Commentary

Business Giving Us the Business

Dave Davis Commentary, Policy, The Future Party, Uncategorized

“I believe, as a conservative, the job of government is, in the main, to stay out of the business of business,” said former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. He added, “I don’t think we should be heavily regulating business.” He offered these comments in criticism of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ feud with Disney. He is joined in this disapproval by former South Carolina Governor Nicki Haley, New Hamshire Governor Chris Sununu, and of course, former president Donald Trump.

How do we account for their support for Disney versus the Florida Governor?”I believe, as a conservative, the job of government is, in the main, to stay out of the business of business,” said former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. He added, “I don’t think we should be heavily regulating business.” He offered these comments in criticism of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ feud with Disney. He is joined in this disapproval by former South Carolina Governor Nicki Haley, New Hamshire Governor Chris Sununu, and of course, former president Donald Trump. How do we account for their support for Disney versus the Florida Governor?

The bout started when Disney opposed Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act. The law prohibits “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

 Further, “…at least seven Florida counties that could remove parents from important conversations about their children’s gender identity. The law now makes these policies illegal.” Parents now must be notified of their child’s “transitioning. While labeled “the Don’t Say Gay Bil,” it, in fact, never uses the term “Gay.” 

In what world do “conservatives” support a company whose principal market is young children, campaigning for the sexualization of 3rd graders and younger? Do they concur parents shouldn’t be told of their children contemplating taking dangerous drugs and getting surgeries?

The ire of these contenders centers on Desantis returning fire by changing Disney’s special governing powers. Punishing the company for threatening the state democratically passing a law isn’t acceptable to them. 

Make no mistake, Disney was threatening Florida. We’ve seen this show before. A significant company comes out against some bills it doesn’t like even though it doesn’t directly affect its business and receives favorable press from the mainstream media. Soon it’s joined by others. The state loses business and significant events. The state is hurt.

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So What Do We Do?

Dave Davis Commentary, Policy, The Future Party, Uncategorized

My last post pointed out that the majority is now at the mercy of some minorities, and our communities are declining. Our political system has fallen prey to extreme minorities, but a reader asked how to fix it. I still think some past recommendations could make a difference. Maybe we can build on them.

Political parties exist for only one reason, to win elections. Primaries subvert the party’s mission instead of finding attractive positions on issues and finding candidates likely to succeed in implementing them. Candidates exposing extreme and generally unpopular positions can appeal to just enough primary voters to take places on the ballot rather than somebody who could win. I covered this in the series “The Future Party.”

If the Republicans and Democrats weren’t committed to primaries, would they run Biden or Trump? The two significant parties are frightened at the prospect; the new “No Labels Party” looks at candidates appealing to the broad middle range of voters who could win. If they weren’t likely to nominate two old guys most people don’t want; they wouldn’t be so terrified. At least “No Labels” knows what it’s in business to achieve.  

A curveball in this scenario could be one of these two candidates pulling out or having to pull out in favor of a younger, more popular candidate. The other party would be stuck with an unpopular oldster. Given their ages, health might result in such an unexpected outcome.

Another impediment to majorities regaining control is our segmented media. Most media outlets aim at slices rather than appealing to general audiences, and presenting information deviating from what that crowd believes could cost them big time.

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Tyranny of the Minority

Dave Davis Commentary, Policy, Uncategorized

To have a functioning society, we expect the government to provide a framework allowing us to go about our everyday lives without fear for the safety of our families, property, or ourselves and protect the vast majority from those seeking to threaten or restrict us. 

In our Republic, we’re supposed to let the majority rule on most things while protecting minorities or individuals from the “tyranny of the majority.” The fear of even transitory majorities taking advantage of others led to the promise of history’s first written protections even against the majority to gain acceptance of our Constitution—the first ten amendments, known as the” Bill of Rights,” allayed fears. These protections are a large part of the genius of our constitutional government.

