Maybe it’s not over yet

Hillary Clinton’s email scandal is back in the news:

The State Department has opened a formal inquiry into whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her aides mishandled classified information while she was the nation’s top diplomat, Fox News has learned. Despite being under investigation, Clinton and her staffers still have security clearances to access sensitive government information.

The department’s investigation aims to determine whether Clinton and her closest aides violated government protocols by using her private server to receive, hold and transmit classified and top-secret government documents. The department declined to say when its inquiry began, but it follows the conclusion of the FBI’s probe into the matter, which did not result in any actions being taken against Clinton or any of her aides.

Depending on the outcome of the current State Department inquiry, Clinton and her aides could have their access to sensitive government documents terminated.

Read Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign. Hillary and Bill thought the email scandal was a literally a joke. They couldn’t believe people actually took the violation of the law seriously. Even their closest aides urging them to take it seriously was just ignored. I think they are so accustom to breaking the law, and getting away with it, that they can’t fathom why it was considered an issue.

They should be in jail (at least, a case might be made that the death penalty might be applicable). But it will be at least a minor vindication if they permanently lose their security clearances.

Quote of the day—Howard Hyde

The idea that right-leaning citizens, let alone congressmen, should have a right to defend themselves against left-wing antifa thugs, whether on a baseball field, in a mall, in a nightclub, or on a college campus, leaves them cold.

Howard Hyde
June 18, 2017
Gun control for thee, not for me
[One can easily make the case that leftists want gun control because they and their criminal, violent, constituents fear getting shot. Surveys show that criminal prisoners who identify as Democrats outnumber all other political affiliations combined by a factor of more than two to one. Leftist, by their very nature, are the type of people who have few inhibitions about using force against others.

So, it comes as no surprise that Democrats are opposed to people being allowed to carry guns for self defense. They are at risk of, literally, losing voters.—Joe]

Violence Alert: Communist Mr. Kit O’Connell’s Ready To Bash Back To Survive

Update: Kit O’ Connell has publicly corrected his error. Thanks, Kit! (Scroll to bottom of this post to view his acknowledgement.)
———————————————-

Dear Kit O’Connell,

You were wrong when you posted a photo to Twitter, declaring, “Oathkeeper with his hand on the trigger of his assault rifle, defending literal nazis”. Here’s your tweet regarding last weekend’s anti-Sharia law rally in Austin:

Kit O'Connell's twitter post says, "Oathkeeper with his hand on the trigger of hi assault rifle, defending literal nazis. #antifa #Islamophobia #Austin" Oath Keeper standing peacefully, practicing safe handling of firearms, as evidenced by finger off the trigger of his gun.

Kit, being that you’re a self-proclaimed journalist, I challenge you to the following:

1. Correct yourself. Oath Keeper has his finger straightened alongside the frame of his gun. His hand is not on the trigger. Nor is his finger. It’s physically impossible for Oath Keeper to get his hand (five fingers) on the trigger. That’d be like fisting a trigger. There’s simply not enough space. Learn the basics of gun safety.

2. Recognize that Oath Keeper Jay Stang is defending free speech, peacefully monitoring the protestors. In a any crowd, it’s nearly impossible to decipher each person’s specific viewpoint. However, when your group raises a hammer & sickle flag, there’s no doubt: you’re sick enough to hammer into our heads that you stand for land-grabs and death camps for dissenters.

Though Mr. Stang disagreed with your perspective, he peacefully defended your right to free speech, even though during an interview, you repeatedly screamed, “F*ck you!”

3. Answer this question: “What’s a literal Nazi?” Just curious. Literally, I’m curious.

4. Assess your contradiction of defending the 1st Amendment, but not the 2nd Amendment. You state you’re “openly biased toward human rights and equality.” Your writings reflects otherwise. Guns are the great equalizer. Sort it out.

5. You’ve declared yourself to be a hands-on gonzo journalist. So do it. Get yourself to the gun range to face your irrational fear of firearms. Even if you don’t aspire to own a gun, at least learn gun safety basics, so you know what you’re talking about, when you write about guns.

You say you’re “proudly disabled, polyamorous and queer”. Yawn, snooze, snore. As you’re well-aware, those three self-declared factor categories make you an easy target for gimp bashing or gay bashing. Checkout the Pink Pistols. Their motto: Armed gays don’t get bashed.

Be pro-active. Refuse to be a victim. Learn self-defense. Stop whining. Go to seminars held by  Black Guns Matter or Operation Blazing Sword; OBS’s basic mission: We teach LGBTQ how to shoot.

