THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

The GOP Debate: Clear Foreign Policy Contrasts

The first GOP presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle was a truly substantive affair. While there was some bombast, it was mostly a very sober discussion of policy differences. Naturally, all eight candidates on the stage agreed that President Joe Biden should be fired. On abortion, the differences were mostly confined to tactics. The real major divergence came on key foreign policy issues. Divisions that came about with the emergence of Ron Paul in 2008 have not fully healed.

Fairly or not, former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney left office with the Neoconservative brand tarnished. The Ron Paul Paleocons lost the ideological battle but won the war with Donald Trump’s election in 2016. Trump’s foreign policy was basically Ron Paul’s, but with sanity. Trump favored muscular non-interventionism, while Paul despite the denials of his supporters had a strong isolationist strain. With Trump’s ascendancy in 2016, Neocons like Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush were left in the dust. The 2023 Fox News debate in Milwaukee brought the Neocons back with a vengeance. Their conflict with the Paleocons reached a boiling point.

The Paleocon wing was represented by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramswamy. DeSeantis served in the military and favors the muscular non-interventionist Trump approach to foreign policy. Ramaswamy claims to be a Trump disciple, but his comments at the debate were Ron Paul isolationist.

The Neocon side was represented most forcefully by former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. Despite being Trump’s Vice President, this debate saw Mike Pence return unapologetically to his Neocon roots.

On two particular foreign policy issues, the differences could not have been more stark.

On Israel, Ramaswamy reiterated cutting off aid to Israel in 2028. He tried to explain this as an act of tough love that will benefit America’s friend Israel in the long run. Haley was having none of this. She torched his position as wrong for America, Israel and the world. She pointed out that America needs Israel as a bulwark against hostile Middle East actors. Pence and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott are proud overt evangelical Christians and supporters of Israel. On this issue, Ramaswamy stood alone as DeSantis stayed quiet. DeSantis has expressed a desire to cut foreign aid to many nations but is also a staunch Israel supporter.

Ukraine saw the sharpest differences that separated the adults from the unserious individuals. Ramaswamy actually claimed that the United States has no national interest in Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. Pence upbraided Ramaswamy during the debate as a “rookie.”

Pence was right. For decades, the Republican Party and Democrats beyond the anti-war crowd understood the rights of sovereign nations. One nation cannot simply gobble up another nation with impunity. When Iraq invaded Kuwait, former President George Herbert Walker Bush declared that “This will not stand.” Russia’s Vladimir Putin exposed the weakness of former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden by seizing Crimea without consequences.

As Pence, Haley and North Dakota Doug Burgum pointed out, Russia conquering Ukraine would have catastrophic global consequences. China would be emboldened to seize Taiwan. The dreaded World War III would be a plausible scenario.

Burgum was not asked about Israel, and North Dakota has one Chabad House in Fargo that sometimes gets a Minyan. Yet on China, Burgum showed himself to be as serious as Ramaswamy was glib. Ramaswamy’s boldness in seeking to gut the administrative state is overshadowed by a foreign policy approach that is naïve and dangerous.

The big winner of the debate was the Bush-Cheney foreign policy approach. At the very least, the Ron Paul approach is being rejected as the GOP returns to its adulthood roots. The world is globally connected. Burrowing our heads in the sand is no longer an option. For those who still need a clear reminder, the September 11^th attacks are the consequences of believing that overseas problems stay overseas. Taking the fight to bad actors everywhere is the only way to keep them from spilling American blood on American soil.

8/23/23 GOP Debate

Rich men North of Richmond question.

Ron DeSantis: Reverse Bidenomics

Chris Christie: I was a conservative Republican in a blue state. Truth and accountability. 

Tim Scott: I vote against spending packages in the Senate. Biden caused inflation.

Vivek Ramaswamy: I’m not a politician. I’m an entrepreneur. Politicians run from something. I’m running to something. 

Nikki Haley: Biden didn’t ’t do this to us. Our Republicans did this to us too. They passed trillions in spending. Trump added 8 trillion to the debt. I think it’s time for an accountant in the White House.

Mike Pence: I’m very proud of the Trump-Pence record. I’m the best prepared, most tested, most qualified proven conservative in this race. 

Ramaswamy: Declare war on the federal administrative state. 

Pence: I balanced budgets and cut taxes. Now is not the time for on the job training. 

DeSantis: We were wrong to lock down the country during Covid. Fauci should have been fired. 

Ramaswamy: Do you want a Super Pac puppet or a patriot who speaks the truth?

