if/when Trump’s legal remedies do not prevail over the Reds’ efforts, the America of your youth has been conquered in full by the Communists.
Concerned American
November 24, 2020
The Crisis Is Here
[While I understand the concern, I’m not in complete agreement it’s game over.—Joe]
Guns have no place in shopping malls or other places in which crowds of people gather. Mayfair has a strict no-gun policy. If the shooter had complied with that policy, no one would have been hurt yesterday.
Dennis McBride
Mayor of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
November 21, 2020
Wauwatosa Mayor: “Guns have no place in shopping malls”
[It’s as if he believes the gun caused the shooting while the human pulling the trigger was an unwilling participant.
Via Tom Greshm @Guntalk who had this to say:
New Leader in “Dumbest Statement By Elected Official” category. GFZ fail.
Yup. Incredibly dumb. At first I thought it had to be some live response to a question or something. I could see someone saying something like that while under some stress in a live situation. But no. This was a written statement released from the Mayor’s office.
The stupid, or perhaps chutzpah, really runs deep in these people.—Joe]
I will never feel sad or jubilant anymore because of the skin color/race composition of a candidate. Why? Look no further than Gary Locke, David Chiu or Evan Low. Identity politics produce horrible results. For candidates, we will listen to what they say and see what they do.
Sean @hexian129
Tweeted on November 15, 2020
[Some people are slow learners. But it’s better late than never.
I feel sad when I know someone has been chosen for any job or political office because of skin color/race composition. I want someone chosen because of merit. Unfortunately, considerations other than merit are becoming just as important in both the corporate and, especially, the political world. This is a recipe for disaster in many different ways.—Joe]
I saw this on a restaurant in Idaho recently:
What I found odd was that there were no identification of the advocates. I expected something like, “Clearwater County Republicans”, “John Birch Society”, or “something” on the posters taking credit for the messages. But there was nothing.
Has anyone seen them elsewhere? Any ideas who they are?
Generally speaking, I believe re-education camps are a good thing. But we don’t need to send 75 million people there.
…
I simply propose we abolish private prisons, abolish the military industrial complex, and use the existing infrastructure to re-educate the capitalist class members who won’t relinquish their position of ownership.
long-legged socialist @goodchillhunti1
Tweeted on November 19 and November 20, 2020
[What is the Greek for “Come and take me” (to your re-education camp)?—Joe]
While, on the other hand, good men, men who love tranquillity, who desire to abide by the laws and enjoy their benefits, who would gladly spill their blood in the defense of their country, seeing their property destroyed, their families insulted, and their lives endangered, their persons injured, and seeing nothing in prospect that forebodes a change for the better, become tired of and disgusted with a government that offers them no protection, and are not much averse to a change in which they imagine they have nothing to lose. Thus, then, by the operation of this mobocratic spirit which all must admit is now abroad in the land, the strongest bulwark of any government, and particularly of those constituted like ours, may effectually be broken down and destroyed—I mean the attachment of the people. Whenever this effect shall be produced among us; whenever the vicious portion of [our] population shall be permitted to gather in bands of hundreds and thousands, and burn churches, ravage and rob provision stores, throw printing-presses into rivers, shoot editors, and hang and burn obnoxious persons at pleasure and with impunity, depend upon it, this government cannot last. By such things the feelings of the best citizens will become more or less alienated from it, and thus it will be left without friends, or with too few, and those few too weak to make their friendship effectual. At such a time, and under such circumstances, men of sufficient talent and ambition will not be wanting to seize the opportunity, strike the blow, and overturn that fair fabric which for the last half century has been the fondest hope of the lovers of freedom throughout the world.
I know the American people are much attached to their government; I know they would suffer much for its sake; I know they would endure evils long and patiently before they would ever think of exchanging it for another,—yet, notwithstanding all this, if the laws be continually despised and disregarded, if their rights to be secure in their persons and property are held by no better tenure than the caprice of a mob, the alienation of their affections from the government is the natural consequence; and to that, sooner or later, it must come.