You might think gun owners/instructors are Nazi redneck racist gun nuts, but after training with OBS or BGM, your stereotypes will be quickly shattered. These gun teachers understand the value of human life — all lives — and the importance of self-defense.

Your website reveals you’re for hire. That means you need work, and are likely living on a meager budget. Great news! OBS & BGM don’t charge for their valuable services.

6. Chill out. You’re on the verge of violence, as evidenced by your tweet:

Kit O'Connell's tweet says, "Their frog Memes and "ironic" racism are backed with real blood, death and suffering & we will bash back to survive. #PRIDE #CounterACTHate"

Kit, do you really want to bash someone just because they’re not a Communist?

Whatever the case, you’re unstable. The world doesn’t need another mass shooting from the political left. Given your agitated state, I doubt a gun instructor would let you hold a gun in your hand, even if your finger is off the trigger. Don’t let that deter you. You’ll still gain valuable to knowledge if you learn gun safety. It’ll help reduce your fear of guns, so you’re not triggered when someone’s openly carrying.

7. Wear some yellow-tinted gun safety glasses. It’ll go well with your crushed velvet jacket, and blue Antifa neckerchief.

A portrait of a violent communist wearing a blue crushed velvet coat and holding an amber-handled cane, as he gazes out at the waves on Pensacola Beach, Florida on January 25, 2015.

Image credit: Jane Michael Stallings

 

Hunter S. Thompson, here and there with aviator eyewear

Hunter S. Thompson, Father of Gonzo Journalism. Image credit: Sunglasses ID

Kit, good luck. I look forward to reading about your gun range experience, and how you connect with Operation Blazing Sword, Black Guns Matter, and Pink Pistols.

Readers: Peaceful people we are, let’s meet Kit’s madness with gladness. He’s a ticking time bomb, ready to explode. Let’s dismantle this time bomb, before another Communist goes on a killing spree.

#antifa
#Islamophobia
#Austin
#GunSharingCaring
@OKStang

——– Update: Kit’s correction:
Kit O' Connell says: "I've deleted the tweet and publicly acknowledged my error here..."

 

 

 

 

 

Quote of the day—David Hardy

[A]bout the nominee for the Secretary of the Army, Mark Green. All I need to know is that he believes an armed citizenry is a check and balance on the government, and that therefore citizens should be allowed to own anything the military has, including ships of war.

David Hardy
June 11, 2017
Army Secretary nominee sounds first rate
[Sounds right to me.—Joe]

When will it stop?

It happened again. Someone on the political left went on a mass shooting rampage. Almost all mass shooters are from the political left. And although it doesn’t show up in the major news media reports I have seen so far it is clear this was a political act:

“A guy…walked up to us that was asking whether it was Republicans or Democrats out there,” Representative Ron DeSantis told Fox News Wednesday morning. “And it was just a little odd then he walked towards the area where this all happened.”

This is consistent with my prediction of 10 days ago. I expect it will continue to escalate. As long as people let law enforcement deal with those on the left who initiate violence, other than immediate defense of innocent life, the left will continue to lose supporters and political power. In another couple of election cycles the Democrats will be approaching third party status. Then the violence of the left will fade and mostly stop.

Update: The shooter has been identified as James T. Hodgkinson. And, as expected, he was on the political left:

James’ Facebook page is full of posts that are anti-Donald Trump, including one from March 22, which reads, “Trump is a traitor. Trump has destroyed our democracy. It’s time to destroy Trump & Co.”

James was a supporter of Bernie Sanders.

But, so far, and as expected, this hasn’t been reported in the major news outlets.

Quote of the day—Toastrider

Once people start taking responsibility for their own safety, they begin to move away from the progressive lie. Even if they still hold such beliefs, they will find themselves labeled as heretics because personal responsibility is anathema to progressivism.

The good news is that those of us who value autonomy and liberty will welcome them in with open arms.

Toastrider
June 13, 2017
Comment to Pulse: One Year Later
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—How_To_Liberty

I work at a grocery store, and it’s usually a comfy job. Comfy enough that I was able to sincerely hold on to my Ancap beliefs, until today. Today, a line was crossed that made me see the error of my ways.

They were doing inventory, and they needed us, or more specifically, me alone to push all the items in every shelf in the entire store all the way back, and then dust the shelf off.

At first it didn’t seem all that bad, but then I realized I was the only one doing it, and I would have to spend the rest of my shift on this. After only about five minutes, I felt like I was going crazy.

Push, spray, dust, move down, push, spray dust, move down, push spray, dust, move down, push, spray dust, move slightly to the left, and repeat.

