Many who have chaffed at the bold partisan suppression by viewpoint of the tech giants - Facebook, Twitter, Google, et al - really need to be cautious about imposing a solution to the problem that involves government action.
Because this.
If Soros is buying in, and supports government action against their "monopolistic" reach, you can bet that his aims are NOT in favor of greater freedom to express contrary thoughts.
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Distracting as a Tactic
So, while going on and on about the Russians, there's this little-noted wrinkle in the international relations stories.
The HRC State Dept, via her home-brew network, was hacked. Almost from day one of her service, by the Chinese.
'Ya think that might be a bigger story than Trump's treatment of a recently-dead Senator?
Nah.
The HRC State Dept, via her home-brew network, was hacked. Almost from day one of her service, by the Chinese.
'Ya think that might be a bigger story than Trump's treatment of a recently-dead Senator?
Nah.
Soledad O'Brien's New Show - Matter of Fact
and why the first show's take on vaccines and autism is NOT likely to change minds.
She asked why the average person who questioned the Official Scientific Answer did so.
Her guest, Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor of pediatrics and vaccine scientist, who has a child with autism, responded that the science was clear, and unquestionable. They both agreed that the people opposing that research were driven by fear, ignorance, and nasty Internet mis-information.
In some cases, that might be true. It's also true of such idiocies as the anti-straw mandate, demonization of Trump and his allies, and many of their other 'crusades' - women's pay 'inequity', the homeless 'problem', AntiFa, and the #MeToo.
It's not that problems don't exist, it's that their significance has been blown wildly out of proportion.
While, at the same time, completely ignoring REAL problems - over-regulation of government, the collapsing family/community, sexual abuse of children, invasion by foreigners, just to mention a few.
Is the Anti-Vaxxer driven by ignorance?
Perhaps. But they ignore the bigger cause of that resistance.
Distrust of Government. Many Americans no longer trust the government to act in their interests. And, increasingly, they also don't have high confidence in scientific research (this could be a valid reason for that), medical advice, or educational authorities.
So, unlike Soledad and Hotez's confident explanation that dim-witted mouth-breathing hillbillies are the whole problem with this issue, it's more nuanced that that.
At least a few of the vaccine opposers are more concerned about:
She asked why the average person who questioned the Official Scientific Answer did so.
Her guest, Dr. Peter Hotez, a professor of pediatrics and vaccine scientist, who has a child with autism, responded that the science was clear, and unquestionable. They both agreed that the people opposing that research were driven by fear, ignorance, and nasty Internet mis-information.
In some cases, that might be true. It's also true of such idiocies as the anti-straw mandate, demonization of Trump and his allies, and many of their other 'crusades' - women's pay 'inequity', the homeless 'problem', AntiFa, and the #MeToo.
It's not that problems don't exist, it's that their significance has been blown wildly out of proportion.
While, at the same time, completely ignoring REAL problems - over-regulation of government, the collapsing family/community, sexual abuse of children, invasion by foreigners, just to mention a few.
Is the Anti-Vaxxer driven by ignorance?
Perhaps. But they ignore the bigger cause of that resistance.
Distrust of Government. Many Americans no longer trust the government to act in their interests. And, increasingly, they also don't have high confidence in scientific research (this could be a valid reason for that), medical advice, or educational authorities.
So, unlike Soledad and Hotez's confident explanation that dim-witted mouth-breathing hillbillies are the whole problem with this issue, it's more nuanced that that.
At least a few of the vaccine opposers are more concerned about:
- Timing - vaccine schedules are largely driven by the need to bunch multiple vaccines into one visit. That's both to facilitate convenience for parents who cannot make multiple trips, and the doctor's recognition that it may be the only way to get parent cooperation. Spreading the immunizations out significantly reduces the number of children receiving all of the vaccines.
- When types of shots are mixed, a reaction is harder to trace back to a single cause - it might have been allergy to eggs (a common component of vaccines), reduced tolerance due to low-grade infection unrelated to the vaccines, or other problems.
- Children 2 and under are a swarming petri dish of icky germs. Any shots are as likely to trigger an immune response that is excessive, as they are to be helpful. Shot schedules have been set up as they have because the medical community realizes that most of the children will be exposed to germs in day care, and their motivation is to reduce the chances of dangerous infections - measles, hepatitis, and a host of other potentially deadly illnesses.
- Not all of the shots are necessary. Here is the CDC-directed schedule.
- Hep-B - this is spread by bodily fluids from a person infected with it. If a child is at home (not in day care, not cared for by a person who is infected), it just is not necessary. This could easily be put off until later in childhood. Hep-A is given from 12 months on, with the same way of spreading. You decide.
- RV - this is the Rotavirus - it's spread by contact with fecal material from an infected person. Day Cares are notorious for spreading it, as the staff, when changing diapers or coming into contact with children, often don't implement sanitary procedures every time. If the kid is at home, could be put off until a later time, or eliminated.
- Hib - this is a potentially deadly disease, if the bacteria enters the bloodstream or lungs. It can cause meningitis. However, according to the CDC, "Children over 5 years old and adults usually do not need Hib vaccine. But it may be recommended for older children or adults with asplenia or sickle cell disease, before surgery to remove the spleen, or following a bone marrow transplant. It may also be recommended for people 5 to 18 years old with HIV." So, unless your kid is in community-type care before 5, or in contact with someone who is a potential source - family member, neighbor - this MIGHT not be necessary. I'd probably err on the side of caution with this one, and have the vaccine given. It's given in 3 doses, from 2-6 months.
