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Ben Sasse Tag

America has a problem, a fact problem. And it's being felt across the political spectrum. Yesterday morning as tradition dictates, I met one of my oldest and dearest friends for brunch. She's well-informed, well-read, incredibly bright, and quite liberal. After catching up on all things personal the conversation shifted to the current political climate. She expressed her frustration with having to sift through ten different articles from major, legacy publications, in order to piece together the basic facts of any given story.

Congressional Republicans cannot agree on health care reform, which has caused frustration and anger among the American public. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) sent a letter to President Donald Trump with a suggestion in the event members cannot reach an agreement when they return from Independence Day break: Repeal Obamacare now. Work on the replacement later.

One of the more disturbing popular political theories is the notion that Congress Must Do Something!™ Not only is reactionary governance unwise, it also runs contrary to the founders' intentions. Our government was designed specifically to mitigate the hair ablaze reactivity that inevitably leads to horrible policy and infringement of rights. Progressives typically carry the reactionary banner though no segment of the political spectrum is immune. Everyone wants change and looks to the government and by extension, their elected officials, to give them what they want. Often our elected officials are the worst offenders of this politically driven extra-Constitutional reactivity. Rather than work within the confines of our Constitutional framework, Democrats (who here, are worse than their Republican counterparts) routinely look to skirt boundaries to achieve short-term political gains.

Sen. Ben Sasse is not impressed with the Obama Administration's latest spin on the Iran Deal. Earlier this week, the Republican Senator from Nebraska threw down some real talk on the much touted Iran Deal. "The Iran Deal is the Obama Administration's greatest victory in its ongoing war against facts," Sen. Sasse begins. In two minutes, Sasse picks apart three of the biggest Iran Deal lies.

Donald Trump lashed out at the federal judge presiding over the Trump University fraud case, claiming his Mexican heritage made him ineligible to properly dispense justice. Because of course. Though Trump's verbal assault against Judge Gonzalo Curiel began earlier this year, Trump cranked them to eleven last week. "I’m building a wall. It’s an inherent conflict of interest,” said Trump. Trump also alleged Judge Curiel, "was a former colleague and friend of one of the Trump University plaintiffs’ lawyers," according to the Wall Street Journal. For their part, many a Republican Senator are refusing to condone Trump's judge fight and have gone so far as to condemn his rhetoric.

Republican Senator Ben Sasse has written an open letter to America. I agree with a great deal of it, but I wanted to take issue with something. Here's an excerpt:
In the history of polling, we’ve basically never had a candidate viewed negatively by half of the electorate. This year, we have two. In fact, we now have the two most unpopular candidates ever – Hillary by a little, and Trump by miles (including now 3 out of 4 women – who vote more and influence more votes than men). There are dumpster fires in my town more popular than these two “leaders.” With Clinton and Trump, the fix is in. Heads, they win; tails, you lose. Why are we confined to these two terrible options? This is America. If both choices stink, we reject them and go bigger. That’s what we do. Remember: our Founders didn’t want entrenched political parties. So why should we accept this terrible choice?
Sasse goes on to suggest a non-Trump non-Hillary candidate (not himself, by the way), but he doesn't say who that person should be.

On the eve of Super Tuesday, Sen. Ben Sasse is imploring voters to chose anyone but Trump. Sen. Sasse joined Chuck Todd to discuss Trump's candidacy Monday: "Fundamentally, this party needs to return to its principles of believing in equality under the law and believing in the greatness of the potential of the American people. We believe in limited government, we don't believe in a bigger Washington," said Sen. Sasse. Todd asked Sasse whether broad support for Trump was indicative of a new Republican party.

Watching the rise of this new populism, one of my many concerns is whether the charlatans wearing the cape of Conservatism will damage its value, diminish its meaning, and in general, confuse those who know no difference. But then I see people like Sen. Sasse and I'm somewhat relieved. At least briefly.