They say that politics is a “full contact sport” and that if you can't stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen, but is trying to ruin another person's reputation and life for partisan political purposes really acceptable, and morally right, in our society?

The answer should be a resounding “NO”, as it is an abuse of the 1 st Amendment of guaranteed free speech. No, it is not against the law to “bad mouth” someone else (including a political opponent), but if what is said about that other person is false, demeaning, and personally damaging to that person's reputation and good name, it is morally wrong, that is, if we have any moral indignation left anymore.

This trashing of another person, especially in politics, seems to be practiced mainly by the liberal left rather than by the conservative right (just what the late radical author of “Rules for Radicals”, Saul Alinsky advocated). Since the 1990's, the knives have been out and the “politics of personal destruction” has been in full force by the left in trying to shut down dissent on the part of people and candidates on the right. It all started by the “verbal lynching” of the late jurist Robert Bork, and then, Supreme Court nominee, Clarence Thomas in his confirmation hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee. In the Thomas case, some tawdry sexual allegations were presented by a former colleague to try to besmirch his reputation and thereby hoping to have him drop out of the confirmation process. It did not work, he was confirmed, but the bogus charges are still brought up on occasion to discredit him and his decisions on the Supreme Court. Besides Bork and Thomas, there has been a whole list of political opponents of the “right” who have come into the cross hairs of the loony left and have been made part of the left's “politics of personal destruction”. Here's a list of the other victims of this immoral practice of personal vilification: 
     - Newt Gingrich
     - Donald Trump and his wife, Melania
     - Herman Cain
     - Allen West
     - Betsy DeVos
     - Mike Pence
     - Sarah Sanders
     - Tom DeLay
     - Rick Scott
     - Dinesh D'Souza
     - Rick Perry
     - Scott Walker
     - Tucker Carlson
      - Brett Kavanaugh etc. etc.

The charges against all of the above were baseless or were exaggerations of policy or political view disputes that were turned into personal attacks, using innuendo and untruths to damage the reputations of those people for partisan political gains.

In addition, look at how the “hated” IRS had been used by politicians (Democrats) to harass and hurt people and groups who were political opponents. All this under the guise of an Obama Administration that was supposed to be open and fair to all sectors of our society. The word “transparent” was mentioned over and over again by Obama and his campaign flunky's. It looked like the “modus operandi” of how politics was run in the City of Chicago (Obama's hometown) and had been attempted in Wash. D.C., with Obama at the helm leading the charge. This was just one of the scandals that the media refused to cover, as no arrests were made by a partisan Justice Department under both Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch. Today, besides the almost daily attacks by the media on President Trump, we had witnessed the brutal attack on the personal integrity of then Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, in his confirmation hearing. Kavanaugh, despite the vicious onslaught by dubious accusers and partisan Democrats, was confirmed by the Senate and is now a Supreme Court justice.

Since the Democrats are expected, as of now, to be big losers in the election of 2020 (by professional bettors and not the liberal leaning polling organizations who predict Trump will be the loser), you'll probably see a ramping up of the “politics of personal destruction”, by the Democrats, to try to rev up their base and the “low information” voters, in an attempt to try to impugn the integrity of their opponents in order to garner votes (Saul Alinsky must be smiling in his grave?). Let's hope their efforts fail and President Trump is re-elected along with a Republican House and Senate, so that our economy doesn't go into the dumper as a socialist-oriented Democrat is voted in as president.
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Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

• common courtesy, like people holding the door open for another person and that person then saying THANK YOU for your effort?

• free and open discussion of political topics in our schools and colleges without the interference of hecklers and people threatening violence? (ex: Antifa and Black Lives Matter)

• our elected representatives showing up for work on a regular basis and doing their job as an elected official and then passing meaningful legislation for the benefit of the citizens they
represent?

• professional athletes playing the sport they excel in while keeping their political and social views to themselves, not at their workplace?

• newspapers and some cable T.V. Stations giving us the unvarnished “truthful” news (not “fake news”) instead of being overly partisan for one political party over another?