I had to do that at least 30 times to only get one side of one aisle done. Took me at least half an hour to do that, and there were still 20 more aisles left in the store. The repetitive motion, the maddeningly slow progress, and being alone for the entire 8 hour shift (including an hour of overtime) was exhausting in every way imaginable.

By the time I was done, I was infuriated, not just with the fact that I had to do this, but because of how little I got out of it. $9.30 / hour of that insanity? What kind of heartless monster would tell someone in severe poverty doing this kind of work, to just “pull himself up by his bootstraps”? A sociopath, that’s who.

I finally understood what socialists have been talking about all this time.

“If only I were in a socialist country,” I thought, “the shelves would be completely empty and I could have finished this in like, an hour.”

How_To_Liberty
May 23, 2017
I used to be an Ancap, but my job made me turn to socialism.
[Via a tweet by Michael Z Williamson.

I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Daniel Greenfield

The left remains convinced that it can create through destruction, that it can build a fair society through theft, an ethical society by destroying its values and a high-minded society through contempt.

It must believe in the redemptive power of its thievery, amorality and hatred. Or face a moral reckoning.

Daniel Greenfield
May 2017
The War of Two Americas
[Via Robert J. Avrech and email from Paul Koning.

I long ago came to the conclusion the left has no morals. Deception and flat out lies are an integral part of their culture. Moral reckoning? Not of their own accord. They will, and their political brethren have, murdered tens of millions and still claim they hold the ethical high ground. Their propensity for violence is obvious and ever present.

Read the whole thing. I alternated between seeing it as a nearly unbelievable conspiracy theory and brilliant insight. Perhaps it is both.—Joe]

Deception through framing

As we have been saying for a long time, they have to use deception to advance their agenda:

It’s never a “used car’’ but rather a “pre-owned vehicle.’’ Instead of “torture,’’ it’s “enhanced interrogation methods.’’ There are some things you just don’t say — and Rep. Elizabeth Esty is here to tell you why, at least in terms of the gun debate.

Esty told audience members at a Pride Fund event Wednesday to always sub in “gun safety’’ for “gun control,’’ lest you lose the support of 15 percent of men.

By framing the issue as “safety” they avoid the negative connotations of “control”. Nevermind that it is extremely rare any of them have ever taken a gun safety class, let alone advocate that people take such a class.

They have a culture of lies and deception, so, what do you expect?

Quote of the day—Thomas Fuller

Seduced by the lure of power, drunk on visions from “higher” dimensions, visions that tell them the violence they do is just, both coalitions have betrayed this chance at peace. Neither coalition will ever persuade the other to see things its way. There will never be a pan-American consensus. There will never be a universal vision of the common good. And because the “reasons” that justify each vision come from “higher” realms that are invisible to the uninitiated, reason will be impotent to bring these coalitions closer together.

And when men and women cannot deal with one another with reason, they will deal with one another by force.

Thomas Fuller
November 6th, 2016
Hillary Versus America: Knowledge Is Power
[H/T to Kevin.

I don’t agree with everything Fuller has to say but there are many other passages that resonate with me.—Joe]

The future of the violent left

In Portland today:

What began as a tense exchange of name-calling and profane insults took a turn when counterdemonstrators began throwing glass bottles, bricks and balloons of “foul-smelling liquid” at officers, Portland Police said. Officers used pepper spray to push back the counterdemonstrators and closed the park where they had gathered, threatening to arrest anyone who remained.

In addition to the arrests, a large pickup truck flying two large American flags cruised past hundreds of anti-fascist protesters and honked its horn. Several people in the group ran up to the truck and ripped out the flags, bringing them into the crowd as others applauded. Others threw multiple large water bottles, sticks and other projectiles at the truck, which then sped away.

Why are progressives so violent? My hypothesis is that we have the fundamental reason, and there is a much more recent reason which has bubbled to the surface.

The recent reason is the loss of political power. Not only are they very weak at the Federal level they are losing big time in the states. They are nearly frantic about making “progress” and they are visibly losing political power. Without political power they are increasing, as historically they have always done, the criminal violence.

My prediction is that this most recent turn to violence will further decrease their political power and after another election cycle or two (two to four years) the criminal violence will decrease as they become aware that their actions are making things worse for them. Between now and then there will likely be some heavy violence but law enforcement and perhaps the National Guard will keep it fairly well contained.

The simple explanation is that these thugs are breaking the law. They don’t have the political power to change the law or, in most areas, cause the laws against street violence to be ignored. So eventually they will tire of the tear gas and jail time. They will then resign themselves to having lost the current (5th generation) war. They may only go into seclusion and pursue a 6th generation war, but they will dramatically scale back the violence.