Doug Burgum: The economy, energy and national security are all tied together. 1.2 trillion dollars of green new deal spending in the IRA is subsidizing China. Solar panels are produced in China in a factory run by coal.

Asa Hutchinson: I’m a pro-life governor. We shrunk the size of government. 

MAUI and climate change:

DeSantis: I’ve handled real crises as Governor.

Ramaswamy: The climate change agenda is a hoax. More people are dying of bad climate change policies than climate change.

Christie: Ramaswamy sounds like Chat GPT. 

Haley: Invoked Margaret Thatcher. Climate change is real. China and India have to lower their emissions. 

Scott: This is childish. America can do for anyone what she has done for me. Bring jobs home from China.

ABORTION:

Haley: A federal ban would require the House and 60 Senate votes. We need consensus.

DeSantis: We had the biggest election landslide in Florida history. Abortion didn’t hurt us. Democrats favor abortion up until birth. Different states have different approaches. 

Pence: I’ve been a champion for life. Consensus is the opposite of leadership. A ban after 15 weeks is appropriate. 

Burgum: No federal abortion ban. 10th Amendment. Get the feds out of our lives. 

Hutchinson: It’s ok to address abortion at the federal level. 

Scott: We cannot let California, New York and Illinois have abortion on demand until birth. That’s immoral. A 15 week abortion ban at the federal level is appropriate. Our creator gave us inalienable rights including life.

Haley: Ask Biden and Harris if they favor 38, 39 or 40 weeks.

CRIME and HOMELESSNESS:

Pence: Blame Democrats and the defund the police movement. The Trump-Pence tax cuts expire in 2025 if we don’t elect a GOP president. Shut down the Department of Education. 

Christie: I ran a US Attorney’s office. Woke prosecutors are refusing to do their jobs. I’d hire an AG who would have the 93 US Attorneys prosecute violent crime at the federal level. Joe Biden sponsored the 10 year mandatory minimum for gun felonies that Hunter committed.

Ramaswamy: More cops. We have a mental health epidemic. More mental health institutions. People are hungry for purpose and meaning. We will stand for the rule of law. 

Pence: We are not looking for a new national identity. We need government as good as its people. 

Ramaswamy: We are in a dark time. 

DeSantis: Crime is at a 50 year low in Florida. George Soros funds radical leftist DAs. I fired Soros DAs. 

Burgum: In small towns, neighbors help neighbors. I understand small town values. 

Hutchinson: Enforce the law. More addiction counseling. Trump has undermined the law by attacking judges. 

TRUMP:

if Trump is convicted, would you still support him as the nominee? Hutchinson and Christie said no.

Christie: Trump’s conduct is beneath the dignity of the USA. 

Ramaswamy: Trump was the best president of the 21st century. Christie’s campaign is based on vengeance against Trump. 

Christie: Trump disrespected the Constitution. 

Scott: Pence did the right thing by certifying the 2020 election. Fire Merrick Garland and Christopher Wray. Only 17% of Republicans have confidence in our DoJ. 

DeSantis: This election is not about January 6, 2021. It’s about January 20, 2025. My military service taught me to focus on the mission at hand. 

Pence: I kept my oath to the Constitution that day. There is no higher importance. 

DeSantis: Mike did his duty, but let’s move on. 

Hutchinson: Trump is morally disqualified from the White House again due to January 6th. Hutchinson referenced the “insurrection” and invoked the 14th Amendment argument (which has been debunked). 

Christie: Mike Pence stood for the Constitution. He deserves our thanks for putting the USA above his personal ambition and pressure. 

Haley: Pence did the right thing. The American people should decide if Trump is fit to be in charge again. We need a new generational leader. We can’t win a general election with the most disliked politician in American.

Burgum: Pence was right. Talking about Trump takes time away from talking about China.

Ramaswamy: I’d pardon Trump. 

Pence: I put the Constitution first and I always will. Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election in 2024 when we win. 

UKRAINE: 

DeSantis: Europe is not pulling their weight.

Ramaswamy: An invasion of another nation nowhere near us is not our problem. Stop worshiping Pope Zelensky. 

Christie: Trump called Putin brilliant. We must stand up against an autocratic killer. 

Pence: The leader of the free world must lead. The Reagan Doctrine said we fight Communism on their soil. If we give up Ukraine, Putin will advance on a NATO nation. Putin is a dictator and a murderer. 

Ramaswamy: The real threat we face is Communist China. Ukraine is not a priority for the USA. 

