The Right, The Left, and The Untethered
This is NOT what Liberals used to believe in, as late as the 1990's.
And, strangely, over the past few weeks, I have seen 5-years-deceased Rush Limbaugh being referred to as far-right broadcaster---
<record scratch>
Wait a second. I am so sick of this game, let's start over.
There are two bellwethers in modern American Politics, Rush Limbaugh and Ralph Nader.
Chances are that you love one, but hate the other, or vice versa. But us, as a free speech website? We love them both. How can that be so? Because they delineated what they believed in through the arena of ideas.
Ralph Nader is Classic Liberal: Now 92 years old, Ralph Nader called for Donald Trump to be impeached earlier this year. As a Classic Liberal, Nader believes in safety nets, education, and the working class. But, more importantly, Nader believes that the government is a representation of the people that works for the people. I have heard Nader labeled as naive, but he still believes in Big Government, by the people and for the people. Ralph Nader hates Donald Trump because he believes him to be the most corrupt politician of Modern Times. Why is that significant? Because a corrupt politician, that is imbedded with the corporations, undermines a citizen's faith in government.
You say I have unfairly reduced Nader's beliefs to only one paragraph? If you have the time, Ralph Nader has written over 50 books, made hundreds of talk show appearances, and continues to write a weekly blog in his 90's. The New York Times just wrote about Nader's influence on the left last month. The liberal Guardian UK just asked "was Ralph Nader right about (almost) everything?" His extensive bibliography is readily available online. Nader's Philosophies have stayed remarkably consistent throughout his lifetime.
The Biggest Criticism of the Classic Liberal is that the government is too big and unwieldy.
Rush Limbaugh is a Classic Conservative: Though Rush died in 2021, his work carries on at the Rush Limbaugh Foundation and his 25,000 hours of radio gold are still accessible at rushlimbaugh.com. Rush's beliefs are also very readily available online.
Rush's core was market forces and Christian Values. He, too, expounded on his views in multiple books, including his best seller The Way Things Ought to Be, which sold nearly 5 million copies in the 1990's. Rush's angle was that the power of the people rested OUTSIDE of the government, it was the government's job to get out of the way of the individual. Rush's gift was making you believe that you had the power to impact your own life and that the government was there to block your path. If you simply pulled yourself up from your bootstraps, you would have opportunities in the United States of America, the greatest country on God's Green Earth. Rush's Philosophy had stayed remarkably consistent throughout his lifetime.
The Biggest Criticism of the Classic Conservative is that they had no compassion.
But Liberals don't encompass the entire Left.
Conservatives don't encompass the entire Right.
Rush and Ralph both thought the government supported the people, but in different ways.
And this is where things get complicated.
Rush Limbaugh used to say that there was no "Far Right" in America. He claimed Communists, Socialists, and Nazis were all on the Far Left (Nazis were National Socialists). Of course he was wrong, or, at the very least, used clever word play for entertainment purposes, but there is both a Far Left and Far Right in America.
The Far Left is the LGBTQ+ Movement, Defunding the Police, and Socialism. Wouldn't it be great if America was a Gay, Consequence-Free Utopia where everyone is poor together?
No.
The Far Right is the new wave of Corporate Fascists. Wouldn't it be great if a handful of individuals became filthy rich by using technological advances and manipulating the market, then using the government to tell everyone else what to think while the common man barely scrapes by?
Also no.
Despite cross-party scandals like the Epstein Files, the poor continue to go to jail while your elected officials, right or wrong, just keep on governing.....
Rush Limbaugh was keenly aware that Donald Trump wasn't a true Conservative, but a Populist. Yet Rush admired Trump's spirit in fighting Liberals.
But who amongst the next generation of political thinkers are actually mapping out their beliefs for public consumption?
Today, in 2026, nobody is talking about smaller government. The Left wants their version of Big Government, the Right wants their version of Big Government, the Founding Father's would be aghast that political parties have hijacked nearly the entirety of the political process.
Over at the Jerusalem Post, iconic, 92 year old crooner Pat Boone, was in the headlines for asking Donald Trump to tone it down. The headline read "Right Wing Musician Pat Boone...."
Whoa, whoa, whoa....
This guy?
How did we get here? Can't we, as Americans, agree on anything?
Then I remembered, back in March, there was a viral video by a young man named Jack Ferguson who claimed that we weren't a divided nation at all. In fact, there were 20 issues that Americans agreed on at an 80% clip.
