From Closed Loop to Common Sense

I used to celebrate when a Black Democrat became a Republican. It felt like someone had broken a long-standing spell. Black voters have long delivered overwhelming, almost automatic support to the Democratic Party, often without serious internal debate. Crossing that line looked like genuine independence.

Earlier this year I declared myself an Independent. My own voting history is mixed. I’ve voted in Republican primaries in Illinois and I’ve pulled Democratic ballots more often than not. The consistent thread has been trying to choose the better person for the office, not simply the preferred party. That approach has never been perfect, but it was the standard I tried to follow.

Watching interviews with former Democrats, former progressives, or former Democrat Socialists has shifted what I value most. Some of that thinking comes from The Free Press interview with Sabrina Joy Stevens, and from other interviews shared on this blog. The important move is not necessarily joining the Republican Party. The important move is leaving a closed feedback loop that rarely produces real solutions. The people who walk away from that loop matter more than the party they eventually land in.

2020 gave the country a clear look at the “systemic racism” narrative in real time. Even during a pandemic, the story ran that “persons of color” were fed up and therefore entitled to destroy. Looting, vandalism, toppling statues of Confederate figures and Christopher Columbus, calls to defund the police — all of it was framed as necessary or at least understandable. From where I sat, none of it was a solution. It was performance dressed up as justice, and the country paid for it.

Those excesses, followed by the Biden-Harris years, helped produce the return of Donald Trump. Many of the same progressives who cheered the 2020 upheaval still treat Trump’s re-election as proof that America remains the problem. They have not updated the diagnosis.

What I celebrate now is simpler and more useful: people who return to common sense. The open question is whether their stories — how they noticed the contradictions, how they left the dominant narrative — will prompt others to examine it for themselves.

Illustration generated with Grok

The Default We’re Forgetting

 Jeremy Boreing’s latest monologue, Hasan Piker and Candace Owens Are Selling You Third-World Thinking, is one of the clearest things he’s done. He starts with two trials running at the same time in America and uses the distance between them to measure how far we’ve drifted from what made the West different in the first place.

One trial is in a courtroom in Provo, Utah. Prosecutors spent months building a case the hard way: eyewitnesses, security footage, forensics, DNA, handwriting, the actual rifle. Rules bind everyone. The accused is presumed innocent. Evidence has to survive cross-examination. It is slow, adversarial, and impersonal. That process is not natural. It is the product of centuries of deliberate cultural work.

The other “trial” happens behind a podcast mic. There is no judge, no burden of proof, no fixed standard of evidence. Verdicts arrive by likes and shares. Narratives shift week to week. Gossip and social proof do the work that evidence used to do. Boreing points at Candace Owens’ treatment of the Charlie Kirk case as the clearest current example on the right, and at Hasan Piker’s cheerful defense of theft as “collection on a debt” as the left’s version. Different aesthetics. Same underlying operating system.

You can watch Boreing's monologue here: [VIDEO]

Competing Ideas, Forgotten History

 At the time I was in eighth grade the Soviet Union had already fallen. The main communist nation, often called the Evil Empire, had collapsed. At the time it seemed reasonable to assume its successor state, Russia, would eventually become a democratic country much like the United States. We know that transition was never simple. Russia today is a different animal from the Soviet Union—more authoritarian state capitalism than classical Marxism-Leninism—but the original system’s failure remains instructive.

Right now, if you follow commentators on the right—Ben Shapiro, Glenn Beck, and others—they are talking about the energy on the radical left, mainly those who call themselves Democratic Socialists.

Why Democrat Women Are Angry — Naomi Wolf on Pod Force One

Dr. Naomi Wolf rose in the early 1990s as a third-wave feminist voice with The Beauty Myth, the bestseller that argued commercial beauty standards worked as a quiet counterattack on women’s gains. Yale-educated, a Rhodes Scholar, and later an Oxford doctorate, she advised Bill Clinton’s re-election team and Al Gore’s campaign on how to reach female voters. For a time she was the progressive establishment’s preferred translator of women’s concerns.

That version of Wolf is largely gone. On Miranda Devine’s Pod Force One, the New York Post’s political interview podcast, she sat down for a long conversation under the blunt title “Why Democrat Women Are So Angry.”

Watch Naomi Wolf on Pod Force One here: [VIDEO]

Ben Shapiro on Tate, Piker, and the Race to the Fringes

 Ben Shapiro’s newest episode, Tate & Piker: The Race To The Retard Fringes, is a clean diagnosis of where the loudest edges of American politics are heading. On the left, he tracks the growing comfort with figures like Hasan Piker—who openly celebrates Mao, keeps a Chinese flag in his studio, and treats the body count of communist experiments as a detail rather than a verdict—and the broader embrace of Third Worldism by rising Democratic Socialists. On the right, he notes the continued soft defense of Andrew and Tristan Tate despite the serious trafficking allegations against them. The episode is not a both-sides equivalence. It is a warning that both fringes are abandoning the same core standards.