Abraham Lincoln
The Lyceum Address
[Via email from Chet who pointed to Cliff Mass’s post, KNKX, James Madison, and Mobs. Mass quoted Lincoln. I then searched for the complete text of the Lincoln quote.
Lincoln goes on to offer this as the means to prevent the alienation of the people and their government:
The question recurs, “How shall we fortify against it?” The answer is simple. Let every American, every lover of liberty, every well-wisher to his posterity swear by the blood of the Revolution never to violate in the least particular the laws of the country, and never to tolerate their violation by others. As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of the Declaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution and laws let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacred honor—let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own and his children’s liberty.
We must not tolerate the enemies of liberty to ignore the highest law of the land.—Joe]
Two Oregon Counties Vote to Consider Seceding, Joining Idaho
Residents of two rural Oregon counties voted in the Nov. 3 election to require their county officials to begin considering what would be involved in seceding from Oregon by moving neighboring Idaho’s border.
…
Changing state borders is a complex task. The legislatures of both states and the U.S. Congress would have to consent.
But the victory of the grassroots group Move Oregon’s Border in Jefferson and Union Counties is just the beginning of what promises to be a long, involved process. The group also hopes to bring some counties in liberal California along with it to become part of Idaho, a state that has voted for the Republican candidate for president in every election since 1968. The group calls the proposed, expanded state Greater Idaho.
“The idea of joining Idaho is new to Oregon voters and they need more time to learn that Idaho taxes are lower, even with all taxes considered, and that Idaho law respects traditional values in many ways that Oregon law does not,” Mike McCarter, president of Move Oregon’s Border, said in a statement.
“The friction between conservatives and the Left in Oregon and California will continue to increase as their expectations diverge, so moving the border will eventually be seen as the necessary, peaceful solution to this problem. The reaction of Oregon government to the execution of Trump supporter ‘Jay’ Danielson in Portland shows that they will not protect people who are not on their leftist team. This is not a sustainable situation.”
…
As of press time, the voters of two Oregon counties approved the ballot question, while voters in two other counties rejected it.
According to the Oregon secretary of state’s website, ballot measures were approved in Jefferson County (Yes 50.9 percent; No 49.1 percent) and Union County (Yes 52.4 percent; No 47.6 percent). The propositions were defeated in Douglas County (Yes 43.27 percent; No 56.73 percent) and Wallowa County (Yes 49.54 percent; No 50.46 percent).
Unfortunately neither Jefferson County or Union County border with Idaho. or each other. And Douglas County borders the Pacific Ocean!
Wallowa County does border Idaho but needed another 0.46+% to get a majority.
Wallowa and Union to border each other so if Union can persuade Wallowa to the divorce then there would be a connection to Idaho for both of them.
I wish them well.
From a comment to a private post on Facebook (slightly edited):
I just don’t understand the antis: The USSR created and started cranking out the PPS-42 in a city under active seige, with krauts within shooting distance of the machinists.
They then took those submachineguns and skulldragged said krauts all 1,086 miles back to Berlin.
What are the antis trying to say? That they’ll be more jackbooted and effective than the Nazis?
Is that what they’re saying? Because that’s not a good look.
Interesting point.
I suspect the antis think gun owners will comply with any law passed or regulation written.
I feel like our society has separated into two groups.
The one group that says “leave me and alone and I’ll leave you alone,” and the group that says “obey me or else.”
President-Elect Brandon Morse @TheBrandonMorse
Tweeted on November 18, 2020
[Truth.
This probably could be extended with:
Leave me alone or else.
We live in interesting times.—Joe]
There is hope so long as there is one man left living on earth. There is hope, but it will not be saved automatically. It depends on the free will and choice of every man who is able to think. Those who don’t want to think don’t matter in this issue. They’re merely social ballast.
