It is painful when defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory as occurred on January 15, 2025, some five days before President Trump’s inauguration. Israel was on the verge of a strategic triumph over the Muslim Brotherhood/Iranian axis in the Middle East, brought about by its unparalleled military superiority and audacity. That victory is now in question. The chain of events began with the unprovoked massacre of 1200 Israelis by Hamas and the taking of some 250 hostages on October 7, 2023. In the war that followed, the “seven front war ,” between Israel and Iranian proxies, the Middle East was being transformed before our very eyes with the fall of Hezbollah in Lebanon, Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and Hamas in Gaza. New regional alignments were emerging in the face of Israeli victory and hegemony. All this despite the best efforts of the Biden administration to thwart and hamstring Israel. Many supporters of Israel looked forward to the Presidency of Donald Trump, a known ally of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel, and the force behind the “Abraham Accords ,” which occurred in his first term: the unprecedented normalization of relations between Israel and four Arab nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. Trump also recognized Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel and moved the American embassy there. He further recognized Israeli sovereignty over the strategic Golan Heights. No one anticipated that Trump would steal this historic victory at the last moment, undercutting much that Israel had accomplished singlehandedly by forcing Israel into a damaging ceasefire that restored, in effect, the status quo, and reinstated, incomprehensibly, Israel’s greatest enemy, Hamas : an organization formed in 1987, that is committed to the genocide of Jews worldwide and the destruction of the state of Israel. Phase 1 of the ceasefire deal, required the cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli troops, with massive rebuilding and aid to Gaza (600 “aid” trucks a day: more than double current levels). Lasting 42 days, it frees 33 hostages (31 Israeli, two American), 25 living, eight deceased, in exchange for the release of some 1700 Palestinian criminals, including many terrorists with Israeli blood on their hands. Israel will withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor in Rafah between Gaza and Egypt through which much of Hamas’s weaponry and supplies is smuggled. It also requires a withdrawal from the Netzarim corridor, which divides northern from southern Gaza. The deal, however, leaves Hamas intact and arguably stronger, flush with the status of having withstood the onslaught of the “Zionist Entity,” and now able to rebuild. Indeed, they are celebrating their “victory” as we speak. The key goals of the war as outlined by Netanyahu after October 7, 2023 were: eliminating Hamas, securing the release of Israeli captives in Gaza, and ensuring that the Palestinian enclave would not pose a threat to Israel's security . None of these goals have been achieved. The ceasefire deal ensures they never will be. Although severely weakened, Hamas can now reconstitute itself. Israel loses control of the Philadelphi corridor, thus allowing Hamas to rebuild their war machine. The deal doubles the amount of aid to Gaza. Controlled and sold by Hamas at great profit, it solidifies their hold on power. They can recruit soldiers to restore their capability. Surrendering the Netzarim corridor allows Palestinians to return to northern Gaza. If fighting breaks out, they will have to be evacuated again, a pubic relations nightmare. It is a return to pre-October 7 with none of the war goals achieved. Worst of all, Hamas has been legitimized as a negotiating partner. The release of some 1700 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons, many with Jewish blood on their hands, is also problematic. The now deceased Yahya al-Sinwar, former leader of Hamas and architect of October 7, was one such prisoner released in a prior prisoner deal of more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners in 2011 in exchange for a single Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit , captured by Hamas. The mass release of Palestinian terrorists and criminals can be expected to result in the shedding of more Israeli blood. Then there is Steve Witkoff , Trump’s Middle East envoy, a real estate mogul and friend of Trump, with little experience or knowledge of the Middle East. He had negotiated this deal with the Prime Minister of Qatar. Witkoff pressured Netanyahu to accept it. Issues that had been life and death for Israel seemed to disappear. Witkoff, furthermore, has questionable allegiances. In 2023, the Qatari Sovereign Wealth fund, bailed him out by purchasing the swanky Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan for $623 million . Qatar is the chief funder of Islamic terror, including Hamas, and should be nowhere near such negotiations. Nor should Witkoff. Perhaps Trump recalled the return of the 53 US hostages from Iran, with the inauguration of Ronald Reagan on January 20, 1981. Reagan achieved this historic return without firing a shot or giving up a thing. The return of the hostages from Gaza bears no resemblance to this. Perhaps Trump wanted to avoid a “kinetic” war during his time in office. But this war did not start under his rule and he bears no responsibility for it. The current war in the Middle East occurred under Biden as a direct result of Biden’s policies of appeasement and enrichment of Iran and its terrorist proxies. Did Trump simply want to take a victory lap for returning the hostages before his inauguration? It appears so. Trump, through Witkoff, forced Israel to agree to the very same deal that Biden (and Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken) had been pressuring Israel to accept since May 2024. Was Donald Trump so anxious for a peace deal that he would destroy the single greatest opportunity Israel, the US, and the world have ever had to put an end to the Muslim Brotherhood-Iranian bloc in the region? Israel had resisted Biden’s efforts to accept the very same deal since May 2024. They did so because they were waiting for Trump to get in. They assumed, mistakenly, that Trump would support their war efforts and goals. By pressuring Israel, to accept this horrible deal, President Trump has given Hamas a new lease on life. He has rewarded the Palestinians for starting the war. Gaza will now be rebuilt and they will receive tremendous amounts of aid and investment. Did they deserve this? Furthermore, Hamas could have ended the war at any time: through unconditional surrender, laying down of arms, and military occupation by Israel over Gaza – akin to the Allied occupation of Nazi Germany and Japan at the end of World War II. The emphasis on the hostages is also frayed. They (and their families) are victims, cruelly captured, tortured, with many killed, and now used as pawns to further Hamas’s cause and manipulate Israel, the US, and the world. But is their suffering greater than that of the more than 400 young Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza and their families, or the more than 15,000 wounded in that war, many with disabling and lifelong injuries. This ceasefire deal is a victory for Biden, the Democratic party, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Qatar and their many anti-Semitic supporters around the world including in western cities and college campuses. Hamas now is celebrating this unexpected gift from a leader generally and properly regarded as a friend of Israel, a modern-day Cyrus, the greatest