Scientific advances need scrutiny

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You are in rarified air aka Hall of Fame stealth mode. Keep up the good work [smile]

Thanks, Mike. I appreciate the compliment. Stay safe.

Ray, you have made your assertion that Walz is radical based on one or more premises you don't happen to agree with, like abortion.  Fair enough.  You are entitled to your opinion.  But, you are branding him radical across the board and the majority of Americans would tend not to agree with you.  24 years of military service is not radical unless you are against the military.  Being a HS teacher and football coach hardly fits the radical mode.  Quitting the military to serve in Congress is not radical unless you don't like his political party affiliation.  Finally, listening to his Minnesota style of communication would hardly be described as radical.  Plain spoken yes, radical no.

As to Project 2025.  No, I have not read the entire document and believe few have.  I leave that to the true experts who are paid to do that sort of thing.  However, the basic tenets are to take many civil servant jobs away to cede to the executive branch.  Plus, speaking of radical, to do away with abortion and birth control in general.  Finally, it gives far too broad powers to the president in making political appointees throughout such agencies such as the Justice Department.

Rel

And the last shall be first.

You may have hit the nail on the head… twice. First, I believe you’re correct… not many people have read the entire Project 2025 document, and secondly, the document appears to propose broad sweeping powers be given to the executive branch. Oddly enough, the Project’s authors support doing away with abortion… and you call that radical… but you don’t think it’s radical to support abortion without restrictions. They’re both extreme positions… both radical. The NY times reported six months ago Trump’s support for a 16-week abortion plan with exceptions. Trump’s plan doesn’t sound anything like Project 2025’s radical proposal. That’s maybe where lots of folks miss the nail. They assume a 900-page wish list put together by political wonks in the Heritage Foundation’s basement is the RNC’s platform. It’s not. BTW… most EU countries support abortion up to week 12. Trump’s idea of a 16-week plan is less restrictive than those plans codified in Europe. Back to Project 2025… firing DC civil service employees for any reason? No. Holding those same employees accountable and subject to termination instead of essentially keeping them on the dole? Yes. Defund the DOJ? No. Increasing oversight of the DOJ and the FBI? Yes.

Rel

And first shall be last.

It looks like you have mischaracterized my position re: abortion. Said many times… I’m with the 70% that approve of abortion early in a pregnancy, and I’m with the 70% who disapprove of abortion in the later stages of a pregnancy. I am not branding Walz a radical because of his position on abortion… he has earned that brand all by himself. Walz has taken on the mantle of radicalism with his extreme policies: unrestricted abortion, sex surgeries for minors, and radicalized political activism in public schools.

I wrote in an earlier post that 70% of respondents oppose late term abortions… Walz supports them. I wrote more than 60% oppose gender affirming treatments and medical procedures for minors. Walz supports them. More than 75% say the history of slavery and racism should be taught in our schools. It should. However, more than 60% do not support teaching students that the US is structurally racist. Yet, that is the kind of political activism Walz endorses in his state. You wrote that “the majority of Americans would tend not to agree” with my POV that someone implementing such policies is radical. You’re gonna have to bring something more than “because I said so” to the conversation in support of your claim that a majority of Americans are OK with Walz’s radical ideology.

There’s more…

Taking care of the planet should be a priority for everyone, but Walz signed off on requiring Minnesota’s 1% EV use to climb to 20% in the next six years. Hardly mainstream. He has OK’d free college tuition for middle class income Minnesota residents. That means anyone in a qualifying income bracket from anywhere can move to Minnesota and after 183 days qualify for free college. Lest we forget… there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Walz set up a snitch line for Minnesotans to report other Minnesotans not conforming to COVID lockdown procedures (like wearing a mask). Authoritarian? He opposed school choice legislation as governor. Walz was slow to call out the Minnesota National Guard to restore order while Minneapolis burned in the summer of 2020 ostensibly to not alienate his progressive base.

Walz is a radical.

Rel

You are a veteran. Thank you for your service. Tim Walz is a veteran, too.

You’ll note I have vigorously argued against Walz’s policies, performance, and ideology but I have not attacked his personality. There’s no percentage in doing so. We can leave such attacks to Sean Hannity and Hannity’s followers.

I have 24+ years of military service. I taught HS. I coached football. I am not a radical. While Walz has done those same things… then was then and now is now. Now, he endorses radical programs as the highest elected official in his state. He is a radical ideologue. See my comments posted earlier today for examples of Walz’s political radicalism.

With respect to his military service… Walz previously published in campaign literature that he retired as a command master sergeant. He did not. He was criticized for misrepresenting his service, and he has since corrected his retirement info. Walz claimed to have carried weapons in war suggesting he had served in combat. He did not. The Harris-Walz campaign acknowledges that Walz misspoke, and it has corrected that info.

There is some debate about the timing of Walz’s retirement. It’s kinda murky as Guardsmen who served with Walz have different recollections about Walz’s departure from the Minnesota National Guard. Some will say Walz retired to run for Congress and that his retirement request preceded orders for the 1st Battalion, 125th Field Artillery to deploy. However, others maintain the possibility Walz could be deployed was known to him before he submitted his retirement papers, and he left the Guard before he could be ordered to serve in Iraq. Walz made things murkier by expressing his concern about running for Congress while serving in the National Guard. He didn’t need to be concerned. There would be no conflict. Walz would not have to leave the Guard to join Congress. Democratic Party House representative Tulsi Gabbard continued to serve in the Hawaii Army National Guard while also serving in Congress. So, whether Walz retired to take his career in a different direction or whether he retired to avoid deployment to Iraq will likely not be resolved until Walz can join other 1-125th vets at a battalion reunion sometime in the future to hash it out.

Should we thank Tim Walz for his service? Yes.

Rel, you seem to purposefully miss the point that A-Walz is guilty of stolen valor. Nobody is knocking A-Walz’s service although there are instances whether “service” is applicable to his complete record. Everybody is knocking A-Walz’s lying about his credentials. For good reason. Mr. Fowler (hat tip for your commentary) has done a more than adequate job of dispelling your assertion that Walz isn’t radical.