My attention this morning was drawn to two brief essays by Angelo Codevilla:
Both essays make important points. The first of them dovetails with a conversation I had only yesterday, with longtime reader and friend Pascal. The meat of it was that what we call the Establishment / Political Elite is morphing steadily into an American aristocracy. Pascal cited an occurrence that should have had any decent American reaching for his musket—a deliberate act of deceit amounting to malfeasance by the Secretary of State of the State of Michigan, a Democrat colluding in the attempt to steal that state’s electoral college votes for Joe Biden—yet we have yet to hear any prominent Republican condemn it. Such Republicans are too narrowly focused on preserving their positions within the Establishment, even as members of a largely defanged minority.
The second Codevilla essay addresses the use of the FBI as a suppressive force dedicated to quelling those it deems “dangerous.” In this fashion the FBI has become an enforcement apparatus for the protected privileges of the Political Elite. It takes little interest in anything non-political, and is absolutely opposed to investigations of misbehavior among Establishment figures. Thus the Federal Bureau of Investigation has become something akin to a secret police force whose ambit is the suppression of dissent from and opposition to the Elite’s agenda.
I don’t think Codevilla has overstated the case. There are many bits of evidence that support his contentions. The next question, in Theodore Sturgeon’s terms, is what can be done about it–and by whom.
The institutions we have trusted to maintain Constitutional order and the integrity of our legal and political processes have failed us. Their manner of failure indicates that they have sloughed any wholesome purpose. They no longer guard anything we would recognize as American.
The appropriate conclusions are left to you to draw, Gentle Reader. For my part, I’m still waiting for a convenient planetoid.
Copying a snippet for a piece I'm working on. :)
ReplyDeleteIn general: There's a quote from Hayek that I don't seem to have on hand. But it's to the effect that liberals believe - truly believe - they are smarter, more educated, more noble, and certainly far, far better people than we "dirt people" - thus they are ENTITLED to rule.
Thomas Sowell wrote a landmark book about this very mindset of leftists, entitled 'The Vision of the Anointed'. Another one of his that is closely related is 'The Quest for Cosmic Justice'.
DeleteThe act of deceit Fran referred above played out as follows (and is still ongoing.)
ReplyDeleteTwo republican canvassers for Wayne County Michigan (a large section of which is most of Detroit) had initially refused to certify the election. Votes in the 6 figure range were grossly misaligned with the number of registered voters -- and that was only one aspect of their concerns.
Eerily similar to the suspension of vote counting late on November 3, the Zoom meeting between the canvassers was interrupted. When it resumed the canvassers had all agreed to certify, but with reservations that the votes be audited pursuant to a promise by the Secretary of State who had told them the vote had to be certified before an audit could begin.
A day or two later, the SOS declared there was no need to audit because the vote had been certified.
The first of two cultural references we see here is the SOS is Lucy, the Wayne county commissioners are Charlie Brown, and the audit is the football. The 2nd cultural reference is the movie Gaslight. The SOS is Charles Boyer telling Ingrid Bergman: "Even you didn't see anything out of order when you were in a more sane frame of mind. See here? You certified the election."
And what is worse, Gentle Readers, is that she is attempting to pull the same stunt with the Michigan State Board of Canvassers. "you must certify before I can audit the votes."
Infuriating for all Americans, not just Michiganders. Or I certainly hope so.
The state of MI is fully prepared to stomp over that promise, on which their agreement was coerced (really FUNNY how that whole conversation was NOT in public, nor recorded?).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links, Fran. If I'd read that before, I didn't remember.
My suggestion from here on in?
Book Clubs. Focus on educating people about the underlying principles, networking, and staying in the shadows. Work locally/regionally - NOT nationally.
Prepare the fields, for now. Sow, and move on. Let the locals take control (with some contact with the leaders that will spring up).
Compartmentalize. Stay vigilant.
@George: Sowell is one of the greats. I've read Vision and have comments, underlining, and notes on every page. Right now reading BLACK REDNECKS AND WHITE LIBERALS. Same story.
ReplyDelete"You have to certify the votes to see what's in them."
ReplyDelete