friend that Israel and the Jewish people have ever had. This war should have secured Gaza, ended the terrorist threat, returned Gaza to Israel, with a full military occupation. Ideally, the Palestinians should be resettled elsewhere, as occurs often in war. Israel and its supporters expected more from President Trump. The disastrous ceasefire is a strategic defeat for Israel at precisely the moment that should have been their greatest victory. The irony is tragic. As Israel was expecting strong support by Trump in their titanic struggle against Islamic terror, they were handed, in effect, Biden’s deal. It is also Hamas’s deal. And now it is Trump’s deal. We appreciate the many good things President Trump is doing for the country and the world, including sealing the border, deporting illegal aliens, restoring the economy, dismantling the deep state, ending lawfare, winding down the war in Ukraine, and eliminating DEI, among many other things. We respect his courage and incredible comeback to win the presidency a second term against a hostile and corrupt bureaucracy, legal system, and media, and against all odds. While we appreciate the many good things President Trump is doing for the country and the world – this is not one of them. This is a betrayal of Israel and the Jewish people. Read this article, just published in Indiana Policy Review: https://inpolicy.org/2025/02/moss-israel-is-being-betrayed/

It was galling, to say the least, to see President Joe Biden taking credit for the fall of President Bashar al- Assad in Syria. Biden did everything he could to preserve Assad by restraining Israel and preventing it from destroying Hezb’allah, which served as his private army. Biden did this by threatening Israel with US and possible UN (and European) sanctions , ceasefire “deals,” and withholding vital weaponry. Despite protestations to the reverse, he had been slow-walking, if not denying, much needed ammunition soon after the October 7 massacre in 2023. Later in the conflict, Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, even suggested that an invasion of Rafah (on the Gazan border with Egypt) would force the administration to “change the US calculus on security assistance to Israel .” That, of course, would alter a long-standing security alliance the US and Israel have enjoyed since 1952 . It was the Obama/Biden administration that elevated Iran and its terrorist proxies in client states like Syria and Lebanon in the first place. Biden hired the same Obama team, his administration representing “Obama’s third term.” These included Robert Malley as the “Iran Envoy” (since removed for ‘mishandling classified documents’), Jake Sullivan, Obama’s National Security Advisor, Anthony Blinken, now Secretary of State, and John Kirby (Pentagon spokesman). They are Iran-firsters. It has also been one of their obsessions to pursue the misguided JCPOA (Joint Coordinated Plan of Action) that ultimately provides a pathway to a nuclear bomb for the Ayatollahs and Iran, an oil rich nation with a radical Islamic regime – that would threaten the region and the world. They maintain an overbearing concern for Iran and seek to help the long-suffering Shiite Persians restore an ill-conceived notion of “balance” in the Middle East between the Sunni Arab states and Israel, on the one hand, and Iran, on the other. That the Ayatollahs can be found leading chants for death to America and death to Israel on a weekly basis is considered a plus for today’s Democrats. But their theories have come crashing down on the reality of Israeli military power, moral vision, and will – and Trump’s victory in November. Biden/Harris and the Democrats loathe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at least as much as Trump, and the two hold similar statuses in their respective nations, as populist outsiders, despised by their own leftist/globalist establishment and deep state. The current cease-fire is Biden’s doing in the first place, and at a time when Israel was positioned to end Hezb’allah forever. Hopefully, Israel will accomplish it anyway. But it will have to overlap into Trump’s term, which is unfortunate. Nonetheless, that should remain a goal of Israel – and the US. Not a sliver or a remnant of that terrorist organization, or Hamas, should survive. Biden threatened Netanyahu with his own ceasefire deal in place of the more draconian ceasefire that would have come from the UN Security Council. Most American administrations, however, would have stood by Israel and vetoed such a resolution, being familiar with the long-standing hatred of Israel by the UN; but not this administration or any Democratic Party regime to come. It has been the Obama/Biden policy to elevate Iran and its client states including Syria and Lebanon, and its terrorist proxies comprising Hezb’allah, Hamas, and the Houthis. The Democratic party today is pro-Iranian, a legacy of Obama and now carried forward into the Biden administration. They did not enforce sanctions on the sale of Iranian oil as was done during the first Trump presidency, which had brought Iran financially to its knees, leading to the “Abraham Accords” under Trump, an unprecedented era of peace in the Middle East. Under the third Obama/Biden term, free to sell its oil, Iran was flush with money and able to fund its proxies. The result was October 7 and war in the Middle East. But Israel has rendered it moot. They have decimated Iran’s terrorist proxies, ended their domination of Syria and Lebanon, by destroying them militarily in a war as significant for Israel and the region as the “Six Day War” was in ‘67. Hence the fall of Assad and a new opportunity for a Lebanon, free of the baleful influence of Hezb’allah. Iran is now alone, defenseless after the first Israeli strike on their air-defenses, thus leaving their nuclear crown jewels exposed as they await the inevitable Israeli attack. The geopolitical landscape has been completely altered through Israeli military prowess – and Netanyahu’s decision to ignore Biden and the Democrats and go it alone: despite the Biden administration’s demands, threats, and withholding of needed military supplies in the midst of war. Biden sought not to retire Assad at all. Nor did he seek the fall of his regime. It was his wish that Syria, Lebanon, Iran and their terrorist proxies continue dominating the Middle East. He and his Obama era advisors wanted a resurgent Iran, with its terrorist proxies intact. In the twisted cult-Marxist mind of the Left, this was proper because the Shiite Iranians are seen as “oppressed.” Obama/Biden sought a Middle East, dominated not by Israel, a liberal democracy and the one Jewish state, but Iran, and its terrorist proxies and client states. That strategic vision however has been overturned. Israel is now the colossus astride the Middle East, not Iran, despite the best efforts of Obama, Biden, and the Democratic Party. The last thing Biden sought was for Assad to depart and his regime to fall. Rather, he wanted Iran and its proxies and client states, including Syria under Assad, to dominate the region. He, and his advisors, the Obama holdovers, wanted Israel and the Sunni Arab states diminished: especially Israel, which the cultural Marxists of the Democratic party loathe and absurdly perceive as an “oppressor.” It is the opposite of what he claimed. But then he is shameless. Lies are his stock in trade. We cannot be rid of him soon enough. To read in American Thinker, click here: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/12/biden_wanted_to_save_assad.html

