Government / Politics

Veteran’s Day: Recognizing And Honoring All Who Served

November 11, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

Veterans Day in America has its origins in Armistice Day.

“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory.”

That 1919 quote by President Wilson commemorated the first anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended WWI “in the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” And then, on November 11, 1938, Congress made “Armistice Day” a federal holiday.

But since that war did not, in fact, end all wars, a decade later, an Emporia, Kansas small business owner named Alvin King had a problem with the narrowness of the Armistice Day definition. It turns out that Al’s nephew, John E. Cooper, was killed in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, which motivated him and the Emporia Chamber of Commerce to start a movement to redefine Armistice Day and give it a new name: [Continue Reading]

Are humans going to get help sorting out our problems?

October 31, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

Last week, we asked this question in our online poll: “Are you concerned about the increasing global instability these days?” We offered the following options, with your response percentages at the end of each:

No. These things ebb and flow – we’ll get through this. 8%
Yes. Because Middle East politics has now been exported to neighborhoods around the world. 23%
Yes. The Biden administration has weakened America’s standing and funded terrorists. 62%
No. We’re in the hands of a higher power with a greater plan. 7%

I envy our first group of responders. I wish I could be that philosophical about how things are going around the world.

Of course, we have to aggregate the 85% in the middle of our sample who allowed they’re very concerned. Being part of this cohort, at this point, I’ve moved from thinking about any one or the other areas of danger and base my increasing concerns on just doing math: [Continue Reading]

Has America Crossed Its Rubicon?

October 5, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

Last week in our online poll we asked this question: “Should the House of Representatives stand on budget cuts, even if not passing a budget shuts down the government?”

And we offered these four answers, with response numbers at the end:

Doesn’t matter. It’s just more GOP theater – either way they’ll lose. 23%
Yes, we have to stop spending ourselves into bankruptcy. 47%
No, because government shutdowns always cost Republicans more politically. 27%
Doesn’t matter. The U.S. is already too far gone on so many levels. 3%

Of course, as is the case in so many questions about our federal government, this week’s topic came loaded with associated issues: 1) the basic obligation of getting a budget passed; 2) the political leverage both parties try to acquire in the process; 3) the dysfunction of deficit spending; 4) our prohibitive national debt; and, of course, 5) the beautifully messy system we call a representative republic that doesn’t leave the minority without options, however limited. Our aim this week was to offer answer options that would cover these issues.

In America, there’s an entire court system and set of laws devoted to what happens to regular folks when their financial reality looks like that of our federal government today. It’s called the bankruptcy system. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to see that[Continue Reading]

We Made The Experiment, And The Fruit Is Before Us

October 3, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

For more than 20 years in our online poll, we’ve asked our audience for their thoughts on a wide variety of Main Street subjects. Recently, we asked the following question with four response options, and results in parenthesis:

“Based on your observations, will younger generations – currently under 45 – be able to take full possession and manage the transfer of America’s business?”

• Absolutely. Just as well as any other group – maybe better (23%).

• Not looking great so far – high in entitlement and low in work ethic and critical thinking (26%).

• It seems they’re behind, but there is a minority – about 20% – who could save them (28%).

• Time marches on and each inheriting generation shapes their own future (23%).

In the hundreds of polls we’ve published, rarely has the tightness of the spread of responses been as noteworthy as the leading vote options. For now let’s set aside the 23% who defend the younger generations and the same group who equally defends humanity in general, and focus first on the leading responses.[Continue Reading]

When Blind Justice Had A Good Day

August 10, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

As you likely remember, the question asked last week in our online poll was: “What do you think about Hunter Biden’s plea deal failing this week?” And we offered these four response options:

It’s just more Conservative/MAGA theater to divert from Trump’s assault on the Constitution.
Thank God something/someone slowed the Biden DOJ’s banana republic approach to justice.
Doesn’t matter. Our country isn’t going to survive as a constitutional republic for much longer anyway.
What if we presented both the Biden and Trump cases to a court without names?

Below, along with the other responses, you’ll see that three-fourths of our folks went for #2. They were relieved to see that there’s still some level of blind justice in America today.

Is Hunter Biden, et al, guilty of all of the things being alleged? Well, when allowed to work as designed, that’s what the architecture of the American system of justice is designed to resolve. But as we’ve known since Henry II’s 12th-century legal reforms spawned the immortal English common law upon which our system is modeled, the mill grinds pure when unimpeded by politics.

[Continue Reading]

America Began With Freedom And The World Is Better For It

July 4, 2023 by Jim Blasingame

The first Plantagenet King of England, Henry II, is important to America’s small business owners because he’s considered the founder of a legal system to which entrepreneurs owe their freedom to be.

His intelligence only exceeded by his ambition, Henry’s attempts to consolidate all of the 12th-century British Isles under his rule necessitated the need for order. And while his motivations were for his own political expediency rather than to empower the people, Henry’s subsequent reforms actually gave birth to the legendary English Common Law, which ultimately replaced elements of the feudal system that included such enlightened practices as trial by ordeal and inquisition.

By the 18th century, [Continue Reading]