more accurately, pay them what they are really worth for once! And, of course, we have got to knock it off with the imperialistic wars of choice!

As for any supposedly "altruistic" or "humanitarian" wars (in the rare cases when it is not merely a cover for imperialism), hey, if you feel like YOU personally have a duty to risk dying for random people halfway around the world for whatever reason, be my guest. You can even go start your own "Human Shield Brigade" with like-minded folks. Just don't force or coerce other people to do it for you to soothe YOUR aching conscience, capisce? Such "vicarious altruism" with other people's blood and treasure is really not altruism at all, but rather egoism in disguise.

(By the way, the mere presence of a draft does NOT preclude a country's leaders from being cavalier about war or getting stuck in long military quagmires. See Vietnam, for example. Or more recently, Israel.)

Regardless, in any case, two wrongs do NOT make a right!

Then there is the perennial "social engineering" or argument, which is probably the most vexing one of all. Not because is it particularly hard to debunk (it's really quite easy, as you will quickly see), but because of the way it sticks in people's minds so puzzlingly well even after the first two arguments are revealed to be hollow. Basically, some people arrogantly seem to think that they somehow know what is best for everyone else at a personal level, and believe that they therefore have the right to force or coerce it upon them if they won't willingly accept it "for their own good" and the supposed "greater good" of society. Such a thing is utterly patronizing and paternalistic, but we see it in so many other areas of life that few of us hardly even notice it anymore. So when people claim that bring back a (presumably universal) draft would somehow be a panacea for whatever ails society, there will always be some people who listen and agree. But regardless of how one feels about that and the limits of social engineering in a free society, it is literally the WORST argument there is for forcing people against their will to do something with as much gravitas (and danger) as military service. Regardless of what ancillary utilitarian benefits there may be to a draft, it all comes back to Machiavelli versus Kant once again. If we truly believe that human beings are ends in themselves and not just means to an end, then conscription is automatically a non-starter.

Otherwise, it is a Machiavellian solution in search of a problem, whatever that problem may be.

And all this is before we even get into the issue of age. As Phil Ochs famously sang in the 1960s, "It's always the old, who lead us to the war, it's always the young who fall". And that remains true to this day. If we really want to "share the sacrifice equally" like some modern conscription advocates claim to want, then by that logic, perhaps we should draft people in their 40s and 50s and beyond too. And of course, the very first to be drafted should be the billionaires, followed by the millionaires, and so on down the pyramid. After all, they are the ones who benefit from it the most, while being historically the most underrepresented. Or even fairer still, perhaps we could have "consensual conscription" where all wars are put up to a (non-secret) popular vote, and those who vote yes are drafted as needed, followed by those who abstained, and those who voted no would be exempt from the draft. But otherwise, there is really no such thing as an equitable draft, since drafts are by their very nature discriminatory.

Finally, there also sometimes is brought up the idea that being back the draft would somehow help the youth rights movement. It is true that the lowering of the voting age, age of majority, and drinking age from 21 to 18 was partly spurred by the Vietnam draft and the idea that it was wrong for someone to be considered old enough to die for their country but too young to vote, drink, etc. But guess what? The existence of a draft was neither necessary nor sufficient to effect such a change. First, the draft was in effect with a draft age of 18 from 1941-1946 and from 1948 to 1973, and yet it took three decades until 1971 to lower the voting age and until 1973 to lower the drinking age and age of majority in most states to 18. And meanwhile, Canada and the UK didn't have any draft since 1945 and 1960, respectively, and yet they still managed to lower the age for full adult rights to 18 by the early 1970s, which then became an international consensus. And no Western country, draft or no draft, raised its drinking age from 18 back to 21 except the USA in the 1980s and Lithuania in 2018, the latter country doing so after they brought back the draft in 2016. And in general, countries that currently have significant conscription don't seem to be more youth-rights friendly than those who don't.

