New Year’s Resolution: See More Movies Featuring “The Rock”

He'll make the Klan great again! — A 1931 Ku Klux Klan procession in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Klan was very public in earlier years, but has, until recently, been relatively silent. It may surprise some to know that, in its early years, the Klan was linked with the Democratic Party and was strongly anti-Republican.
(Wikimedia CC photo from the Deutsches Bundesarchiv)

There are some very embarrassing people associated with the Republican Party. And no, I’m not referring here to the most obvious one. (And please don’t assume that I’m saying that the Democrats are without blemish; I am, after all, a life-long and very serious political conservative who has had a strong commitment to free market economics since his teens. I can scarcely endorse today’s Democratic Party.)

Consider, for example, this appalling story:

“Local Texas GOP rejects ousting vice chair over his faith”

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And there’s this:

“Holly Richardson: The GOP and its problem with women”

(I consider Mia Love’s loss of her congressional seat one of the very worst results of the 2018 election.)

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And there’s this:

“‘All of a sudden Trump became president and all the hateful people just came out’: Utah refugees talk about life since the 2016 election”

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I posted some items yesterday about Rep. Steve King (R-IA), at the end of a blog entry entitled “Character is Destiny.” Here is some more about him:

The first is from Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who happens to be black:

“Why are Republicans accused of racism? Because we’re silent on things like this.”

The second is from the conservative National Review:

“I Guess Steve King Never Played the Civilization Video Game”

The third is from CNN’s token conservative, S. E. Cupp:

“SE Cupp: Steve King ‘is a cancer on the country'”

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Whatever your feelings about Mr. Donald J. Trump, there’s no question that his presidential term has, thus far, not been precisely a relaxing one. And Sturm und Drang isn’t all coming (directly, anyway) from Mr. Trump. While I’m not even remotely a fan of his, there is also definitely a phenomenon that can justly be ridiculed as Trump Derangement Syndrome:

“‘Good Evening,’ Says President Trump, Drawing Immediate Flurry Of Fact Checks”

But we can still laugh. The New Yorker’s Andy Borowitz leans reliably left and anti-Trump (which is a quite separate and distinct thing), but he’s still funny:

“Kavanaugh Offers to Pay for Wall by Recycling His Empties”

“Sarah Huckabee Sanders Offers to Lie for Free During Shutdown”

“Pelosi Says She Will Skip Trump and Negotiate Directly with Putin”

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But there is hope on the horizon:

“Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson: The Celebrity Conservatives Need”