Watch Shapiro's latest episode here [VIDEO]

Both camps share a deeper posture. They treat the American experiment—individual rights, limited government, the superiority of open societies over closed ones—as either a scam or an inconvenience. The left does it through revolutionary nostalgia and imported grievance. Parts of the right do it through aesthetic toughness that excuses predation. Neither is interested in the hard, unglamorous work of defending institutions that actually produce prosperity and liberty.

The DSA’s Plan to End Separation of Powers

I hear a lot about the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America. One thing that keeps coming up from the right is that they want to abolish the U.S. Senate and replace the independent presidency and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary that are subordinate to Congress. A lot of people on the right look at that and call it communism.

The French Revolution’s Warning for Today’s Elites

 Gilded Age inequality or revolutionary risks?

The Storming of the Bastille (painting) - Wikipedia

People often compare our era to the Gilded Age—rapid growth, massive fortunes, and wealth gaps that eventually led to Progressive Era reforms inside America’s democratic system. Others point to the French Revolution and its mix of elite detachment, crisis, and radical spiral.

Both analogies speak to today’s tensions, but they point in different directions. The Gilded Age suggests we can fix disparities through adaptation and targeted policy. The French Revolution warns what happens when disconnected elites help unleash forces that spin out of control.

Watch the clip that sparked this post right here: [VIDEO]

O'Reilly Interviews Beck: Media, Cities, and the American Story

I haven't shared an edition of Bill O'Reilly's new podcast We'll Do It Live yet and that changed tonight. The latest podcast features of conversation with Glenn Beck. These two veterans of the media and commentary scene don't hold back. They dive deep into where our country stands—progressivism, communism's creep, the media's failures, and what it’ll take to steer America back on course. If you're concerned about the direction of cities like New York, Chicago, or the nation as a whole, this one's for you.

Check out Beck's interview will Bill O'Reilly here [VIDEO]

Dad Saves America Podcast: Is America Heading Into an Empire Era Like Rome?

In a recent clip from the Dad Saves America podcast, host John Papola sits down with Wilfred Reilly — a Chicago native and political scientist at Kentucky State University — to explore striking parallels between America’s growth and the rise (and potential pitfalls) of ancient Rome.

Watch the clip here [VIDEO]

America is approaching its 250th birthday in 2026, and the conversation around what that means for our national story is heating up.

Founding Echoes of Rome

Lions vs. Scavengers: Understanding Who Really Hates the West (A PragerU Take with Ben Shapiro)

The future of Western civilization feels like it's on the edge. Radical protests keep disrupting cities, vandalizing neighborhoods, and taking over college campuses. But it's not random chaos—it's the same groups switching causes like flags on a pole: radical Muslims, LGBTQ+ activists, communists, anarchists, and environmentalists.

These alliances often make no sense on the surface. "Queers for Palestine" exists, even though the realities in places like Palestine directly contradict the values they claim to support. So what holds this unlikely coalition together?

The Core Divide: Lions vs. Scavengers

Does "Suicidal Empathy" Explain Our Soft-on-Crime Policies?

 Empathy is a virtue — the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. But when it's misdirected, excessive, or untethered from reason and consequences, it can become suicidal empathy.

As evolutionary psychologist Gad Saad explains in his PragerU video (and upcoming book Suicidal Empathy: Dying to Be Kind), civilizations don't always die by murder. Per historian Arnold Toynbee, they often die by suicide — from within, through well-intentioned but self-destructive choices.

Watch Saad's full take here [VIDEO]

Stossel on America's 250th birthday

I hope everyone had a restful Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately, here in Chicago, it was anything but peaceful for many residents. The now-familiar “teen takeovers” returned, bringing chaos, violence, and disruption to parts of the city. These incidents highlight deeper issues that our local leaders need to address seriously — not just with more police presence, but with stronger accountability and cultural changes.

[VIDEO] Today, I wanted to share something more uplifting and thought-provoking as we move forward. This powerful video from John Stossel explores what truly makes America great — especially timely as the United States prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday this year (the Semiquincentennial).

In the video, Stossel and his guests — including Ron Paul, Steve Forbes, and others — dive into how liberty, strong property rights, and limited government turned a young nation into the freest and most prosperous in history. Ben Franklin’s famous warning rings especially true today: “We have a republic, if we can keep it.”

Timcast Reaction: PBD IS RIGHT, 1 Capitalist vs 20 Anti-Capitalists

 

[VIDEO] Patrick Bet-David talked about going onto Jubilee on his own podcast last week and the actually episode was released over the Labor Day weekend.

Have you seen it? How do you think he did? Check it out here [VIDEO]

And I see that Tim Pool was thoroughly entertained by this episode of Surrounded where you see other right-wing personalities as Michael Knowles and Ben Shapiro. Basically PBD has an extended discussion with a number of left-leaning people who are willing to debate.

While I haven't seen this episode, what seems to be a recurring theme in videos like this is generally hostility from people with a different political bent. PBD I do think can handle that, but it's shocking how there are those who aren't there to debate, they're just there to win an argument with a lot of emotion! 

