Racial discrimination not 'progressive,' always wrong        

"We all bleed the red blood of patriots," Donald Trump once emphasized of America's racially-diverse citizenry. He would lead America forward into fairness for all.

But for years, ignoring the 45th president's heartfelt declaration, Democrats both elected and of grassroots precincts have deceitfully accused him and those of us in the patriotic MAGA popular upswell  of harboring racial animus. That they have repeatedly lodged that odious lie in hopes of realizing electoral gain is beyond reasonable disputation. 

They aren't good people.

Situationally posturing as opponents of morally despicable racist ideologies, such liberals are now conspicuously silent on the internationally-reported pro-segregation views of Boston's unrepentant racist Mayor Michelle Wu.

An obvious example is that of CNN's reprehensible Jake Tapper. The consistently rebarbative fake-news host has habitually (and without offering cause that could withstand serious scrutiny) assailed Trump on racial grounds. 

To my knowledge -- and I just conducted online research -- neither he nor his ethically-shoddy employer have accorded racist Democrat Wu the castigation and denunciation she abundantly merits. 

(It should not go unrecalled that liberal Tapper once 'joked' in a broadcast that Trump-supporter Roger Stone "might enjoy" being raped in prison. Being that his repulsive quip was carried by CNN, no known professional consequences ensued.)

Racial bigotry and its practical applications are always wicked. They uniformly lack logical basis. Racism deserves equally vigiorous condemnation every time it rises, and in whatever circumstance it does so. 

A currently faddish fancy holds that racial discrimination against White Americans is a rational counter to historic injustices. That foul notion has given persons like Boston's Michelle Wu, who were predisposed to bigotry, encouragement to champion it publicly.

In 2023, progressive Democrats (especially wet-eared and campus-mobbing ones) advocate selective racism, just as increasing numbers of them feel emboldened to rail openly against Jews and Israel, and in support of Palestinian voter-sanctioned Hamas terrorists.  

It should be stressed, of course, that not every rank-and-file Democrat clings to racism. To suggest that would be foolish and unfair. But many do seem to. And their partisan fellows apparently find that acceptable.

This Iowan is Catholic, MAGA, and proud to be both

During a recent exchange on one Facebook political page, I was confronted with the unfortunate reality that timeworn anti-Catholic calumnies persist in 2023. They're even regurgitated by beknighted interlopers who've attached themselves to the MAGA movement of which I am a longtime, enthusiastic member.

Catholic believers are "papist idolators," my internet opponent sneered. He smeared us as "child abusers," thundered that Pope Francis is "satanic," and predicted a looming political storm that would not be a "welcome time" for us.

My rejoinder was terse. "Trump recognizes the significant contributions Catholics have made to America throughout our nation's history, and he stands in opposition to bigotry against us. Perhaps the MAGA movement is not an appropriate vehicle for you."

After all, in a 2016 letter to the Catholic Leadership Conference, Trump had been adamant: "The United States was and is strengthened through Catholic men, women, priests, and religious Sisters ministering to people, marching in the civil rights movement, educating millions of children in Catholic schools, creating respected health care institutions, and in their founding and helping the ongoing growth of the pro-life cause. 

"I have a message for Catholics," Trump continued. "I will be there for you. I will stand with you. I will fight for you."

Bigotry against Catholics like that vented by the online antagonist has endured throughout American history. Not too many decades ago, the Ku Klux Klan propagandized against Catholics. Whenever a baby was born into an Irish Catholic family, went an old KKK line, a pistol was buried and a map to it drawn.

That way, on the eventual day of the mythical Vatican-led takeover of America, Irish Catholic kids could grab their maps, dig up their pistols, and join the revolution.

Historic political illustrations of bigotry aimed at Catholics include the hysterical reactions to the presidential candidacies of Al Smith in 1928 and John F. Kennedy in 1960. And in 2017, pro-abortion Senate Judiciary Committee member and since-deceased Democrat Diane Feinstein implied Catholic, Trump-supported Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett would not be fair. Feinstein charged "the dogma lives loudly within you." 

Even as I pen this essay, the Biden Department of Justice is under congressional investigation for infiltrating Catholic churches and spying on members who hold fast to traditional, catechism-consistent perspectives.

Just as the world's most learned scholar is no more than a speck beside God's wisdom and omniscience, so earthly measuring is insufficient for condemning the Catholic Church He instituted for our salvational benefit. Attacking it is as futile as trying to topple a stone castle with a papier mache sword.

The late Bishop Fulton Sheen advised persons exploring churchly options to "Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which, in seasons of bigotry, men say must be destroyed..."

That astute observation might make my online antagonist's ears burn. Were he to read it.

Trump: Iowa MAGA will 'never again' support Kim Reynolds 

Photo credit:The Hill

 Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses will be held next January 15. All Americans who follow political events will be glued to their screens. The candidates who take first in their respective contests will be well-situated for other states' subsequent ones. 

President Donald Trump resisted calls to move Iowa to a later spot on the schedule, and preserved its historic, influential status. Being a lifelong Hawkeye State resident, I took particular notice and appreciated Trump's resoluteness on Iowa's behalf. So did scores of my fellow state citizens.  

I was painfully aware when, in early January, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds betrayed Trump by publicly endorsing feeble competitor Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. (DeSantis later turned in a meager performance, during his Nov. 30 debate with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.)

I write of betrayal, because Trump had endorsed Reynold's gubernatorial bid. He says she sought his backing. And this is how she repays him.

In years preceding her disloyalty to Trump, Reynolds did some fine things: In 2018, she signed the fetal heartbeat bill. In March of 2019, she endorsed a bill requiring universities to protect free speech. And owing to her appointments, our state's Supreme Court shifted to sensible conservative status.

But that the Iowa chief executive betrayed Trump and embraced DeSantis has larger implications than its immediate circumstance. Her foolish decision can be interpreted as indifference toward regular Iowans, a majority of whom support the former president.

An October NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom survey of likely Iowa GOP caucus attendees found Trump enjoying 43% support. DeSantis and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley tied for second place, each at a paltry 16%. 

Regular Iowans march proudly in the MAGA movement, Reynold's backstabbing being of no consequence to us.

"My life was a lot better when Trump was in office," one Bettendorf, Iowa respondent told NBC, earlier this year. "I felt safe; things were cheaper; he helped out the farmers and my parents. Things were better -- plain and simple."

Rumors of the Iowa governor's impending endorsement of DeSantis circulated in days preceding it. Trump posted a characteristically devastating assessment on Truth Social: "If and when Kim Reynolds of Iowa endorses Ron DeSanctimonious, who is absolutely dying in the polls in Iowa and Nationwide, it will be the end of her political career in that MAGA would never support her again, just as MAGA will never support DeSanctimonious again."

He continued. "Two extremely disloyal people is, however, a beautiful thing to watch. They can now remain loyal to each other because nobody wants them!!!"

A November poll by the Trafalgar Group found basically the same results as the survey cited previously. It asked 1,084 Iowa GOP "likely voters" who they would support were the election held now. 

Again, Trump won the backing of 43% -- nearly half. DeSantis trailed far behind, with only a mere 17.5% selecting him.

The 45th president's vows to re-energize the economy, halt illegal immigration, and restore America's preeminence in the world enjoy broad Iowa voter approval, particularly given the wretched Biden years.

I would speculate that once the former president has won the Iowa caucus and pocketed the national Republican nomination, Kim Reynolds may hasten to get a late ticket on the victory-bound Trump Train.

But as far as her future in politics, Trump may be right. Iowa voters have long memories.