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Over at Gab.ai, I “gabbed” this (not tweeted – I’m no longer using Twitter):

It seems that lots of stories (the Oct surprises?) are coming out about Trump sexually harrassing women. So he is vilified by the Dems now while Bill Clinton is still revered as a rock store by Dems (well, at least as a minor one) for having done the same things?

Also this: Jonah Goldberg, “Character is Destiny.”

If you’re shocked that Donald Trump was capable of being this much of a pig, you let yourself be deluded. If you’re surprised that the Clinton campaign — or some allied party — found something like this, you willfully chose to live in a fantasyland. If you think there isn’t more of this stuff waiting, you’re doubling down on your delusions and fantasies.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending Trump.  I neither

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I was not happy when politics intruded into one of my favorite sports when Colin Kaepernick decided to inject Black Lives Matter into the game.  As a political junkie, I certainly have discussed much these last 10 years at GraniteGrok. However and unlike Progressives, I don’t bring politics into areas “just because I’m there” – I will wait until someone else does first.  And there are certain times when I keep quiet completely – it’s not my place and that’s how I feel.  If I am watching football, I want to see football – period.  It seems that the NFL management has yet to learn this lesson-in-process (emphasis mine, reformatted):

Now, with the start of this year’s football season, we’ve watched a certain second-string quarterback and social justice warrior lead disrespectful expressions during the national anthem and other players have jumped on the bandwagon, offering the black power salute as well.

Everyday Americans have reacted. Until this year, the NFL’s ratings steadily grew with each passing year. This season, the NFL’s ratings are in a free fall, with ratings already down to 2007-levels. Since the start of this season, ratings have dropped 17% for Sunday Night Football alone, costing broadcasters (and by extension. the league) precious ad revenue. Imagine the league negotiating for the 2017’s season, trying to command this year’s ad rates with 2007’s audience numbers (or 1970s viewership, if current trends continue).

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Not a compelling message is how I ended one of my comments over at, where else, Treehugger at another Katherine Martinko screed about how much she hates meat eating (“Meat-eating is on the rise in the United States“).  Part of it:

In bad news for environmental, health, and animal welfare advocates, the latest numbers show that U.S. meat consumption is on an upswing, thanks to dropping prices.  So much for all those Meatless Mondays. The message that it’s important to cut back on meat is not getting through to Americans, who continue to pound back the pounds of beef, chicken, and pork at an exponential rate.

…It’s hugely frustrating that the ‘go meat-free’ message has largely been ignored. All those documentaries, the books, the online lectures, the op-eds, the campaigns and pledges, etc. haven’t really worked, if meat-eating is on the rise once again.

Oh, it is deary, as we’re bombarded by it with a constant din.  However, we’re flat out ignoring it.  Fine for

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Instapundit points over to Coyoteblog on an issue that is of high priority in this age – somehow that profits are ugly, mean, and totally unnecessary.  It’s the root of all things, for gosh sakes!  Hmm, certainly those of us who have ever signed the front of a paycheck understand that.  I also do wonder, in the story below, if the ranger really understands that without profits, he’d have no job at all? Blame it on our government schools that can’t teach the rudiments of basic economics for without profits, you’re Venezuela.  Emphasis mine:

In Defense of Profits — Why They Are At Least As Moral as Wages

Quick background:  my company privately operates public parks, making our money solely from the entry fees voluntarily paid by visitors and campers.  We don’t get paid a single dollar of tax money.

A major partner of ours is the US Forest Service (USFS), which actually operates more recreation sites than any other agency in the world (the National Park Service has a higher profile and the Corps of Engineers has more visitors, but the USFS is the most ubiquitous).  Despite the USFS being an early pioneer of using private companies to reduce the operating costs of parks and campgrounds, the USFS still has a large number of employees opposed to what we do.  The most typical statement I hear from USFS employees that summarizes this opposition — and it is quite common to hear it — is that “It is wrong to make a profit on public lands.“

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The concept of the Second Amendment as a natural born right is an interesting one which merits a closer look. I’ve written here in the past about my own rather dubious view of the concept of “natural born” rights based on the idea that “rights” are a concept we install for ourselves using the government as a tool to ensure them. But there’s no question about the idea of Constitutional rights for Americans. We are regularly reminded that all of our rights – even those of free speech and religion – have limits and that’s basically true. But unlike the treatment of the right to keep, and more importantly bear arms, you don’t need to check in with the government before you begin exercising them. You don’t need a permit to speak in the public square and someone will be along presently to remind you that you’ve overstepped your bounds if you wind up falsely shouting “Fire!” in a movie theater. There is no license required to go check out all the local churches when you move to a new town… you just do it. Should you decide on one full of hippies where they hand out peyote during services you’ll no doubt be hearing from the authorities, but short of that you’ll be fine with no paperwork required.

So how is it that a person who has never broken a single law still needs a permit before getting a gun? It says right in the Constitution that your right to do so shall not be infringed. If you abuse that right then we can forbid you from having firearms, but until that point shouldn’t it be a “natural born right” in the same sense?

I heartily disagree with Shaw that our Rights are

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From Rasmussen:

A sizable number of Americans say they may give the National Football League a pass this year, thanks to the player protests over racial issues.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that nearly one-third (32%) of American Adults say they are less likely to watch an NFL game because of the growing number of Black Lives Matter protests by players on the field. Only 13% say they are more likely to watch a game because of the protests. Just over half (52%) say the protests have no impact on their viewing decisions. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

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This post by Peggy Ryan over at American Thinker pretty much has the right of it – the Progressives, with their constant shoving of politics into everything, are basically ruining everything.  They can’t just leave well enough alone and have to constantly be screeching at us from their positions.  You name it but there’s hardly no place to go without some Progressive policy or stance thrown in our faces.  As I have said on others, I generally don’t post up an entire post but this is good enough to do so. Emphasis mine and let me know what you think about this:

It Finally Happened: Politics Has Ruined Everything Fun

Not that long ago, I could get away from the dystopian news environment and relax.  I’d spend my weekends at the movies, chatting with friends over a latte or watching football on my oversized 4K TV, all things that bring a smile, take me away – just good old-fashioned fun.  But one after another, these treasured pastimes have become something else – a reminder of the dark times we live in, another forum for angry political discourse.  In their zeal to control every aspect of our lives, liberal activists have left no stone unturned.

My first casualty was the movies.  Nothing saves you from reality more than a good flick.  But  one by one, my favorite Hollywood stars publicly inserted themselves into politics.  Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Lawrence, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck are on the growing list of actors and actresses who feel compelled to take stands on issues that have nothing to do with their films.

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