Richard Moss, M.D., Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon, pulls no punches in his latest book titled The Empire of Eunuchs: How the Republican Party Betrayed America as he accuses the Republican Party as being “no different than the very same Democrat Party it claims to oppose.” Calling the daily assault on our country “a destructive jihad against the [American] economy,” Moss clearly elucidates how both parties have threatened the republic and its founding principles as they attack the federal and constitutional systems. Coupled with the failure of both parties to protect American interests, are the globalists, which if they get their way will usher in a world where “we cease to be human.” Moss highlights the Republican Party “never truly addressing the annual deficits, mounting debt, increasing dependency, and expanding unfunded liabilities.” As far as Moss is concerned, the Republican Party is “a weak, limp, rudderless organization that has achieved little or none of its stated goals and purposes.” He asserts that it is only by a “rebranded, committed, conservative, economic, Christian nationalist party (which as a Jew, [he] fully embraces) supportive and dedicated to American sovereignty, can the great American experiment survive.” His is a clarion call for an America Reborn party that is willing to “fight and die on cultural issues,” which he believes, are even more important than budgets and tax policy if the nation is to survive. He argues that “those who believe in the American enterprise desperately need to reform the Republican Party from within or create a new one.” If Republicans continue to fall sway to the “woke, identarian, intersectional, racialized, feminized, transgendered, and anti-American Democrat party” which is ultimately laying the ground for “future gulags and reeducation camps like the Leninist and Maoist forebears of the 20th century,” America will continue its downward trajectory. Having discarded the founders, liberty, and the rule of law, the Republican and Democrat parties -- which he now calls the Uniparty, are both going in the same direction. Both want to “expand the government, erode liberty, spend and borrow the nation into oblivion, destroy the middle class” and eviscerate free market capitalism. This is being done concurrently with the “destruction of our culture, norms, religion and two-parent married families.” While the Democrats may get there quicker, the Republicans will just “slow boil” into communism. Moss’ book challenges his readers into understanding that the Uniparty is “busy destroying culture and civilization, [as] they move like termites from one foundational beam to the next, eroding the structure and tenets of society.” Hence, transgenderism is endorsed and never refuted by the Republican establishment. The cry of systemic racism is never exposed for the actual racism of its proponents and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion mantra is never revealed for the inherent evil where equity “means equal outcomes, achieved if necessary by unequal treatment , biased competition and preferential judging” -- hardly the genuine aim of equality that is so deeply rooted in U.S.A. history. Moss courageously rips off the curtain of the Marxist manipulation of language so that social justice is revealed for the base injustice that it is. Moss maintains that it should not be that difficult to challenge these bankrupt and destructive ideas. They have been repeatedly used in other communist countries and have a “proven track record of poverty, unemployment, scarcity, misery, prison camps, torture, slavery, mass executions, and, not infrequently, genocide.” Is Moss exaggerating? Is he a bit hyperbolic in his assertions? Despite mounds of evidence , people still do not comprehend that “socialism and central planning never fail to fail.” One need only see the assault on law and order that is wreaking havoc at the southern border and in Democrat-controlled cities to realize that Moss is right on target. Because of their failure to offer an alternative vision, Republicans are allowing the country to morph into a lawless, bankrupt banana republic. Clearly a student of history, Moss fights against the oft-repeated but incorrect “three-fifths clause” and explains that it was “actually an anti-slavery provision made by anti-slavery delegates not to diminish blacks but to reduce Congressional representation of pro-slave states.” Moss spares nothing when he describes how Franklin Delano Roosevelt, long revered by Americans, actually ushered in the ever-enlarging role of central government, which ultimately became “legal government sponsored theft.” Moss writes of his own evolution as a political thinker and candidate when he ran for office in October 2015, 2018, and 2024. But in 2010 as a friend who challenged him asked “for once in your endless rants, tell what you would do specifically, not what should not be done.” Moss’ response: Repeal Obamacare. Return government spending to 2008 levels or even earlier. Limit government spending to 20% of GDP or less. Sunset resolution on all mandates, programs, agencies every two years. Cut federal bureaucracy across the board by 20% End public sector unions Must find constitutional basis to any new legislation End autopilot programs where multitude of programs are automatically increased and no vote or debate has occurred No further bailouts or takeovers End various subsidies and corporate welfare End illegal immigration Part autobiography, part political tract, The Empire of Eunuchs also encompasses articles that Moss has written over the years concerning the political morass America finds itself. Moss’ angst is just. He takes on Mike Pence’s decision concerning Trump’s election and maintains that Pence should have allowed the ten-day moratorium since there was a precedent for that. In fact, Pence had the “right -- and duty to allow that investigative process to unfold.” The Empire of Eunuchs is a righteous clarion call for true action. It is a fitting description for a party who has capitulated so much that one cannot tell the difference between them and the insufferable Democrat Party. Repeatedly, Moss makes the point that if we lose the culture, the politics are lost as well. Dependence on the government is the surest path to the end of the country. Yet, “pathetic Republicans refuse to make the case. More than the stupid party, they [are] the party of Eunuchs, of cowards, the new castrati.” In reality, America must die in order for the Left to succeed. The Left is all about “power and its permanent acquisition.” While conservatives live for other things, like... families, homes, churches, jobs, careers, businesses, and hobbies, the Left is singularly focused. Their family is the Democrat Party. Their church is the Left. They live for politics and power. Their dogma, Marxism. Centralized government power is their highest goal. With laser focus, Moss asks if the Republican Party is ready for the” mythic and cataclysmic battle that is occurring under our noses.” Up to now, it would appear that the Republican Party is a group of ineffectual people, eunuchs who would rather bow to the radical left than stand up for the values of America. Moss calls out the constant Republican urge of “reaching across the aisle” which only results in yet another furthering of the leftist cause. Moss is not afraid to voice his thoughts and ideas . In a recent piece , he proposes what solidly red states can do to defend the rule of law and our G-d given, inalienable rights. Is Richard Moss a maverick who will help usher in a renewal of America? Time will tell. Other Americans can read his impassioned book and spread his message. Eileen can be reached at middlemarch18@gmail.com Image: GGV Publishing See this publication in American Thinke r .

