Commonsense and Reason

By Fred Bates - October 2024   MAGA (Make America Great Again) is a fool's errand - MAAA (Make America America Again) is a more realistic goal Don't get me wrong. I am in support of the goal of the MAGA movement of Donald Trump. Who could possibly be against making America a great nation again? However, trying to make America great again is a fool's errand. A more realistic goal would be to make America America again by getting back to basic norms such as border security, sound foreign policy focused on national security backed by a strong military, eliminating waste and corruption in government, protecting voting rights and election integrity, respecting the other rights of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution, supporting law enforcement to ensure safe communities, and having respect for our economic system that is based on capitalism. Getting back to these norms will make America America again, but this alone will not make America great again. For America to be great a...

 June 13, 2024 Polarization does not mean we have to be adversaries It keeps coming up in our national debates on almost all issues how polarized we are as a nation. I really don't understand when politicians, media personalities, and others complain how much we are polarized because we see issues differently. We are a nation of individuals with individual liberties that are protected by the Constitution. At the forefront of these liberties is the right to freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. Implicit in the right to free speech and press is the right of each person to have their own opinions. I'm troubled by politicians and people of influence that intentionally sows seeds of discord between groups of citizens with divisive rhetoric for political reasons.   Despite the efforts of those that try to deliberately keep Americans divided with inflammatory rhetoric, I am not influenced by their efforts. I make my own decisions on what side of the issues I will take. An...