• law and justice as applied to people in high places who seem to be getting away with crimes, while the poor “schlumps” like us get “nailed” for the very same crimes? (ex: Hillary Clinton
and her illegal server).

• the presumption of innocence when someone is accused of a crime in a “he said – she said” situation, unless or until found guilty in a court of law, as a false accusation can ruin a
person's life forever?

• honoring your father, mother and family by a person being honest and trustworthy in his dealings with others.

• people being able to practice their religious beliefs without being called vile names, chastised, or threatened by the government and people who abhor religion (ex: gay marriage,
co-ed bathrooms, abortion etc.)?

• a person being judged on the content of his/her character instead of the color of his/her skin, ethnic background, religious affiliation, or country of origin?

• to the idea that you should stand for the playing of the national anthem and the pledge of allegiance out of respect for your country and the people who fought and died for it?

• the music of today that has no melody, no understandable lyrics, that denigrate women, and cannot be danced to like the music of yesteryear?

• being able to laugh at an ethnic or racial joke without being labeled a bigot or a racist, even though the person who the joke referred to thought it was funny and not “politically incorrect”?

• the time when people's achievements were considered to be an inspiration rather than a grievance?

• the idea that if you worked hard and obeyed the rules and you made a lot of money, it was not subject to the greed of others or the government by taking it from you and giving it to someone else who didn't work as hard as you?

Can anybody figure out what happened? If you can, please let us know by making a comment on what you just read.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

Winston Churchill once stated: “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery”. How prescient he was in stating that quote many years ago.

Look around the world today, what countries are the most oppressive and consequently the most poverty stricken? Any rational person would deduce that most all of the oppressive countries embrace a form of socialism or an excess amount of state control. Many of these countries have evolved into a form of a communist state. A simplistic definition would be that Socialism is a form of Communism without the guns. Over the last hundred years, most all the countries who repress or have repressed their people all embraced a form of Socialism, if not Communism. Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany (both were called national socialist countries) , Communist China and the Soviet Union, North Vietnam and most of the dysfunctional countries in Africa and the Middle East, mainly the Muslim controlled and run countries, which all have vast amounts of people living in poverty and degradation. Even in our own backyard we have two countries that have repressed or are in the process of repressing their citizens, and which has brought poverty to their respective countries by embracing a program of socialism/communism, namely Cuba and Venezuela. Very little democracy or private ownership of private property is allowed in these countries except for the “privileged few” or the ruling class. In contrast, the much maligned, by the far-left progressive movements around the world, democratic, free enterprise, capitalistic countries, have become prosperous by giving their citizens the opportunity or incentives to become financially better off than their counterparts in the Socialist/Communist countries. Economic freedom is the distinguishing characteristic between the two systems.

Some people in the United States today are touting the wonders of socialism and are pushing for a complete takeover of our health care system, which represents about 1/6 of our economy. They claim that the “greedy” capitalists are oppressing the working people and that the “fairest” economic system is socialism. As Vladimir Lenin, the father of the Soviet revolution and a communist, once said; “A lie told often enough becomes the truth”. Listen to the people who are promoting the philosophy of Socialism, it is they who claim that the “haves” should give the fruits of their labor to the “have nots” because it is the equal sharing of wealth that is right and just. That is a recipe for economic disaster, which has been proven over and over again throughout history, but still the champions of socialism preach that false doctrine to naïve and unsuspecting people who are looking for something for nothing and are taken in by their platitudes of living the good life by embracing socialism.

During the presidential campaign of 2008, then candidate Barack Hussein Obama, proclaimed, by answering a question from a citizen (mockingly referred to by the elite media as “Joe the Plumber), that for the good of society, we should “spread the wealth” around. In other words, he was in favor of the principle of “redistribution of wealth”, the main tenet of Karl Marx and the socialists and communists throughout modern times. President Obama’s training over the years has had plenty of exposure to the socialist theories as espoused by Frank Marshall Davis, his mentor in Hawaii during his teen years and an avowed communist, his advocacy of the “Rules for Radicals” by the late Saul Alinsky, his mentor in Chicago, the radical Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his friend the unrepentant terrorist and anarchist, Bill Ayers and his other anti-white, anti-Semitic friend, the Nation of Islam’s, Louis Farrakahn. His ties to the radical group ACORN and the far-left union SEIU, have also reinforced his left-wing socialist views that is now pushing for government-run health care in place of a market-oriented system that has given us the best health care system in the world, but is very expensive, and which should be reformed to bring down the costs to make health care more affordable to most all of the people. Today, Bernie Sanders and the Democrat Party are embracing many of the ideas of Karl Marx, In fact, many of the Millennial generation think that socialism is better than our free enterprise capitalist system. That shows the deficiency of our educational system. They are economically illiterate.