John Stossel: The 'woke right'

 

[VIDEO] I do consider myself right wing and find them often correct on a number of issues, my goal these days is try to remember that they're not perfect either. And what if they're prone to the same insanity as the "liberal left progressives". What did I see at the end of the video discussions of white/christian nationalism, misogyny, anti-religious freedom, etc.

If the right goes nuts what hope does Americans have against the current insanity of the left? And we're seeing some of that in Los Angeles right now as they are rioting against Trump's immigration policy.

Prager U: The Difference Between a Democracy and a Republic

 

[VIDEO] Robert George from Princeton University discusses how America is actually more of a Republican than a Democracy in this six minute video.

May share my own thoughts on that another time. Got to beat the midnite deadline right now! 

The People Profiles: Machiavelli - The Prince of Political Philosophy Documentary

 

[VIDEO] I watched this recently. A biography of one of the more influential political theorists a man named Niccolo Machiavelli. If you took political theory in college, you might know about The Prince. I read it at Morehouse and time to read it again.

Basically if you take anything from The Prince it seems that the book is more about the philosophy of gaining and maintaining political power. And as I learned from this documentary, he really attached himself to the powerful family in Italy of his day the Medici.

How does one threaten truth?

 

[VIDEO] Matt Walsh is interviewed by Zuby on YouTube. Walsh as you know did a documentary earlier this year entitled What is a Woman? The discuss the danger radical gender ideology and it's not just the assault on children - that is weak parents that allow or even want children to transition to another gender - it's the assault against the truth.

I would say this is a philosophical discussion that goes a bit over my head, however, what is one truth many generations of people held men are men and women are women. Radical gender ideology holds that you are what you feel.

I can say I feel like a Vulcan and try to mind meld with people, of course, on this world Vulcans were created in a fictional entertainment franchise. They're not real and I could probably get a fat lip for my invasion of someone's personal space.

So basically from radical gender ideology, truth becomes what you want it to be. It can be anything you think it is. Truth becomes children can consent to make irreparable changes to their bodies with weak parents who will allow it. Truth becomes women lose their identities and privacy. Perhaps the loss of truth becomes the loss of right & wrong.

Tucker: This is why they're attacking the late Queen Elizabeth II

 

[VIDEO] I've already shared two posts over at Shedd School about the death of British Queen Elizabeth today, Thursday.

Tucker discusses the ramifications of her majesty's death and the nation she reigned over for over 70 years. When she was young and a new queen the British Empire was slowly but surely breaking up. And it seems Tucker Carlson is talking up the British Empire of yore that didn't engage in geonicide, ended the ritual murder of widows in India, and gave the world great literature, freedom of speech, and even the Magna Carta.

Alas the British despite their accomplishments and their positive contributions to the world, they're just another European racist nation that plundered the world. And you see in this clip the BLM riots that took place in of all places "jolly ole England". Just as they did here in the "colonies", they destroyed statues to Britain's greatness over there as well.

The Queen for her contributions to the world deserves better than to be attacked by those who have nothing of their own to contribute.

Stossel: Does the constitution need to be amended?

 

[VIDEO] This video was posted on Independence Day. And sadly on Independence day we had a mass shooting. And you know there are some people who want to amend the 2nd Amendment out existence due to that deranged soul who took six lives at a suburban Chicago parade.

This is what John Stossel and others are discussing his latest vid. One thing that you will see is how unfamiliar people are with the US Constitution. It's something you can google and it's not a huge document that's very difficult to read and follow unlike perhaps some of this country's state constitution which can go thousands of pages.

Another wrinkle is what people believe should belong in the federal constitution. One commendeable thing about the writers of the Supreme Law of the Land is that we can amend it although that takes time. Sorry you gun control grabbers you may want the 2nd Amendment gone today, but it takes time.

Anyway to amend the constitution we invited unnecessary changes like the prohibition of alcohol which was later repealed by an amendment. However as many wokesters lament America as a land that allowed slavery in the Supreme Law, the mechanisms therein allowed future Americans to eventually abolish slavery.

I would encourage you call to just look up what the federal constitution is all about. Don't listen to anyone else read it for yourself....

Matt Walsh: What is a person?

 

[VIDEO] Matt Walsh just released a documentary asking the question: what is a woman? And there are many who prove really unwilling to answer that question. No one is willing to define a woman by anything from an adult human female to one that gives birth (as one med student did a TikTok to state that pregnancy shouldn't be associated with women).

So with the abortion debate as he discusses on his program especially since the controversial issue of Roe V. Wade has been overturned a new question is what is a person? So is a person defined by when they are conceived by their biological mother and father?

That is when an female egg cell is fertilized by a male sperm cell? Is such a person defined by when they become an identifiable fetus? And at some point once a person is conceived they grow into what is clearly a mammalian fetus and ultimately an identifiable human.

Finally are they a person when they are born? 

All very good questions which it seems is the next question to really take this debate. We hear women fearing the death of a lot of women who have back alley abortions. Believe it or not I sympathize any thinking feeling person should we don't want people to partake in very unsafe procedures. However, I also care about the unborn and the next debate ought to be what is a person.