Bernie’s Q&A: Wallace, Obama, Real Sports, and... Witches? (7/24) — Premium Interactive ($4 members)
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Now, let’s get to your questions (and my answers):
Please excuse the rhetorical nature of this post but I wanted to make a point for your response. I have heard for years from liberal friends that there is no truth or morality because everything is relative. This includes of course whether the concepts of good and evil have any meaning. It is quite easy to destroy the position taken, but almost always my examples are merely the "exceptions" (the easy examples are slavery and nazis). Fast forward to today when the moral relativists now find evil and a lack of morality in those with whom they disagree (and of course hate). My question is simple: is any one race or ethnic group morally superior to another, and is not the very nature of any such suggestion smacking of racism, ethnic or racial superiority etc? -- Michael F.
There's a lot of racial tension in America these days ... and a New York Times op-ed by Charles Blow about how America's biggest racial problems stem from "White Supremacy" ... but, no one race or ethnic group is morally superior to another. I think we all know that. There are people of good will, and dopes, in all ethnic and racial groups. And the suggestion that white people are superior to black people or the other way around, yes, that smacks of a lot of wrong things, Michael.
Mr. G., I assume you watched the Chris Wallace interview with President Trump. Why do you think he didn’t ask The President one single question on why The GOP leadership has been so reluctant to aggressively counteract the Democrats who have been supporting the violent and health hazard “protests"? -- ScottG.
Not sure. Would have been a good question. But by and large, Wallace did a good job.
After reading [last week's Q&A], I am curious about something. Do you think Donald Trump would lose to my dog Dexter if Dexter was the Democratic nominee? What I am really getting at is do you think the polls reflect the voters’ total rejection of Trump or their love for Biden? If it is their dissatisfaction with Trump, then do you think the Left might have buyer’s remorse about sticking with Biden if they realize anyone, including my dog or a far left radical, could have beaten Trump? -- Joe M.
I think there's a good chance Donald Trump would lose to Dexter -- mainly because Dexter doesn't create non-stop chaos that's exhausting the American electorate.
I think the polls reflect a rejection of Mr. Trump a lot more than an embrace of Mr. Biden. As for buyer's remorse: Even if Democrats aren't happy with a Biden presidency, they'd still rather have him (or Dexter) than Donald Trump.
Bernie, I agree with your response [in last week's Q&A] regarding blacks or latinos being vaccinated first, but I feel that one thing overlooked in the question and answer was the fact that many are not all that convinced that vaccines in general are all that safe, based on suspicions surrounding the inability to sue vaccine makers for damages and their history of unintended consequences (dare I mention the autism controversy?). Blacks and latinos may actually feel that, by being put "first", they are actually being used as guinea pigs or a test population. Just another reason to make sure that the vaccine's efficacy and safety is really, really nailed down before introducing it. And another reason that I doubt that it is showing up anytime soon. I talked to a local restaurant owner about how he's weathering the storm after our governor again locked everything down and he said that he didn't think that things would really open up before a vaccine. If that is true, the economic devastation will become even more mind-blowing as that ain't happening anytime soon. And, if democratic governors and mayors are factoring in politics in the expectation that keeping things locked down longer will result in a more depressed economy and will make a Biden victory more likely......this line of thinking either makes me profoundly cynical or realistic or both. Rough time to be an American....hard to know what the average person can even do, if anything. -- John F.
First, I don't want to give anyone reading this the impression that I said black people or Latinos should be first in line for the vaccine. Here's what I said last week:
"Everything these days is about race. To be fair, some would argue that people of color are not coming down with the virus in disproportionate numbers because they’re not 'virus diligent' but rather because they suffer from underlying medical conditions that make them more vulnerable. But it would be a bad idea to put people in the front of the line because of their skin color. It would just add to the already existing tensions surrounding race in this country."
As for the suggestion that politics might be involved in the lockdowns: It might be. I don't put anything past partisans.