Most all the oppressive countries of the world, embrace some form of socialism or communism. They are also some of the poorest countries in the world. Countries that espouse democracy and free enterprise are the most prosperous and free, so why would any right thinking person want to “transform” a system that is the envy of the world into a system that is prevalent in third-world countries? That is the main reason behind the protests around the country at the thought of instituting socialism as our economic system. Most people do not want socialism as their economic system (with the exceptions noted above).

We should be shooting for the equal sharing of prosperity, not the equal sharing of misery that so many unfortunate people of the world are confronted with on a daily basis.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

To listen to the Democrats, the next worse thing to ISIS (and to some, climate change), and the terrorist Muslims in the Middle East, are the wealthy individuals in the United States of America. They keep harping on the erroneous fact that that the rich don't pay their “fair share” in paying income taxes and that they are greedy besides, and have become rich on the backs of the poor. Is it true that the rich don't pay their “fair share” of income taxes?

As former Democratic candidate for president, Al Smith (1928) once said, “Let's look at the record”. According to the 2014 (which is still valid today) non-partisan Tax Foundation report, the top 1% earns 19% of the gross national income and pays 38% of all federal taxes. The top 5% earns 34% and pays 59%. The top 10% earns 45% and pays 71%. The bottom 50% pays just 3% of federal tax. If that isn't “soaking the rich”, I don't know what it is? Shouldn't everyone have a dog in the fight by paying something to the government?

It is true that during the 8 years of the Obama Administration, the rich had gotten richer and the poor and middle-class had remained stagnant or had lost income, mainly due to the run-up of the stock market, which the rich were heavily invested in. The spending policies and the regulatory policies of the Obama Administration, and the low interest rates of the Federal Reserve, have also contributed to this income gap. The only economically sound way to stop this difference in income differential was to get the economy stimulated with policies that would encourage entrepreneurship so that we could produce more jobs, and in return generate more tax revenue to the federal treasury, so that we could reduce the burden of taxation on the upper and middle-class taxpayers. The policies of the Obama Administration did not work for most people, and change was needed (not the hope and change “snake oil” promoted by Obama) to get us back on the right economic track. President Donald Trump, before and after his election, proposed a reform of our tax system to make it easier for people to pay their taxes and to reduce the rates that all taxpayers now pay. Those reforms were passed and signed by Trump, and our economy has responded upward as was predicted. Obama said it wouldn't happen. Egg on his face.

But, with the inexperience of former President Obama in economics, and his lack of sound fiscal and administrative knowledge, he seemed to have had a “tin ear” as to what was needed to get our economy booming again. The voters had the chance in 2016 to elect a real “money man” of fiscal integrity in Donald Trump, and they voted him president. Much to the chagrin and dismay of the political establishment of both the Democrats and the Republicans (the anti-Trumpers).

The semi-Marxist/Socialist plan and policies, espoused by President Obama (and the Democrats), did not get us out of our stagnating economy during his 8 years in office. He preached “income redistribution” by blaming the wealthy of not doing their “fair share” to contribute to the government's revenue. Without the wealthy class paying the vast majority of the income taxes, we'd be in a much greater financial bind than we are in right now, approaching $23 trillion in debt. Even the “evil” Koch Bros., as the Democrats like to call them, have a company that employs over 67,000 workers at better than average wages, yet they are vilified as being un-American by the Democrats, and some have even claimed that they should be jailed for being so “rich”. What, for being successful and wealthy? Are the Democrats that out of touch with reality or what? Even today, the newly elected self-proclaimed socialist, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has proposed raising the income tax rate on wealthy people to 70% as she follows the dictates of her tutor, Bernie Sanders. It looks like both of them missed the Economics 101 class in college.