He urged citizens to sign "The 80% Bill" and to put pressure on politicians on both sides of the aisle to make real change in America:
I. Ban Congressional Stock Trading
Prohibits Members, their spouses, and dependent children from owning or trading individual stocks. Requires full divestment or a qualified blind trust.
II. End Forever Wars
Repeal outdated authorizations (AUMFs) to return war powers to Congress.
III. Lifetime Lobbying Ban
Former Members of Congress are banned for life from becoming registered lobbyists.
IV. Tax the Ultra-Wealthy
Close tax loopholes and establish a minimum tax for billionaires.
V. Ban Corporate PACs
Prohibit for-profit corporations from forming Political Action Committees.
VI. Audit the Pentagon
The Pentagon has never passed an audit. Require a full, independent audit to root out waste and fraud.
VII. Medicare Drug Negotiation
1. H.R. 4895: Expands negotiation to 50 drugs/year and applies lower prices to private insurance. 2. H.R. 853: Closes the 'Orphan Drug' loophole.
VIII. Fair Elections & End Gerrymandering
Pass the 'Freedom to Vote Act' to ban partisan gerrymandering and the 'John Lewis Act' to restore the Voting Rights Act.
IX. Protect US Farmland
Ban adversarial foreign governments from buying American farmland. Includes a 'Beneficial Ownership' registry to stop shell companies.
X. Ban Corporate Purchase of Single Family Homes
Imposes a massive tax penalty on corporations buying existing homes, making it unprofitable. Explicitly allows them to build new rental homes to increase supply.
XI. Fund Social Security
Lifts the cap on wages AND taxes investment income (Capital Gains) for earners over $400k. Prevents billionaires from dodging the tax by taking 'stock' instead of 'salary'.
XII. Police Body Cameras
Mandates cameras for federal officers and cuts funding to states that don't comply. Includes a 'Presumption of Release' clause so police can't hide footage.
XIII. Ban 'Dark Money' (Overturn Citizens United)
A provision to overturn Citizens United and ban corporate dark money. Requires a 2/3rds vote to survive the Supreme Court.
XIV. Paid Family Leave
Guarantees 12 weeks of paid leave funded by a payroll insurance fund. Explicitly prohibits firing workers (of any company size) for taking this leave.
XV. Release the Epstein Files
Mandates the full, unredacted release of all documents, including those hidden by previous partial releases.
XVI. The DISCLOSE Act
Requires immediate disclosure of donors ($10k+) and includes 'Trace-Back' rules to follow money through shell companies to the original source.
XVII. Close Tax Loopholes
Reclassifies 'Carried Interest' as ordinary income, regardless of holding period. Ensures hedge fund managers pay the same tax rate as nurses and teachers.
XVIII. Right to Repair (Ban 'Parts Pairing')
Guarantees access to parts/manuals for cars AND electronics. Explicitly bans 'software pairing' that blocks genuine 3rd-party repairs.
XIX. Ban Junk Fees
Requires 'all-in' price disclosure for travel, tickets, and utilities. Prohibits companies from raising the price (dynamic pricing) once it is shown to the consumer.
XX. Congressional Term Limits
Establish term limits for members of Congress.
See, those talking points seem like a reasonable starting point for political debate. Did politicians rally around Ferguson's 'popular' ideas?
Again, no.
They were good ideas, and preferred by the people, but, as Jesus would say, those ideas were not popular with the money-changers. Neither party is championing working class values. While Ferguson was forced to Patreon for sustenance, no candidates were rolling out with talking points or charts, like Ross Perot in 1992, specifically delineating their platforms, whether they be good or bad.
Other than the slow drumbeat of Socialism on the Far Left, do you even know what most of these candidates stand for? Or are you simply voting AGAINST the other guy?
What happens when you think that corporations AND government are too big?
You start a Libertarian-leaning blog that no one reads and your friends laugh at.
What a win for Beacon of Speech on election night? That Democrats win both halves of the Congress and grind this country to a goddamn halt.
More Trump lackeys? That's not a win.
Socialism? That's not a win.
We have to redefine what a win is-
Some of Vivek's Greatest Hits in the last month of the campaign in my home state of Ohio.
Vivek Ramaswamy: Amy Acton drank alcohol...AND USED PRESCRIPTIONS DRUGS!
Vivek Ramaswamy: Amy Acton was molested as a child...AND HER MOM STILL LOVED THE CHILD MOLESTOR MORE!
Vivek Ramaswamy: Democrat Amy Acton was in charge during Covid....AND SIGNED OFF ON REPUBLICAN MIKE DEWINE'S HEALTH POLICIES!
Meat and potato policies from Vivek?
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