Opinion : Letter to the Editor: I'm not what I used to be

By Vinton Today · February 9, 2022, 9:12 pm

To our many readers: Greetings and Salutations.

I wish to announce openly and without reservation – I am not a strict Republican – I was once a voter for Democrats as well as Republicans, but in the ’80s or thereabouts I realized the Democrat Platform was way out there from my political thought. That is; the Democrat Party left me not that I left them. I classify myself as a Classic Liberal. A strange label, but you will find if you look it up it was favored a millennium ago.

I am a small government, low taxes, encourage entrepreneurship, small business, wealth accumulation, nationalism, and patriotism. Neither party stands 100% for that today, so one like myself has to vote for the least evil or least dangerous. I have made my decision, but it is up to the rest of you to determine this for yourself. I would hope you use more than one news source for the mainstream media including our local sources the Cedar Rapids Gazette and the Des Moines Register tend to be on the left side in their opinion editorials. I am not there!

Progressives to me are no more than disguised Marxist, Socialist, Communists. They may not think of themselves that way but look at their platform and the speeches they make – no doubt in my mind. Do not take my word for it, listen, read and then make up your mind.

Freedom is precious and as wise men have said is “only one generation away from loss”. If the left has indeed captured the school systems and indoctrinated our youth without the correction of parents – then we are indeed doomed to serfdom. Our bill of rights will be overturned and we will live under authoritarian rule. That is the Marxist narrative – indoctrinate the youth.

Our Universities have advanced this narrative so that it is not a minority view any longer; it is almost a majority view at this time – why do we have a “cancel culture”? Why has the “pillow guy”, Mike Lindell, been forced out of retail sales??? He has good products at a fair price, but can now only sell them with TV advertising and internet connections. Who else will be affected? Companies that are deemed to be on the wrong side of the” narrative” would be denied bank loans to fill their need for operating capital. We are seeing this with some manufacturers of items that are deemed out of the “mainstream” – gun manufacturers – maybe – who will be next? This will be a vicious assault on our basic freedom to live, work and accumulate wealth.

There have been many individuals who have tried to warn us of this encroachment – Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh (RIP), Glenn Beck, many others. One does not have to believe everything they write or say, but one must listen to gain an understanding of the “narrative” the left is spewing.

Again I say – do not take my word for it --- Do your homework! Don’t take anything for granted – study.

If men were angels, no government would be needed. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary -- Federalist #51 James Madison

Regards, and blessings

John Stiegelmeyer

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JS February 14, 2022, 9:40 pm Lord - Save us from the Progressive left. Amen It is hard for me to see how the trio can criticize others but not see the emperor (Biden) has no clothes and no brain.

DL February 11, 2022, 3:19 pm Mr. Steigelmeyer, a few sentences would allow me to address the several issues from your letter. Political Science says that Progressivism is synonymous with Liberalism. Most of what Senators Sanders and Warren (who I most often disagree with) ask for, in their "narrative or agenda" (as those of your ilk like to put it) is those things listed in the Preamble of our Constitution. Those of you on the extreme far-right of the political spectrum have made up your own definition of Socialism, based on what your cult leaders have told you, over the last 50 years. This started before many of the "Southern Democrats" realized that they were actually Republicans. But not until 20 years after the two parties had flipped ideologies. What your cult has learned to ignore is that "Social Programs" are those services that are available to all citizens. They are schools, roads, police and fire protection, Social Security and Medicare. "Socialism" is an economic philosophy where the workers of the country own the means of production. I have never heard any Democrat advocate such an action. I'm guessing that you've researched the political spectrum at some point in your life. But, if you haven't, I suggest that you take some time to do that. If you do a Google search, you'll be bombarded with many charts that plot out the spectrum in many different ways. You will also be given many articles that explain the characteristics of the different ideologies. When I first researched this, about 15 years ago, I was surprised to find that the extreme far-right ideologies shares some characteristics with the extreme far-left ideologies. Lastly, it's amazing that you believe Trump is not a villain. You can ignore the fact all you want. But, Trump is involved in the mafia. He was first involved with Cosa Nostra, in NYC,just like his father. Then he became entangled with the Russian Mafya when his casinos failed, in the 90s. Someone Mogilivich gave Trump an offer he couldn't refuse. He helped Trump through those bankruptcies,including his personal bankruptcy. The way Trump tells the story, he went completely broke, but through his "dealing",he was again a billionaire in less than a year. He didn't become a billionaire again, and most of the wealth he did recover, was through money laundering,for the Russian Mafya. During the Trump presidency, the FBI made an announcement (they didn't related to Trump at all) that they were getting a lot closer to taking down a major part of the Russian Mafya. I suspect we'll all be hearing as soon as the DOJ investigation is over. Yeah, go ahead and laugh at this. If I hadn't heard it from a retired CIA agent, and an agent embedded in Cosa Nostra, I wouldn't have believed it either.

DS February 11, 2022, 10:15 am Wow, I never thought of picking Darrin Lindsey twice! I wanted to parlay my bet and go with the over/under on how many words Darrin would use in his rebuttal. Unfortunately, the system only allowed 3 digits in my guess. So far, it's another $5 for me and a total of $75 to Better Together for the week (thanks Laura for the $20). I will be dropping off my check this weekend. When will you be taking yours down? As far as a free Android, those were free from the administration that was in office right before another candidate (and party) lost, which they also failed to accept. But I digress. . . . Let's keep up the good work of raising funds for a worthy cause as we sit and watch the Pavlovian responses between a select group of Vinton Today Letter to the Editor readers. I understand they just can't help themselves. It reminds me of the Progressive commercial about becoming your parents, you know the one? "We all see it, we all see it" . . . . "He has Blue Hair". The commercial is funny, this constant back and forth between a small group of individuals certainly isn't. They're never going to change the other side's opinion. Which also reminds me of something else, Disney's Frozen. LET IT GO, LET IT GO!