E-REP, or Evansville Regional Economic Partnership, is an organization that “promotes regional economic development and vitality.” It encompasses four counties, including Vanderburgh, Posey, Warrick, and Gibson, and seeks to “drive the region’s economic growth, attract a high-wage and high-skilled workforce and elevate quality of life.” Encompassing the “Evansville Region,” it “thinks regionally – and acts regionally.” Its essential missions include “business growth and retention, attraction of a highly skilled workforce, community development, and regional planning.” All of this is commendable – a welcome benefit to the area. Until, that is, we turn to their section on “advocacy.” It is here where we learn of E-REP’s commitment to “Embrace Diversity and Inclusion” and to “keep the value of diversity, inclusion, and equity at the core of all our efforts…” Why would an organization that ostensibly purports to promote economic growth and a skilled work force add to its otherwise praiseworthy goals something so divisive and exclusionary as DEI? DEI, as the world knows, refers to “Diversity Equity and Inclusion.” E-REP, chose to change the order of the words but the meaning is the same. Like many seemingly innocuous-sounding slogans or acronyms, it carries with it aspects quite sinister. It is a phrase that has swept the nation and all our major institutions, including our universities and schools. DEI has become the new mantra, indeed, a booming industry and ethos, dominating our culture. But contained within it are concepts that are alien and antithetical to the founding principles of the nation. DEI is a hyperaggressive and politicized quota system, an aggressive version of affirmative action for certain so-called “marginalized” people. It divides society into “groups” based on race, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, and so on. It gives preference to certain favored groups and discriminates against groups currently out of favor, chiefly whites, Asians, men, heterosexuals, Jews, and Christians. Apart from being intensely divisive, DEI reflects a world view that is not compatible with our biblical tradition. That belief holds that each person is an individual uniquely made in the image of God. This concept is peculiar to the West and accounts for its extraordinary success, particularly here in the US, the greatest embodiment of Western thought and accomplishment. Our emphasis on the individual, protecting individual rights and liberties, has made Western nations, in general, and America, in particular, so desirable. This is why all the world seeks to come here. DEI rejects that because it is considered an identitarian ideology, a “caste” system, so to speak, that divides society into intersectional groups founded on perceived wrongs committed by alleged dominant power centers in society. Within the DEI calculus, there are oppressors and oppressed, victimizers and victims, and, as noted above, so-called “marginalized people.” This divisive, hierarchical worldview emerges from standard collectivist ideology, except it is centered on culture or race rather than class, as originally conceived, hence the term “cultural Marxism.” DEI is an extension of cultural Marxism, part of the “intersectional” hierarchy of “oppression” that divides society into odd categories. Rejecting the individual, DEI reduces American society into a collection of groups or tribes, hence the “ tribalization “ of society. Further, this tribalization (racialization) is based on certain immutable, physical traits such as skin color and sex. This, by the way, has been the norm for all of human history and throughout the world. America was unique in that it rejected tribalization, group characteristics , and superficial appearance, and elevated the individual, which accounted for its historic success. DEI, furthermore, has no place in any institution that values standards and color-blind meritocracy. If diversity becomes the driving force behind hiring and promotion, or even a small part of it, rather than skill, accomplishment, and merit, then it necessarily compromises standards. If the goal is diversity, and to have proportional representation based on race, sex, sexual orientation, and other such trivialities, even in part, and E-REP, and other organizations that embrace DEI, do not contemplate the individual and his unique abilities and contributions over all else, then the system collapses and becomes simply one of groups or tribes competing with one another. Meritocracy necessarily dies in such a system. You can have DEI or meritocracy, but not both. Should employers now have hiring quotas based on DEI principles of proportional allocations for certain favored minorities over more qualified individuals perceived to have the wrong color, sex, or sexual orientation? Such a practice is antithetical to E-REPs primary mission of promoting “regional economic development,” in pursuit of current fashionable and destructive Marxist goals that have no place anywhere in this country. Further, why is “diversity” a goal? Diversity is actually a challenge to overcome in the pursuit of “unity,” which is a far more important aspiration. In short, E-REP has discredited itself and its alleged mission. It chose politics and division over talent and competence. The choice is clear. Embrace standards and merit over superficial characteristics. I hold that we treat each person as an individual and judge him, as a famous black preacher once said, “not by the color of their skin but the content of their character.” Yes, that is a “dream” we should all aspire to. Including E-REP. Richard Moss, M.D., a surgeon practicing in Jasper, IN, is a candidate for Congress for Indiana’s 8 th district. He has written “A Surgeon’s Odyssey” and “Matilda’s Triumph,” available on amazon.com . Contact him at richardmoss4congress.com , Richard Moss for Congress on Facebook, Richard Moss, M.D. on Twitter, and Instagram. Note: Portions of this report were taken from a previous column I had written on the subject of DEI 1 , 2 .

My name is Richard Moss. I am a board-certified cancer surgeon, seasoned businessman, and America-First conservative running for Congress. I have been in private practice for 35 years in Jasper, Indiana. I am married with four children. I am committed to limited government, defending our Constitution, and preserving Judeo-Christian values. I support sealing our southern border, avoiding forever wars, and returning jobs and factories back to the heartland, particularly here in Indiana. This, after 50 years of “America Last,” when we shipped industries, vital supply-chains, and jobs overseas for “cheap labor.” “Cheap Labor,” it turns out, was not cheap. I favor a strong military but not a “woke” military. I follow President Ronald Reagan’s adage of “peace through strength.” If we must go to war, it should be a war of necessity not a war of “choice,” with a well-defined mission and purpose. Victory should be achieved as swiftly as possible. In our two wars of choice this century, we did not have a clear mission and paid dearly in blood and treasure. We also damaged our national interests rather than improved them. I favor a balanced budget and paying down the debt and will work to move the GOP to become the party of fiscal discipline and prudence. I support cutting spending and eliminating deficits, which result in the “printing” of money, causing inflation and higher interest rates. This harms consumers and homeowners. I support full spectrum energy dominance including coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear. I do not accept the myth of so-called “man-made climate change” or “global warming.” Carbon dioxide (CO2), along with H2O and oxygen (O2), is critical to life, our atmosphere, and all living things. It is an essential compound. I will oppose spending one dime of federal money on windmills and solar panels, which are themselves environmentally unsound, costly, and undependable. They do not generate the inexpensive, reliable energy that our modern economy and large population requires. I oppose DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and embrace color blind meritocracy, the key to American progress and greatness – and a fair and just society. Election integrity is critical. Photo ID must be mandatory, with signature verification and proof of citizenship. I oppose same-day or motor-voter registration, “ballot curing,” “harvesting,” or “drop boxes.” Illegal aliens should not vote; the right-to-vote belongs to US citizens alone. We must eliminate unsolicited mail-in ballots and return to paper ballots counted the same day, on “election day.” We must reign in our out-of-control federal bureaucracy (the “Swamp”), with emphasis on the DOJ and FBI. We must return power to the states and local communities and away from unelected bureaucrats, and purge the partisans that have infiltrated these institutions and turned them against regular Americans – and President Trump. I am deeply opposed to the weaponization of the legal system. It is appalling that corrupt, activist courts in deep-blue jurisdictions are prosecuting President Trump, forcing him to spend precious time and resources in court. These are “political” prosecutions that seek to bankrupt and incarcerate him, and prevent him from running. This is unprecedented in our nation and reflects the behavior of Third World dictatorships and the former Soviet Union. The Covid lockdowns, school closures, and mask and vaccine mandates were a disaster. I opposed them then and would oppose them again. I support the state of Israel and its right to defend itself and oppose the antisemitic, Nazi-like campus protests, encampments, and riots against Israel, the Jewish people, and the United States. Those who hate Israel also hate the US. Their long-term target is not Israel but this nation and the West in general, which they seek to overthrow and enslave. There is surging antisemitism in our universities, the Democrat Party, the country and the world at large that I would vigorously confront. Regarding the student riots, they must be ended immediately, students expelled, visas revoked for foreign students that support Hamas and sent back to their native countries, such as so-called Palestinian students, among others. The universities that support such attitudes and behavior should also be defunded - and taxed. I would recommend rescinding loans for students supporting terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. I embrace the Constitution and the Bill of Rights with emphasis on the first and second amendments - but all of them. Our founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, are unprecedented in their brilliance and clarity, an inspiring and historic foundation for a newly formed nation - and model for the world. I support traditional values, the Judeo-Christian tradition, and hold to the definition of marriage as the union of a man and woman. We must encourage and support strong intact married families as the cornerstone of the civil society and the nation at large. I am pro-life and believe that life begins at conception, a gift from God and God alone, and that the unborn must be protected. I have been endorsed by Congressman Bob Good, of Virginia, the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus in Congress, Indiana State Representative Betty Cash, and the Bull Moose Project, an organization devoted to America Firstprinciples. I am running for Congress because of my profound concern over the direction of our country as a result of the destructive policies of President Biden and the radical Democrats: in particular, the invasion of our southern border, the massive government deficits and ensuing inflation, the release of criminals onto our streets, the assault on fossil fuels, and the appeasement of our worst enemies globally that have resulted in wars around the world. The primary is May 7. Early voting is taking place as we speak. A vote for me in the primary and subsequent election victory in November will send a strong conservative Hoosier voice representing Southwestern Indiana, the eighth district, to our nation’s capital. I humbly ask for your vote. See this publication in T he City-County Observer.