Minorities take over our streets, making many parts of our cities disastrous. Minorities commit crimes with small or no price. Too much of a good thing can make you sick. In many cases today, the tail wags the dog.

How did our protection of minorities and even individuals morph into a “tyranny of the minority”? In his book “Rules for Radicals, ” community organizer Saul Alinsky proposed a rule that makes “the enemy live up to their own rules.” This rule has meant appealing to the majority’s best nature to lure the majority to bend to your will.

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The Wrong Man

Dave Davis Commentary, Policy, Uncategorized

In the past, I’ve said bureaucracies are a form of permanent government. The FBI, CIA, and IRS wield immense power. No matter who we elect, these people stay and can have an agenda. If these organizations use their capabilities to affect the choice of their nominal elected masters, democracy is in trouble.

These organizations attempted to interfere in the last two presidential elections. If we didn’t know it already from the years-long Mueller investigation turned up no evidence of collusion between Donald Trump and Russia, the recently released Durham Report details how the FBI pursued a case that originated in the Hillary Clinton Campaign with no factual basis.

The Mueller investigation cast a pall over the early years of the Trump administration. Bias towards one political party and its candidate is a central theme in the Durham report. However, it didn’t cost Trump a narrow 2016 win.

We can’t say the same about the 2022 election. The New York Post broke the Hunter Biden laptop story a few weeks before the election, indicating at least highly unethical behavior on the part of the Biden Family. Within 48 hours, 51 former intelligence senior people signed and released a letter claiming it looked like a Russian operation. The letter received wide media circulation, while some media outlets banned linking to the New York Post Story. Biden used the letter to blunt Trump’s attempt to bring up what was found on Hunter Biden’s laptop in the last debate before the election.

The FBI had the computer for months and had to know if it was Hunter Biden’s and if the contents were genuine. The Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, said there was no evidence of a link between Russia and the laptop; he received little press notice. FBI Director Christopher Wray’s silence was deafening. 

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The End Of Discussion

Dave Davis Commentary, Policy, Uncategorized

Many in the media cheered on Dominion’s defamation suit against Fox News. They reveled in embarrassing emails showing some Fox on-air personalities doubted the Trump camp’s assertions of rigging voting machines. Going to trial might’ve produced even more damaging information on Fox and billions in damages, destroying the network.

Fox and Dominion settled out of court $787.5 million. Some were relieved it was over before Fox suffered more significant damage while cutting off the harm disappointed others. Both sides will rue this settlement.

The crux of Dominion’s case is Fox’s on-air opinion people allowed Trump representatives to make false assertions about Dominion voting machines on their programs. Emails showed some Fox luminaries had grave doubts about the Trump camp’s position. To them, his case was unsupported by facts. 

None of the Fox people questioning the Trump position were experts in the field. Being Fox News, many favored Trump’s re-election and expected to give his lawyers the space to make their case. Their opinion is just that, opinion. In any case, a president’s attornies and representatives making claims is news. Controversy is their business.

Let both sides present their case and let the viewers decide.

Fox on-air personality Maria Bartiromo never hid the fact she favored Trump and gave the Trump people space on her shows to present their case. She also invited the Dominion CEO to present his side. He refused.

As with most controversies, People in media can have mixed thoughts on the fairness of elections. In the future, differing opinions may be limited in media for fear of being sued. The last thing we need to do is cut off discussion.

Recently we’ve had ongoing controversies over the Covid vaccines—people such as Alex Berenson and now Presidential candidate Robrt Kennedy Jr. cast a critical eye on them. I praised Berenson’s original book on the Covid lockdowns but was startled by his subsequent book disparaging the vaccines. It turns out Berenson was right to point out the vaccines didn’t prevent covid spread, as I and so many wrongly assumed. 

Kennedy has a long history of opposing vaccines. However, in some circumstances, his opposition to the covid Vaccines is on firm ground. However, he is polling 20% for the Democratic presidential nomination. One could see it as a stopped clock is right twice a day, but he made some excellent points. Shouldn’t he be heard?

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