- PCV13 - immunizes against 13 strains of pneumonia. Given to both children and adults. Here is the important part (from the CDC):
- "Anyone who has ever had a life-threatening allergic reaction to a dose of this vaccine, to an earlier pneumococcal vaccine called PCV7, or to any vaccine containing diphtheria toxoid (for example, DTaP), should not get PCV13.
- Anyone with a severe allergy to any component of PCV13 should not get the vaccine. Tell your doctor if the person being vaccinated has any severe allergies.
- If the person scheduled for vaccination is not feeling well, your healthcare provider might decide to reschedule the shot on another day.
- Now, the DUMB part of the schedule? The DTaP is scheduled to be given ON THE SAME DAY AS THE PCV13. How would a parent, OR the doctor, know if the kid is allergic to the DTaP vaccine, when it wasn't given before that? If it were my kid, I'd separate this shot to be given AFTER it was shown that the kid wasn't allergic to DTaP.
- IPV - this is polio. I grew up when there was no vaccine. I went to school with a survivor, who used braces and crutches. He died much younger than he should have, before he was 40. It's one that has low incidence of problems, and, with the rise in unmonitored immigration, it's growing in many communities. I'd get it, on schedule.
- Influenza - suggested from 2 months to 4-6 years. This is tricky. The illness is quite debilitating, and, for children and vulnerable adults, can be deadly. If the kid is not in day care, and you are SURE that he will not be exposed, use your own best judgement. I'd, again, err on the side of caution, particularly if he is one of those kids with nasal/ear infections, and get the vaccine BEFORE the flu season starts. If you decide not to, be prepared to quarantine any members of the household that are stricken.
- MMR - measles, mumps, rubella. Your choice. Low incidence of reactions. If you are opting out, please warn any women your child might come in contact with - pregnant women, before they are showing, or may even know, are at high risk of birth defects.
- Varicella - chickenpox. If a person catches it, they are unlikely to die, although a few might be hospitalized. They will be QUITE uncomfortable in the short term. Those who catch this may suffer from herpes zoster (shingles). It's a painful disease.
- Warnings from the CDC: "
- Tell your vaccine provider if the person getting the vaccine:
- Has any severe, life-threatening allergies. A person who has ever had a life-threatening allergic reaction after a dose of chickenpox vaccine, or has a severe allergy to any part of this vaccine, may be advised not to be vaccinated. Ask your health care provider if you want information about vaccine components.
- Is pregnant, or thinks she might be pregnant. Pregnant women should wait to get chickenpox vaccine until after they are no longer pregnant. Women should avoid getting pregnant for at least 1 month after getting chickenpox vaccine.
- Has a weakened immune system due to disease (such as cancer or HIV/AIDS) or medical treatments (such as radiation, immunotherapy, steroids, or chemotherapy).
- Has a parent, brother, or sister with a history of immune system problems.
- Is taking salicylates (such as aspirin). People should avoid using salicylates for 6 weeks after getting varicella vaccine.
- Has recently had a blood transfusion or received other blood products. You might be advised to postpone chickenpox vaccination for 3 months or more.
- Has tuberculosis.
- Has gotten any other vaccines in the past 4 weeks. Live vaccines given too close together might not work as well.
- Is not feeling well. A mild illness, such as a cold, is usually not a reason to postpone a vaccination. Someone who is moderately or severely ill should probably wait. Your doctor can advise you."
- This is one that I'd be cautious about - talk to your doctor, and make SURE that the kid is healthy (assuming that no contra-indications as listed above are present). Shingles is, indeed, nasty, but adults can get the vaccine.
Am I anti-vax? Generally, no. However, at least a few of these are necessary because people put their kids in day care. The schedule does not make sense in bunching too many vaccines together at once. For kids who have allergies, this can be a problem. While I'm generally in favor of using your doctor for guidance, I also know that, these days, they are busy, and won't always know every detail of every vaccine, and contra-indications.
Arguments:
I'm on the fence with this. My kids are grown, and I have only one grandchild who could be affected by this (well, and a great-grandchild). My kids got the immunizations - which, at that time, did NOT include Varicella, RV, Hib, Hep-B/A, or PCV13. They were fine.
In that time, reasonable rules about cleanliness were sufficient. Plastic gloves were not always used, towels were shared, you might feed your child with the same spoon or fork that you used to taste with.
Today, you have to be vigilant. If your pre-school child is around non-family members, or family members with immuno-compromised systems, you have to follow higher levels of cleanliness. In fact, hospital-level of care - gloves, washing anytime you touch a surface not known to be sterile, masks around those with runny noses, sneezing, fever, or coughing.
And, that is a problem. Not to pick on day care, but the level of protection just is NOT present on any given day. Workers wipe noses, and MAY use disinfectant gel, but NOT full soap and water washing, nor plastic gloves. Gloves are seldom used to change diapers, and disposal will not get the full 15 seconds or more soap and water washing. There just is NOT time.
I'm not even going to mention the snotty-nosed kids who pass along their germs every time they touch a community toy.
Why is that level of care so important? Simply the high volume of kids in a single place. At home, you can handle the germs with reasonable caution, knowing that the number and type of germs is less of an issue, as well as the fact that your kid is acclimated to the family germs.
How does Soledad O'Brien's Matter of Fact enter into this discussion?
Simply this: her show spent less than 10 minutes on the topic, much of that dedicated to 'proving' that parents questioning the current vaccination schedules were stupid sheep.
