There Is No Alternative to America

by Rodger Friedman | Jun 30, 2024 | Blog

As America goes from bad to worse, you have no doubt considered packing up and getting the hell out. You may want to sell what you can and hightail it to another country— you, your belongings, your family, and your money. Perhaps Costa Rica crossed your mind, or maybe the Caribbean or some backwater European country. Odds are you did not give it much serious thought. After all, such a move would be monumental and life-changing. Would your family rebel or play along? Can what you do to earn a living be transferred to St. John island or Romania? What about the kids, their friends, and their schools?

Have you considered how and if you can move your assets legally out of the United States? There are laws aplenty that prohibit all sorts of transfers. Understanding the laws is a priority. It’s probably not a good idea to convert everything to gold coins and hide them in your sock drawer. Government agents and moving companies know that trick, and they know about hiding currency in framed family portraits.

There are consultants who specialize in moving people out of the country, but they are rather expensive. And you best not try this on your own. But if you feel that America has NO future, then you should at least investigate alternatives. It’s easier to move to one of the red states such as the Dakotas, Montana, Texas, or Florida as I did. Laws are better there, but the feds still exert a lot of control. Whatever you decide, it will take a gargantuan amount of planning. But remember, in the final analysis, there is no alternative to America.

P.S. I have a friend who hordes beer, gold, food, guns and ammo. He feels he is prepared for what may come. And yes, I have considered paying him a long visit.

The Current State of Things

The current state of things—well, I can just say it sucks and be done with it. But I suspect you would like a bit more color.

The current state of things is depressing. I long for how things used to be . . . not so long ago. I think back to America under President Donald Trump. We had low, low inflation. Mortgages were about 3 percent, sometimes a tick more, sometimes a bit less. Food inflation was virtually nonexistent. Government regulations were on the decline. The world was at relative peace.

Russia and China knew not to mess with America while Trump was in charge. Immigration was under control, and the Southern wall was being built. The price of oil and gas were insanely lower than they are today. DEI and CRT were not making daily headlines. Schools were not overrun with transgender activists demanding access to girls’ sports teams and girls’ locker rooms and bathrooms.

Today things are worse than they have been in years. Prices are through the roof. Government printing of money knows no end—$35 trillion in debt and climbing. The annual interest on our debt now exceeds the defense budget. The entitlement mindset of liberal Democrats is putting an end to work ethic. Illegals are enjoying money thrown in their direction by every level of government for free hotel stays, stipends, cell phones, and more.

Consider these—mortgage rates over 7 percent, oil at $80 per barrel, gas at $3.50 per gallon, crime out of control, daily news stories of transgender rights splashed across the front page, parents given no opportunity to opt their kids out of LGBTQ+ indoctrination and lesson plans. It seems as if half of all news stories are about one branch of the government suing another branch. The idea of working together for a common good has been lost on left-leaning Democrats. Their thirst for power would make our country’s founders gag at what the government has become—a cesspool of special interests jammed down our throats. The federal government and the executive branch have overreached their authority. This November, Americans will have the opportunity to VOTE OUT the administrative state.

Joe Biden: Trouble Knows My Name

You know, it occurred to me that if Joe Biden is competent enough to debate Donald Trump, he just may be competent enough to stand trial. I think Special Counsel Robert Hur of the Justice Department erred in his judgment. The 388-page report didn’t seem to support the conclusion that President Biden is competent enough to debate and lead the nation. It will be interesting to see if Mr. Biden is jacked up on medication as he was during his State of the Union address.

Ordinarily, he just slips, falls, slurs his words, reads off the teleprompter, lies, makes up shit, and sniffs small kids. If he is able to string together an intelligent sentence during the presidential debate, I suspect his physician will have given him a little pick-me-up. After all, the only thing Joe Biden can do unassisted is fall and get in trouble.

Extinguishing Capitalism from America Will Only Benefit the Socialists

Karl Marx is often quoted as saying, “Socialism is the road to communism.” The more regulatory powers that executive branch departments wield at the expense of entrepreneurial capitalism, and the more they choke off innovation so all outcomes are equal, the faster will be the destruction of capitalism.

If Democrats had their way, there would be NO small businesses. Why? They’re too hard to manage. The autocratic state prefers a limited number of BIG businesses it can keep under its thumb and control. If the autocrats had their way, ALL prices would be controlled and all production centralized and controlled by those inside the Capital Beltway. It kind of sounds like North Korea. The government directs all production and distribution. Lord help you if you are an enemy of the state.

Chaos at the Southern Border vs. Chaos at a House of Representatives Committee Hearing

When AOC and MTG get into a cat fight—screaming and yelling at each other at a House committee meeting—at least they are not given debit cards and free cell phones like all the illegal aliens pouring across our Southern border. Instead, it just makes worldwide news! Go online, and look at the two congressional ass-hats going at it.

A Really BIG Day

Come November 5, 2024, there will be 33 Senate seats and 100 percent of all House seats (435) up for grabs. It should be quite a show! Be sure to watch how corporate mass media spin conservatives as out to destroy democracy and how liberal socialists are out to save us.

