You are correct Gary, you have never supported these folks personally and I should not have directed towards you. The this is mantra of the "woke" crowd which you support.
You are person I'd like for next door neighbor..hang out with etc. Your a model productive American. Yet you support all the the things contrary to
what allowed you your success in life.
At some point in time after the events.... of liberals building statues and naming streets and burning and looting for 5 time felon in commission of his 6th, sanctuary cities, police hatred etc...you are going to realize where and why these areas are decaying and give thanks that despite your convictions you happen to live in a predominantly conservative city and don't have to put up them.
Going to given you heads up on situation that is coming. I was recently at actuary summit.
As we all know people are leaving several CA cities in droves. IMO CA deserves everything it gets. Only solution ,which may occur" is dividing CA into 2 entities, north an south. However what will happen very soon is people exiting Portland OR.
While many argue about politics on Portland and Ca cities that is indirectly the reason. The fundamental reason is economics.
Insurance rates are proportionate to risk. Rates are not only going to escalate but more problematic is not available at all in areas.
Unfortunately you and I living in benign areas still get stuck with increase to make up for losses in the woke areas.
Had my rates which have been stable for years go up 25%...with no claims. I expect you will be seeing same.
In conclusion..Gary we have 2 sides
..the wild ass protestors with masks that burn...pillage and create anarchy and havoc telling people they have no hope.
Or the silent majority (you an I) Who do what we need to establish our goals/success.!
You took the time to write this out so I will take the time to respond in kind.
We have always gotten along fine and I'd be thrilled to have you as a neighbor.
I don't know what you mean about me supporting things that are contrary to what allowed for my personal success. There are things that get attached to "liberalism" that are solely purposed to help others reject it. I believe in personal freedom (think of the person getting killed more than the guy allowed to do the killing) and the need to regulate. I like the thought of paying into a system and getting a lot in return (cops, firemen, military protection, clean streets, schools, paved roads, etc.) and if anything I'd like additional protections so I don't have to worry about going bankrupt if me or my wife get really sick (#1 cause in the USA).
I don't put much into statues or what we name our streets. There's a reason why it's unacceptable to fly a Nazi flag from your pickup truck and why Germany doesn't have statues commemorating the leaders of the 1930s. I just read a book about the revival of the KKK ~ 100 years ago (Fever in the Heartland). The similarities between that time and now are incredible and scary.
I have heard the argument about CA splitting and eastern OR joining up with ID, but there's a lot wrong/missing from the arguments. CA is a market with LOTS to offer, but it comes at a premium. A premium I'm not interested in paying. But, it's a market. Lots of people will be willing to pay it even though lots are fed up with it. If CA was an independent country, economically, it would be the 5th largest in the world.
The "wokeness" that you've had beat into your head by rightwing media is kind of weird to me. Everything has examples of it's extremes and painting the whole thing with the extreme examples is both unfair and inaccurate. Being "woke" or aware of underlying social issues shouldn't be an insult. To me, it would be more insulting to have it pointed out that I've been asleep while these injustices continue on and are ignored by the "silent majority".
I agree that there are two sides, but I think they are right and wrong or possibly active and inactive. Neither side is for looting and anarchy, but one has clearly convinced you that in between going to the polls, a certain ethnic group is destroying our cities. By now, I don't know how some of them are still standing. They've been "under siege" for at least 7 years. The irony is that a specific voting block did attack our nation's capital and it has been summarily dismissed by those making the same accusations against the supposed Democrats torching Portland.
As I do with all my Republican golf buddies, I'll invite you to dig a little deeper. The Fox News talking points fall apart in a hurry once you get past the surface.