We need many more Koch Bros., and other millionaires and billionaires, in order to keep our economy moving upward like it is now going. The Democrats and the Liberals should stop demonizing the wealth creators for purely partisan political purposes. They are the job creators. Remember, most all of us were never hired by a poor person. The old adage that “one should not bite the hand that feeds you” certainly applies in this case.

So, the answer to this editorial's headline is - YES - most of the rich do pay their “fair share” and we do need more people to get a well paying job so that we can continue get out of the economic malaise that the Obama Administration had kept us in for 8 years. We should all strive to become millionaires and billionaires, as it would be good for our country and to the entire world. Instead of “sharing the wealth” by taking from the rich and giving to the poor (the Robin Hood syndrome) in the form of handouts and financial government “goodies”, in order to gain votes by the recipients of those “goodies” at election time, we should be promoting the “sharing the opportunity” for all to succeed and achieve financial success. That's the American way. A hand up instead of a handout is what will make America great again. The economic policies of President Trump during his first three years in office, the GDP averaged between 2.5% and 3.5% as compared with the GDP under Obama, that averaged less than 2% during all of his 8 years. All have benefited under the Trump economic policies and that includes the middle-class as well as the wealthy who are still paying 70% of all income taxes.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

Remember when Walter Mondale was running against President Ronald Reagan in 1984, he said, “He (Reagan) won't raise your taxes, but I will”. Well, is Joe Biden the ghost of Walter Mondale when he said, “Guess what, if you elect me, your taxes are going to be raised, not cut”. Do you think that is a winning message to the U.S. electorate?

Well, ole Walter Mondale lost 49 of 50 states (only his home state of Minnesota gave him a win) in an electoral blowout of epic proportions.

I guess “Sleepy Joe” Biden didn't learn from Mondale's mistake. He's doubling down on the losing proposition much to the delight of President Trump and the Republicans.

When President Trump lowered the tax rates on individuals, corporations and small businesses, the economy took off like a rocket. Everything that should be up., went up, and everything that should be down, went down. We have experienced, under Trump, an economic boom like no other in modern times. Even with this “bump in the road”, the “Coronavirus”, our economy is still vibrant even with a 10% decline in the stock market. When this virus scare abates, you'll see a resurgence of our economic boom.

One positive happening over this “Coronavirus”, is that the U.S. companies now realizes that it should follow the lead of President Trump and come back to the United States as they left because of the cheap labor offered by foreign countries that proved to be an an unreliable source of production, mainly China. The unfortunate pandemic of the “Coronavirus” has shown us the validity of President' Trump's desire to promote “America First” by encouraging companies to return to a stable business environment in the United States.

If, by the unlikely chance, Joe Biden ever becomes president, you can kiss your prosperity goodbye. Joe Biden, who calls himself a “moderate”, is nothing but a “closet socialist”, ala Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders admits his socialist pedigree, Joe Biden hides it. Really, there's not a “dimes worth of difference” between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

So, when politicians state that they will raise your taxes, believe them. Their proposals, if enacted, will throw a monkey wrench into our prosperous economy. Whether you dislike or hate President Trump personally, you must “vote your pocketbook” and return him to the Oval Office in order to maintain our prosperous economy. We don't want to become another Cuba or Venezuela. So, cast your vote to re-elect President Trump, he will not be another Walter Mondale as he will keep “America Great” for all Americans and he won't raise your taxes.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

Here we are, 3 years into the Trump presidency, and the economy is booming. Guess who opens his mouth to take credit for it but ole “shovel ready” himself, Barack Hussein Obama.

The Democrats have had a terrible time coming up with sensible economic programs to challenge President Trump in the upcoming general election, so they trot out the overseer of the worst economic recovery in modern history, former President Barack Hussein Obama to claim that he was responsible for the booming economy. Yes, Obama did inherit a big economic downturn when he took office, but the policies he pursued in his 8 years in office didn't create the kind of economy we are now witnessing under the leadership of President Donald Trump.