Harken back to the days when Donald Trump was President. According to the Pew Research Center, in the early days of his presidency, they discovered that 62 percent of media coverage was negative, and 5 percent was positive. I may be a simple fellow, but that doesn’t sound like happenstance. Just like Joe Biden’s cluster f**k at the Southern border, it was premeditated.

Studying Non-Binary Poetry at an Ivy League University Prepares Students for NOTHING in Today’s Job Market

I read a lot. It helps me write as I do. And in all my readings, I have run across no shortages of non-binary poetry scholars, comparative lesbian history as portrayed in modern novels, diversity coaches, inclusion counselors, and the like. At the same time, I have noticed numerous help wanted ads for electricians, carpenters, construction workers, plumbers, welders, and home builders. I suspect that as Yale, Harvard, Columbia, and a host of other liberal elite universities churn out more and more BAs and MAs in the woke arts, the only job openings for these graduates will be in colleges and universities that teach those courses.

Imagine your son or daughter coming home with a master’s in diversity studies, only to be offered one job as a teaching aide at a liberal college in New Hampshire with a starting salary of

$45,000 per year. It would be better to send your offspring to trade school to learn underwater welding. The starting salary on an oil rig is $140,000 per year.

From patriotic American actor James Woods: “Imagine if there were a Constitutional amendment that made election day a federal holiday and paper ballots may only be cast in person by American citizens, registered voters who present a government issued voter ID.”

DEI Is Not Spoken Here

I don’t respond well to pronouns. In fact, I don’t respond at all. Should you insist that I refer to you as they, them, it, or cabbage, I simply don’t engage and walk away. No power on earth will make me buy into your delusion. ’Nuff said.

Overachievement Can Be Found in the History Books

Gone are the days of multi-tasking overachievers taking their Blackberries or i-Phones into the bathroom to send one more e-mail while they sit on the toilet. Gone are the days of working for 12 hours in hopes to get ahead and succeed. Mind you, the jackass Senator from Vermont, Bernie the SOCIALIST Sanders, is calling for a 32-hour workweek because Americans work too hard and need more family time and down time to enjoy themselves. All the while the federal government is providing more and more entitlements so rich people’s money is redistributed and everybody can enjoy equal economic outcomes. My guess is that the only folks who are still making a difference and WORKING are the hated entrepreneurs who take risks and build what others are unwilling or unable to do. When you come across the word ACHIEVEMENT in a history book, you will likely find a picture of Elon Musk or Steve Jobs.

Maryland Parents Are Told Their Children MUST Be Indoctrinated in DEI and LGBTQ+ Culture in Public Schools – You Have ZERO Choice in the Matter

I recently read of a federal appeals court ruling that ruined my otherwise tranquil Saturday morning. It seems that Maryland’s largest school district does not have to allow parents the opportunity to opt out their young elementary school-age kids from LGBTQ+ class lessons. In a 2–1 ruling, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling that Montgomery County parents cannot opt their kids out of the county’s gay, lesbian, and transgender class lessons on religious grounds.

Parents and a parents’ rights group sued Montgomery County Public Schools after learning they could no longer opt their children out of reading LGBTQ+-inclusive books or having similar type of in-class instruction. Trump-appointed Circuit Court Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr. wrote a dissenting opinion. He stated, “The board’s refusal to grant the parents’ requests for religious opt-outs to instruction with the books the board required be used to promote diversity and inclusivity to the LGBTQ+ community forces the parents to make a choice—either adhere to their faith or receive a free public education for their children. They cannot do both.”

Commercial Corner

I thought I would share with you three testimonials I received about my latest book, Erasing America: Broken Politics, Broken Country. I am grateful for all of them. The book is available on Amazon, Walmart, and Target websites.

1. This is an exceptionally written book and a fast read in which the author, Rodger Friedman, uses just enough humor and wittiness to describe the current state of our country and concern that we are moving in the wrong direction. His compilation of factual content, political events, and excerpts from various articles, historical documents, newspapers, speeches, and books sited in this piece are well researched, enlightening, and informative, but often leaves you stunned and surprised that people in positions of authority in our country could support such absurd ideas and policies and blatantly ignore many basic common sense principles. This book is a must read for conservative thinkers, the misinformed, and/or uncommitted population, and those who have been living in a bubble and need a quick education of what is truly happening in our country.

Wrapped in a comfy sweater of humor and easy style, Mr. Friedman delivers a gripping, sometime chilling insight into the decisions being made that affect our very lives … and the repercussions likely to Do not confuse the comfortable tone of delivery, like sitting on the porch with an old friend; this book stands on a solid foundation of experience and a knowledge of history. In a world where every day we see headlines that “we truly never would have imagined possible,” this book not only illuminates the problems but discusses the impacts with an eye on the past and on the future. Exceptionally researched and written, it is a must-read in today’s evolving America.

3. An honest attempt to inform Americans of what is occurring in our country in a way that is at times entertaining and lighthearted. It is easy to read and understand. It is, however, due to the subject matter, a book that after reading 2 or 3 chapters, you need to put it down to reflect on what is being told; only to rush back to read more.

