I stood in the cold and rain this afternoon to get my vote in for the midterms. 

Don't sit this one out, folks. It's time to stop letting the swamp win. Get out and vote. Don't let the shenanigans on the left stop you. 

OK. Here's the deal. Most of the social media platforms out there are systematically erasing accounts. I've had my own issues that have already been covered here. 

I hate the idea of having to move to alternative platforms. A lot of people have been calling for conservative social media platforms (they don't need to be made... they exist... just use them). My problem with that is that it just creates another echo chamber where we are preaching to the choir. 

Yes, I know. Liberals just come in to conservative pages and spew the same talking points (like the girl on Instagram who has actually accused me of limiting the free speech of anyone I don't agree with, but got choked off and didn't know how to respond when I pointed out that she was still there and has been there for almost a year), throw insults, refuse to debate, etc. They are, of course, met by responses of the same talking points, throwing of insults, and refusal of valid debate. No, the non-leftists are not immune from this, either. I'm sorry. I do, in fact, read every single comment on every single social platform I have this page on. This is a disease that affects all sides (and there are more than two). 

What most social platforms are becoming at this point, though, are liberal echo chambers where anything that challenges their thought process, ideas, or opinions is deemed hate speech and must be destroyed. And our response is to create conservative platforms that do the same thing. 

While this ensures that we can keep our voices online, it does not ensure a return to debate or civility. It does not allow us to be challenged by opposing views. And we're just dropping our own thoughts and opinions on people who already agree with us and will nod along. It will reach no one who is looking for ideas, is researching, is curious, is on the fence, or who may be up for having their mind changed. 

Why are we not fighting to bring back civil debate? It can actually be achieved. 

Case in point, Facebook. Not too long ago, I had two liberals come into the page before we hit a major growth spurt. They did what a stereotypical liberal does... they began attacking and insulting. I let it go for two days. I know the tactic... they want me to ban them so they can play victim and wrack up their martyrdoms by adding my page to the list of conservatives who "silenced" them by banning them from the page. How intolerant it is of us to get sick of being called names all day long! Instead of banning them, I posted a note directed to them but readable publicly stating that we didn't mind alternative views on the page, but we did ask that they actually contributed to the conversation instead of just playing big man online. It actually resulted in one of them leaving on his own, and the other guy actually began engaging in debate. He was actually a friendly guy. 

That isn't going to happen all the time, although I have come to realize that when you don't ban them, but choose to ignore them instead, they do eventually tuck tail and run because they want victim points, not discussion or challenge. And when I don't ban them, they get no victim points, so they move on to someone who will give them the points instead. 

However, the idea of segregating people by opinion doesn't sit well with me. It doesn't accomplish anything, it doesn't change anything, and it doesn't bring anyone to your side. Throwing insults and being a childish piece of human trash doesn't, either. But when we segregate by opinions, you don't get your ideas challenged, you get them echoed. And that isn't good for the USA. 

Yes, I do have the page on alternative social media. I'm not dumb, I know my Facebook and Instagram pages are on borrowed time. As much as I want us all integrated and taking part in civil debate, we have gotten so far from that that we may never recover. We've been completely torn apart. And these social media platforms have fallen victim to this as well. They want a certain kind of thought out there reaching the masses, and they are afraid of different ideas reaching those people because it might challenge their belief system and cause them to stop doing what they are told.  

So if you have abandoned mainstream corporate social media, or if you click on ours one day and they are gone like so many before us, links are below.

• Minds
• Mewe
• Spreely
• Bitchute
• Our Spreely group page

That was the image I posted to Instagram and was amazed to find out they consider it hate speech!

It's hate speech to suggest we take care of our homeless here in the USA before taking care of illegal aliens swarming our border! 

'Even if you didn't mean to offend..."

So, Instagram... who's offense is more important? Because, frankly, I'm offended that you consider caring for the homeless in the USA as hate speech. I am offended that you consider US citizens to be of less value than the rest of the world. I am offended that my first thought was forced to be, "Is it because the homeless guy is a white male?" and the question is actually legitimate. There is actual porn on Instagram. If you have a foot fetish or like leather clad men showing off their asses, you've got it made on Instagram. But God forbid someone suggest that maybe we, as US citizens, should maybe give a crap about the starving and dying in our own country before taking care of the rest of the world! This is from people who want socialism in the US because it's "compassionate." This is from people who claim anyone right of Karl Marx doesn't care about the poor. 

​Give me a damn break. This is beyond freedom of speech issues right now. 

As most of you know, areas of Florida were absolutely decimated by Hurricane Michael this week. And, as per usual, you can expect the scam charities to come out in a major way. I am a huge proponent of local charities, so here are some helping out in Florida. Also, after Hurricane Florence, which hit my state pretty hard, I listed some charities for the Carolinas. Pay them a visit, too, if you any left over. Michael did the Carolinas dirty, too, while many areas were still cleaning up from Florence. I know in my area Michael hit us a lot harder than Florence did. 

But right now, let's give Florida a hand. 

Use Charity Navigator to double check charities for validity. 

Look. Like everyone else, celebrities are entitled to their opinions. I just don't really care what they are. 

We have become a society where we hold these people in higher esteem than they deserve. Too many people look at celebrities as their leaders. No, you shouldn't base an opinion on what a celebrity told you. If you can't decide how you feel about something without the help of a celebrity, maybe you should sit this one out.

And no, it doesn't matter to me if it's Taylor Swift or Kanye West. I'm pissed off at how Kanye is being treated, because I don't like how racial slurs suddenly become OK if liberals are using them against an African American who stopped doing what they tell them to do. But as far as his opinion... I don't care. He's entitled to it. But it isn't going to change how I personally feel about anything. And I'm not going to hold him up as a god because he agrees with me on a few things. 

We, as a society, need to take this power away from celebrities. They are no more important to society than any of you are. Their opinions carry no more weight - or shouldn't. Stop letting celebrities rule your thoughts and minds.