At the recent State of the Union Address by President Joe Biden, President Biden was challenged by Congressman Margorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from Georgia to “say her name.” She meant, of course, the name of Laken Hope Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student allegedly murdered in broad daylight by Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal alien from Venezuela. Laken was at the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia, and was jogging when she encountered Ibarra, who crushed her skull with a large rock. The police report indicates that her head and face were “disfigured.” Ibarra should have never been in the country. He was initially encountered by US Border Patrol in El Paso, Texas, when he was released because of the Biden Administration’s open border policies. Ibarra, like millions of others over the last three years, entered the country unlawfully, and, under Biden’s “catch and release” policies, wandered the nation freely, including in Texas, New York, and ultimately Athens, Georgia. Ibarra was arrested by the NYPD in September of 2023 for acting “in a manner to injure a child,” a felony, and a motor vehicle infraction. Did the NYPD detain him and contact the DHS for committing a felony as an illegal alien to be deported? No, New York City, like many “blue” jurisdictions operates under “sanctuary city” policies, in defiance of federal immigration law. They released him. New York, under Soros-funded DA and reprobate, Alvin Bragg, does not arrest many individuals, criminal or otherwise, in “no bail” New York, unless named Donald J. Trump. The radical Democrat Mayor of New York, Eric Adams, in a rare moment of candor and common sense, upon hearing of the death of Laken Riley, had an epiphany and reflected aloud before an unbelieving press that perhaps he should rethink his city’s sanctuary policies; perhaps he should have contacted the DHS since such lawful and moral conduct would have prevented the slaughter of the innocent 22-year-old Laken Riley. Yes, Mayor, the blood drips from many hands. It should be noted that the concept of “sanctuary city” or “state” is lawless. It represents the nullification of federal law no different than the behavior of southern states before the civil war. Such jurisdictions, therefore, should be seen as part of a “neo-confederacy” engaged in actual insurrection (not the phony “insurrection” of J6) and dealt with as such by the federal government. That will have to wait for Donald Trump to assume the Presidency, but firm action should be taken including defunding the insurrectionists, sanctioning them, and unleashing upon them the Department of Justice and FBI, among other such resolute measures. During Biden’s SOTU he mispronounced Riley’s name as “Lincoln Riley,” further infuriating Republicans and her family. But this had little effect on Democrats. What did exercise them was his reference to the murderer as an “illegal.” Yes, friends, Democrats have far more sympathy for “illegals” than US citizens, even an American with the misfortune of having been slaughtered by one. For decades Democrats and the Left have declared war on the term “illegal alien ,” preferring instead the more palliative “undocumented Immigrant .” But “illegal alien” is the legally precise and correct term. Unlawful entry into the country is a crime. The term is not intended to disparage. It accurately describes an individual who resides in the country in defiance of our immigration laws. “Undocumented” suggests that one merely lacks the proper documents for being here ( a problem of the government) and ignores the crime of unlawful entry and presence in the land. What is to be done? Build the wall, reinstate “remain in Mexico” and “expedited removal,” and end “catch and release,” all of which were successful policies from the Trump presidency and recklessly rescinded by the Biden administration. We must also revamp our “refugee/asylum” policies to better reflect reality. Virtually none of those claiming refugee status even remotely merit such a designation. They are not persecuted minorities or refugees escaping war or famine. Perhaps, one can say, they are escaping poverty or seeking a better life and hence are more aptly described as “economic migrants.” But such a broad definition of a “refugee” would open our doors to countless billions around the world who could readily make the same claim. There is also the principle of “first safe nation.” If one is truly escaping persecution or war or famine than one must reside in the first “safe” nation not pick and choose the one with, say, the most generous welfare benefits. (Red) States and the federal government can defund or sanction municipalities that ignore immigration law. They can implement “E-verify” and employer sanctions against businesses that hire illegals in defiance of our laws. Similarly, unleash the Department of Justice to challenge the myriad NGOs (Catholic Charities , Adventists, Baptist Services, Lutheran World Relief, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Services, and hundreds more) who are rewarded handsomely for taking advantage of the country, promoting illegal immigration, and burdening taxpayers and our stressed public programs. Deploy the national guard on our border. Place tariffs on all goods coming from Mexico unless it cooperates in sealing the border. Cut off all benefits for illegals and dependents, including healthcare (other than emergencies), education, and access to our public programs. Tax remittances. End the fraud known as birthright citizenship and family reunification. No in-state tuition or driver’s licenses. And then, finally, mass deportation with emphasis on those who arrived during President Biden’s reign, others who are incarcerated, known criminals (beyond the original crime of entering the country illegally), and all who partake in our overly generous public programs (Medicaid, food stamps, AFDC, rent and heating subsidies, and so on). In this way, the tragic and preventable murder of Laken Riley at the hands of a known criminal and illegal alien, and so many other victims like her, will not have been in vain. See this publication in American Thinker . Richard Moss, M.D., a surgeon practicing in Jasper, IN, is a candidate for Congress in Indiana’s 8 th district. He has written “A Surgeon’s Odyssey” and “Matilda’s Triumph,” available on amazon.com . Contact him at richardmossmd.com or Richard Moss, M.D. on Facebook, Twitter, TruthSocial, GAB, PopTalk, and Instagram. Check out his campaign website at richardmoss4congress.com ..