I just spend over an hour writing this, including finding sources for my points. It's far more informed, and less hysterical than O'Brien's propaganda.
So, who should you trust?
UPDATE: I changed the coloring on some of the quotations - too hard to see them before.
How does Soledad O'Brien's Matter of Fact enter into this discussion?
Simply this: her show spent less than 10 minutes on the topic, much of that dedicated to 'proving' that parents questioning the current vaccination schedules were stupid sheep.
I just spend over an hour writing this, including finding sources for my points. It's far more informed, and less hysterical than O'Brien's propaganda.
So, who should you trust?
UPDATE: I changed the coloring on some of the quotations - too hard to see them before.
The Uses Of Contradiction
Over at Dystopic / Thales’s place, one of his frequent commenters made an interesting statement with which I was minded to agree:
I saw an article a day or two ago (might have been linked on Instapundit) that stated the DNC had made a new rule: all committees had to have equal gender representation. I found this HILARIOUS. Consider the following violations to current Progressive/Neo-Maoist/Social Marxist theology caused by this new rule:
- Gender is apparently a ‘social construct.’ If that’s the case, how can you use gender to decide whether or not someone can serve on a committee? This is clearly sexist.
- What about people who don’t identify with either gender? Are people who self identify as a handkerchief, a frisbee or a cosmic fart by definition expelled from DNC committees? This is multiphobic.
- Currently, the SJW/Social Marxist/Progressive ‘canon’ identifies 76 distinct genders, each with their own invented pronoun. If gender representation on every committee must be equal, does this mean no committee can be formed with less than 76 members or a multiple thereof?
Ladies and Gents: It is critically imperative that we, as humans, make every effort to upset, outrage, insult, defame, infuriate and shame SJWs/Neo-Maoists/etc at every turn in order to drive them into a rabid frenzy. Get them upset enough and they will all eventually have a stroke and expire. And the world will become a better place thereby.
Ludicrous? Laughable? Why, yes...but then the following passage popped out of memory and into vivid conscious relief:
‘Do you remember,’ [O’Brien] went on, ‘writing in your diary, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four”?’
‘Yes,’ said Winston.
O’Brien held up his left hand, its back towards Winston, with the thumb hidden and the four fingers extended.
‘How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?’
‘Four.’
‘And if the Party says that it is not four but five — then how many?’
‘Four.’
The word ended in a gasp of pain. The needle of the dial had shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out all over Winston’s body. The air tore into his lungs and issued again in deep groans which even by clenching his teeth he could not stop. O’Brien watched him, the four fingers still extended. He drew back the lever. This time the pain was only slightly eased.
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Four.’
The needle went up to sixty.
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Four! Four! What else can I say? Four!’
The needle must have risen again, but he did not look at it. The heavy, stern face and the four fingers filled his vision. The fingers stood up before his eyes like pillars, enormous, blurry, and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakably four.
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Four! Stop it, stop it! How can you go on? Four! Four!’
‘How many fingers, Winston?’
‘Five! Five! Five!’
‘No, Winston, that is no use. You are lying. You still think there are four. How many fingers, please?’
‘Four! five! Four! Anything you like. Only stop it, stop the pain!’
Ponder that for just a moment.
You know about the protests of this or that individual or institution for disputing some element of the Left’s counterfactual, self-contradicting dogma. You know about the deplatforming. You know about the hate-campaigns and the threatened boycotts. You know about the death threats and the covert attacks on property. You know about the violence in the streets. And you might think that those things are “stand-alones,” with no greater relevance to the contemporary American sociopolitical dynamic.
But you might be wrong about that.
How many times has Glenn Reynolds used that line about how “1984 was supposed to be a cautionary tale, not an instruction manual” -- ? It was darkly funny at one point. I’ve begun to wonder whether we should constrain our laughter and look a frame or two deeper into the Left’s stack.
What if they are using 1984 as an instruction manual – more specifically, a how-to guide for compelling conformity to “what the Party says?”
We know one thing with certainty: The Left seeks absolute and unbounded power over all persons and things. That is inherently incompatible with permitting dissent. Therefore, it works to suppress dissent from its proclamations.
Its method is O’Brien’s method. All it lacks is the power to strap its targets into actual torture devices.
O’Brien wasn’t genuinely concerned with how many fingers he was holding up. He was using Winston’s own definition of freedom to break Winston to the Party’s First Great Commandment:
O’Brien was enforcing doublethink upon Winston with the most direct method at hand: suffering. For O’Brien, like anyone determined to rule without limit, understood power:
‘The real power, the power we have to fight for night and day, is not power over things, but over men.’ He paused, and for a moment assumed again his air of a schoolmaster questioning a promising pupil: ‘How does one man assert his power over another, Winston?’
Winston thought. ‘By making him suffer,’ he said.
‘Exactly. By making him suffer. Obedience is not enough. Unless he is suffering, how can you be sure that he is obeying your will and not his own? Power is in inflicting pain and humiliation. Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing. Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself. Progress in our world will be progress towards more pain. The old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. Everything else we shall destroy everything. Already we are breaking down the habits of thought which have survived from before the Revolution. We have cut the links between child and parent, and between man and man, and between man and woman. No one dares trust a wife or a child or a friend any longer. But in the future there will be no wives and no friends. Children will be taken from their mothers at birth, as one takes eggs from a hen. The sex instinct will be eradicated. Procreation will be an annual formality like the renewal of a ration card. We shall abolish the orgasm. Our neurologists are at work upon it now. There will be no loyalty, except loyalty towards the Party. There will be no love, except the love of Big Brother. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no laughter, except the laugh of triumph over a defeated enemy. There will be no art, no literature, no science. When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always — do not forget this, Winston — always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — for ever.’
