Il Duce Would Understand

Dave Davis Commentary, Policy, Uncategorized

Lucky me, I downloaded Parler to see what it was all about, and it disappeared. It seems they violated the terms of service of the “Big Tech” companies it relied on for its business. Apple, Google, and Amazon claimed Parler allowed violent content on its platform. Without the ability to acquire new users and web services, it was simply out of business.  

On the surface, this seems to be well within private businesses’ right to run their firms as they feel fit. As one with libertarian tendencies, I would generally agree they don’t have to give the free-speech protections of the first amendment to employees or those who do business. Still, it seemed the prohibitions almost always adversely affected those on the right. Similar content on the left never gets the same reaction. The measures inflicted by the Big Tech companies align with the goals of the Democrats. It just doesn’t seem right.  

It turns out all this might not be legal. Vivek Ramaswamy & Jed Rubinfeld, in a recent  Wall Street Journal OP-ED, pointed out, the government can’t induce or conspire with a private entity to do something Constitutionally prohibited from doing itself. I’m not a constitutional lawyer, but reading through the cases they cited, I wouldn’t want to defend big tech in front of a supreme court with six conservatives. Some of those Justices went through various degrees of “cancelling” by the Democrats. They might match Democratic control of the Presidency and both Congress houses with Big Tech’s lopsided actions in their favor. These actions are occurring while leading Democrats are proposing anti-trust measures. This picture looks terrible.

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Aftermath

Dave Davis Commentary, COVID-19, Policy, The Future Party, Uncategorized

When Donald Trump became President in 2017, I expressed my concern for the Republican Party. On January 30, 2017, in a post, “And then the Republicans,” I questioned whether the Republican leaders in Congress could work with Trump. I asked, “This sets up a clash between Trump and the congressional leaders. Do the conservative leader’s tame Trump, so he obediently signs on to their program, or does he use his followers to bully Congress into submission?” For almost all four years, to my surprise, Trump and the leadership worked relatively well together. The fact the Democrats came down with a severe case of “Trump Derangement Syndrome ruled out any relationship with them. Democratic cries of Russian collusion will lead to impeachment precluded the Democrats and left only the Republicans. The GOP-Trump partnership resulted in a mass of conservative judges, tax reform, a strengthened military, and regulation reduction. The economy did well by a more significant swath of people.

This marriage of convenience was exposed during and after the election. When it looked as if the President would lose, he attacked mail-in voting. He told his supporters to avoid it in favor of in-person voting instead of using the pre-election time to getting their supporters to vote early. This stance hurt Republican early efforts. Even if you plan to vote on election day, something could come up preventing it. This is especially true in this time of COVID-19. In this close election, this proved to be foolish. The President seemed to want an excuse for losing while the party tried to win up and down the ballot. The alliance was fraying.

After he appeared to lose, Trump attacked the outcome. As I’ve written earlier, a close look at an election where widespread first time mail-in voting was done was certainly warranted. We needed to be assured the election results were correct. A wave of recounts and court rulings confirming they were followed. Even Bill Barr, the Attorney General, failed to find fraud that would’ve changed the result. Yet, Trump refused to accept the outcome. Worse, he attacked fellow Republicans. In GOP controlled states of Arizona and, more fatally, Georgia, President viciously attacked the Governor and Secretary of State of his own party. With two crucial Senate seats to decide the Senate’s control on January 5, a total Republican effort was needed to win.

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Words For Me, But Not For Thee

Dave Davis Commentary, Uncategorized

New year’s week is the time of year when it is traditional to look at the upcoming year. Because of the great importance of the Georgia Senate elections, it seems prudent to wait until we see the outcome. If the Republicans win one or both, Mitch McConnell will be a significant force. With the master legislative leader in charge of the Senate, getting much of anything done in Washington will need his approval. Joe and Mitch will share Capital leadership. A GOP loss of both Senate seats would allow President Biden and the Democrats much more leeway to enact their program. Predictions and comments are best to put off till after Jan. 5. 

I’ll take this time to discuss something that recently came to my attention. Perhaps, you’ve read or heard of a New York Times story about a young girl tossed off the Tennessee cheerleading squad and forced out of the University. All because as a 15yr. Old, she posted a three-second video waving a paper and saying, “I got my learners permit N-word.” Years later, when she entered the University, a former classmate posted the clip all over the internet. The bi-racial young man said he did it “to teach her a lesson.”