DISCLAIMER: This is solely for entertainment purposes. Published and distributed by EOCritic LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public use or private use—other than “fair use” as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews—without the prior written permission of the publisher and/or the author.

This is provided with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, investment, or other professional advice or services. If these services are required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

No liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken, the author and publisher assume no liability for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

The Road to Ruin

by Rodger Friedman | Jun 24, 2024 | Blog

Your freedoms and independence are under attack by our elected politicians and unelected regulators. Bureaucrats in executive departments such as the FTC, FCC, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the Departments of Education, Energy, and the Interior continue to create laws—which they are not legally empowered to do.

Case in point: The Department of the Interior just placed a fence around 13 million acres of Alaskan land, restricting new oil and gas leasing. Alaska U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan called it an illegal attack on the state’s economic lifeblood—the oil and gas industry. Tens of thousands of Alaskans are employed in the energy sector and will be affected by executive department regulations that were never authorized by Congress. The Biden Administration’s green agenda, pushed by liberal Democrats, is infringing on states’ rights. What the federal government refuses to understand is that the states created the federal government, not the other way around.

Case in point: The Department of Education recently announced changes to Title IX regulations. The revisions force schools across the nation that receive federal funding to abide by new rules that permit transgender students to use locker rooms and bathrooms that conform to their gender identity, not their biological sex. As bad as this is, watch what’s happening to women’s sports at schools. This shit show will pit states’ rights against bureaucratic federal overreach and end badly. Be warned! Liberals are making an end run against every industry. None will be spared.

Case in point: The Department of Energy is using the rather benign word pause to effectively slam the brakes on approvals of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. It is conducting an endless series of reviews and analyses, all with the ultimate goal of halting all LNG exports from the United States to customers around the world. Environmentalists and climate change activists hail the move as a brave move forward to put an end to global fossil fuel dependence. U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm indicated that only projects that are pending before the Department of Energy will be the subject of the indefinite pause. The United States is the largest global exporter of liquified natural gas. I suspect that officials in Louisiana and Texas are deeply disturbed by this latest pronouncement of the Biden Administration and are reviewing legal options to stop government overregulation.

The Biden Administration is singlehandedly destroying the pillars of American society.

The Marxist March to Average

The Biden Administration seeks to kill ambition, purge America of excellence, eliminate overachievement, and replace it with mediocrity and equality for all. This is no longer a nation of unlimited opportunity. It is now progressing to become a nation where all outcomes are mandated equally—a gray nation where everyone is indistinguishable from their neighbors.

Exceptionalism will be stamped out by government decree—Greatness Not Practiced Here.

All citizens’ needs will be supplied by a limited number of mega corporations under the control and guidance of a centralized government. Entrepreneurs will be regulated and taxed to death until they cry uncle and give up, closing their stores and franchises that they pinned their hopes and retirement dreams on. Think back to the COVID pandemic, courtesy of the China Communist Party. The only businesses that were allowed to remain open were the giants— Costco, Walmart, Amazon, Kroger, and the like. Mom-and-pop businesses were forced to close under the threat of fines and arrest.

The government knows it’s much easier to control a limited number of gigantic companies than tens of millions of smaller mom-and-pops. As long as liberal Democrats control the narrative, we as a nation are at risk of becoming a failed socialist state. If the Democrat apparatus had their way, they would eliminate entrepreneurs and any opposition to their plan for a centralized economy with all orders and direction emanating from the Washington ultra-elite.

If you aspire to be great, you are not welcomed here. Excellence is discouraged, and we have regulations against that sort of behavior. Best you be like everyone else. Average is what you should aspire to.

Imagine what this country will be like for your kids and your grandchildren if we remain on this toxic path.

The American Dissident

Question the government, and be accused of unethical behavior, ostracized, targeted, blacklisted, deplatformed, or shunned—all by indoctrinated liberals who themselves are guilty of unethical and reprehensible behavior. Personal attacks, so frequent on social media, gain national attention with arguments devoid of fact. For instance, read about personal attacks on prominent conservative truthsayers such as Ben Schapiro, Tucker Carlson, Dan Bongino, Mike Rowe, and others. Make no mistake. Freedom itself is at risk in an era where being right is considered wrong, where telling the truth is met with vicious personal attacks, and where corporate mass media acts to propagate lies until people believe them because they have read or heard them so often.

The far left has indoctrinated a massive number of Americans who now believe that Joe Biden is a great president and has accomplished wondrous things. They downplay 12 million illegal aliens flooding into this country. They downplay the massive increase in crime and fentanyl deaths.

They downplay the national debt, the budget deficit, inflation, and mortgage interest rates. They rail against conservatives who stand up and tell the truth—that the emperor wears no clothes, that Joe Biden is a delusional and dangerous politician who is controlled by others and incapable of rational thought without the aid of a teleprompter. America desperately needs more patriots to stand up and tell the truth—to combat the dangerous lies the government and government- influenced media spread.

The question is this. Are you going to sit on the couch as a spectator or engage and work to change what is so wrong with our country?