The medical staff at our community hospital in Jasper, Indiana, a small, generally conservative burg in the middle of fields of corn and soy, received an email from hospital administration indicating that they would begin implementing DEI training. I couldn’t remain silent and, instead, pushed back. As the world knows, DEI refers to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This concept, like many seemingly innocuous-sounding slogans or acronyms, carries with it aspects quite sinister. It is a phrase that has swept the nation and all our major institutions, including our universities and schools. DEI has become the new mantra, indeed, a booming industry and ethos, dominating our culture. But contained within it are concepts that are alien and antithetical to the Christian mission of our hospital, which is “being for others.” It is also hostile to the founding principles of the nation. DEI is a hyperaggressive and politicized quota system, a radicalized version of affirmative action for certain so-called “marginalized” people. It divides society into “groups” based on race, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, and so on. It gives preference to certain favored groups, which include, in descending order: Muslims, transgenders, gays, blacks, Hispanics, and women. It discriminates against other groups currently out of favor, chiefly whites, Asians, men, heterosexuals, and Christians. Alas, of late, another group has joined the list of the despised, and is now, perhaps, the chief target of DEI hatred: The Jews. Apart from being intensely divisive, DEI reflects a world view that is not compatible with our biblical tradition. That tradition holds that each person is an individual uniquely made in the image of God. This transcendent concept is peculiar to the West and accounts for its extraordinary success, chiefly here in the US, the greatest embodiment of Western thought and accomplishment. (Although today, certain alien ideologies, of which DEI is one, threaten it.) Our emphasis on the individual, protecting individual rights and liberties, has made Western nations, in general, and America, in particular, so desirable and this is why all the world seeks to come here. Our concept of individual worth explains our economic growth, standard of living, and extraordinary cultural and technological achievements. It is based ultimately on the freedoms and protections of the individual, precisely because of our belief in the sanctity of each person. DEI rejects that. It is an identarian ideology, a “caste” system, so to speak, that divides society into intersectional groups based on perceived wrongs committed by alleged dominant power centers in society, which it perceives as intrinsically racist or sexist or homophobic, and so on. Within the DEI calculus, there are oppressors and oppressed, victimizers and victims, and, as noted above, so-called “marginalized people.” This divisive, hierarchical worldview emerges from standard Marxist ideology, except its centered on culture or race rather than class, as originally conceived, hence the term “cultural Marxism.” DEI is an extension of cultural Marxism, part of the “intersectional” hierarchy of “oppression” that divides society into odd categories. Thus, it places the groups allegedly most “oppressed” at the pinnacle of the pyramid (e.g., blacks, women, or transgenders) and those designated most guilty of “oppression” at the bottom (e.g., whites, males, Christians, Jews). Bari Weiss sums it up this way : [The new ideology] replaced basic ideas of good and evil with a new rubric: the powerless (good) and the powerful (bad). It replaced lots of things. Colorblindness with race-obsession. Ideas with identity. Debate with denunciation. Persuasion with public shaming. The rule of law with the fury of the mob. Rejecting the individual, DEI reduces American society into a collection of groups or tribes, hence the “ tribalization “ of society. This tribalization (racialization) is based on certain immutable, physical traits such as skin color and sex. This, by the way, has been the norm for all of human history and throughout the world. America was unique in that it rejected tribalization, group characteristics , and superficial appearance, and elevated the individual, which accounted for its historic success, and the reason so many sought to live here. DEI, furthermore, has no place in any institution that values standards and color-blind meritocracy. If diversity becomes the driving force behind hiring and promotion, or even a small part of it, rather than skill, accomplishment, and merit, then it necessarily compromises standards. If the goal is diversity, and to have proportional representation in Memorial Hospital’s work force, based on race, sex, sexual orientation, and other such trivialities, even in part, and the hospital does not contemplate the individual and his unique abilities and contributions over all else, then the system collapses and becomes simply one of groups or tribes competing with one another. Meritocracy necessarily dies in such a system. You can have DEI or meritocracy, but not both. Should hospitals now have quotas for their doctors, nurses, technicians, and janitors based on DEI principles of proportional allocations for blacks, Hispanics, gays, lesbians, Muslims, and transgenders over more qualified individuals of the wrong color, sex, or sexual orientation? Shall they treat patients based on such considerations? Such a concept is antithetical to a hospital’s mission. It betrays these institutions’ purpose and, if they are faith-driven hospitals (as mine is), their religious and biblical basis for current fashionable, destructive, and divisive Marxist goals that have no place here and should be unequivocally rejected. Further, why is “diversity” a goal? Diversity is actually a challenge to overcome in the pursuit of “unity,” which is a far more important aspiration. I made these same objections known in writing and verbally to the entire medical staff, hospital administration, and the board at my hospital, including the CEO. I have heard nothing back and do not know if they plan to proceed with their disastrous plans. I will continue to oppose it vigorously and must imagine that it is a small minority of leftist activists on the medical staff that pushed for it. I will do all that I can to ensure that it does not stand. Richard Moss, M.D., a surgeon practicing in Jasper, IN, was a candidate for Congress in 2016 and 2018. He has written “A Surgeon’s Odyssey” and “Matilda’s Triumph,” available on amazon.com . Contact him at richardmossmd.com or Richard Moss, M.D. on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. References: Samuel Abrams, October 27, 2023, Hardly Inclusive, Diversity Mandates Have Politicized Campus Life, AEI, https://www.aei.org/op-eds/hardly-inclusive-diversity-mandates-have-politicized-campus-life/?mkt_tok=NDc1LVBCUS05NzEAAAGPHwAcOhfxTKjA0ry-TyQlV8LbSY3A54s8IRtlCvVMotCsvmKbsk1nba_7GKoR4pMUiYsdg9llJ2cazMv1JyzjfYGWqfMGHUPkrTXJkZXMABrt9Q Jeffrey Blehar, September 10, 2023, The Crushing Costs of DEI on University Campuses, National Review https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-crushing-costs-of-dei-on-university-campuses/ George Leef, July 17, 2023, Squandering Time and Money on DEI “Training,” National Review, https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/squandering-time-and-money-on-dei-training/ Nate Hochman, February 23, 2023, The Left Already Knows DEI Is A Lie, National Review, https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/02/the-left-already-knows-that-dei-is-a-lie/ Scott Sturman, Joe Arbuckle, November 10, 2023, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Reign Supreme At The Airforce Academy, AMAC, https://amac.us/blog/society/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-reign-supreme-at-the-air-force-academy/ Catherine Salgado, October 23, 2023, Former DEI Director: DEI ‘Deliberately Stokes’ Anti-Semitism at Colleges, PJ Media, https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2023/10/23/former-dei-director-dei-deliberately-stokes-anti-semitism-at-colleges-n1737309 Robert Spencer, February 28, 2023, The Day Your Doctor Won’t Treat You If You Aren’t the Right Kind of Patient Is Closer Than You Might Think, PJ Media, https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2023/02/28/the-day-your-doctor-wont-treat-you-if-you-arent-the-right-kind-of-patient-is-closer-than-you-might-think-n1674476 Bari Weiss, November 7, 2023, End DEI, Tablet https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/end-dei-bari-weiss-jews See this publication in American Thinker