GB February 10, 2022, 11:39 pm John, thank you! As always, well written and factual. I could not help but laugh at the self description our "Jester" used to describe himself "fiscal conservative Democrat" yet there is no such animal, except in fantasy like unicorns and fairies.

JS February 10, 2022, 6:16 pm Mr. Lindsey --- you write a book when only a few sentences are needed. As I stated Neither party can claim sainthood, Joe Manchen is a bit of a hero to me as well as the lady- name escapes at the moment, but they have the guts to go against the Narrative. That is the evil we face today - the narrative. That belongs to the so-called Progressives (note this word is capitalized to differentiate IT from Webster's definition0. Ms. Van Deest -- You would deprive someone of his work his fortune his very livelihood because you disagree with his politics or disagree with his vote. You are the person and those like you that are a danger to our Republic. Opinions are not equally shared by all, but we have a right to have them and to publish. Trump is not the villain you make him out to be. I look at President Biden and I see error after error that will take decades to overcome. Regards.

DL February 10, 2022, 5:36 pm Darran, letting you know that I typed every word of that, this time. My keyboard took a beating. May I get a new android phone from your charity?

DL February 10, 2022, 2:53 pm Mr. Steigelmeyer, we have a common difference... err something of that sort. I was a strict Republican until about 20 years ago. I left that party, not because it left me. But, it just took me that long to see what that party was all about. When I realized the party had put back in it platform, the hate of anyone that looked different from them, I left. It wasn't until some time after that, that I was awakened to the fact that the hate was never gone from the platform. The party had just put lipstick on that pig... err elephant. I consider myself a fiscal conservative Democrat. I used to think I understood what Republicans meant by "small government". But, I'm not so sure anymore. My opinion of the definition is; a government just big enough to take care of the size of its country. No unnecessary expenses for unneeded labor. But, not so small as to not be able to take care of its citizens, in a prompt manner. I've learned, in the last 20 years, that "small government" doesn't really have a definition, as it relates to the Republican platform. It fluctuates, seemingly, by the minute. In the second paragraph of your letter, you said "I have made my decision". It's hard to know what you are referring to there. Was it the previously mentioned political ideologies that you were referring to? Or, were you saying that you have made your decision on who to vote for in the future? You seemingly go on from there, encouraging your readers to vote the same way as you, although you disguised that by encouraging them to dismiss anything that has "left leaning" agendas. In your third paragraph, you begin with stating that you believe Progressives to be "Marxists, Socialists and/or Communists. Although there are those within the Democratic Party, that have essentially hijacked that term, being Progressive merely means to look forward for growth. Those within the party, that think they are the lone entities for positive growth and progression, are very few. To call them Socialists is a real stretch. To expect every human and humanoid (as defined by the Supreme Court, by Citizens United) to pay their fair share of taxes, does NOT fall under the ideology of Socialism or Communism. It falls under fair treatment in a fair world. As I've said before, there is ZERO chance of a Socialist government taking control of this country, in this century. I wish I could say the same about a far-right Authoritarian government. I saw several attendees interviewed after the last Trump "rally". I was astonished to hear one of them state the following words, "We need a dictator running this country". Although not that direct, the same basic words were spoken by a second person. Our country has a Constitution that grants us the freedom to live our daily lives. The Democratic Party is fighting like hell to keep that document as our standard of law. The other party is still following a man that has said that document is useless. I think you're smart enough to realize this (but, you don't make much of an effort to show that you are), our Constitution, as long as it stands for our laws, cannot be *changed* by either party. It will either stand as it is, or be completely overthrown. The Democratic Party WILL NOT overthrow it. In order for any changes to be made to it, these things must happen; Both chambers of Congress must pass a proposed amendment by 2/3 of the vote. That's 2/3 in each chamber. That's all but impossible now. Then, if it were to pass both chambers (isn't going to happen), then the proposed amendment is sent to the 50 state legislatures, with 2/3 of the states agreeing (ratifying) said amendment. That's 38 states that would need to agree with Congress. The last serious try at this, was in the early 70s, with the Equal Rights Amendment, for equality for women. It was never ratified by the states. Women, still to this day, don't have a law that they can point to, that considers them equal to men. This country is in its 245 year of existence. As far as the "indoctrination of our children". This was not an issue until a con artist, occupying our oval Office, mentioned its "existence", when he got desperate to win the 2020 election. Just a mention of it, by a lifelong con artist, has blown into a giant sized Snowball. Our state legislature is now considering a law, to put cameras in every classroom in our state, so parents can prey on our teachers, for teaching our children. THAT is the Republican Party's definition of "small government". "The words Pro and Con have opposite definitions, that fact is clearly seen. If progress means to move forward, then what does congress mean?” ~ Nipsey Russell Cheers

LVD February 10, 2022, 2:30 pm Mike Lindell made a decision. He decided to fully support a fool. There are consequences to his actions. He can now sleep in the bed he made, with My Pillow. I am sending $20.00 to Better Together Animal Rescue, no matter who wins the Lunacy Lotto, a fabulous and fitting name for a lotto and the former POTUS. You know the one…the one that lost the election.

DS February 10, 2022, 10:31 am It seems I have a gambling problem. I am going to play the Lunacy Lotto Pick 4. In this game you have to pick the first four rebuttal authors to the most recent John Stiegelmeyer post, in the correct order. It pays $5 for one correct, $10 for two correct, $15 for 3 correct and $20 for all four correct. All winnings will be donated to Better Together. Here are my picks: Randy Braden, Darrin Lindsey, Steve Lucas, Norma Gould I wait with anticipation.