A Nation in Decline

Look around. It’s not difficult to see. Notice the worried look on people’s faces and their disappointment and lack of confidence in our government. Watch their reaction to high prices at the grocery store brought on by relentless inflation. Pay attention to homebuyers facing 7 percent mortgages, unable to buy the homes they were hoping for. It’s called fear of the future.

Have you noticed parents who are worried that their children will not have the same opportunities they had? What about the severe declines in education and well-being caused by the government’s response to the pandemic? All this has been reported on and verified. The heavy hand of government regulation everywhere is affecting every industry, every school, and every community.

President Trump’s tag line is “Make America Great Again.” Well, what’s the matter with that? I WANT America to be GREAT again.

I want fiscal
I want low
I want a balanced
I want to stop out-of-control spending
I want student loan borrowers to pay back the money they
I want intelligent immigration
I want illegal immigrants
I want strong border defenses and a WALL to keep out those who don’t belong
I want the rule of law
I want secure
I want low mortgage
I want criminals locked up behind

The Biden Administration works against everything I want, and I want a lot. Don’t you? Will securing these things help stem America’s decline? I think they will go a long way to help. Yes, it’s a long list, but we are a big country, and there are a lot of things that have gone haywire under Biden.

I WANT America to be GREAT again. Don’t you?

The Majority of Registered Vermont Voters Are Dumber Than Bernie Sanders. Why?

1941 was a very bad year. Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941, and Bernie Sanders was born on September 8, 1941. I would celebrate a world that does not include Bernie the socialist politician, but—heavy sigh—we can’t always get what we want.

Vermonters voted socialist Bernie Sanders into the House of Representatives for 16 years before electing him to the Senate in 2006 and again in 2012 AND again in 2018. He has been a driving force in shifting the Democratic Party to the far left, abandoning the principles that are the bedrock of America. He rails against income inequality yet fails to understand basic human behavior. I am where I am as a result of the decisions I have made and my behaviors. You are where you are for the same reasons. Whether you grew up in Manhattan, Montana, or Louisiana, these facts hold. Decisions and behavior. Period.

For a time, Sanders vehemently argued that millionaires should not exist—until he became one. Now he argues against billionaires. Do you ever wonder who pays for all the new wings on hospitals, concert halls, and university science and library buildings? The gifts are generally from billionaires with a philanthropic philosophy. Sanders owns three homes, which is not bad for a socialist Democrat and far-left village idiot. I guess he wants the kind of equality where everyone, citizens and non-citizens alike, owns three homes.

Andrew Carnegie sold his U.S. Steel Corporation to J.P. Morgan for $480 million. Carnegie, arguably one of America’s first multi-millionaires, was responsible for the funding and building of 2,509 libraries around the globe, 1,795 of them in the United States. It is reported that during his lifetime, Carnegie gave away more than $350 million. This kind of philanthropy would not exist in Bernie Sanders’ socialist America.

So why on earth do the folks in Vermont keep sending this independent socialist to Washington? I’m told that Vermont politics are nothing like national politics. The fact is that a lot of

Vermont’s population is poor, so they tend to vote for candidates who will provide more chickens in their pots. Sanders’ words inspire a lot of progressives and younger voters who have not shared in the bounty that capitalism creates. These voters feel they have not benefitted from our current economic system. They may have lower wages or be saddled with student loan debt. All these are attributable to their behavior and the life decisions they have made. It is not because they live in a capitalist society. If Tommy spends his idle time on self-improvement and education, he will most likely out-earn Bill who is a regular every night during happy hour, followed by 30 hours a week watching football games on television and playing video games.

In Senator Sanders’ own words, the “real cause” of that pain is the “economic system designed to benefit the very, very rich at the expense of everybody else.” BULLSHIT! Sanders is someone who wants to tear down our capitalist system. My fervent hope is that Bernie gets defeated in the next election. At 82 years old, he has already put his hat in the ring. Respectfully, Senator, your hat should be in one of your three homes, and you should leave the politics to American patriots who believe in and love America. Your time has passed. Take your socialist bullshit home.

Commercial Corner

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Here’s the deal:

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Fire Your Rtirement Planner: You! Concise Advice on How to Join the $100,000 Retirement Club

Thank you!

Rodger Friedman

The Equal Opportunity Critic

DISCLAIMER: This is solely for informational and entertainment purposes. Published and distributed by EOCritic LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public use or private use—other than “fair use” as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews—without the prior written permission of the publisher and/or the author.

You Can Debate a Dog or a Marxist – The Result Is the Same

by Rodger Friedman | Jun 17, 2024 | Blog

I told myself I would stop debating deranged Marxists and liberals with fact-based information. I find that they react very poorly to facts, and all they do is begin to attack you personally. A dog will snarl and perhaps chase and bite you. A Marxist will attempt to belittle you personally and make character attacks—anything so they don’t have to debate the facts. Of course, they may chase and bite you too.

A Book? What a Novel Idea!

I considered sending a copy of my latest book, Erasing America: Broken Politics Broken Country, to all my anti-Trump liberal friends and relatives, but then I thought better of it because I came to the conclusion that they actually don’t read.