Ayn Rand
1982 public lecture
[It seems we have a lot of social ballast these days.—Joe]
There is no doubt in my mind that President Trump was appointed by God to clean up all the corruption that we have endured throughout the United States of America for the past 40 to 50 years. President Trump offers hope for us all, so we, our children and grandchildren will live better lives once the corruption is cleaned up. We will then endure a more peaceful, loving and kind world.
Sherry Bodin
November 16, 2020
Comment to:
[Video link via brother Doug.
I have a strong interest in psychology. I took a bunch of psych classes in college and I think I got straight A’s on them. I find the whole Trump as president thing extremely interesting. We have such an extreme division in this country about his character. From “racist, fascist, criminal, and all supporters and enablers must be ‘dealt with’ so our country can heal” to “appointed by God”.
How can two sets of people, all working with access to the same dataset, arrive at such different conclusions? Some, perhaps even most, are living in an alternate universes.
Reality is really, really tough. I get that. But still, it’s such a wide range of reactions that I find it difficult to imagine that I could intentionally create a data set such that some group of people could examine the data and divide into such an extreme range of opinions on what the data means.
If it weren’t for the deadly seriousness of our situation I would stock up on popcorn. Then, every night I would sit down with a full bowl and have myself a good laugh at the absurdity of human nature.—Joe]
But the question I have now for our little blue, upper left corner of the U.S. is what are we going to do about the other half of the country that does not see the world the way we do? Are we going to wish them away, or curse them or berate them into acquiescence? Have any of those strategies worked in the past?
Naomi Ishisaka
Seattle Times columnist
Dear Seattle: You can dismiss Trumpism. But how’s that working for you?
November 15, 2020
[Via email from Chet.
I find it very telling that she considers people who voted for Trump to be a problem in need of a solution. It never seems to cross her mind that perhaps they have a point or two worthy of consideration as to why the progressive agenda is something to be avoided.
Condescension, dismissal, insults, and violence are yielding counterproductive results. Yet, I don’t think they will alter their behavior in a way that will improve their appeal to those who voted against them.
She advocates for “deep, structural changes … to our electoral system, to the control of the media and in many other arenas“. That will not go over well and I think she knows it. I have a nagging feeling she is foreshadowing a “final solution” but doesn’t want to openly say it — yet.
We live in interesting times.—Joe]
The Establishment blew off Donald John Trump only to watch with jaw agape as he was sworn into office on January 20, 2017.
Let’s not blow off Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. You may not see her appeal, but millions of Democrats do. She is the soul of the soulless Democrat Party.
AOC’s danger is that unlike Obama, Manchin, and the rest of the 50 and older crowd in the Democrat Party, she does not seek power. She seeks a revolution.
…
She is playing with racist fire. Her message is clear. Black and brown people are superior to white people.
This is not the Democrat Party’s worst nightmare. Democrats believe this rhetoric and the ideas it stands for will propel them to power.
No, this is America’s worst nightmare.
Wake the heck up.
Don Surber
December 23, 2020
Don’t blow off AOC
[He makes some interesting points. Particularly interesting to me is that the long time democrats who are despicable in their politics like Schumer (69), Feinstein (80), Biden (77), Durbin (75) are moderate by comparison with AOC. And most importantly they are old and won’t long have a “moderating” effect on the party. AOC and the squad want a revolution and they have serious potential to pull it off even with crazy ideas like defunding the police. Calls to defunding the police shouldn’t elicit derision. It should be a call to immediate action. This is the path Lenin took.
Look at other socialist/communist revolutions. Most (all?) of those started with someone who was disregarded and “blown off” as crazy, irrelevant, etc. in their first years.—Joe]
From someone on Facebook:
In response to this, my first thought is what Henry David Thoreau had to say about this sort of thing:
If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.
The second thought is:
You won’t be judged by your intentions. You will be judged by your actions.
Your intentions will only be considered during the penalty phase of your trial.
This is about a principle. Donald Trump is the elected head of state, and he is being denied a platform to address the people he represents by the faceless servants of corporate media oligarchs.
This is a terrible, terrifyingly awful precedent to set.
