The Gettysburg View

05/30/2026

Oy, the lunacy of it all!

05/29/2026

Attention all Republicans who claim to care about legality while still supporting Trump: You suck.

05/29/2026

EXCELLENT!!

05/29/2026

One of the most disturbing things about Trumpism is the idea that loyalty to Trump is treated as a test of patriotism.

It isn’t.

Conservatives keep claiming that refusing to participate in a Trump-branded event means you don’t love America. But that only works if Trump and America are the same thing and they aren’t.

Donald Trump is not America.

Loving America does not require loving Donald Trump.

Criticizing Donald Trump does not mean you hate America.

Refusing to perform at a Trump-backed event does not mean you oppose celebrating America’s 250th birthday.

In fact, many of the artists who canceled from the Great American State Fair appear to have been perfectly willing to celebrate America. What they weren’t willing to do was help turn that celebration into a political event centered around Trump.

Young MC said he would not perform after learning about the political connections to the event. Morris Day quickly posted, "It's a no for me." The Commodores withdrew. Martina McBride withdrew. Bret Michaels has now withdrawn as well, saying the event had become far more divisive than what he originally agreed to participate in. Multiple artists have stated they were told the event would be nonpartisan and were surprised by how closely it became associated with Trump and his political movement.

Martina McBride’s statement was particularly revealing. She explained that she had been assured the event was a nonpartisan celebration intended to honor all 50 states and bring people together. She wrote:

“I was presented with an opportunity to perform at a nonpartisan event but that turned out to be misleading.”

She went on to say:

“Yesterday things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening.”

After that, she withdrew from the event.

Other artists reportedly backed away as well after learning more about the event and its connection to Trump.

What some conservatives seem unable—or unwilling—to understand is that refusing to participate in a Trump-branded event is not the same thing as refusing to celebrate America.

Those are two very different things.

In fact, the cancellations highlight something many of us have been saying for years:

Donald Trump is not America.

Patriotism is not loyalty to a political leader.

And loving your country does not require you to become a prop in someone else’s political performance.

America belongs to all of us.

Not just Donald Trump.

05/29/2026

Y’all transphobes need to learn some s**t.

05/29/2026

The public is concerned. Fewer than half of US adults believe that Trump now possesses the mental acuity or physical health to be an effective president

05/29/2026

Now THAT’S patriotism!

05/29/2026

Hilarious. Just hilarious. Did any of these artists actually commit to performing at the event, or did Trump just put them on the flyer and hope they would actually show up?

05/29/2026

Imagine: Educated people choosing to listen to facts and be decent people.

Smarter Siblings More Likely to Hold Liberal Views, Study Finds

A new study suggests that intelligence may play a role in shaping political beliefs, with researchers finding that siblings who score higher on intelligence tests are more likely to express liberal social attitudes and support for equality.

Scientists examined more than 200 families and discovered that, even among siblings raised in the same household, the sibling with the higher IQ was significantly more likely to hold socially liberal views and less authoritarian beliefs.

The research also went beyond traditional IQ testing. Using polygenic scores—genetic profiles based on thousands of DNA markers linked to cognitive performance and educational attainment—researchers found that genetic indicators associated with higher cognitive ability were also linked to more liberal political attitudes.

Importantly, the relationship remained even after accounting for factors such as income, education, and parental influence, suggesting that inherited traits affecting how people process information may contribute to political outlooks.

However, the authors stress that political beliefs are not genetically predetermined. Intelligence is influenced by both genetics and environment, and political values are shaped by a wide range of personal, cultural, and social experiences.

The findings raise intriguing questions about how cognitive differences may influence the way individuals interpret social issues and form political ideologies.

Source: “Predicting Political Beliefs with Polygenic Scores for Cognitive Performance and Educational Attainment,” Intelligence (2025).