Haley: The world needs to know the difference between right and wrong. Only 3% of our budget has gone to Ukraine. A win for Russia is a win for China. Vivek wants to hand Taiwan to China. He wants to stop funding Israel. 

Ramaswamy: Nikki is on the board of Lockheed and Raytheon. 

Haley: Ramaswamy has no foreign policy experience and it shows. 

Ramaswamy: I love Israel’s border and tough on crime policies. 

Haley: America needs Israel. They are a middle East Bulwark.

DeSantis: No troops to Ukraine. 

CHINA: 

Burgum: Russia is China’s gas station. China imports 10 million barrels of gas per day. Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal emboldened China. 

Scott: Our most pressing safety issue is the Southern border because of Fentanyl. Finish the border wall. 

Burgum: Losing 300 people per day due to overdoses.

SOUTHERN BORDER:

Hutchinson: Border patrol can use lethal force if necessary. Bring in Mexico as a partner. Use economic pressure. After 9/11, we launched the Global war on Terror and protected the Southern border.

DeSantis: I’ll send the military and special forces into Mexico to kill the cartels. 

Pence: We secured the Southern border and reduced illegal immigration by 90%. Biden let everyone in. I negotiated the wall funding and the Remain in Mexico policy. We got the Mexicans to deploy their National Guard to their Southern border. 

Christie: We have to have law and order in this country. We can’t reward people who came illegally. Those who came illegally must be sent back. 

EDUCATION:

DeSantis: We need education and not indoctrination. Lockdowns hurt our kids. I brought back civics in Florida. 

Ramaswamy: This is the civil rights issue of our time. Stop paying single women to have children. Eliminate the Department of Education.

Burgum: Not every school is indoctrinating kids. II go to the schools and sit in and personally observe. Give states block grants for education. 

Haley: We have to get kids reading. We need reading remediation. Parents should have school choice. Put vocational lasses back in high school. Biological boys don’t belong in girls locker rooms. 

MENTAL PRESIDENTIAL FITNESS TEST FOR OLD PEOPLE:

Pence: We don’t need a president who is too old or too young. We need someone who knows how the government works. School choice for all parents. 

Ramaswamy: The people can separate a thinking person from an automaton. 

Hutchinson: We need more computer science education. Every school must offer this. This is how we compete with China. 

FAITH:

Scott: America is founded on Judeo-Christian values. Break the backs of the teachers unions. 

MANDATORY MILITARY SERVICE:

DeSantis: I served, but service should be voluntary. Being president is about the mission, not the individual.

UFO ENCOUNTERS:

Christie: Joked that Marsha MacCallum is from New Jersey, which is why he got the UFO question. The president has to always level with the American people always. I went after the teachers unions, they are the biggest threat to kids, not UFOs. 

CLOSING STATEMENTS: 

Burgum: Biden’s inflation is choking us. Our cities are less safe. Our economy is being crushed by Biden. I’ll secure the border and get this economy sprinting. Innovation, not regulation. We win the cold war with China by growing our economy. 

Hutchinson: Our nation is in trouble because of failed leadership. The solution is not Biden or Trump. A president’s number one responsibility is to bring out the best of our people. 

Scott: The American dream is alive, well and healthy. If you take out a loan, you pay it back. If you commit a violent crime, you go to jail. If you’re born a man, you play sports with men. 

Christie: I’m the only one on this stage who beat a Democrat incumbent in an election. The truth and accountability matter. 

Haley: My  husband is in Afghanistan there. We must protect America here. We will put transparency in classrooms, secure the border, and back our law enforcement. 

Pence: Biden has weakened America at home and abroad. The Afghanistan withdrawal, the war on energy, the border, etc. Proven leadership at the national level. God is not done with America. 

Ramswamy: We were taught to celebrate diversity rather than Americans bound by a common set of ideals. God is real, 2 genders, fossil fuels are a requirement for human prosperity, parents determine the education of their children, the nuclear family is great, 3 branches of government not 4, the Constitution is supreme. 

Desantis: We will send Biden back to his basement and reverse the decline. 

My recent encounter with a random individual in a Missouri bathroom will last in my memory bank forever. The person has most likely already forgotten me, but they will never be forgotten. In the 15 to 30 seconds we interacted, life lessons were taught and learned. Memories came flooding back. My own biases were as clear as my reflection staring back at me from that bathroom mirror.