Political Doublespeak with a Dash of Horseshit

I’ve come to an unfortunate truth—that liberal Democrats have become wonderfully adept at what George Orwell referred to as doublespeak, which refers to language that deliberately obscures, disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words. For example, an illegal alien is now an undocumented immigrant or someone with a complex immigration situation. Now that’s doublespeak with a dash of horseshit.

Misgendering in Oregon Is a Hate Crime

Woe unto you if you tell a strapping six-foot guy with a beard and bulging biceps (and other things) to haul his sequin-gown-covered ass out of the ladies room at the local bar. You might be looking at years of probation and community service hours. Just ask Cassandra McIntyre who was found guilty under this asinine law.

Kiss a Marxist? I’ll Pass, Thank You

Someone told me I should kiss one ignorant Marxist a day, and that will make me feel better about our country. I think that person is full of crap and voted for Biden.

What Part of the Word ILLEGAL Is Confusing?

In case there is any confusion, the hordes of illegals pouring across our border have no interest in the ideals and values of America and becoming a true American. They are interested in handouts, what will be given to them, and what they can take that is not rightfully theirs. They are here ILLEGALLY and should be lawfully removed.

Elizabeth Warren vs. James Madison

If you have any doubt that today’s far-left congressional members of the House and Senate are anti –constitutionalists, remember back in March 2019 when Senator Elizabeth Warren was a Democratic presidential candidate. She actually declared war on the Electoral College in favor of the principle of one person, one vote that the framers of the Constitution actually made sure did not happen because that would lead to mob rule, which is why we have the Electoral College.

Warren’s Democratic colleagues were very quick to say, Oh, Elizabeth Warren, you are wonderful with your enlightened viewpoint. If you doubt this, read The Federalist Papers #10 as I did, which was written by James Madison and published on November 23, 1787.

The paper points out how and why the constitutional framework was created so the dangers the founders were worried about (very powerful political parties) was checked—with the Electoral College—that Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats want to undo. This is a direct affront to what the framers of the Constitution had in mind.

By the way, idiot Congresswoman AOC believes the Electoral College is white racism. I think she should go back to bartending. I hear she actually did that well.

Yogi Berra wisdom worthy of AOC

Tom Seaver: “What time is it?” Yogi Berra: “You mean now?”

What a Combination – Inept, Senile, and Incompetent

The Biden Administration, led by our fearless President, has all the hallmarks of extreme incompetence and chaos. In my opinion, Biden is an inept, senile dictator. He is a political parasite who should be put out to pasture. There is much chatter that the Democratic National Convention will actually replace him on the Presidential ticket with Vice President Kamala Harris or California Governor Gavin Newsom. Yes, things can go from bad to worse.

The Problem – One of Many in California

Ask anyone who lives in California how they like California, and they will either tell you they love it or they hate it. There’s a new bunch of people who really hate California. They are working at fast food restaurants with more than 60 locations nationwide. They’re the people whose jobs are at risk, and many of them have just been fired after Governor Newsom mandated that the minimum salary for these fast food workers go from $16.00 to $20.00 per hour beginning April 1, 2024.

Now if he’s done this with fast food workers, who will be next? People who work at local gyms and fitness studios? Car wash people? People who sweep up—janitors—after the kids in our schools?

What the governor is doing is making an unequal distinction and giving to some at the expense of the others.

If I were an owner of a restaurant where I now have to pay $20.00 per hour for what I paid

$16.00 per hour for last week I’d either raise prices on everything on the menu, replace people with iPads, or outright fire people. Or maybe I’d close my shop because I’ll be damned if I’m gonna earn less money and take the same risk of owning the business due to misguided government policies.

Videos of Gen Z and Their “Struggle to Survive” Make the Rounds of the Web

TikTok idiots reveal how hard life is and bitch about high rent while making videos with $1,200 iPhones. Well, here’s an idea. Since you are undoubtedly working from home in your yoga pants and flip flops while sporting hairbands and no makeup, why not move to a less expensive area of the country? One-bedroom apartments are not $1,800 everywhere. Some places . . . gasp! . . . are under $1,000. But what do you do when the checking account is on fumes after spending $500 on Taylor Swift tickets and $450 for a new outfit? I guess it time to beg mom for more money. Or maybe you could actually clean yourself up, get a haircut, shave, lose the hoodies, and get some interviews with a respectable employer.

Tell Me It Ain’t So

You don’t have to search too hard to find articles that tell you that two-thirds of colleges surveyed mandate DEI courses to satisfy education requirements to graduate. Forget for a moment that this is outlawed in many states, especially for colleges and universities that receive public funds (taxpayer supported). If I discovered that when my kids were in college, I would have yanked them out so fast that their heads would spin. Where are the elected officials who need to monitor compliance with laws and take action to put offenders in jail?

Afterthought

This November, American voters will be presented with the opportunity to tell Biden & Company to go pound sand, write books for multi-million-dollar advances, and fade away from the American political consciousness. Call it a grand opportunity to say good riddance to an astonishingly incompetent administration that’s hell-bent on destroying America.

November cannot come soon enough! VOTE!