One should resist the temptation of separating Hamas from the Palestinian people. There is broad popular support for Hamas in Gaza; they were elected overwhelmingly in the one election held. Palestinians embrace acts of terror by Hamas and other Muslim terrorist groups. They celebrate them. If Hamas had the wherewithal to do to all of Israel what they did in the southern part recently, there would be ecstatic merrymaking for months. The Palestinian terrorists chose the timing of their massacre of the Jews strategically. It was the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the Yom Kippur War, in 1973. It was also a Jewish holiday that comes at the end of Sukkot known as Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah, a celebration of the renewal of the Torah reading cycle. They knew the Israelis would be resting or in prayer, cell phones off, and not prepared for an attack. And so, they celebrated by slaughtering some 1400 innocent Jews, men, women, children, and babies. There is a sociopathology amongst Palestinians, particularly those living in Gaza, but elsewhere as well. Embracing victimhood, they are also ready to strike out with extreme violence, as the world has seen. They are among the most subsidized people in the world, pampered and indulged by the “international community,” receiving billions of dollars in aid every year, a form of protection money. They are also the darlings of the media, NGOs, aid organizations, the EU, and the UN. With all this attention and coddling for so unworthy a cause and people, their violent tendencies well known, and especially with so many other conflicted and underserved areas of the world, is there any wonder they act as they do? They are the terrorist equivalent of spoiled children and know the world will support them, regardless of how heinous their crimes. Israel left Gaza in 2005, thus ending the “occupation.” In 2006, Palestinians voted Hamas in over the Palestinian Authority. In June of 2007, Hamas launched a brutal takeover of Gaza and massacred their Muslim compatriots in the Palestinian Authority by hurling them off roofs, shooting them in the head in front of loved ones, or dragging them through the streets chained to cars. They are a recognized terrorist organization that calls openly for the destruction of the state of Israel and do not recognize Israel’s right to exist. An offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, they seek not just the death of Israel but all of Christendom and the West and to create a global caliphate. But Hamas is merely a reflection of its people. It is not, as it is often portrayed, of poor Palestinians dominated by the kleptocrat terrorists that form Hamas. Not at all. The people are Hamas. They embrace and support Hamas. Gaza and the Palestinians should be a wild success story. They receive tremendous amounts of aid, are beloved by the West and the liberal establishment, and doted on by the media and the UN. They enjoy a favorable climate, pitched on the Mediterranean Sea as they are, with gorgeous beaches and neighbors to a highly intelligent, dynamic people that can readily employ them. They themselves are known to be an industrious, innovative people. So, why do they not flourish? Because like Hamas, the Palestinians are obsessed with death and killing, and not building a lawful, thriving, civil society. Combine that with equal measures of self-pity and hatred, and you wind up not with Miami on the Mediterranean, but Mogadishu. It is also odd, that Israel is portrayed in the media as a villainous oppressor over the pathetic, helpless, long-suffering, poor Palestinians. One would think that the Jewish people have some claim to victimhood, not that they want or need it. But isn’t it the case that the Jews are the most victimized people on earth and through history? And not the poor Palestinians? For the last 2000 years, since the calamitous Roman war of annihilation against the Jews and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, Jews have largely been a stateless, ghettoized people subject to the will and whim of the surrounding Christian or Muslim majority. They have endured expulsions, pogroms, massacres, ghettoes, second class status, and a minor item known as the Holocaust. But just the raw numbers alone should suggest the absurdity of the fantasy of Jewish oppressors. There are half a billion Arabs and nearly 2 billion Muslims. And 16 million Jews. There are 22 Arab nations and some 50 Muslim nations. And one Jewish state, barely a pinprick on the world map. How could a single tiny Jewish nation, Israel, scarcely the size of the state of New Jersey, a mere 6 miles wide at its waist, in a sea of Arab and Muslim nations, dominate the Middle East – or come to abuse the Palestinians? Well, it doesn’t. But the world is obsessed with Israel, its every miscue and misstep, its very existence, the leftist media having long ago abandoned the one nation and people most in need of some commiseration. Indeed, Israel is the David against the Arab/Muslim Goliath and the Palestinians are the political football used to attack it. There are common terms adopted by the Left to condemn Israel and to define the Arab-Israeli conflict with such nomenclature as “colonialism,” “expropriation,” “apartheid,” or “occupiers,” as if the Jews had no claim to the Holy Land and did not have a presence there for nearly 4000 years. This is the language used against our own nation and others such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, but particularly America, based on their European or Western or, let us say, “white” origins. It is a farcical attempt to racialize Israel and portray it not as Jewish but white, to better align with neo-Marxist theories. It is bogus for any number of reasons wherever deployed but in particular in regards to Israel. Israelis may be white, although many Sephardim (“Spanish” or “Arab” Jews) are “swarthy,” and some are actually black (the “Falasha” or Ethiopian Jews). But Israelis are first and foremost Jews and they are the indigenous people of the land. As we observe the raucous support for Hamas occurring on our streets, college campuses, and capitols, what are we to make of our own policies, in particular our wars in the Middle East, and then immigration? How many Gazas have we imported into our own country because of misguided policies? How many Jihadis have we allowed into our nation, our college campuses, and into the very halls of Congress? How many 9/11s await us, how many slaughters of the innocent will we have to mourn, here, and the West in general, before we awaken to the self-inflicted wounds we have committed? Will we recognize the damage done, begin deportations, end student visas from various Muslim nations, and reconsider our reckless immigration policies? There is such a thing as Just War, which includes the defense of one’s people, especially after repeated attacks. Few question the wisdom and morality of Dresden or Hiroshima and Nagasaki despite the enormous civilian casualties. Israel has every right to defend itself, destroy its enemies, despite significant civilian casualties. If Hamas and the world are concerned about civilian casualties, they can unconditionally surrender and leave Gaza, or otherwise accept the responsibility for the death and destruction that is coming. Israel must abandon the absurd “Two State Solution” and “peace process,” and embrace instead a “One State Solution,” not to commit genocide as Israel’s enemies would, but to control and administer its territories. This will include Israel proper, Gaza, and the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), allowing “Palestinians” some autonomy and self-governance but under Israeli control. Israel is the canary in the coal mine. What has happened there has and will come to us again. The West, including the US and Europe, and then Israel, must awaken to the threat of Islam and take appropriate measures. Do we have the will to live? To do what is necessary to survive? Or are we too decadent and corrupt? We shall find out. Out of the ashes of Auschwitz and the Holocaust, the modern state of Israel was born. So must it and we be reborn again. Dr. Moss is a practicing Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon, candidate for Congress in 2016 and 2018, author, columnist, local investor, and small businessman, residing in Jasper, IN. He has written A Surgeon’s Odyssey and Matilda’s Triumph, available on amazon.com . Find more of his essays at richardmossmd.com . Visit Richard Moss, M.D. on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, Gettr, GAB, TruthSocial, and Instagram.