After washing my hands and preparing to exit the restroom, the other person walked in. To my horror, a woman had just entered the men’s bathroom. My first reaction was panic. Was this the women’s bathroom? Admitting error was out of the question. My words were defiant, telling this young female that “This is the men’s room!” The conversation quickly deteriorated when the equally defiant teenage woman said “I’m a man.”

This had all the makings of a nightmarish transgender conversation. Whatever one feels about transgender issues, a public restaurant washroom is not going to be the place where every divisive social issue gets solved. However one feels about gender pronouns, a bathroom is a place to engage in unmentionable activities, wash your hands, and leave. Arguing about gender was not going to solve the problem. My one-word perplexed question to this individual was a simple “What?” This brought a response that left me dumbfounded at myself.

“I am a man. I have long hair.”

Color me gobsmacked. This had nothing to do with transgenderism, pronouns, or other terms that barely existed before 2015. This was an issue as old as time itself. I mistook a boy for a girl simply because the teenage boy had long hair.

After apologizing to the boy twice and even thrice, all I could meekly muster to say was that, “When I was 21, my hair was longer than yours.” Who was I kidding? My hair was longer several months ago.

Kids do sometimes turn into their parents, but I had just turned into my late grandfather. All I needed was a Yiddish accent and a rolled-up newspaper to chase hooligans away.

My grandfather was an old-school Eastern European immigrant who fled the Holocaust and spoke broken English. He never accepted that boys could have long hair. In the 1980s and early 1990s, he would introduce me to his friends with the sarcastic taunt of, “This is Eric. He’s my new granddaughter.”

When my hair went from shoulder length to mid-back, he told me that I looked like a “Calderone.” The man spoke five languages, but Italian was not one of them. Calderone sounded Italian. My father intervened and spoke to my grandfather in Yiddish. My father explained to his father that a Calderone was a person, not a thing. After impatiently inquiring who this Calderone guy was, my father replied, “Your grandfather says you look like the drug dealer on Miami Vice.” At least that drug dealer was male.

Eventually I explained to my grandfather that “The hair does not make you sell the drugs. I have long hair. I don’t do drugs.” While he never accepted my long hair, he did eventually accept that my Y chromosome existed. My gender was male, without ambiguity.

In the 1980s, guys with long hair were either in a rock band or they were transients. A young stoned teenager on the Santa Monica Third Street Promenade once remarked to me that my “third album sucked.” My anger quickly subsided when my friends reminded me that I was never in a band. At least this guy who hated my non-existent music understood that cool guys had long hair.

Misgendering has existed ever since society decided that men had to have short hair and women had to have long hair.

Beyond that, not every conflict is due to raging political issues of the day. Occam’s Razor is still valid. The simplest explanation is often the truthful one.

To anyone who has ever been misgendered, join my club. It happens to the best of us.

Now to flout society’s conventions and grow my hair long again, because I can. At age 51, I’m old enough to remember when that truly was an act of rebellion.

I hope the Missouri kid keeps his hair long for as long as he wants without further hassles.

Whether you believe there are two genders or two hundred of them, one thing is as clear as the Cowsills: I’m a guy, and “There ain’t no words for the beauty and the splendor, the wonder of my hair!”

Liberals created and keep fueling the MAGA movement

Donald Trump’s third straight presidential run has conservatives split between “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) die-hards and those singing Bob Seger’s “Turn the page.” Liberals uniformly oppose Trump for a litany of reasons. Many liberals see Mr. Trump as Frankenstein’s monster. These liberals fail to realize this makes them Frankenstein. They created Trump, nurtured him, and continue eight years later to feed, fuel and motivate him and his MAGA movement.

Understanding Trump’s initial rise requires returning to 2011. Governor Mitt Romney cleaned President Barack Obama’s clock in their first presidential debate. The Obama team realized a positive reelection campaign like Ronald Reagan’s 1984 “Morning in America” or Bill Clinton’s 1996 “Bridge to the 21^st Century” would fail during tough economic times.

Romney was like Mr. Rogers, only nicer. Obama’s team successfully painted polite Midwesterner Romney as a racist, sexist, heartless, plutocratic vulture capitalist who enjoyed firing people. Obama verbally decked Romney and punched his way to a second term.

Romney and Senator John McCain before him pulled punches out of fear of blowback from criticizing America’s first partially black president. With Hillary Clinton in 2016, Republicans faced the same quandary.

Republicans needed a street brawler. Rudy Giuliani underperformed in 2008.  New Jersey’s Chris Christie underwhelmed in 2012. Both opted out in 2016. Only Donald Trump remained.