Never imagine that such a vision could not appeal to anyone. The Nazis and Communists who inspired 1984 and Orwell’s completion of its nightmare vision would have found it perfectly palatable.
Always, always, always reason from tactics to strategy to objectives to motives. Never assume that your enemy’s motives “must” be higher, better, more wholesome than his tactics and strategy imply. And with that, it’s time I got back to Experienced.
The Center of the Storm - Bruce Ohr
For a person whose actions appear to be so central to the Fusion/Steele Memo/FBI Coverup/Leftist Take-Down/Russian Probe/Payback for Watergate/Progressive Wet Dream cluster****, Bruce Ohr's background appears to be largely unknown.
You can get the bare details from Wikipedia:
Some particularly interesting stuff, which has been insufficiently examined:
One of the judges who presided in the Southern District court during Ohr's service was Kimba Woods. Eye-opening is this:
Louis Freeh's time in the Southern District, as a judge, did not coincide with Ohr's. However, Freeh was with the FBI during some very tumultuous times, including the years when Ohr worked in the DoJ. He investigated the Ruby Ridge atrocity, and his managerial actions were challenged. The recommendation to censure him for his acts was made by the Justice Dept., but not followed.
He also handled investigations into Waco, and the Khobar Towers bombing. That last investigation was mentioned in his book:
You can get the bare details from Wikipedia:
- Born March 16, 1962
- B.S. in Physics (Harvard)
- Harvard Law degree
- Worked briefly at a law firm in San Francisco - he was an associate, but did not make partner, and left after 3 years
- Spent the rest of his career at the Dept. of Justice
Some particularly interesting stuff, which has been insufficiently examined:
He was an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1991 to 1999,[3] and was head of the office's Violent Gangs Unit before joining the Justice Department's Washington headquarters as the head of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the Criminal Division, where Ohr managed teams investigating and prosecuting crime syndicates in Russia and eastern Europe.[4]All the above covers the time before the well-known activities that led to his demotion - framing and targeting Trump.
One of the judges who presided in the Southern District court during Ohr's service was Kimba Woods. Eye-opening is this:
In April 2018, Wood was assigned to preside over motions arising out of the search pursuant to warrant of the home and office of Michael Cohen, a personal attorney for Donald Trump.Interesting that she was assigned such a politically related case, given her history with Bruce Ohr and the Clintons. COULD be considered something that she should have been recused for.
Louis Freeh's time in the Southern District, as a judge, did not coincide with Ohr's. However, Freeh was with the FBI during some very tumultuous times, including the years when Ohr worked in the DoJ. He investigated the Ruby Ridge atrocity, and his managerial actions were challenged. The recommendation to censure him for his acts was made by the Justice Dept., but not followed.
He also handled investigations into Waco, and the Khobar Towers bombing. That last investigation was mentioned in his book:
it was not until his last day in office, June 21, 2001, a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia returned a 46-count indictment against 14 defendants charged with the Khobar Towers attack.[21] This was just before some of the counts would have expired due to a five-year statute of limitations. In the book, Freeh maintains that he was obstructed by the Clinton Administration for political reasons in investigating the bombing and bringing the terrorists to justice.Other controversial investigations included:
- The explosion of TWA flight 800
- The Centennial Olympic Park bombing
- The Unabomber (not discovered by the FBI, but by his brother's action in turning him in)
- Robert Hansen spy case (Russia)
- Wen Ho Lee spy case (China)
- 1996 campaign interference by China
- Death of Vince Foster
- Bungling of FBI in the OK City bomb investigation
Freeh's tenure in the FBI was characterized by rampart leaking of investigative details.
I would give a lot to be lurking around the Ohr testimony on all of this.
Guess which elites we’ve got.
Correspondent Jim B. summarized historian Arnold Toynbee's study of the rise and fall of civilizations: "Civilizations fail when their elites change from an admired dynamic creative class to a despised Establishment of corrupt rentiers, an entrenched governing class unfit to govern."[1]And guess what’s happening to our civilization.
Notes
[1] "Here’s how we ended up with predatory, parasitic elites." By Smith, Charles Hugh Smith, ZeroHedge, 8/28/18 (formatting removed).
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Just Let Me Rant for a Minute
I had yet another of those interminable conversations on Facebook, with yet another woman who is, apparently, incapable of logical reasoning of the most elementary kind.
Why I do this, I don't quite know. Perhaps the many times I dropped on my head as a child (I was fond of climbing trees, but not that coordinated)? Underlying love of being tortured?
Whatever.
I spent over an HOUR that I will never get back trying to explain that, no, Trump shows no signs of being either a tyrant or a Nazi, and, no, being a big poopyhead and a pig is not an impeachable offense.
No matter - she was outraged at the poor example Trump set for children, like her son.
My reaction was THIS epic.
Dear God. After DECADES of working VERY hard to prove myself in STEM careers, and function on the rational level you might THINK should be standard in an educated person,
Why I do this, I don't quite know. Perhaps the many times I dropped on my head as a child (I was fond of climbing trees, but not that coordinated)? Underlying love of being tortured?
Whatever.
