One of the repeated lessons of history is that when Potemkin politics become standard operating procedure in a nation, no matter how powerful and stable that nation might look, it can come apart with astonishing speed once somebody provides the good hard shove just discussed. The sudden implosion of the Kingdom of France in 1789 and the equally abrupt collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 are two of the most famous examples, but there have been many others. In every case, what happened was that a government that had stopped solving its nation’s problems, and settled for trying to manage appearances instead, discovered the hard way that governments really do derive their power from the consent of the governed—and that this consent can be withdrawn very suddenly indeed.

John Michael Greer
August 18, 2021
Potemkin Nation
[Via email from a reader after reading yesterday’s post.

Prepare appropriately.—Joe]

55% of Reps & 44% of Dems said the other party is “not just worse for politics—they are downright evil.”

34% of Reps & 27% of Dems said the other party “lack the traits to be considered fully human—they behave like animals.”

Nathan Kalmoe (@NathanKalmoe)
Tweeted on October 1, 2019
[This was nearly two years ago. I’m certain things have gotten worse since then.

I have to wonder how much of the current political conflict is the result of external agitation by our adversaries such as Russia and China. US Civil War II would certainly be to their advantage in many ways.

Regardless, fasten your seat belts because it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Or, as I more frequently say, prepare appropriately.—Joe]

The indictment alleged Reid lied to a Seattle federal grand jury about statements purportedly made to her by an individual identified in court papers as “Suspect #1” — a man federal agents say bragged to Reid about being involved in Wales’ death.

According to court documents and law enforcement sources, Suspect #1 is an acquaintance of the individual believed to have killed Wales on contract, and Suspect #1 is believed to have acted as a lookout while the job was done.

During her appearance before the grand jury on Feb. 28, 2018, Reid claimed the government lawyers laid a “perjury trap” — tricking her into telling a lie — so they could indict her, with the goal of pressuring her to give more information about Suspect #1 and others. Her attorney, Nance, has said it was a dry well and that Reid had no firsthand knowledge of the crime or those involved in it.

Wales, a white-collar prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, was shot to death in the basement of his Queen Anne Hill home on Oct. 11, 2001.

Mike Carter
Seattle Times Reporter
August 23, 2021
Woman accused of lying in unsolved Thomas Wales slaying case pleads guilty to misdemeanor
[I sort of marvel at the effort put into this case. As near as I can tell the FBI has been working on this full time for just short of 20 years. At this point it appears they are willing to violate the rights of innocent people in order to give indicators they are making progress. They brought in “special” prosecutors with questionable (at best) ethical standards (from the quoted article):

Earlier this month, Robart reprimanded and chastised the special prosecutors out of Washington, D.C., brought in to handle the case, for “carelessness” by failing to turn over evidence to the defense.

The apparently innocent person in this case, Reid, was ensnared in the “perjury trap” and then threatened with a lengthy prison sentence:

Reid was indicted on charges of lying to a grand jury and obstruction of justice. A conviction could have sent her to prison for up to five years.

She traded a guilty plea for:

U.S. District Judge James Robart sentenced Shawna Reid to time served — a total of nine days in custody since she was indicted in 2019 — with no additional supervised release, plus a $25 fine.

Can you imagine the FBI having a team work full time for 20 years to solve the murder of an ordinary citizen and withholding evidence from the defense to acquire a conviction? I can’t. This must mean the “King’s Men” are considered very special.—Joe]

We woke libruls don’t need no fancy book learning.

Ted Cruz @tedcruz
Tweeted on August 11, 2021
[This is in regard to this:

This sounds like the “logic’ used for a lot of the push for more people to get college degrees and why it should be free in the last few decades., “People with college degrees earn more money and have better lives. Everyone should get college degrees.”

It, perhaps deliberately, confuses cause and effect. People with certain college degrees had the aptitude to understand and apply the course material required for high paying jobs in certain fields. It wasn’t just a generic college degree that resulted in high paying jobs. The English, psychology,  music, art appreciation, etc. degrees did not correlate with high paying jobs like the medical, legal, engineering, finance, and business degrees. But the political sounds bites led you to believe it was the degree and not the person able to acquire the degree that made the difference between the degreed and non-degreed.

It appears the failed (for certain definitions of “failed”, one can make the case it was deliberate deception which worked exactly as planned) college degrees for everyone project is now being implemented at the high school level.

And so now, it is clear we need to add Oregon to the list of states circling the toilet drain. The Antifa/BLM stuff in Portland is just the most visible symptom.

I recently met a group of people who could be described as Oregon refugees. They left Oregon because of the stupid and/or evil politics and took up residence in Idaho. Idaho is the fastest growing state in the union. The people I was talking to are living in travel trailers and mobile homes as they try to get their own homes built. They work in the construction industry and help fill the gap in construction workers. They own and/or rent heavy equipment and are skilled operators. I wish them well and welcome them to Idaho.—Joe]