It is a good thing when left wing rednecks are triggered. You know, the wokesters and rainbow worshippers. They were beside themselves when the music world erupted over the popularity of Jason Aldean’s song and video, “Try That in a Small Town.” Lefty bloggers, commentators, the Legacy Media, liberal establishment, sundry elites, the entire ruling class, in its massive, Gordian complexity, reacted with righteous indignation and chest-thumping - and so soon after their favorite holiday season, Pride Month. There were “dog whistles” aplenty, they claimed, but heard apparently only by them. We were told however that Aldean’s mild homily about small town values, was emitting secret code to white Christian nationalists, gun-toting vigilantes, QAnon conspirators, nativists, racists, and other future members of the forthcoming Fourth Reich. It is understandably upsetting to long-suffering elites when they control 99% of the culture, yet small vestiges of rural, patriotic, country-music, church-going, MAGA America slips through. Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk Carjack an old lady at a red light Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store Ya think it's cool, well, act a fool if ya like What’s all the fuss about? Aldean is merely pointing out mainstream Democrat policy. Democrats want criminals running free in their cities. They voted in the Soros funded, catch-and-release DAs. The criminal, street thug, and shoplifter are heroes of the Left. They, like BLM and Antifa, are their shock troops. What they reject, however, are emissaries of white rural, small-town America standing athwart their revolution. Cuss out a cop, spit in his face Stomp on the flag and light it up Yeah, ya think you're tough Well, try that in a small town It wasn’t too long ago when the white working class, the farmers, miners, factory workers, and gunowners, were the base of the Democrat Party, the party of the “working class.” Not now, no sir. That switched with Barack Obama, the Manchurian “stealth” candidate, who took his party – and the nation – into full blown, neo-Marxist, identarian politics, the tribalization of American society along racial and other lines. They promptly ditched the white working class for the new demographic known as “BIPOC,” “black indigenous people of color.” And, while at it, became the party of illegal aliens, criminals, terrorists, the lap-top class, elites, and super-rich in our cites and universities. But no dirt under the fingernails for today’s Democrats. Around here, we take care of our own You cross that line, it won't take long For you to find out, I recommend you don't Try that in a small town The last thing the bicoastal, urban elites, want to be reminded of is that they live in a country where some 50% of the nation like this song. The Left despises small town, rural America. They want to reverse Khmer Rouge them into the cities where they can control them, and have them swear allegiance to LGBTQIA++, open borders, and globalism. Oh, and the war in Ukraine. Then mask and vaxx them. No more nationalism, national culture, or, God forbid, a common language. Gone. Along with the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. And the Bible. Jason Aldean lit a fuse in the minds of the Left. They are unhappy that they must share a nation with a population that embraces such primitive notions. Cloistered as they are in urban hot houses where only leftist flowers prevail, they despair that their grip on the nation is still tenuous and that everyone is not woke – like them. Try that in a small town Full of good ol' boys, raised up right If you're looking for a fight Try that in a small town The lefties complained bitterly about the images of the BLM riots in their summer of destruction when they burned down the country post George Floyd, the criminal drug addict who died of a fentanyl overdose. What’s wrong with that? Are there still defenders of BLM, an utterly corrupt organization? Why shouldn’t they be exposed as the violent, grifting, cop-killing, Marxist hoodlums that they are? They also complained about the backdrop of the video outside the Maury County Courthouse in Columbia Tennessee, the site of a lynching in 1927. They suggested that it may be … wait for it… “racist.” Can a liberal go more than a sentence without their favorite libel? It reminds us, however, that it is time to dispel the myth that the Left/Democrats are the voice and defenders of blacks. The Democrat party has been the worst thing that ever happened to blacks, an unmitigated, ongoing disaster. Apart from being the party of slavery, the confederacy, Jim Crow, and “separate but equal,” in the sixties, they unleashed “Great Society” upon the nation. This now massive welfare system with its perverse incentives has devastated blacks. It destroyed the black family, along with much of the conservative, church-going culture that prevailed among many blacks. It led to soaring illegitimate childbirth, criminality, drug addiction, incarceration, and intergenerational poverty and dependency that plagues them to this day. Thank the Democrats. As a side note, it is also curious (but not surprising) that liberals, black or white, never live in black neighborhoods amongst the people they claim to represent. No, no, noooo. Only the lily whitest neighborhoods for our earnest liberals. Just ask the Obamas as they enjoy a glass of Chardonnay overlooking the ocean at their estate in Martha’s Vineyard. Got a gun that my granddad gave me They say one day they're gonna round up Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck Try that in a small town No better way to trigger a left-wing redneck than to speak nostalgically about guns. Liberal city dwellers prefer that only criminals have them. The critics also conveniently ignore the decades of “rap” music, of which they said nothing or spoke admiringly of, that outrightly glorifies gun violence, denigrates women, and espouses anti-cop hostility. Such music has had a negative impact on young black males, prompting often aggressive, violent behavior. Dozens of well-known rappers have themselves been victims of the gun violence their lyrics often extolled. But a mild, veiled throwdown from a country boy - now that’s a threat to the republic. Then there is the matter of that dastardly pre-civilizational 2 nd amendment. And the rest of the Bill of Rights, for that matter. An 18 th century construct. All so retro and quite problematic for today’s urban progressive. Traditional families, the Bible, Church, small town values, the 2 nd amendment, no, it’s all got to go.  The elites now loathe the working class, the former darlings and base of the Democrat Party, most of whom, but not all, are white. Today’s Left, our urban elites, now worship the super-rich, the subsidized poor, and, of course - BIPOCS. But beyond that they despise whites, because they, after all, founded this country, the worst country in the world, racist to the core, and itself a product of colonialist, imperialist, and racist (white) Europe. You know, the continent that gave us science, technology, democracy, human rights, and an incomparable corpus of art, music, and literature dating back to Greece and Rome. And the likes of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Milton, and Goethe. Then Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Volta, Boyle, Einstein, yes, all those problematic scientific geniuses that just happened to come from Europe - and to be white - such a petty annoyance for today’s leftist sophisticates. The Left has declared Jihad on whites and the middle class, especially as found in rural America, because a few too many of them are reflected in Aldean’s song - and by Obama’s famous “guns and bibles.” And they, indirectly, represent the hated European, Judeo-Christian, Western (“white”) civilization, of which America is its finest exemplar, the one that gave birth to the greatest thinkers, composers, artists, writers, scientists, inventors the world has ever seen, responsible for the modern world - our air conditioning, antibiotics, cars, light bulbs, TVs, iPhones, the internet along with liberty and representative governance. Coincidentally, it is the very same racist (white) nations that everyone from around the world, black, brown, yellow, is flocking to – by the millions. Sorry, no brag just facts. And facts are the best way to trigger left wing rednecks. But don’t try that in a small town. Dr. Moss is a practicing Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon, candidate for Congress in 2016 and 2018, author, columnist, local investor, and small businessman, residing in Jasper, IN. He has written A Surgeon’s Odyssey and Matilda’s Triumph, available on amazon.com . Find more of his essays at richardmossmd.com . Visit Richard Moss, M.D. on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, Gettr, GAB, TruthSocial, and Instagram.