I spent over an HOUR that I will never get back trying to explain that, no, Trump shows no signs of being either a tyrant or a Nazi, and, no, being a big poopyhead and a pig is not an impeachable offense.
No matter - she was outraged at the poor example Trump set for children, like her son.
My reaction was THIS epic.
Dear God. After DECADES of working VERY hard to prove myself in STEM careers, and function on the rational level you might THINK should be standard in an educated person,
WHY THE HELL DO SO MANY WOMEN WORK SO HARD TO MAKE MEN THINK THAT THE 19TH AMENDMENT WAS A HUGE MISTAKE?
OK. Rant over. I'm calm (sort of) again.
It Can Be Hell...
...living in a household populated by the terminally silly.
Recently I decided, entirely upon a whim, to get a centerpiece for our coffee table. In perusing various possibilities, I happened upon one that tickled my fancy:
I think it looks rather nice: simple yet attractive, and as a bonus it drives our four cats completely BLEEP!ing nuts. But the forces of silliness would not let matters rest there. The next day the following note appeared beside it:
I think, in the words of Ebenezer Scrooge, that “I shall retire to Bedlam.”
The "Blue Wall" of the FBI May be Cracking
At least, that's how I'd interpret this testimony.
And the SC's own Lindsey Graham is finally coming out to support Trump.
And, I'm guessing that the pencil-neck Ohr is gonna be one of the first to play Let's Make a Deal!
And the SC's own Lindsey Graham is finally coming out to support Trump.
And, I'm guessing that the pencil-neck Ohr is gonna be one of the first to play Let's Make a Deal!
Despite being Chief of the Organized Crime & Racketeering Section, he doesn't strike me as the type to stand up to Goombahs, or any serious pressure.
War News
Before I launch into the coming tirade – and it’s gonna be a doozy, Gentle Reader, so bear with me – allow me to express my gratitude to Co-Conspirators Linda Fox and Colonel Bunny. They’ve manfully kept this place hopping while I commiserated with myself and lamented the follies of a nation that’s now one Renaissance Man short of salvation. May we have a round of applause for those worthies, Gentle Readers?
This time I’ve spent (mostly) away from commentary has led to a restoration of clarity, a sharpening of borders, and an increase in contrasts, all to the effect of seeing what’s there to see rather than what I’d like to have seen in its place. Most important of all, it’s reminded me of a key truth, one that altogether too many on the Right have ignored...if they haven’t willfully dismissed it as “not in our interests.”
No, I’m not going to state that key truth baldly, right up front. You might read it and say, “Well, if that’s his point, I can turn to the sports news now.” Anyway, it deserves a foundation, and I shall therefore lay one for it.
It “should” be “obvious” (and I really have to make that a macro) that to destroy is far easier than to create. It “should” be equally “obvious” that there’s a lot more destruction than creation going on in America in this year of Our Lord 2018. But we have that nasty habit of averting our eyes from such things. We say “it’s not my problem,” or “I can’t do anything about it, so why get exercised?” And there is a grain of truth in both those self-exculpations: proportionately speaking, few individuals are personally responsible for the chaos being wrought as you read this. Also, most of us are reasonably well insulated from it.
But what does it mean when black-clad, masked thugs mass in city streets with the overt intent to inflict harm upon peaceable others? What does it mean when the “forces of order” – in the usual case, municipal police – do nothing about them? And what does it mean when the peaceable others almost unanimously refrain from violence in self-defense? What state of society is characterized by those three conditions?
There are historical precedents...oh, excuse me, I forgot my lessons for a moment there! It’s wrong to bring up Weimar Germany and the rise of the Third Reich, isn’t it? It’s wrong to mention the Sturmabteilung and Mussolini’s Blackshirts. There’s some sort of satirical “law” about that, isn’t there?
Fuck that noise.
The “NeverTrump” community includes a great many members of the Punditocracy who style themselves “conservatives.” It might comprise a majority thereof. And that community is contemptuous toward President Donald Trump and scathingly condemnatory of those who support him, with particular venom allocated to commentators who do so. The president’s smashing defeat of the “inevitable,” “invincible” Hillary Rodham Clinton hasn’t moved them a nanometer. Neither has his exemplary performance of the responsibilities of his office since January 20, 2017.
Ace reminds us of their attitude prior to the election:
Trumpism exists at odds with conservatism, and the party as reconstituted in 2017 must be one built up around conservative ideals of limited government, free trade, an internationalist foreign policy, and an unqualified rejection of identity politics. In short, Republicans of all stripes must be made to acknowledge and accept that Trumpism is an experiment that failed. That’s the price of admission, and it’s a modest one given the great costs associated with sacrificing a winnable race for the White House.
Their attitude, its expression infinitesimally gentled since then, continues to this day. Kurt Schlichter has issued a devastating counterblast:
The problem is not people with criticisms of Donald Trump – he’s not an ideological conservative, so we need to keep him focused. It’s the people who hate the Normals who now use the GOP as their vehicle for representation. They should depart. We’re seeing a great sorting – to put it in terms millennials can dig, think of a Harry Potter Sorting Hat that says, “Hmmmm. You won’t fight hard to defund people who are killing babies, think it’s cool to diss the flag at football games, are happy about non-submissive conservatives being silenced by liberal tech companies, write stuff no one reads, and have strong opinions about Star Trek. Yes, you are Never Trump. I know you want to be GOP, but you are a Democrat.”
It was comprehensible that many on the Right would be uneasy about Trump before his nomination. His personal character flaws were being trumpeted in the streets, he was considered a guaranteed loser in November, and he had yet to fulfill any of his pledges. I was dubious about him, and I admit it freely. But the GOP nominated him.
