Seen elsewhere:
Both sides think they’re right.
Only one side is censoring you.
That doesn’t guarantee one side or the other is telling the truth. Both sides could be wrong.
But it does guarantee which side I’m going to oppose.
Category Archives: Freedom
Quote of the day—David Kopel
China’s Cultural Revolution began to end in 1976 when Mao died, and the pragmatic totalitarians staged a coup that removed the more idealistic totalitarians. Will the people of the Anglosphere have to wait that long, or longer, for rescue? Or will the hundreds of millions of people who don’t support the totalitarian ultra-left emancipate themselves from mental slavery? Will they end the reign of terror of today’s Maoists?
David Kopel
December 11, 2020
The Cult of Mao 1966 v. 2020
[Good questions.
We live in interesting times.—Joe]
Quote of the day—John F. Kennedy
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy
March 13, 1962
Address on the first Anniversary of the Alliance for Progress
[I grew up with this being part of my understanding of what made the U.S. different from so many other governments of the world throughout history. I never imagined this might be a prophecy for our future.
We now have a situation where essentially half of the population believes a fraudulent election gave the presidency to a candidate who openly, and proudly, states they plan to deny every citizen their basic, inalienable, human rights.
See also the other times when I referenced this same quote.
Today there are other Kennedy quotes which are also applicable:
- We dare not tempt them with weakness.
- We shall pay any price.
- The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it.
- The long range risks of comfortable inaction.
We live in interesting times.—Joe]
Quote of the day—SilverDeth
The rubes they’ve been working all these years are roused, pissed off and looking for the nearest pitchfork. And I don’t mean that metaphorically. ALL OF THE GUNS sold out over Thanksgiving weekend.
ALL.
OF.
THEM.
Our “betters” should have taken them before they started blatantly nullifying elections. Pride and arrogance has done in our owners, like so many tyrants before. They mistook “negotiation, forbearance and appeasement,” for “surrender.”
What these Cloud Dwelling Nimrods, fail to understand is this sudden swelling of anger has little to do with Trump specifically – and everything to do with the ARROGANCE our civic masters.
Donald Trump was never anything but a symptom of an amok government and a deadly warning to our elite. He was Joe-Six-Pack NICELY telling Mordor’s brain-trust to back the F*CK OFF. The message was ignored, mocked and then followed by a host of deliberate provocations and indignities.
Well, congratulations – “nice” just stormed out the door with his AR and a serious attitude problem. “Nice” ain’t entirely sure what to ventilate first, but that’s O.K., because “nice” bought several billion rounds of .223 in over the last few years.
SilverDeth
December 7, 2020
2020 Just Keeps Shittin’ in our Mouths
[Via Matthew Bracken.
We live in interesting times and the clock is ticking down to the decisive second…—Joe]
Quote of the day—Kyle Smith
The Chump Effect is Meigs’s clever term for the bipartisan, broadly shared feeling that various systems are rigged in favor of elites, insiders, and favored groups, which leads to a breakdown in societal trust and trust in institutions. If those guys don’t have to play by the rules, we think, why should I? Meigs delves into social-science experiments that show people motivated by the Chump Effect can act irrationally by effectively volunteering to pay a cost in order that others be punished for ignoring norms.
The political implications of the Chump Effect are obvious: Meigs begins with the story of a man who asked Elizabeth Warren if he, who scrimped to put his child through college, would be entitled to a refund under her proposed new system to forgive student loans. “Of course not,” was Warren’s response. The man was furious: He was being made a chump.
Kyle Smith
November 12, 2020
The Chump Effect
[Emphasis added.
The Chump Effect is a significant component of why socialism and communism always fail.
The politicians don’t abide by state or U.S. Constitutions let alone the laws they pass. Why should they expect others to abide by their laws and regulations?–Joe]
Quote of the day—long-legged socialist @goodchillhunti1
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]
Quote of the day—Abraham Lincoln
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]
A divorce in the works
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.
Quote of the day—President-Elect Brandon Morse @TheBrandonMorse
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]
Quote of the day—Ayn Rand
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]
Quote of the day—Sherry Bodin
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]
Quote of the day—Don Surber
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]
Intentions
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.
Quote of the day—Wajahat "Wears a Mask Because of a Pandemic" Ali @WajahatAli
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]
If they think Trump was bad…
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.
Affidavit regarding backdating ballot postmarks
Via James O’Keefe @JamesOKeefeIII:
BREAKING: Here is the signed affidavit from Erie, Pennsylvania
Whistleblower Richard Hopkins that is now in the hands of Sen. Lindsey Graham and the Senate Judiciary Committee. #ExposeUSPS
I find it very odd that this supposedly happened in Pennsylvania but the affidavit was signed in Texas. I was notarized online via audio-video communication, but still.
Quote of the day—Angelo Codevilla
I noted that this revolution’s logic leads to no logical end. That is because “the logic that drives each turn of our revolutionary spiral is Progressive Americans’ inherently insatiable desire to exercise their superiority over those they deem inferior.” Its force, I observed, “comes not from the substance of the Progressives’ demands,” but rather “from that which moves, changes, and multiplies their demands without end. That is the Progressives’ affirmation of superior worth, to be pursued by exercising dominance: superior identity affirmed via the inferior’s humiliation.” Affirmation of one’s own superiority by punishing inferiors is an addictive pleasure. It requires ever stronger, purer doses of infliction, and is inherently beyond satisfaction.
Angelo Codevilla
September 23, 2020
Revolution 2020
[Via Kevin.
As Codevilla pointed out this is a Stalinist revolution because of the top down nature of it. And as he points out here, “Affirmation of one’s own superiority by punishing inferiors is an addictive pleasure.” There is a deadly psychology here which I have described before.—Joe]
Quote of the day—TimcastFeed @TimcastFeed
for the first time in my life i voted for a republican for president, congress, and senate leftist identitarianism and critical theory was the catalyst for me the democrats have refused to put an end to it in fact they’ve embraced it
TimcastFeed @TimcastFeed
Tooted on October 25, 2020
[We live in interesting times.—Joe]
Quote of the day—Richard Feldman
Money doesn’t vote – people vote.
Richard Feldman
May 14, 2016
Revered or reviled, NRA’s power is at the polls
[Note the date. The year Donald Trump surprised most of the country.
Make your intentions clear. Vote.—Joe]
We are living in revolutionary times
Via email from Karl B.:
Seattle City Council mulls law that could result in dismissal of many misdemeanor crimes
The Seattle City Council is considering new legislation that would create a legal loophole that would make substance addiction, mental illness or poverty a valid legal defense for nearly all misdemeanor crimes committed in the city.
…
The legislation was proposed by Seattle City Councilwoman Lisa Herbold last Wednesday.
The proposal would allow for the dismissal of crimes of poverty and it would do so by revising the definition of duress as a defense against prosecution.
…
If approved, the ordinance would excuse and dismiss — essentially legalizing — almost all misdemeanor crimes committed in Seattle by offenders who could show either:
- Symptoms of addiction without being required to provide a medical diagnosis;
- Symptoms of a mental disorder; or
- Poverty and the crime was committed to meet an “immediate and basic need.” For example, if a defendant argued they stole merchandise to sell for cash in order to purchase food, clothes or was trying to scrape together enough money for rent. The accused could not be convicted.
It’s like during the Russian revolution. The criminals were considered allies of the revolutionaries because they stole from people with private property.
Who would attempt to have a shop in Seattle with a law like this? Or even have a home in Seattle?
One has to conclude the City Council members who vote for this are deliberately trying to destroy the city and/or are out of touch with reality.