The Sims View

overview of this blog

Welcome to my blog, the Sims View. Thank you for taking the time to view my page. The purpose of this web page is to create blog posts to create civil debate on issues primarily related to current events, primarily focused on US domestic political issues, geopolitical issues affecting or potentially affecting the US or general global human rights issues. Please join the civil debate!

purpose of blog

I believe in recent times, the politics in our nation has become so divisive and vitriolic that there is almost no room left for the thing that drives good policy in this nation — civil debate. I also firmly believe that no political party, no political perspective, and no individual or group of individuals have a monopoly on good ideas.

Based on these tenants, my hope is this blog can foment an “open and free marketplace and exchange of ideas,” to do my part, no matter how small, to get individuals with different perspective to engage in this critical civil debate.

While I understand everyone has some type of bias, in this blog, my goal is to always use only verified facts, and not provide opinions unless they are justified by verified facts. If you think I have misstated, or misconstrued, a fact, please always inform me in the comments or contacting me directly.

guest blogs

Most blogs on this site will be authored by me. However, I will, from time to time, have guest bloggers to present different views and perspectives. These can occur in two ways:

(1) Friends of mine who I think offer different perspective are invited to draft a guest blog to be posted;

(2) Anyone can email me a draft blog to thesimsviewblog@gmail.com . I reserve the right to publish or not publish any blog based on the standards directly below and my sole judgment of relevance.

comments

Comments: Civil Debate and Perspective is Encourages

As with any good blog designed to create an open and free marketplace of ideas, I invite all contributors to make comments. Consistent with this, I always encourage comments on blogs which drive CIVIL DEBATE ON TOPICS. While I will not remove any comments, I ask you always keep this overarching goal in mind. A good rule of thumb is: present your perspective, but keep out the emotion.

Please Provide Demographic Data with Comments

While I understand that, for many reasons, people may want to keep their identity anonymous, I do ask that you list the following demographic data for “perspective context” (so people understand where you are from, etc.).:

Mandatory

• Country if not from USA
• If from USA, state
• Political identification (however you wish to describe it: Democrat, Republican, Unaffiliated, Conservative, Liberal, etc.)

Optional but Encouraged

• Gender
• Age
• Race/Ethnicity
• City residing in
• Approximate Annual Income
• Education (HS, College)
• Any other non-personal identifying information you wish to provide

removal of inappropriate comments

Having said this, I do reserve the right, within my discretion, to remove posts. I expect all exchanges to meet the following standards: (1) Always have a civil and respectful tone (2) Never include personal insults or name calling (3) Never include blatantly false or misleading information information — I reserve to fact check comments, and remove posts that contain false or misleading information (4) Any post containing hateful or intolerant language toward ANYONE or ANY GROUP OF PEOPLE will be removed. This is simply not the place for that.

about me

Introduction

Everyone in the USA has their own perspective, often formed by their childhood experiences into adulthood — where they were born, grew up, their socio-economic class, etc. If I am going to respectfully request individuals participate in my blog, it is only fair I give you a high level bio of me so you can understand my perspective in this regard. I was born in Stillwater Oklahoma, in 1973, the son of my late Father, a Professor in Electrical Engineering, and my Mother, then a homemaker who later became involved in environmental activism as well. In 1981, I moved to Morgantown, West Virginia. So, I am a “Gen X-er” through and through — born almost exactly in the middle of the Gen X era (1965 – 1980).

Childhood and Formative Years

While no childhood is perfect, I would say I had an average middle-class upbringing. I have one sister, 3 years older than me. During High School, I did not participate in athletics. I would say I was “somewhere in the middle” in the crowd I spent time with and popularity — not popular, not unpopular. My primary group of friend would be described in Gen-X parlance as “preppy.” From mostly middle class families like me, with plans to go to college. Unfortunately, drinking and partying was a major part of the culture in my high school friend group. In my teen years, and into early college, I got in some mild trouble here and there — a couple minor scuffles with the law, some experimenting with substances, etc. — of course, almost always alcohol related. I did, however, learn the value of a hard-earned dollar, starting work at age 14 selling cokes at West Virginia University football games, and washing dishes under the table at a Chinese Restaurant. I continued to work at various jobs in restaurants and grocery stores through almost all of my high school an collegiate years.

Secondary Education

After I began college, my partying and substance use reached problematic heights, and I fell in with a bad group of friends, causing me to almost fail out of college early on. However, blessed with a good family foundation to lead the way, and some good friends, I was able to “come out on the other side” with a successful education from West Virginia University (WVU) — a 4 year degree in History and a Law Degree, and passed my law to become a lawyer in 2000.

Personal Life and Family

I currently live in Hurricane, WV — just a short commute from my job in Huntington, WV. I have lived in the Charleston/Huntington WV region since moving here from Morgantown for work in 2003.

I am twice married, twice divorced. I was tremendously blessed to have been given two wonderful sons, who were born in 2007 and 2009 — both firmly in the middle of “Gen Z” or “Zoomers” (1997 to 2012). They are quickly becoming young men as I write this bio in 2024. Parenting them is not without its challenges on various fronts, but in the end, it is well worth it.

As far as personal interests, I can say my number one goal is always focused on making sure I give my sons the attention they deserve and need from a father, and they are a joy to spend time with. Beyond that, I am a sports fanatic, particularly with regard to teams I grew up cheering for WVU football and men’s basketball, and the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates. I also love following current events and politics, studying history, which, for me involves reading news sources or periodicals, or watching documentaries. I enjoy watching a variety of other fiction streaming shows — what I refer to as “evening soap operas”. Although generally a homebody, and averse to cold weather, when the weather is warm, I make efforts to get more active, getting outside and e-biking or playing basketball.