After Trump secured the nomination, you’d have thought that self-styled Republicans and conservatives would rally around him, if only in the name of supporting the “lesser evil,” one who had not yet betrayed an oath to the Constitution or corrupted a political office, and who might never do either. They did not. They worked for his opponent. Some openly prayed for his defeat.
Since Trump’s election, he’s turned in a performance that would have Ronald Reagan on his feet and applauding wildly. He’s cut into confiscatory federal taxation on the middle class. He’s restored traditional levels of economic growth. He’s reduced unemployment sharply, by the most meaningful of metrics: labor force participation. He’s made strides toward a reduction of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. He’s gradually bringing Red China to heel. He’s put the European members of NATO on notice that the free ride is over. He’s jettisoned the NAFTA treaty and is working toward improved North American trade policies.
In short, he’s doing what the members of our political class so rarely do: he’s making good on his promises. And despite this wholly unprecedented break from the betrayals of the century behind us, the NeverTrumpers of the Punditocracy are furious about it.
Despite? Excuse me, did I really type that? I meant to type because. The ersatz conservative NeverTrumpers of the Punditocracy hate President Trump because he’s proving to be a great president. And Gentle Reader whom I love almost as much as my cats, you know it.
Why else would they go on as they do?
And now, ladies and gentlemen, the “key truth,” stated baldly:
This is unpalatable in the extreme, yet another reason for not stating it plainly at the outset. It’s why I wrote about the difference between morals and standards. It’s also why many of my Gentle Readers didn’t grasp the point.
You look upon black-clad, masked thugs in the streets inflicting violence upon peaceable others, and when the suggestion is made that those peaceable others should respond with even greater violence, you recoil. You say “we mustn’t descend to their level.” I know the impulse! I’ve succumbed to it on other occasions. But it’s inappropriate to current conditions, especially as the “forces of order” have leagued themselves de facto with the thugs.
You read venomous denunciations of President Trump from persons who’ve achieved nothing lifelong except a newspaper or magazine column, and you flinch...but you recoil. You can’t imagine campaigning to have those fifth columnists unhorsed by a popular campaign. “We mustn’t descend to their level.” Again, I know the impulse. But it’s wrong for the context of the day.
You learn of the most important communications channel in history, the Internet, being censored de facto by its major powers, and you grow angry...but when the suggestion is made that those powers be subjected to legal constraints, a kind of First Amendment for the Internet that applies to private as well as governmental actors, you recoil. Here I really know the impulse, because I know how a power once granted to the State can be used to our detriment when our foes retake its corridors. But the survival of some semblance of freedom demands that we overcome the impulse and act in our own interests. Shoot first, in other words, and straighten out the paperwork later.
The context requires it.
I have a tendency, to which I surrender all too often, to speak indirectly rather than to state my case plainly. I did so in this brief piece. A few readers got the point, I suppose.
Today there has been no indirection, no speaking in parables, no averting the blunt talk. Today there shall be clarity to the very last iamb, dactyl, trochee, spondee, or anapest. And clarity, as I was reminded not long ago, benefits greatly from concision.
I’ve written on several occasions of the war analyst’s foremost inferential principle: Reason from tactics to strategy to objectives to motives:
“Of all the musts and must-nots of warfare, this one is paramount: you must conceal your motives. Unless he is insignificant in comparison to you, once your opponent knows your motives, he’ll be able to defeat you. He’ll probably even have a choice of ways to do it.
“You must move heaven and earth, if necessary, to discover your opponent’s motives. His tactics will be determined by them. If his motives change, his tactics will follow. There lies your opportunity, if you can get him to adopt tactics unsuitable to the conflict. Of course, he could try to do the same to you.”
“What’s the countermeasure?”
“Constancy. Refusal to let yourself be diverted. Of course, that can be a trap, too. Motive is partly determined by objectives. If your adversary’s situation changes but his objectives remain the same, he could find himself committed to paying an exorbitant price for something that’s become worthless.”
“And that’s the time to stop playing with his head?”
His grin was ice-cold. “You have a gift.”[From On Broken Wings]
The Left, the Democrat Party, the Legacy Media, and the NeverTrumpers of the ersatz Right are at war with decent Americans – with us whom Colonel Schlichter calls Normals. It’s a war of conquest, of utter and permanent subjugation. Their near-term objective is to thwart the Trump agenda, and if possible to have him removed from the Oval Office. Their long-term objective is to ensure that hegemony over the American political order is never again threatened by such an upstart.
I’ve done the first part for you. It’s time for you to complete the exercise.
Twitter Users - Important Change
The "Quality Filter" (who knows what that means to the Progressive Site?) is now being checked by default for all users. Here's how to change that - and let the Freedom Flow!
Prediction: The Appointee to the Empty AZ Senate Seat
UPDATE: I wasn't clear - I think the perioxided twit would be AWFUL as a Senator. However, from her standpoint, it would be "like TOTES GRATE!".
Cindy McCain has been brought to the forefront as the potential appointee by many.
Not gonna happen.
This coming week is going to be all about Meghan McCain's strong, brave appearance in the funeRALLY display. She will be in the limelight, as she shepherds her grieving mother around, taking center stage in the public interviews/photo ops, and generally setting herself up as the Next AZ Senator.