In his 8 years in office, President Obama never had a year of over 2% GDP, in fact, for his 8 years in office the GDP averaged a paltry 1.8775%. In addition, during those 8 years, he added over 11 million people on the food stamp program (Trump has reduced the number of people on the SNAP program by 6 million), and although the unemployment rate was reduced from 10% to around 5.5% under Obama, it still didn't create an economic picture that he is now trying to take credit for today. Under Trump the unemployment rate is 3.6%. Remember, the $787 billion stimulus that President Obama championed to help us out of the recession, well, that was just like throwing money down a rat hole. He also squandered money on “pie in the sky” natural energy projects like Solyndra ($500 million down the drain) and other non-fossil fuel companies that also went belly up after getting federal stimulus money.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, President Obama said that Trump would be lucky to get beyond a yearly 2% GDP, and that he would need a “magic wand” to bring many of the companies back from overseas that left during Obama's Administration. Well, how have all those doom and gloom predictions by Obama turned out during the 3 years of the institution of the Trump policies? Many companies have come back to America because Trump cut the regulations, red tape, and cut corporate taxes, thereby making the business climate more favorable to companies to thrive and prosper than were the business conditions under Obama.

Obama and the Democrats are having a tough time trying to convince the U.S. citizens that they are not doing better under the policies of Trump as compared to Obama's policies. When the “average Joe” looks at his paycheck and/or 401K, he knows that it was Trump that gave him that extra money, not Barack Obama. The question is, are you better off today than you were 3 years ago?

So, to answer Barack Hussein Obama in his trying to take credit for our booming economy, you're left with the descriptive phrase, “You can't polish horse manure” and remember Barack Hussein Obama, “You didn't build that”, Trump did.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann

Contrary to what you read in the newspapers or see on T.V., and from the apology of former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg (now prospective candidate for president), that using the worthwhile law enforcement program of “stop and frisk” has saved many lives in the minority communities. Yes, many of the people “stopped and frisked” by the police were mostly minority men, but in those communities, where gun violence is common place, it was effective in getting many of the guns off the street and by getting potential gun users to leave their guns at home for fear of getting their guns confiscated by the police.

This law enforcement technique was shown to be effective in NYC as the gun violence crime rate was cut by two-thirds during both Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg's terms as mayor of NYC in the late 90's and early 20's.

If we didn't have as many gun murders as we have in the minority communities, we wouldn't need “stop and frisk” programs. The vast majority of peaceful citizens living in these violent communities, were grateful for the police getting many of the guns off the street. Only when the politicians, who were pandering to get votes by using the term “racist” in these communities in condemning this practice, were law enforcement personnel denigrated as using minority men as targets for harassment.

The reason not many “whites” or “Asians” were “stopped and frisked” was because the people in those communities didn't fear fellow “whites” and “Asians” were in possession of guns and using them against those populations. The violent gun crimes were mostly in the minority communities, therefore, that's where most of the “stop and frisks” took place. As that notorious bank robber Willie Sutton once explained as to why he robbed banks, he said “That's where the money is”. The same with the police in minority communities, that's where the crime is.

The feckless politicians who continue to use “race” as a cudgel against using “stop and frisk” as a meaningful law enforcement tool, are doing the work of the devil. They will say or do anything that might rile up the minority community in order to generate votes for themselves. A perfect example is the pathetic apology by Michael Bloomberg in pandering to the black audiences he has spoken in front of. Instead of pointing out how many lives in the minority communities were saved as a result of “stop and frisk”, he folded like a cheap camera. You could say political expediency ruled the day that Bloomberg caved. If that's what he has to offer as president, we all would be better off if he didn't become president.

So yes, “stop and frisk” has worked very well in the past and would work as well again in the future if only the pandering politicians would keep their “traps” shut or at least mention the benefits of this worthwhile citizen safety program.

“Stop and Frisk” is not a racist tool by law enforcement, it is a well-proven method of reducing violent gun crime in high crime areas.

Conservative commentary by Chuck Lehmann