You need to listen to all of George Bush's speech.

"George W. Bush, in a stunning attack, Bush accuses Trump of promoting falsehoods and prejudice." That's the headline. Headline from the LA Times yesterday about President Bush's speech at the George Bush Institute in New York. Headline is what we might classify as, I don't know, spin.

George Bush never flat-out accused Trump of anything in his speech. But he did call for the awareness of a disturbing trend of nationalism, that has become popular with Trump and the right.

"We've seen nationalism distorted into nativism. Forgotten the dynamism that immigration has always brought into America. We see a fading competence in the value of free markets and international trade, forgetting that conflict, instability, and poverty that follow in the wake of protectionism.

We've seen the return of isolationist sentiments, forgetting that American security is directly threatened, by the chaos and despair of distant places, where threats such as terrorism, infectious disease, criminal gangs, and drug trafficking tend to emerge."

Okay. Everything that he said was true. I don't think they were directed at Trump. But anyone who participates in the isolationist mindset. Protectionism. Nationalism. They have never ever been a part of American success. Never. We've never needed them to be proud citizens of the home of the free and the brave.

Our pride in America emanates outward, not inward. We want to share everyone. We want to share our values, our principles, and our prosperity. That's what makes us great.

Come over here. Participate. Share in this.

But because they just wanted to kill Trump, his words fell on deaf ears. The left just heard him say, Trump, bad. And now George W. Bush is suddenly a progressive darling, which I can't take anymore. How is George Bush all of a sudden a leftist hero?

I guess it happens when you completely ignore the later comments in the same speech, where he excoriated their side as well.

"There are some signs that the intensity of support for democracy itself has waned, especially among the young, who never experienced a galvanizing moral clarity of the Cold War, or never focused on the ruin of entire nations by socialist central planning.

Some have called this Democratic de-consolidation. Really, it seems to be a combination of weariness, frayed tempers, and forgetfulness."

Look, here's the deal, both the left and the right are facing philosophical and ideological challenges at the moment. Both sides. It took George W. Bush to sit us down and explain why we're both looking at American democracy in the wrong light.

I fear, however, the right and the left will only listen to his words when it suits them. Before you trash or exalt Bush for the edited sound bite that you heard, that might have been promoted in your carefully selected news feed, I implore you, it's 15 minutes long, listen to the entire thing.

Is nothing sacred in this country anymore?

Is nothing truly sacred in this country anymore? Representative Frederica Wilson’s politicizing of a phone call between President Trump and a Gold Star mom is just disgusting. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly responded yesterday:

"And I thought at least that was sacred. You know, as a kid growing up, a lot of things were sacred in our country. Women were sacred. Looked upon with great honor. That's obviously not the case anymore, as we've seen from recent cases. Life. The dignity of life is sacred. That's gone. Religion, that seems to be gone as well. Gold star families, I think that left in the convention over the summer."

"I just thought the selfless devotion that brings a man or woman to die on the battlefield, I just thought that that might be sacred."

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kelly this emotional and genuine. If anyone has something to say of substance here, it’s Kelly. He’s lived this nightmare when his son was killed. Every American should listen to Kelly’s recount of what happens when one of our soldiers falls in combat. It was heartbreaking.

What made it even more devastating was knowing that, as he was describing in detail how a slain soldier is packed in ice and laid in his coffin, he was probably visualizing his own memories and pain. He told the President that, because of the pain involved, there’s really no good way to talk to the family of a fallen soldier. But to Trump’s credit, he tried anyway. What does it say for the state of our country that someone was waiting to turn this into a political advantage? What is happening to us?

Shame on Wilson and anyone else that is trying to score a win from this. To prompt a man that has lost a son in combat to explain how this works is a tragedy. And all this was because of politics. One side may not have started it, but BOTH sides need to drop this immediately. Kelly deserves better than this. Gold Star families deserve better than this. The entire country deserves better than this.

Truly, nothing is sacred in this country anymore.

Real men want more than plastic.

A woman waits in her car outside a dingy street in Dortmund, Germany.

Annoyed, she checks her watch for what seems like the thousandth time. She’s been waiting over an hour for her husband.

He, on the other hand, is having a great time inside the first ever sex doll brothel. The aptly named “Bordoll” is the first of its kind. Paying customers can have their way with one of the eleven dolls that are on rotation.

Since opening, Evelyn Schwartz, the 29 year old owner, says the dolls are booked up to 12 times a day. And she is proud to report that customer satisfaction is high, with 70% of men returning for a second visit.

Her business is booming thanks to her clients and their tolerant wives. And she’s only had to replace one doll so far after a customer broke it. Some, like Evelyn Schwartz, claim that using sex dolls is not harmful, but beneficial to one’s health. A UK report recently found that a significantly high number of Brits say that sex with a robot or doll would not be cheating. It’s not like it’s another human! Some people truly feel that way.

But let’s look at the consequences of this behavior.

It reduces the very act that creates life into a simple reaction. It degrades the relationship between a man and a woman. And it will become more dangerous than the porn industry. Why would a man have any incentive to pursue a real woman when there is no effort involved in getting a “dream woman” to sleep with him? But I have hope for our inevitable slide into Westworld.

I hope real men will still put in the effort. The men who value true companionship, love, and respect for woman will always want something more than plastic.

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