It would be a great move, even if she only manages to hang onto the seat until the next election. She would be able to wear her burnished credentials for every future political commentary opportunity, use it to guarantee her a seat at the news table, even after her looks have faded, and sell a crap-load of books, focused on Daddy's legacy, and how she, alone, can Keep the Flame Alive.
Bet on it.
Cindy McCain has been brought to the forefront as the potential appointee by many.
Not gonna happen.
This coming week is going to be all about Meghan McCain's strong, brave appearance in the funeRALLY display. She will be in the limelight, as she shepherds her grieving mother around, taking center stage in the public interviews/photo ops, and generally setting herself up as the Next AZ Senator.
It would be a great move, even if she only manages to hang onto the seat until the next election. She would be able to wear her burnished credentials for every future political commentary opportunity, use it to guarantee her a seat at the news table, even after her looks have faded, and sell a crap-load of books, focused on Daddy's legacy, and how she, alone, can Keep the Flame Alive.
Bet on it.
Monday, August 27, 2018
How to Determine Whether You are an Independent Thinker,
or whether you follow the crowd.
Most people like to think of themselves as a person who intelligently makes up his or her own mind. Someone who cooly examines the reasoning behind the issues, analyzes them, and selects their position - strictly from a logical, rational basis. Of course, guided by their moral thinking, as well.
They couldn't be someone who just blindly follows what they are told is the right way to think. That's for the OTHER side, those brain-dead, superstitious, followers of charismatic leaders.
Really?
Let's test this out. I put a link here to a site that shows some trending issues. After finishing the quiz, find out where you fall on the list. Are you truly middle of the road? Do you fall on one side or the other?
Very few of us follow the party line completely. I tend to side with the GOP or Independent factions, however, on the military/homeland security issues, I trend Libertarian.
The ones that I worry about are those that can't name an issue on which they differ from a party line. Those are the ones that are described here.
Most people like to think of themselves as a person who intelligently makes up his or her own mind. Someone who cooly examines the reasoning behind the issues, analyzes them, and selects their position - strictly from a logical, rational basis. Of course, guided by their moral thinking, as well.
They couldn't be someone who just blindly follows what they are told is the right way to think. That's for the OTHER side, those brain-dead, superstitious, followers of charismatic leaders.
Really?
Let's test this out. I put a link here to a site that shows some trending issues. After finishing the quiz, find out where you fall on the list. Are you truly middle of the road? Do you fall on one side or the other?
Very few of us follow the party line completely. I tend to side with the GOP or Independent factions, however, on the military/homeland security issues, I trend Libertarian.
The ones that I worry about are those that can't name an issue on which they differ from a party line. Those are the ones that are described here.
This SHOULD Be a Game-Changer, But...
...most people cannot follow a complicated trail of evidence.
I blame an educational system that preferences rigid adherence to ideological standards, rather than leading students to be able to reason logical evidence to a coherent conclusion. Most students are not accustomed to analyzing a complex thread of thought. Few even attempt it.
Did Hillary break campaign finance laws to launder money through the DNC?
Of course, the long history of Clinton flouting rules and laws backs up that obvious conclusion.
Will she - and her associates - skate on that charge?
At this point -
Of course, she is going to slide on the charges. That's what well-protected Leftists do. No doubt, she will blame Yet Another Clinton Aide (YACA), who will cry, apologize for the 'misunderstanding' and get a slap on the wrist.
Forget it, Jake. It's Washington.
I blame an educational system that preferences rigid adherence to ideological standards, rather than leading students to be able to reason logical evidence to a coherent conclusion. Most students are not accustomed to analyzing a complex thread of thought. Few even attempt it.
Did Hillary break campaign finance laws to launder money through the DNC?
Will she - and her associates - skate on that charge?
At this point -
Of course, she is going to slide on the charges. That's what well-protected Leftists do. No doubt, she will blame Yet Another Clinton Aide (YACA), who will cry, apologize for the 'misunderstanding' and get a slap on the wrist.
Forget it, Jake. It's Washington.
He Wanted to Be a Lion
...but his publicized prohibition of Trump speaking at - or even attending - his funeral, just seems unbelievably petty.
Mean-spirited. Refusing to put aside Earthly quarrels for Heavenly forgiveness.
As such, it will stand in memory long after his positive points have been forgotten. Not "Malice towards none, Charity for all".
Now, I realize that the family is said to have ordered this. The provision to not invite Trump was "leaked" in May. Leaked, in this case (as in many) means: I want people to know this, but I don't want to take responsibility or criticism for openly stating it.
McCain COULD have followed up the leak, explaining that he had no desire to bring controversy into the setting, or that his family had requested it, and, for that reason, he was not inviting Trump. It would have been B$, but the kind that allows people to pretend that they buy it.
He didn't want to smooth over anything. He wanted to light a FIRE. Expect the eulogies to include lots of "I don't want to be partisan, but..." preceding a torrent of hostility to Trump. Wellstone, 2.0.
However, if it goes as I have predicted, expect the backlash to be stunning in November.
Mean-spirited. Refusing to put aside Earthly quarrels for Heavenly forgiveness.
As such, it will stand in memory long after his positive points have been forgotten. Not "Malice towards none, Charity for all".
Now, I realize that the family is said to have ordered this. The provision to not invite Trump was "leaked" in May. Leaked, in this case (as in many) means: I want people to know this, but I don't want to take responsibility or criticism for openly stating it.
McCain COULD have followed up the leak, explaining that he had no desire to bring controversy into the setting, or that his family had requested it, and, for that reason, he was not inviting Trump. It would have been B$, but the kind that allows people to pretend that they buy it.
