Here’s a few examples: Sarah Sanders, Press Secretary to President Trump, was one of a party of eight who wanted to have a meal at a quaint restaurant in Lexington, VA. The owner, responding apparently to the demands from her staff, told Ms. Sanders that even though she already had ordered her meal, that as an employee of President Trump, she was-not-welcome-and-take-your-business-elsewhere. And, proving another difference between a conservative and a progressive, she did so, quietly and politely. The owner of the restaurant must have been especially excited with the headiness of the moment, for when Ms. Sanders’ family moved to the restaurant across the street, where they had hoped the standards weren’t as strict, the first owner followed and attempted to have service denied there as well. Now, this isn’t the sort of publicity that burnishes the image of the local Chamber of Commerce, and the owner has resigned from “Main Street Lexington.” The restaurant apparently displays, but does not understand, this quote from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
BY JOHN SHAFFER The party of tolerance and compassion has been in rare form the past few days – and before anyone takes offense, your editor knows that President Trump has spoken some inflammatory words and has acted way too often more as a street fighter from the big city than as the President of the United States. He has told some tasteless jokes and made some thoughtless remarks. By the way so have many other politicians of both parties – but it seems that when the President does it, the social justice warriors take offense, while when someone on the progressive left does it. . . the general reaction is it’s true and he had it coming. But the theme of this essay is not the President, but those who voted for, work for, support or at least tolerate him, because it seems that the left decided to take direct action.
Here’s a few examples: Sarah Sanders, Press Secretary to President Trump, was one of a party of eight who wanted to have a meal at a quaint restaurant in Lexington, VA. The owner, responding apparently to the demands from her staff, told Ms. Sanders that even though she already had ordered her meal, that as an employee of President Trump, she was-not-welcome-and-take-your-business-elsewhere. And, proving another difference between a conservative and a progressive, she did so, quietly and politely. The owner of the restaurant must have been especially excited with the headiness of the moment, for when Ms. Sanders’ family moved to the restaurant across the street, where they had hoped the standards weren’t as strict, the first owner followed and attempted to have service denied there as well. Now, this isn’t the sort of publicity that burnishes the image of the local Chamber of Commerce, and the owner has resigned from “Main Street Lexington.” The restaurant apparently displays, but does not understand, this quote from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” BY JOHN SHAFFER The Trump administration has many opponents – dare we say enemies? – in both major political parties, in the mainstream news media, academia, Hollywood, the bureaucracy, most foreign governments, all living former Presidents, et al, et al; but the entity that causes the single most damage to the Trump agenda is none of those. No, it is President Trump himself, who seems always to be making some spur of the moment thoughtless comment that makes all of the above irate, and who has a skill for self-inflicting wounds that exceeds what most of us are capable of.
The tariff mess is a great example, for if there is one thing that could upset our roaring economy or detract from our record unemployment rate, a growth rate that exceeds anything that the previous administration could produce, and the highest “country is on the right track” rankings in 12 years, it would be a nasty trade war. Yep, nothing can get more people upset faster than reducing their job prospects, raising the prices of the goods they purchase, and (when the inevitable retaliation comes) making the goods they produce more expensive for customers living in other countries. Other than that, high protective tariffs also perpetuate inefficiencies and high prices in many industries that no longer have to worry about competition. Sure, we need to revamp the systems through which international trade is governed and regulated, but President Trump seems to be going about in about the worst way possible. Perhaps he is doing this to get everyone's attention - to establish a negotiating point that will be used to leverage major changes in current practices, but his style has been off-putting. BY JOHN SHAFFER President Trump's opening to North Korea may have advanced the cause of peace, and, just as Nixon may have been the only President who could have opened China, Mr. Trump may have been the only one who could have accomplished the North Korea initiative. The expectation is that if a leftish President, or an “establishment” President had done the reaching, there would have been an outcry from traditional anti-communist opinion; however, since it was done by a Republican, such opinion was muted or softened. It also took a Reagan to make a deal (and what effectively proved to be the final deal) with the Soviet Union. We presently are at a similar point in America’s dealings with North Korea: the “make America great again” President likely can get away with saying things and doing things that a Democrat President could not.
BY JOHN SHAFFER • Remember the campaign to raise the minimum wage? The “Fight for $15”? Well, it has been successful in many places, and we expect it eventually to be the industry standard in fast-food. This week’s news informs us that McDonald’s already has installed self-service kiosks in about 25% of its American restaurants and expects to install them in 1,000 stores every three months for the next two years, which means that almost every McDonald’s will have one by the end of 2020. Does anyone think that may have anything to do with a minimum wage twice what the present US minimum wage is? Well, it just might be that kiosks that can operate for far less than $15 an hour (and don’t have to be paid health care or benefits) would have taken over a lot of jobs sooner or later. We suspect the successful “Fight for $15” has made it happen much sooner.
• You probably have heard that the President cancelled his invitation to the Philadelphia Eagles for the “traditional” Rose Garden celebration for their championship. Apparently the Eagles had said that about 70 members of the team would be present, but this week said that only about ten or so could make it on the original date so asked the President to reschedule the event for a week later – |
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