The week of July 4, 2019, we American’s further polarize. Consider the following not as analytical, but more as a stream of consciousness instead. We could poll ourselves to death and we could come up wrong anyway. So this week, Nike bailed on America at the prompting of an unemployed athlete who is an expert on nothing but professionalized grievance and public manipulation. By my reckoning, counter to many news stories, small town America is more, not less patriotic. The patriotism is broad, deep, and largely silent away from the din of the press, who are totally missing or ignoring it. Trump gave a speech at the capitol, flubbed a line, was widely derided before, during, and after. Go ahead and have fun with the memes – they are funny; see what you miss while you’re still laughing. The hub-bub over the military hardware; yes, that show was unnecessary, but it’s his prerogative. While it may not be the symbolism that any one preferred, if it causes an Iran or a Russia a moment’s pause before prodding us to war, it will be well worth the money spent. War is expensive you know, and you may not want to admit it, but Trump is now 3 years into this and has started no new conflicts. I’ll take a stupid president that avoids enmeshing us in a war before a brilliant eloquent President lobbing bombs. My how our values have reversed. Everyone is howling about the conditions of immigrants, the ones that came here willingly. On the one hand I much dislike the rhetoric coming from this administration about the conditions of those immigrants. There are other conflicting testimonies about their treatment and the supposed attitude of border patrol. But mainly there is this: To all of those crying tears over their reputed suffering, and particularly the Democrat run House, pass a bill today declaring open borders. Let them ALL in. It’s so easy having it both ways: clamoring for practices that equal open borders, breaking existing laws, without having to vote it in and then they also flog Trump daily. Fucking cowards. A journalist was beaten by Antifa in Portland about a week ago. Antifa is still alive and well. Almost more disturbing is to hear and learn of progressives that have the same level of anger and hatred as Antifa but sit smugly in their air-conditioned compounds verbally bullying and abusing their opponents on social media. I don’t know who will win the election, but it seems certain that this country will come to blows either way. The party of perpetual grievance is jumping the shark and average conservative middle America is losing patience watching this unfold.