Commercial Corner

My book: THE MINDSET OF RETIREMENT SUCCESS: 7 WINNING STRATEGIES TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

My purpose in writing this is to provide you with key ideas, concepts, and strategies that may improve your chances of a financially successful exit from the workforce. I hope to make it exceedingly clear in the pages to come that you cannot dabble your way to retirement. The steps I will share with you may seem simple, but they are not easy. If you want proof, just look around you. The sobering reality is that almost everyone with whom you come in contact either has money problems or is in debt.

Use this book as a resource to help guide you to make better decisions for your future. You will face unforeseen obstacles on the path to a financially secure retirement; my hope is that you do not become your own obstacle. In other words, do not become your own worst enemy due to inappropriate behaviors and actions. I will not lecture you, but I will ask you to think in new ways. Spend time and review the practical pointers embedded throughout these pages and apply them to your financial life.

As a former Senior Vice President-Wealth Management at Morgan Stanley, I have both the moral authority and depth of experience to guide you on this journey. The lessons I teach in this book are invaluable. When you finish this book, you will have a different mindset about preparing for retirement and your own freedom and autonomy.

Here’s the deal:

Purchase a copy (or multiple copies for friends and colleagues) and I will send you The Equal Opportunity Critic’s Special Report: I Ask You: Are You Proud of Today’s America?

Now available on Amazon

THE MINDSET OF RETIREMENT SUCCESS:

7 WINNING STRATEGIES TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE –

Thank you, Rodger Friedman

The Equal Opportunity Critic

Sounds Right to Me

by Rodger Friedman | Jun 9, 2024 | Blog

Dan Bongino once said, “Biden will be remembered as the single worst human being to ever occupy the presidency.” I agree.

If You Have Been Hiding under a Rock

Mainstream corporate media habitually places progressive social Democrats in a positive light while projecting a severely biased point of view of the shortcomings of conservatives. I find this highly disturbing. Americans turn to media for facts, not the opinions of biased journalists.

It’s slowly dawning on the American left as well as traditional middle-of-the-road Democrats that they’ve made a huge miscalculation in who they voted for in state, local, and national elections last time around. Our country is now overrun by 10 million or more illegal aliens who were given the red carpet at our southern border by the Biden Administration and later by sanctuary cities.

Take New York City, for example. Mayor Eric Adams, instead of commandeering Trailways and Greyhound buses to return these illegals to Mexico, rolled out the red carpet, put them in $300- per-night hotel rooms with towel service, hot meals, and fresh linens. He handed them debit cards, and cell phones. What do you expect will happen? They’re going to want to stay, and the longer they stay, the more scarce resources will become as they are used to give illegal aliens the quality of life they want.

Did You Happen to Hear . . .?

Our esteemed V.P. Harris has proclaimed that Democracy Will End if Trump is elected to office. Gee, I thought the administrative state was already ending democracy. In case no one told them, executive departments such as the Department of Education, the Federal Trade Commission, and more DO NOT have the authority to make laws. Only Congress has that power, and they are prohibited from extending it to Biden’s department lackeys. It’s that darn Constitution getting in the way again, Joe. Sorry.

Texas Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett suggests that black Americans should be exempt from paying taxes as a form of reparations. Hey, Jasmine! There are openings in the parking meter maintenance department in downtown Austin. Why not apply? Brains not needed.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)) is supposedly monitoring over 600,000 migrants who entered America with criminal records. Now, I get it that I’m not the brightest bulb in the box and that DHS Secretary Mayorkas will not be impeached by the Democrat-controlled Senate, although he deserves to rot in jail for 50 years—but why the hell did we permit these folks to enter in the first place? You have a criminal record! NO, YOU CAN’T COME IN!

Problem solved. Next?

We’re told that Bidenomics has NOTHING to do with the 117% jump in commercial real estate foreclosures year over year in the United States (as reported by ATTOM database). California tops the list with the most foreclosures of 187 properties, and that number is up an astounding 405% from the previous year. Yeah, Gavin Newsom! Keep up the good work, Governor.
Yes, the DHS can still lawfully deport a person if they violate the terms of their visa—say by illegal riots and chanting “Death to America!” Remember, their visa states that they will obey our laws and behave. That applies to all those demonstrating illegally against Israel on college campuses. But it seems that the DHS often makes a prudential revocation—in English that means they won’t always immediately remove a person from the country. Hey, guys! Enough of the prudential crap. How about getting their asses on a plane out of America in 90 minutes or less, guaranteed? Learn a lesson from Domino’s. Fix the problem immediately. Remove them now!

What I Consider to Be Great Wisdom

Americans under 40 years old should pay their own mortgages, student loans, cell phone bills, health insurance, and car insurance premiums. The reason? Because they are adults.

Biden’s Plan to Ration Electricity

It’s a given that the EPA is fixing to ban all coal plants in the country and outlaw construction of all new natural gas everything. Funny, I don’t remember in my last reading of the Constitution

where the EPA has the power to make law—must have dozed off and missed it. Anyway, Biden aims to place the entire energy industry in Chapter 11 bankruptcy while continuing to order giant windmills from the Chinese communists. Folks, you can’t make this shit up. Biden is taking lessons from California Governor Gavin (hair gel) Newsom on the most effective methods of rationing electricity. You can look forward to 100 watt Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.
That’s enough to power a 40 watt light bulb, a portable fan, and charging your phone for six minutes. Welcome to America 2.0—home of the insane climate socialists.

