Alex Pretti vs. Ashli Babbitt — a comparison of tragedies

Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer recently compared Congress passing the SAVE Act to the implementation of the infamous Jim Crow laws, which were expressly designed to suppress the voting rights of black Americans right after the Civil War had been fought to grant them those rights. However, the SAVE Act merely requires voters to present a photo ID in order to be able to cast a ballot, which makes his comparison despicable. The irony is so thick you could cut it with a knife--after all, the Democrats gave us Jim Crow 1.0. The Democrats also fought on the wrong side (which were the "slave" states versus free states) of the Civil War. Democrats gave us the Ku Klux Klan. They gave us the infamous Tammany Hall corruption that ruled New York City with an iron fist until Boss Tweed's conviction for embezzlement in 1873. Democrats aren't the good guys. Chuck Schumer, blithering like an idiot They have never been the good guys. Democrats have a l-o-n-g history of fomenting strife between Americans from the party's inception to even today. Andrew Jackson was a Democrat. He was a war hero during the War of 1812 who led the U.S. forces to decisive victory over the British in Battle of New Orleans, but as president, Jackson was an authoritarian who mistreated slaves and Native Americans. He put the Cherokee nation on the infamous "Trail of Tears" despite the Supreme Court's ruling in favor of the Cherokee nation, and thousands of Native Americans died as a result. Bull Connor, George Wallace, and Lester Maddox were all Democrats. Sure, I can think of examples of a few … [Read more...]

Did UGA dodge a bullet with Jared Curtis?

Believe it or not, I'm okay with Jared Curtis changing his mind at the last minute and signing to play for Vanderbilt instead of my favorite team, the University of Georgia Bulldogs. Have I changed my mind in regard to his football skills? Not really. I still think he'll probably be a decent to good college quarterback. He might even turn out to have NFL-caliber talent. Only time will tell. If he turns out to be the next Matthew Stafford, that might affect my future thinking. However, I don't think he will. Why? With Curtis's commitment, Vanderbilt only rose in the recruiting rankings from the mid 40s to 29th, while UGA dropped from 2nd to 6th. The Bulldogs will be just fine. The Dawgs are a very young team that is absolutely loaded, literally oozing with talent. If we don't win a national championship this year, we will be one of the favorites next year. Gunner Stockton has one more year of eligibility, and once he moves on, it will be the fourth year in the program for Ryan Puglisi and the third year for Ryan Montgomery. Every practice has those two quarterbacks of the future taking snaps against one of the best defenses in the SEC. Also, Coach Smart has shown he's not afraid to bring in an experienced transfer player to compete for the job. Should Georgia play Vanderbilt while Curtis is there, I shall not worry too much about losing that game unless the Commodores do some Herculean work to narrow the talent gap between the two programs between now and whoever that future kickoff might take place. Georgia is too talented and too disciplined to lose a … [Read more...]

Why do people think Christopher Hitchens was brilliant?

The late Christopher Hitchens, may he rest in peace, was a popular journalist and outspoken atheist probably most famous for writing the 2007 book titled "God is not Great." Much like Richard Dawkins, his fellow member of the atheistic quartet known as the Four Horsemen, Hitchens made sure the word "God" was the smallest text on his book cover, wanting to make sure his contempt for God was known to everyone willing to listen to him. Not only did Hitchens achieve fame as a writer, he was also considered by many to be a formidable debate opponent, possibly because he was very eloquent, had strong command of the English language, and spoke really fast. Words just effortlessly flowed from his mouth. True, Hitchens was clever, eloquent, and he spoke very fast. But brilliant? That is debatable. For example, during a debate Hitchens once asked, "Why do we have religion in the first place? Why are we having this discussion? Because we are pattern-seeking mammals. It's part of our evolution. We look for patterns. We're designed to look for them and if we can't find a good explanation, we'll come up with a bad one rather than none at all. Most people would rather have a conspiracy theory than no theory. It's very observable that there's a lot of junk science around before good science arrives. Before we have astronomy we have astrology. Before we have chemistry we have alchemy. All these things are derivatives of religion because in a very sinister verse in the Bible that used to upset me when I was forced to listen to it as a little boy. It says, "Seek and ye shall … [Read more...]

Will Donald Trump Get Into Heaven?

Not long ago President Donald Trump said that he wanted to hammer out a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians because he wanted to earn his way into Heaven. I cringed when he said it because I know no human can earn his way into Heaven. Then Charlie Kirk was murdered. At Kirk's celebration of life Trump said he doubted he would get into Heaven because he hated his enemies and didn't forgive them, unlike Charlie's own wife who said she forgave his killer. I'd like to think Trump was joking, but it's not hard to imagine he was serious. Most recently in an impromptu interview aboard Air Force One, Trump joked that he's probably not going to Heaven. What gives? Trump claims to be Christian. Doesn't he know anything about Christianity? Not even Mother Teresa "earned" her way into Heaven--the Bible makes it clear that only by the grace of God can we gain entrance into Heaven, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. The blood of Jesus punched my ticket into paradise. Nothing I could ever say or do will be good enough for me to earn my way there. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace are we saved through faith. It is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast." Now, if any man has a reason to boast, it would be Donald Trump. He didn't merely stop the war in Gaza, he stopped seven other wars in the months prior to this latest deal. In his second term Trump has truly become a visionary for world peace. But he could stop war forever. He could stop murder, and it wouldn't mitigate his sins. All have sinned and fall short of the … [Read more...]

A Free Tank of Gas

Today I could have had a free tank of gas. I was in a bad mood because my daughter had an object d'art that she made and wanted it delivered over forty miles from home. She asked me to drive it there because she knows I'm a writer and keep my own schedule, which means I have no schedule. It is now 9:30 p.m. and I just now decided to write this piece. It's kind of nice to be my own boss and work when I please. But this morning the Ryder Cup had started and I wanted to watch the golf matches. I didn't want to drive 45 miles to drop off a fancy painted ginger jar my daughter made, but there I was, and saw that I needed gas before hitting the road. I pulled up to the pump and swiped my card, but for some reason, the pump already said, "Lift nozzle and select grade." Someone else had pulled up to the pump, tried to pay, and then pulled away for whatever reason in spite of the pump being activated and ready to fill my car with gas. I tried hanging up the pump to cancel the sale, but the pump remained active, as if Satan himself was tempting me to help myself to free gas. The pump was primed and ready to give me a free tank of gas. All I had to do was remove the nozzle, stick it into the gas tank, and pull the lever. It wouldn't be like I was actually stealing from someone, would it? Yeah, it was exactly like I would be stealing because I would have been stealing. Someone else had tried to pay for gas and then went to another pump without realizing they had left the previous pump active. The gas I would have pumped would have been charged to someone else's … [Read more...]