Republicans overlooked Trump’s behavior because he was a ferocious counter-puncher. No blow was out of bounds. Rosie O’Donnell started a feud with him for laughs. He made her cry.

Trump’s campaign was also a fist in the eyes of smug late-night comedians. Seth Meyers roasted Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, calling him a “joke.” John Oliver dared Trump to run. Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel ridiculed him. They stopped laughing after he won.

Yet the biggest gift American liberals gave Trump was a clear policy lane. His undisciplined personal style aside, Trump was remarkably disciplined on policy. Voters felt economic angst, and Trump repeatedly hammered the same two themes of trade and immigration he had addressed for over 30 years.

Democrats focused on social issues. Voters understood at the time that abortion was legal and gay marriage was law of the land. Climate change registered at the bottom of opinion surveys.

On election day, Trump campaigned in Wisconsin. Hillary partied with A-list celebrities. Trump’s victory equated to “Caddyshack” Rodney Dangerfield defeating Ted Knight’s Judge Smails. The slobs defeated the snobs.

Eight years later, many Democrats still have not learned. Some prop Trump up under the belief he cannot win. More plausibly, they cannot ignore him. The more President Joe Biden’s approval languishes, the more Democrats frighten voters with “Orange Man Bad.”

Democrats mock Trump, his policies, and worst of all, his voters. Indicting Trump and raiding his Mar-A-Lago home under flimsy charges emboldens him. He successfully paints his critics as wacky conspiracy theorists who insist he is a Russian spy. His supporters rush to defend him when he claims, “They’re not after me. They’re after you. I’m just in the way.” Most Trump voters are not racists, sexists, conspiracy theorists or insurrectionists. They just want a better life.

Democrats created MAGA by condescendingly dismissing Trump voters as society’s filthy dregs. Trump reminded these voters that their lives also matter.

With spiraling inflation, food and fuel prices, and crime, Democrats need better answers than blaming Trump. Even those questioning his policy prescriptions concede that at least he has them. Democrats attacking voters as Gaea-killing transphobes give Trump his opening.

Had Democrats sacrificed Obama’s identity politics, Romney may have served two very moderate terms. Flaming culture wars would have been on the back burner of a quiet, non-controversial technocratic administration.  Trump would have spent a decade building bigger, better golf courses.

A 2024 Trump win would again be by default. He can win if enough voters believe Democrats, as in 2016, remain indifferent to their survival.

Christian children murdered: The unanswered transgender question

Time must not allow the Nashville massacre to fade into obscurity.

In a shocking display of brutality, a transgender individual broke into her former Nashville Christian school and shot six people to death. Three innocent children and three adult employees are no longer with us. Two Tennessee police offers subsequently shot and killed Audrey Hale, ending the threat.

The heartbreaking murders on March 28^th turned the political world upside down. The LGBTQ+ community has long claimed to be victims of bullying. In the Nashville horror, the transgender person was the cold-blooded aggressor. Christians were the victims.

The typical deflection to gun control preceded the expected straw man argument about reprisals. A backlash against the LGBTQ+ community is fiction. Most Americans are good, decent people who eschew painting entire groups with a broad brush. Americans did not rampage against Muslims after 9/11 or assault Jews due to the 2008 financial crisis. No sane person would even think about blaming Caitlyn Jenner for Audrey Hale’s evil act.

Yet the shooter’s sexual orientation cannot be ignored either. It is central to the shooting, not peripheral. Rather than cower in fear of transphobia accusations, Americans must ask the unanswered transgendered question.

Is it dangerous to change genders?

Before some heads explode, this question is medical, not political. It is one thing for an adult man like Bruce Jenner to make a life-altering decision. Children could face far more risks.

Adopting a new pronoun is simple. A gender change involves complex physical alterations to the human body. These alterations can include serious surgical changes and chemical drugs.

Some drugs do cause violent behavior. Many people who consumed powder or crack cocaine committed crimes in the heat of violent rages. Crystal meth addicts often turn to violent crime to feed their habit.

It is not an attack on gay or transgendered people to ask questions about puberty blockers. Anyone who believes in science should demand that every drug be scrutinized. If Viagra, Rogaine or Theraflu were causing violence, they would hopefully be pulled from the market. The Food and Drug Administration must not hold puberty blockers to a lower standard.

The transgender movement is relatively new. It only began gaining steam in 2015. Eight years is not a lot of time to get drugs to market, much less have comprehensive studies verifying their safety and efficacy. Time horizons matter. This is why many Americans refusing to take the Covid vaccine support vaccinations for polio, measles, and other diseases.