America’s Well-Being

Were you to stop a hundred people on the street and ask them any of the following questions, I suspect the answers would not be gratifying. People are worried, and with good reason. The daily headlines are horrific. Ask your friends or neighbors some of these questions, and listen carefully to their answers. Here are the questions in no particular order:

• How’s America doing?
• Are you proud of today’s America?
• Are you better off today than four years ago?
• Are you happy with the path America is on?
• How’s your personal economy under Bidenomics?
• Do you feel safe in your community?
• Has the doubling of mortgage rates affected your plans to buy a new home?
• How do you feel about the continued unrest at college campuses across the nation?
• Do you feel we are being over-regulated?
• Do you have faith in your government?

Visions of Walter Cronkite and Marcus Welby

When I was a kid, my parents watched Walter Cronkite on the news. He was considered the most trusted man in America. We watched the news for 30 minutes, and it was done until the next day when we listened to Mr. Cronkite again. We learned what was going on in America and the world. Cronkite didn’t spin it; he just reported the facts and helped average Americans understand the importance of what he was reporting. Were he to see what mass media journalism has become, he would spin in his grave like a turbine at Pacific Gas & Electric. Today’s anchors and newspeople spew biased reports aimed at furthering their network’s political views. The New York Times has this old slogan: All the news that’s fit to print. Well, that’s a joke. The paper would do us all a favor if it closed its doors.

I seldom comment on healthcare, but I feel compelled to include it in today’s update. Gone are the days when Dr. Marcus Welby of TV fame rang the doorbell and was welcomed into someone’s home, carrying his familiar, well-worn black leather medical bag. He diagnosed ailments with a bedside manner that should be taught in medical school, instilling calm and confidence in all. Contrast that with today’s healthcare insanity, and you will yearn for the simplicity of yesteryear. Granted, MRIs, CT scans, and the like were all unavailable. Yes, there

are trade-offs, but we can be doing a hell of a lot better if the government just got out of the healthcare business.

Bernie Sanders Strikes Again

by Rodger Friedman | May 12, 2024 | Blog

Bernie is back on his soapbox, YELLING for a 32-hour workweek. He boasts that other kids get to work less (Norway, France, etc.), and we should not have to work such long hours. Forty hours of work each week leaves no time for family, friends, and recreation. HOGWASH, Senator! All you are doing is hurting small businesses, the backbone of the American economy. Let’s look at the math.

Hypothetical worker makes widgets for the boss
Worker earns $30 per hour for a 40-hour
That’s $1,200 per week for 52 weeks (2 weeks paid vacation) = $62,400 annual

Under Senator Sanders’ genius plan:

Worker still earns $62,400 per year, but the boss has 8 hours per week of lost production
That’s 400 hours of lost production per year, less widgets being manufactured and on the market

Guess what, Senator! The boss ain’t eating it. He raises the prices on widgets, and everyone pays more money because the boss ain’t booking the loss. He is passing it on to the consumer.

Senator, do you know what that’s called? INFLATION.

Way to Go, Biden Administration!

It’s interesting that The Washington Examiner posted a headline on March 14, 2024, called “Biden’s Team ‘Regrets’ Making Inflation Worse Now That They’re Facing Reelection.”

Wow! We REGRET we lied to you, misled you, covered up the facts, misinformed you, led you astray, covered up the truth, fibbed, told a tall tale, and generally made you believe something with absolutely no facts.

A Further Word on Congressional Term Limits

What do you think the chances are that thousands of 16-year-old boys would urge their parents to ban beer sales in their county? What do you think the chances are that Congresspeople would vote to curtail their own power? Hint: AOC is now making six figures, more than she ever made as a bartender in Boston.

’Nuff said . . .

It Seems the Definition of Extraordinary Has Changed

Those of you who know me or have read my book Erasing America: Broken Politics, Broken Country know that I have an exceedingly low opinion of U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). As I write this, he recently stated that Biden’s accomplishments were “extraordinary triumphs” in the last four years.

To be clear (and balanced) in my reporting, I actually looked up the word extraordinary. I wanted to see the synonyms for this very powerful adjective. Here is what I found: astounding, astonishing, remarkable, exceptional, amazing.

So here is my question. Can you describe anything Joe Biden has done during his presidency that would warrant you (truthfully) characterizing it as astounding, astonishing, remarkable, exceptional, or amazing?

I rest my case. I firmly believe—and yes, it is my personal opinion— that Representative Jeffries is a delusional, progressive liberal in need of an immediate career change.

I Don’t Have a Mute Button

During my recent conversation with a flaming liberal Democrat, he suggested that I may want to mute my thoughts since much of what I have to say may be interpreted as unpopular and not in keeping with today’s enlightened viewpoints. Well, for those who know me and have followed my videos, books, articles, and viewpoints, you won’t be surprised by my answer: Don’t let the First Amendment hit you in the ass on your way to Venezuela.”