7 dead, many more wounded, it’s the internet’s fault

Predictably, another attack occurred in London this weekend. Theresa May did at least mention radical Islamism as a problem, but went on to call for more police powers, and to blame the internet.

Centuries upon centuries of Islamist aggression and murder, and it’s the internet’s fault. Your freedom, and mine, is to blame.

One report claimed some fifty shots were fired by police to stop three Muslims armed with knives. I could understand that number of shots if they’d been taking return fire, but against knife wielding punks it seems like an awful lot of shooting.

At least one person was wounded by police gunfire. When that happens (and it sometimes will) and it’s a police bullet, it is a footnote. If a regular concealed carry holder in America were to do the exact same thing, never mind that lives were saved; the howls of accusation would last for weeks.

Practice on moving targets. Aerial clay targets are good, if you can find a place to do it safely;

With only a knife, it is relatively easy to murder innocent, unsuspecting people, in a country that talks about freedom and rights but has forcibly disarmed its citizens and practically turned self defense into a crime.

The Brits have invited this upon themselves with their idiotic policies and their embrace of Progressivism, and we in America are not far behind. They’ll ramp up their police state, clamp down on the internet (control of which has been coveted by authoritarians since its inception) spend more of their tax payers’ wealth, and accomplish next to nothing.

Once again, as always it seems, at least one of the perpetrators was known to the British security network. The result of that knowledge was that they were able to say, after the fact, that they’d been watching that person.

The only way jihad will ever stop is if they’re all convinced that it is utterly hopeless, or foolish, or morally wrong, to continue. There are several ways to accomplish that end, only one of which involves a commitment to total extermination. Theresa May eluded to one of them, but I don’t believe that there is currently a government on this planet that is either principled enough or committed enough, or politically capable of any of those ways.

Maybe it’s not really a government’s problem to solve. What was that saying? Something about a people, or ideology, or process, which created a problem will never be the one to solve it.

Negative press covfefe

We all make typos. Butt-dials happen. Interruptions occu….

I found the world’s reaction to the partial information broadcast far and wide fascinating at many levels. At 12:06 AM Wednesday morning, the 31st of June, The Real Donald Trump (the God Emperor and President of the united States) sent a tweet. As with so many things said or typed at odd hours of the night, and from our president, it wasn’t phrased with quite the perfect polish and eloquence some might have hoped. Continue reading

Quote of the day—Kyle Smith

Clinton seeks to present herself as the most forceful opponent of the Trump administration. Should the president be impeached, she’ll be able to say: Hey, I called it! But she isn’t leading the national conversation, she’s mouthing along with it, like any other retiree talking back to cable news at home. Even if the Trump administration proves to be the catastrophe she foresees, there is no reason the Democrats would turn back to her for a third run. Every time she draws attention to the Trumpian flaws that were conspicuous to all during the campaign, she doesn’t hear the obvious rejoinder echoing in every American’s mind: Then why couldn’t you trounce him?

Kyle Smith
May 31, 2017
Has-Been Hillary
[Most people know the answer. Clinton’s flaws were worse than those of Trump. Just one data point  to consider in this regard is that if we had equality before the law she would be in jail for the rest of her life.—Joe]

Political correctness over substance

Typical:

A National Rifle Association lobbyist is telling a Wisconsin legislative committee that guns were a great equalizer for “the blacks.”

Scott Meyer appeared before the state Senate’s judiciary committee during a public hearing on a Republican bill that would allow people to carry concealed weapons without permits or training. The NRA supports the measure.

Meyer told the committee that the cost of training can prevent minorities from obtaining concealed carry licenses, adding that guns were one of the great equalizers for “the blacks” after emancipation.

Sen. Lena Taylor, a Milwaukee Democrat who is black, chastised Meyer. She told him calling African-Americans “the blacks” doesn’t help cultural diversity.

What matters to Democrats is whatever the politically correct rule of the day is rather than the substance of what someone has to say or is doing.

I’m not surprised she does this. The left has used political correctness a tool for divisiveness and oppression since at least since the days of Stalin.

I have a message for Sen. Lena Taylor. It doesn’t help you or the people you care about when you attack people trying to make your life better. These types of attacks are big part of the reason the Democrats have been losing elections and we have President Trump. He was, and is, willing to stand up to your B.S. and call you out it.