Career

In my now almost 25 legal career, most of it has focused on health care law and policy, working both for State agencies in WV, and, more recently, the private sector. I would describe my income at all times since graduating as middle class. As my career evolved towards health care law/policy, my interest in health care policy, and how we can find better ways to ensure all Americans have affordable, quality health care, has become a “sub-political” interest of mine.

Political Beliefs and Philosophy

I was born into a family of Democrats, with both my parents being Democrats, and most of my extended family. Therefore, I naturally veered in this direction in my youth. My mother was always the more liberal one. As noted above, later in her life she did some serious environmental activist work. My father, who worked during the summer for various military contractors on highly classified projects, was more measured, but, in his own way, had some fairly extreme views as I look back. Needless to say, I grew up in a clearly “liberal” Democratic family.

My first political memory was Jimmy Carter struggling with the trifecta of the Iran Hostage Crisis, an economy roiled by stagflation (high unemployment and inflation), and an energy crisis. I have images in my head from 6 and 7 years old from the news of American diplomats with pillow cases over their head trapped in Iran, and people in the US waiting in long lines to try to purchase gasoline.

Of course, Reagan won in a landslide, then another landslide, and the rest is history. A couple other distinct memories I have of that earliest time in my political memory. My parents voted for an independent, John Anderson. My understanding even then is it was mostly because they felt Carter embarrassed the nation by his weakness responding to the Iran hostage crisis. (This has later been confirmed by conversations with my Mother, who said my Father believed Carter placed too much value on the lives of the hostages in negotiating — a premise I wholeheartedly agree with). I also remember a conversation with my Grandmother Rose Marie, the matriarch of our family, on my Father’s side, and she explained she was going to vote for Ronald Reagan. So a “Reagan Democrat” living in the Bay Area, of all places!

The first Presidential election I voted in was GHW Bush vs. Bill Clinton in 1992. Enamored with his charisma and “fresh” voice for youth, I voted for Bill Clinton. (As evidence of how beliefs change, from a historical perspective, I actually would rank Bill Clinton as one of the worst Presidents of my lifetime and GHW as one of the best).

Long story short, I never lost my interest in politics, and particularly presidential politics and history. I never had the knowledge which I now have after obtaining a degree in history, watching many documentaries, etc. However, I recall endless debates with conservative friends during my “liberal adult years” — 1992 through 2016.

In 2016, it all changed for me. I actually supported John Kasich early in the cycle, the moderate Governor from Ohio. I liked his moderate, conservative bent — giving way on social issues but a budget hawk — and I believed both parties since 2000 had let our federal deficit spiral out of control. Also, I definitely had moved to the middle anyway by that time, and definitely had valid reservations about Hillary and Bernie, the two Democratic front-runners. However, what could not be denied is that the “national mood” of that particular election was populist, and Bernie had spoken to the populists in the rust belt. He “beat Trump to the populists” and I maintain if he had not gotten the nomination stolen from him by dirty deeds of shifting “Superdelegates” to Hillary, he would have won the Democratic nomination and likely the Presidency against Donald Trump. (As anecdotal evidence to support this theory, I had several friends who loved Bernie, but as soon as he was forced out by the Democrat party, they immediately became Donald Trump fans ).

Needless to say, my taste for either political party was so soured when Hillary and Trump became the choices in 2016, I became unaffiliated politically. It is highly unlikely I will ever switch back again. It is the right fit for me. On many social issues, I tend to be “liberal” in the old sense — or perhaps “libertarian.” I support LGBTQ rights, gay marriage rights, and, within reason, trans rights — I see these things as human rights issues. I support women’s reproductive rights. I support decriminalization of non-violent drug offenses. I believe in unfettered freedom of religion as long as the practice of that religion recognizes the separation of church and state and does not harm others. Etc. However, on non-social issues, I can be pretty “conservative.” I am hawkish, believe in a very strong armed services and intelligence apparatus to keep the country safe, and that, to a large degree, the US should lead the way as the military protectorate of the free, democratic world. I believe in massive policy changes to reel in our spending, such as changes to the retirement age for social security, and major reforms to the one entitlement that is literally going to bankrupt our nation — Medicare.

So I am now withing the rapidly growing group of now 1/3 of Americans who are unaffiliated politically. That is not a trend. It is a MOVEMENT. I will leave my current politics at there for now. Many of my views on specific issues will become more apparent in my blogs.

Religion

I strongly debated whether to discuss religion on here at all, since it is such a deeply personal topic. However, it is, more than perhaps ever, at the center of US politics, with the rise of a “Christian Nationalist” movement that incorrectly, and without basis, believes our forefathers “built the US on Christian principles.”

I am a man of faith. I always have had a relationship with God, or “my creator,” save a brief period of time in college and a brief period of years after my father died and I was angry. However, almost all my life, I have prayed to God, and I feel like it is a relationship which has given me solace and comfort. At times, I have attended Christian churches, and would probably most closely identify as a Christian.

That said, I think we need to be careful at this time in history to ensure that those who wish to impose revisionist history on the founding of our Republic do not impose the will of a Christian faith on a nation that, by design in the very founding documents our forefathers wrote, is intended to allow all people to exercise, or not exercise, any faith they want.