Bernie, there probably is no easy answer to this, but why do those of the Jewish faith, like those within the Black community vote Democrat in the numbers they do? Is it just, after doing so for so long just a reflex? I have noted that Representative Ilhan Omar who has made several anti semite remarks in her short time in Washington, and was not censored by her Party for having done so [they passed a broad brush resolution but did not call her out by name] has just been endorsed by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi in her bid for re election in her District. Bit of a head shaker for me. -- John M.
I've answered this question before. A majority of Jewish voters are Democrats for several reasons -- high among them because their parents were Democrats. That's the atmosphere in which they grew up. I did. But I evolved. Another reason is that, as we know, Jews have a long history of being on the wrong end of oppression. So they reflexively vote for the party they view as more emphatic, more concerned about the downtrodden. I think their allegiance is misplaced -- but I'm a minority within a minority so there's not much I can do to change their minds.
My wife and I have just made a bet, and I'd love your opinion on who's likely to win. I believe that if Biden is elected President, his first Supreme Court pick will be Barack Obama, which would make Obama the second former President to serve on the SCOTUS (after William Howard Taft). I think Obama would jump at what is both the best job in law and the ability to shape public policy in a much more permanent way than he could as President. My wife thinks Barack and Michelle are thoroughly done with Washington and enjoy being able to freely live their lives too much to ever come back. A steak dinner is riding on our bet. In your opinion, who's more likely to collect? -- Joel E.
Ask your wife if she'll let you out of the bet NOW -- in exchange for a hamburger. Because if you stay with the bet, you're going to lose. There's no way Barack Obama would be one of 9 justices. He's too big for that. But I'm not sure the Obamas are done with Washington. In any case, Mrs. Joel E is going to win.
For weeks and weeks, Trump has been bragging about "acing" the "very hard" cognitive test he took, and he keeps saying that the test-givers couldn't believe how amazing he did on it. As we know now, that test was a Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test, and it's only supposed to be "hard" if you're literally suffering from dementia (that's the whole point of the test). It's a 10-minute, 9-exercise exam that assesses the most basic of reasoning, like being able to look at a bike and train and identify what they have in common.
As the other Goldberg (Jonah) wrote in a column: "Crowing that you 'aced' the MoCA is like bragging that you passed a sobriety test while sober."
How do Trump and his team think stuff like this helps him get re-elected? Also, if Trump really thought that test was "very hard," isn't he in worse mental shape that even a lot of his critics think? -- Jen R.
I think you're being too hard on Mr. Trump. He is a "stable genius" after all. And everyone knows what a bike and a train have in common: They're both red.
Bernie, I'm just curious. Are you registered with a political party these days, or are you an independent? -- Ben G.
I'm registered with a political party.
Will you be doing any remote stories for Real Sports (aka interviewing people from your home)? I'm guessing you won't be doing any work travel for a while, because of covid. Thanks. -- Alex M.
Working on two stories at the moment. One about a "ball hawk" who has caught (and collected from MLB players) more baseballs than anyone else in human history. And the other on a controversial issue in the world of sports, but I'd rather not give it away right now. Stay tuned.
Apparently there is a group of Christian conservatives at the University of Texas who do not agree with the left-wing agenda, and they have said so. This of course triggered a bunch of leftists on the campus. As a result, a group of self-proclaimed satanic witches, who also despise these Christian conservative students, offered to ally themselves with the left-wing snowflakes. The Result: the allies claim to be actively trying to put the whammy on the leader of the Christian group (invoking demons to bring harm to them). Regardless of one believes in Satan, the loony left basically admitted that they would actively seek help from demons to put a stop to Christianity and conservatism.
What are your thoughts on this, and how can anyone on the left believe it's a good idea to ally themselves with people who actively admit that they are glorifying evil and working with demonic forces to hex conservatives? I mean, even the liberal professors see how wicked and stupid this is? Your thoughts are always appreciated. --"Satan is a leftist" Regards, From the Emperor
Sometimes I think you wake up in the morning, Emperor, and ask yourself: "How can I drive Bernie nuts this week?"
All I can say is that whatever your politics, an alliance between Satan and liberals is an unholy alliance.
Hope you're happy, Emperor ... you Devil you.
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