It's more likely that demographics were the biggest factor: in 1968, fully half of the American population was under 18, and a vast majority was under 25. The same was true in many other countries well. Thus they had a strength in numbers that we wouldn't see in today's ageing population. Bringing back the draft would almost certainly backfire on the youth rights movement today, even if it may invigorate the anti-war movement all the same.

So let's put this zombie idea to rest once and for all. If WWIII happens, then all bets are off of course, but in any case, it is NOT a net benefit to the youth rights movement.

And to those who still think we should bring back the draft, we say, "YOU FIRST!" Go on. (crickets)

(Mic drop)

Monday, June 16, 2025

No War With Iran!

The legendary Senator Bernie Sanders once again hits the nail right on the head:

The TSAP does not take a position on whether or not Iran "deserved" the attack. And granted, Israel as a sovereign nation has a right to defend itself from existential threats in general. That said, launching a preemptive strike on Iran while the U.S.-Iran negotiations were still in progress was NOT a wise move, and is at best a very risky strategy. And it is really, really reaching at best to claim "self-defense" for a preemptive strike in the absence of truly imminent danger. The case for that is about as strong as the case for claiming "self-defense" in a bar fight turned deadly that one had clearly provoked. Which is to say, not very strong.

And it has escalated from there since, of course.

And make no mistake, we unequivocally believe that regardless, this is NOT America's war, and we should NOT be dragged into it. Period. Inflaming it any further can VERY easily turn it into WWIII. America absolutely needs to engage diplomatically with both countries to help reach a peace deal quickly before this escalates any further still.

CEASEFIRE NOW.

You KNOW things are bad when The Notorious MTG suddenly starts to sound like the voice of reason!

(Mic drop)

UPDATE: On June 21, 2025, Trump went ahead and ordered the airstrikes of three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, with bunker-buster bombs. Clearly, he is being reckless. We better HOPE that Iran turns out to be a "paper tiger", and that no further escalations will occur. Seriously.

CEASEFIRE NOW. On ALL sides. YESTERDAY.

Sunday, June 15, 2025

Happy No Kings Day! (Part Deux)

A picture is worth a thousand words:

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Happy No Kings Day!

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Trump Could End This All Yesterday, If He Wanted To

Make no mistake, the riots in Los Angeles had started out as peaceful protests against ICE arbitrarily rounding up perceived undocumented migrants without due process, in schools, workplaces, and even day laborers in front of Home Depot. That was before ICE agents got violent with the protestors, and then Trump further inflamed the situation by federalizing the National Guard and even sending in the Marines. This is what dictators do, not democracies!

Trump could end all of this yesterday by ordering ICE and any troops to stand down immediately, and halting the raids and deportations at once. But he won't unless his hand is forced by either the courts (unlikely since they are in his pocket) or, more likely, the court of public opinion, particularly from his own base. That is literally the primary purpose of protest, after all--to sway enough people, ultimately including those in power and their enforcers, to join the right side of history.

To any police, agents, or troops reading this, now is the time to ask yourselves: which side are you on? The United States of America, or the Benighted Snakes of Amerikkka? Then choose wisely. History will NOT be kind to those on the wrong side of it!

Sunday, June 8, 2025

This Is NOT Normal!

Make no mistake: Trump federalizing the California National Guard to quash mostly peaceful protests in Los Angeles is NOT normal! This is NOT something one would even remotely expect to see in an established democratic nation at all. Rather this is the stuff of totalitarian and authoritarian states and banana republics. Especially since the protests are against ICE carrying out raids and mass deportations, rounding people up without any semblance of due process. Again, this is NOT normal and NOT acceptable!

Thursday, June 5, 2025

The Bromance Is Over

Well, well, well....it looks like the Musk-Trump Bromance is now over, and MAGA is becoming a circular firing squad as we speak. Get your popcorn 🍿 🍿 🍿 🍿 🍿 😁 😁 😁 😁 😁