Using racial or ethnic epithets are cruel and inflicts pain. I don’t find Jews being called “Slavers” by Louis Farrakhan exchanging pleasantries. This kind of thing has no place in a civilized society. Good manners avoid hurt feelings. But does it apply in this situation?

The high-school freshman posting the video wasn’t using the F-word out of meanness or cruelty. She was using it in a happy announcement of her learner’s permit. Where did she ever get the idea the F-word was in any way upbeat?

It may come as a surprise to some that white kids are big consumers of Rap music. Rap musicians wouldn’t be making near as much if they only appealed to minorities. A lot of white kids think Rap is with it, maybe a little subversive. Rap is all about the words, and the F-word is prominent in the music. If you think rap is cool, it’s because you believe the lyrics are cool.  

Can you think of any music where you could have your life destroyed simply by uttering some of its lyrics? Maybe in a totalitarian state, an anti-government song could get you in trouble, but a single word?

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Are We Becoming the USSR?

Dave Davis Commentary, Policy, The Long Journey to "More", Uncategorized
Artificial Sun" nuclear fusion reactor
Artificial Sun” nuclear fusion reactor

1.5% wind and solar, 2.6% Hydro, and 1.7% nuclear are the amounts of the world’s energy consumption these sources provided in 2019. The other 94% came from fossil fuels. Yet, much of the advanced world is setting limits and goals for certain products and actions for the future. Japan plans to stop the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. This plan is similar to moves by California and several European nations. By the mid-2030s, if you want a new car, you’ll only be able to buy an electric one.

This program sounds like part of a government 15-year plan. A significant industry will have to revamp its products in a specific time frame or else. Wow, a time-specific government-directed industrial plan. Can we all sing a chorus of “Back in the USSR?” In my series “The Long Journey To More,” I expressed the feeling capitalistic countries would out-perform China or any other totalitarian state. Greater flexibility would fuel a growing efficiency-innovation gap. A totalitarian government would double down on planning until it ended up as a closed society such as North Korea or collapse like the Soviet Union.

This assertion assumed we would avoid top-down planning. The actions we are doing in climate change move us away from a supportive government allowing competing solutions. Ordering us to buy only electric new autos sets up a bias towards existing technologies. The objective is less carbon. Most people agree excess carbon in the atmosphere is contributing to global warming. All things being equal, people choose cleaner carbon-free energy sources. At present, Wind or Solar have it politically over carbon-emitting production. Unfortunately, the wind doesn’t always blow, and the sun doesn’t always shine. Nuclear is reliable but under cost and regulatory constraints. With the new administration, new fossil fuel use will be difficult and discouraged.

Now we are looking forward to millions upon millions of motor vehicles needing a plugin. The additional electricity will have to come from somewhere. Irrational fear raising costs blocks nuclear. Governments are increasingly are limiting or making it difficult to increase fossil fuel use.With realities after 2035, industries have no choice but to make significant capital spending plans utilizing Solar and wind.

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Are We Doing Our Best to Save Lives?

Dave Davis Commentary, COVID-19, Policy

I was watching an interview with Health and Human Services Secretay Alex Asar on TV. The conversation was mostly about the rollout of the COViD-19 vaccines. However, when he asked about the new treatments, my ears perked up. The treatments that put President Trump right back n his feet after being infected. Secretary Asar said the combination of monoclonal Antibodies, Remdesivir, and steroids were now widely available. However, in many cases, he lamented doctors weren’t using them early enough—this problem-centered on monoclonal antibodies. Waiting till a patient ends up in the hospital may be too late to be effective.

Confirmation of this problem wasn’t long in coming. On Face the Nation, Eli Lily CEO David Ricks complained his company’s monoclonal antibody treatment was piling up unused in warehouses. The monoclonal antibody regimen needs infusion centers. We’ve done this for chemotherapy for decades. Of course, they take place in different places. Ricks implored people at high-risk testing positive or with symptoms to ask their doctor about the treatment’s availability. Do we have to ask for the treatment the President received?

This revelation was dismaying. We have known almost from the pandemic’s beginning the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions are the ones most at risk. The vast majority of these people are under a doctor’s care. How hard is it to start the regimen as soon as someone reports symptoms or tests positive? The doctors should know where the patient can get treated and send them there. If it isn’t available, the doctors need to determine why not and push to rectify the situation. The at-risk are the ones jamming the hospital ICUs and, unfortunately, dying.

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