Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Left or Right

I don't fit easily into the so-called Left or Right camps. I try and consider each question on its own merits so I'm somewhat unpredictable.

Overall, I fit in the Center-Left position. I'm not a Leftist and I'm certainly not a so-called Progressive. On the other hand I reject most of the Right's positions. I'm prochoice, an atheist and a firm believer in the Separation of Church and State. 

On the other hand, I'm anti-DEI, anti-Woke, anti-Cancel Culture and support Israel in the Gaza War. So-called Progressives, when they talk about "genocide" in Palestine, don't have a clue what they're talking about. 

It's a war. War sucks. That's why you don't start one. Hamas crossed the border on October 7th, 2023, killed around 1,100 people, kidnapped 240 more and committed numerous acts of rape and sexual assault. The Israelis issued a formal Declaration of War against Hamas on October 8th, 2023. While a Declaration of War is no longer necessary, such a formal declaration makes it clear that the belligerent is going to engage in extended hostilities. The bottom line is that you can't attack someone and then complain that the people you attacked are being mean to you.

I wasn't a fan of Charlie Kirk although I don't think he deserved to get shot. Very few people deserve that. I had three basic problems with Kirk. 

First, he said some really mean stuff especially about trans people. 

Second, his "debate" strategies were highly dishonest. He always had his peanut gallery near to cheer what he said and catcall whatever people that disagreed with him said. When he didn't have that, such as when he went to Oxford, he didn't do nearly as well. He used logical fallacies. The most obvious being the Burden of Proof Fallacy when he demanded that people "Prove Him Wrong." He also used the Fallacy of Equivocation and the Gish Gallop.

Third, while he claimed to be a free speech advocate, his actions didn't always support that position. The peanut gallery strategy noted above and his tendency to talk over people when they were disagreeing with him are two examples.

Note that everything I've said about Kirk amounts to impressions and opinions. Someone else could reasonably disagree on any or all of them.

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