The owners of Comcast or Warner Bros or Disney or Facebook or Twitter are not elected officials. They have no legal authority, and thus no accountability. Yet they are claiming the right to determine what elected officials can and cannot say to the people who elected them.
There is a strain of thought that this kind of censorship is justified. “Spreading disinformation puts lives at risk”, they say. “If the media stopped people lying we wouldn’t be in this mess” or “the news should only broadcast the truth!”.
The argument goes that “allowing Donald Trump to “publicly undermine our democratic institutions will erode the public trust and could lead to violence.”
But I would argue that empowering billionaires to hold a monopoly on “the truth” is far more dangerous to democracy than anything Trump could ever say.
To people inclined to disagree, I leave these five questions. Answer them, if you can:
Kit Knightly
November 8, 2020
Censoring Donald Trump is more “dangerous to democracy” than anything he could ever say
[The main stream media and social media platforms don’t seem to have a problem publishing things about gun ownership that’s fractally wrong. Hence, this isn’t about truth or falsity. This is about deliberate suppression of political opposition.—Joe]
You can’t heal or reform the GOP who are now an extremist party. They have to be broken, burned down and rebuilt. When Biden is in power treat them like the active threats to democracy they are. If those who committed crimes aren’t punished then they will be more emboldened.
Wajahat “Wears a Mask Because of a Pandemic” Ali @WajahatAli
Tweeted on November 9, 2020
[This isn’t some random troll. This is a “@nytimes Contributing Oped Writer” with a blue checkmark on Twitter.
This is what they think of you. This is what you need to prepare for.—Joe]
Via a Tweet from Chuck Petras:
Also from Chuck on the same topic:
And reassurance that it is, at least mostly, true from CNN:
Supreme Court is about to have 3 Bush v. Gore alumni sitting on the bench
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, once confirmed, will be one of three current Supreme Court justices who assisted the legal team of then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in the Florida ballot-recount battle that came down to a single vote at the Supreme Court.
The court’s December 12, 2000, decision cutting off Florida recounts tore apart the justices and the nation, and the case hovers in the air today as America approaches the November 3 presidential election.
We live in interesting times.
A full-blown all-out civil war to extinction between ideologies is the last thing I want.
But it’s STILL on the list.
Aesop
November 5, 2020
Comment to No matter who wins this year’s election, we can’t go on living together like this
[We live in interesting times.—Joe]
I think it was Glenn Reynolds who said, paraphrasing, “We have Trump for president because they wouldn’t listen to us. If they don’t listen to us now they will like what comes next even less.”
Here’s a hint of what comes next:
A banded group of brothers and sisters to show America who runs the country
The Facebook group now has over 44K members.
I you don’t want to join the Facebook group you can find out more about the group here. The bottom line is:
President Trump has worked diligently for four long years to protect the rights and freedoms of all Americans, and very importantly the blue-collar workers of this country. The blue-collar workers are literally the ones that make the wheels turn! Without truck drivers this country could not survive for long.
…
We will STOP ALL TIRES for 24 hours on Veterans Day 11/11/20. If this is not effective and our leaders do not respect that blue-collar truck drivers are having to face domestic terrorism, primarily in democrat run cities all over the United States, and that we do not support the banning of fracking in any way, then we will have our second STOP OF TIRES for FOUR full days 11/26/20-11/29/20.
We are calling for all patriots to share this all over the country. We may not last long on Facebook, but please do not be deterred, and continue to share this on any social media or other outlets, that you have available to you.
I”m not sure how they will determine if they are effective in the reversal of the stated policy to ban fracking two months before a Biden/Harris administration takes office. Regardless, I support their sentiment and wish them success.
H/T to Chet for the email.
I have a couple of cubic yards of ammo, but I’d feel more comfortable with four.
Jim Harris
November 8, 2020
Comment to How’s everybody doing for ammunition? And what’s the full loadout for Pak36? Asking for a friend…
[Unless your stockpiling for your neighborhood, I think the money and time would be better spent on training and practice.
But, still, I rather like what he said.—Joe]