Quote of the day—Deputy Matt

The passage of this bill conveys a special message.  It tells me that these Democrat politicians are more concerned with the lives of convicted felons who used a gun in the commission of their crime than they are about law abiding gun owners who are guilty of nothing more than the unspeakable act of merely owning a gun.  There really is no other way to logically interpret this.  To them, law abiding gun owners are bad, but using a gun in the commission of a felony is acceptable.

The insanity in this state has reached previously unfathomable levels, and it shows no signs of reversing course.

Deputy Matt
May 23, 2017
Proof CA Democrats Prefer Criminals Over Legal Gun Owners
[The insanity is in embracing of the agenda of the political left. Once they have done that the release of convicted felons and the harsh treatment of gun owners makes perfect sense. The criminal class is the natural ally of communists and our political left (while there is considerable overlap it’s not, strictly speaking, repeating myself). Solzhenitsyn wrote about this. And the example above is not the only example in our country.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Fabio Lanzoni

Don’t you ever give up your guns. If people lose that right, forget about it. Politicians — they will take everything away from you. And then what are you going to do, protest with a rock? Because that’s what they do in Europe.

Fabio Lanzoni
May 3, 2017
Fabio’s Advice to Americans: ‘Don’t Ever Give Up Your Guns’
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Bill Scher

There have always been strong poll numbers for specific gun control proposals, and the NRA wins time and time again. Clearly, the polling data is not giving us the full picture.

Bill Scher
May 24, 2017
The Issue Democrats Wish Would Go Away
Can the Democratic Party retake Congress by giving up on gun control? Should it?

[The polling data doesn’t reflect a number of things:

  • Nearly all polls on gun issues have biased questions.
  • The polls don’t measure the passion for voting on the gun issue. Someone might think a gun ban is a good idea but give up on that issue in favor of a promise of lower taxes.
  • A legislator might be inclined to vote for “smart guns” then have it explained that it cannot possibly achieve the claimed benefits.
  • A majority of the public might like the idea of a gun ban and confiscation but the legislators know confiscation cannot work without violation of the 4th Amendment even if there might be a path past the 2nd Amendment.
  • We do not have a system of simple majority rule. There also exist minority rights that is upheld, to a least a certain extent, by the judicial, legislative, and the executive branches of government. Polls do not measure the strength of this type of opposition.

Polls also indicate one of the most popular parts of ObamaCare is the elimination of restrictions regarding preexisting conditions. But things like someone buying insurance while on a stretcher after an auto accident in the emergency room (it used to happen in Washington State) prove the folly of government attempting to change the laws of economics or human nature.

Democrats should just keep on polling … and loosing.—Joe]

Quote of the day—John Morse

Cleansing a sickness from our souls doesn’t come easy. It’s gruesome…

John Morse
Colorado Democratic Legislator
March 8, 2013
In the context of advocating for the passage of oppressive gun laws.
[This has been widely, and erroneously, quoted as:

People who own guns are essentially a “sickness on our souls” that must be “cleansed. … Cleansing a sickness from our souls doesn’t come easy. It’s gruesome…”

While that could seen to be a valid interpretation of his intent, that is not what he said. He claims,

“To insinuate that I referred to gun owners as a ‘sickness from our souls’ is obscene,” Morse said Tuesday, according to KDVR. “As a former police officer and a gun owner myself, I believe in the right to bear arms. And as a legislator, I am committed to making our whole society healthier and safer.”

The claim, “I believe in the right to bear arms” does not mean he respects the right. And from the context we know he is admitting that that he is intent on knowingly attempting to violate that right.

While we can’t definitely read his mind the erroneous version of the quote can’t be far from the truth of what he believes.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Daniel Greenfield

The left did not mourn the mass destruction of the moderates. Instead it celebrated the growing purity of the Democrats as a movement of the hard left. It did not notice or care that it was no longer a political force outside a limited number of cities. It anticipated that voters would have no choice but to choose it over the “extremist” Republicans.

It proved to be very, very wrong.

Daniel Greenfield
May 2017
The War of Two Americas
[Via Robert J. Avrech and email from Paul Koning.

Delusions are often functional. In this case they cannot see the truth because it would destroy their entire system of belief. What we have here could be another chapter in the book When Prophecy Fails (my website about this amazing book it is here). As their prophecies fail instead of admitting they were wrong they proselytize more. Converting more people to believe as they do reduces the psychological stress of their discovery that they were wrong. That proselytization has a lower cost than admitting they were wrong.

Read Greenfield’s whole pamphlet. I alternated between seeing it as a nearly unbelievable conspiracy theory and brilliant insight. Perhaps it is both.—Joe]