Puberty blockers could be completely safe. Either way, the American Medical Association must release every single study done on every single one of these drugs. Experts for and against these drugs should have public debates where neither side is censored.

Rather than feel persecuted, the LGBTQ+ community should demand to know if the drugs their community is taking are safe. As with the 1980s AIDS crisis, it is far better to hurt people’s feelings than let them die.

It is totally understandable for gay and transgender people to be skeptical about motives. Studies linking being gay to pedophilia were debunked, but not until after causing many innocent gay people significant pain. Trust of others is difficult, but people on both sides of the transgender rights debate have to unite on this issue of drug testing.

Did Audrey Hale take puberty blockers? Can these drugs cause violent behavior in a percentage of people who take them? If yes, what percentage? If yes, should they be banned? Are there other drugs that can counteract potential violence?

Evangelical Christian conservatives and leftist transgender activists can agree on the most important point of all. Nothing in this world is worse than innocent murdered children.

We need to ask this hard transgender question and get honest answers before one more child of any orientation suffers an untimely violent death.   

Juneteenth and Festivus: The Airing of Grievances

For those wondering why the banks, stock market and post office took an extra day off, the answer is Juneteenth. The new federal holiday commemorates the day in 1865 when Texas gave black people emancipation. Juneteenth was supported by former President Donald Trump and signed into existence by President Joe Biden in 2021. As with virtually everything else in today’s era, Juneteenth opinions are sharply divided.

The stated purpose of Juneteenth was historical and educational. By educating white Americans about the black struggle for freedom, understanding could bring racial healing. In reality, Juneteenth risks being turned into a day of negativity.

For one thing, Americans already honor Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday in January.

Yet Juneteenth is more than just repetitive. Leftists are already attempting to hijack this new holiday and turn it into the new Festivus. For those unfamiliar with the 1990s television show “Seinfeld,” Festivus was the fictional holiday celebrated by George Costanza’s father and inflicted upon George. The main Festivus ritual was the “airing of grievances.” Festivus achieved cultlike status in America. Every December 23rd, Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz take to television and social media to air their grievances. Millions of everyday people join in the fun.

In reality, grievance politics is destructive. America fought a brutal Civil War and conquered the evils of slavery and segregation. The 1954 unanimous decision in Brown vs. Board of Education declared that “Separate is inherently unequal.” The very people who fought for integration have seen their children fight for resegregation. “Lift every voice and sing” has become for many the new Black National Anthem. Far too many black leftists have declared June 19th the new Black Independence Day.

Conservatives are already frustrated with leftists in America who fly rainbow gay pride flags throughout June but will not fly red, white and blue flags for one day on July 4th. Now there are black leftists who will fly the Juneteenth flag but not the American flag.

As with Veterans Day and Memorial Day, far too many people in America have already rendered the holiday as just another day off from school or work. Some people attended Juneteenth barbecues. Others took advantage of Juneteenth mattress day sales. Sadly, far too many young black people used the day off to kill each other. Initial reports recorded 12 deaths and over 100 injuries from Juneteenth violence, mostly black-on-black. As usual, Chicago led the carnage.

The good news is there is good news. Plenty of black conservatives led by pastors are determined to make Juneteenth a positive meaningful holiday. These black conservatives stated unequivocally that all Americans should commemorate Juneteenth and Independence Day on July 4th. Juneteenth can reflect the painful past but also celebrate how far we have come.

People did overcome. White Americans grieved over the recent deaths of Jim Brown and Tina Turner. Ray Charles and Whitney Houston performed the greatest renditions respectively of “American the Beautiful” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” Democrats went from the party of slavery to electing a biracial President Barack Obama and a multiracial Vice President Kamala Harris. Republicans from Abraham Lincoln on down abolished slavery and passed numerous civil rights laws. The GOP had a black conservative in Herman Cain leading the presidential race. Now Republicans have a serious black conservative presidential candidate in South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.

Mr. Scott is running a positive campaign, declaring himself and his family the embodiment of the American dream. On Monday, his Juneteenth remarks offered the pitch perfect tone. “We honor Juneteenth not to dwell on our original sin as a nation, but to showcase just how far we’ve come.”

Heeding Scott’s approach would render Juneteenth a valuable holiday. Endless grievances will divide Americans further and make Juneteenth the Black Festivus.

Not since Booker T. Washington and W.E. Dubois has such a vital debate taken place. For this alone, Juneteenth has positive potential.