Life is too short to have arguments with mindless progressives who view our founding documents as mere suggestions to be followed or changed on a whim. I wait with baited breath for November 5, 2024, when intelligent Americans (if there are any left) kick the progressives out of national and state governments, restoring sanity to American politics.

If you remember to do one thing this year, VOTE on November 5th, and send the liberals back into the caves they came from.

Not Only Will I Buy You New Luggage, I Will Help You Pack

To all the famous Hollywood types that are blathering about leaving the country if Donald Trump is reelected President of the United States, conservatives who LOVE America are thrilled at the prospect of your leaving.

We have had enough of Biden crime, Biden border madness, Biden inflation, Biden energy insecurity, Biden spinelessness on the world stage, Biden scraping the bottom of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Biden killing the oil and gas industry, and Biden’s electrification of cars, stoves, washing machines, dryers, lawn mowers, and more.

Enough is enough.

Not only will we buy your luggage and help you pack, but we will drive you to the airport and offer to burn your passports as you board the plane.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Now that I have your attention, remember that the President announced that the Administration intends to repurchase crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when prices are at or below

$67 to $72 per barrel. Remember that he released 180 million barrels of our strategic emergency reserve for political purposes.

Well, Joe, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is now trading at $81.07 per barrel. How is that refilling going for you? Is our country safer with overflowing reserves?

This is yet another boondoggle of this presidency.

Atlas Shrugged, Didn’t He?

My beloved Ayn Rand would be spinning like a turbine in her grave if she overheard a conversation I had with a distant relative. I made the mind-numbing mistake of recommending that she read my favorite book, Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. That I believed reading Rand’s writings would influence, even mildly, this liberal progressive delusional soul was my first mistake. The second mistake was engaging this relative in a protracted conversation.

My errors in judgment stemmed from the thought that I had expectations. You see, I forgot the conservative’s prime directive—you are only disappointed in others when you have expectations that they will actually use their brain to think. My bad.

In the end, my relative had no clue who John Galt was, why he was important to the story, or why Ayn Rand would write such a long book in the first place. When I stopped banging my head repeatedly against the wall long enough to knock back some Tylenol, I reflected on why I seldom engaged this relative in conversation and promised myself not to make the same error in the future.

I’d Rather Not, Thank You

My sisters are at it again. This time they’re proposing that I do a podcast. After much consideration (not really), I decided I would rather be the only one in North America who does not have a podcast. Any group that would have me as a member is automatically suspect. I’d rather be the hungry tiger with no stripes lurking in the forest.

I’m content grinding out my thoughts one at a time as I have been doing for decades without the aid of ChatGPT (whatever that stands for). Ditto for podcasts and AI (artificial idiocy).

Nothing against the entire podcast enabler industry that has sprung up to assist wordsmiths such as me, but I can do without their (supposed) expertise for the low, low price of $5,995.

Commercial Corner

My book: Parent’s Guide to Your Child’s Retirement: 21 Thought-Provoking Conversations to Have with Your Adult Children” takes a long overdue conversation out of the shadows and shines a high-powered spotlight on a much-needed subject… our working- age children’s preparations for their own retirement. The idea for the book came to me as I realized the sheer numbers of people I have spoken with that are concerned about their adult kids preparation for retirement. As I sketched out my notes, it occurred to me this was a big issue that was not getting enough “airtime”. Running through my mind were the following situations that I was aware of:

I knew parents that were funding their adult children’s ROTH IRA accounts
I knew parents that were reimbursing kids so they could max out a 401(k)
I know parents that were paying off their kid’s education loans
I know parents that have become landlords to their grown kids for years
I know parents that have “helped” the kids purchase cars, home and more
I knew parents that were worried if their kids were saving for retirement

We parents often have a wealth of experience to share with our children regarding our own missteps and blunders in planning for our own life after work. More often than not, we lack a blueprint to effectively engage in these needed conversations without them turning into lectures, accusations or shouting matches. This book will provide you, the parents with an easy to follow structure that may serve to enable you and your children to have positive, engaging and thoughtful conversations regarding their financial futures.

Here’s the deal: Purchase a copy (or multiple copies for friends and colleagues) and I will send you The Equal Opportunity Critic’s Socialist Quiz AND How to shut down your crazed liberal relatives at holiday dinners.

Parent’s Guide to Your Child’s Retirement available on Amazon.com

Final Thought

In November, American voters will be presented with the opportunity to tell Biden & Company to pound sand, go write books for multi-million-dollar advances, and fade away from the American political consciousness. Call it a grand opportunity to say good riddance to an astonishingly incompetent administration that’s hell-bent on destroying America.

November cannot come soon enough! VOTE!

P.S. At the time of this writing, my latest book, Erasing America: Broken Politics, Broken Country, is #1 in its category on Amazon. If you haven’t grabbed a copy for yourself, please do so. It is available in paperback and on Kindle. By the way, it makes a great birthday present!

And please consider leaving an honest review on Amazon.

Thank you, Rodger Friedman

The Equal Opportunity Critic

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