He didn't want to smooth over anything. He wanted to light a FIRE. Expect the eulogies to include lots of "I don't want to be partisan, but..." preceding a torrent of hostility to Trump. Wellstone, 2.0.
However, if it goes as I have predicted, expect the backlash to be stunning in November.
Sunday, August 26, 2018
Quickies: Tribute To A Musical Legend
Composer / conductor Leonard Bernstein would have celebrated his 100th birthday yesterday. In honor of his life and work, Tanglewood Music Festival in Lenox, MA assembled an all-star cast to perform selections from his oeuvre and compositions by others he particularly loved and conducted frequently.
The program consisted of:
- Bernstein: Overture to Candide
- Bernstein: “Kaddish 2” from Kaddish
- Bernstein: Meditation #3 from Mass
- Bernstein: Selections from West Side Story
- Mahler: “Der Schildwache Nachtlied” from Das Knaben Wunderhorn
- Copland: Finale from Appalachian Spring
- John Williams: “Highwood’s Ghost,” first-ever public performance
- Mahler: Finale from Symphony #2, “The Resurrection”
- A great deal of hyperbole better suited to a conqueror
- A lot of unnecessary political references
The C.S.O. and I were in attendance. It was a smashing program, beautifully performed...except for items #9 and #10.
The music was gorgeous. The unnecessary political insertions left me wondering whether anything is still permitted to stand apart from politics. But the arts community appears perfectly willing to tolerate the political bastardization of its several fields, at least in service to a Leftist agenda. And yes, in all candor Bernstein did lean in that direction.
At some point, the arts community will awaken and realize that it’s being used. Whether it will be able to salvage its pride, and what remains of its artistic integrity, no one can confidently say. Certainly not this commentator, who doesn’t expect to live long enough to learn the answer.
Are the Elite Getting Close to Retribution?
It's nibbled away at the next level down for a while.
The younger ones have found that their Elite Privilege hasn't insulated them from all consequences. Some have been nipped at by the #MeToo movement. Some have experienced the reach from other countries/federations - China, the EU - that has forced them to curtail their Empires. They have not acted with absolute impunity in those other locations.
Only in America have they been secure to act without regard to government or public opinion. And, that security is only as good as their hold on the corridors of power.
Trump was the first volley. They responded with vicious propaganda - some based in reality, although exaggerated, other stories wholly made up. They were astounded when his supporters failed to act as they had in the past, by abandoning their resistance to the grip of the Entitled Elite.
They doubled down, with legal, or quasi-legal attacks on individuals and groups, shutting down the media and banking connections of the opposition, and using every facet of government to defeat their opposition. They cooly engineered smear campaigns against individuals, pressured (largely through their affiliates's actions) employers to fire dissenters, and those insufficiently in line with Leftist dogma. They began to confidently speak of a Blue Wave in the 2018 elections.
Will it happen? I wouldn't count on it, but it's going to be a hell of a fight from now until after the Election. If they can be made to decisively lose, it may cause them to begin to retreat, hoping to save their own ass - and assets. Don't forget, they have a lot to lose if the Real Resistance takes over. Their cushy ride on the backs of the Taxpayers may come to an end through:
The younger ones have found that their Elite Privilege hasn't insulated them from all consequences. Some have been nipped at by the #MeToo movement. Some have experienced the reach from other countries/federations - China, the EU - that has forced them to curtail their Empires. They have not acted with absolute impunity in those other locations.
Only in America have they been secure to act without regard to government or public opinion. And, that security is only as good as their hold on the corridors of power.
Trump was the first volley. They responded with vicious propaganda - some based in reality, although exaggerated, other stories wholly made up. They were astounded when his supporters failed to act as they had in the past, by abandoning their resistance to the grip of the Entitled Elite.
They doubled down, with legal, or quasi-legal attacks on individuals and groups, shutting down the media and banking connections of the opposition, and using every facet of government to defeat their opposition. They cooly engineered smear campaigns against individuals, pressured (largely through their affiliates's actions) employers to fire dissenters, and those insufficiently in line with Leftist dogma. They began to confidently speak of a Blue Wave in the 2018 elections.
Will it happen? I wouldn't count on it, but it's going to be a hell of a fight from now until after the Election. If they can be made to decisively lose, it may cause them to begin to retreat, hoping to save their own ass - and assets. Don't forget, they have a lot to lose if the Real Resistance takes over. Their cushy ride on the backs of the Taxpayers may come to an end through:
- Reduction - SERIOUS reduction of official government. The bureaucracy decimated, agencies working under reduced funding, and the legal leeches no longer able to be kept from street corners, begging for work.
- Lost of jobs/programs downstream, as the states reduce their payrolls from no longer needing those hanging onto the coattails of the Feds - the paper-pushers, regulators, HR lackeys, and the formerly powerful Ladies Enforcing the Long Arm of Regulation (and overwhelmingly female contingent).
- NGOs cut loose from the government teat - their ability to staff themselves with semi-professional workers eliminated.
- Subsidized industries - energy, education, housing, and law - all cut loose.
I would expect that they will throw all the firepower - literal and figurative - at us over the next 3+ months that they can marshall. It's a last-ditch effort, a virtual Siege of Stalingrad. You might want to hide any guns/ammo/records that you can - even after they lose, they will attempt to use local and regional resources, along with any of the Deep State that remain, to take back their power. They will have nothing to lose, at that point, so expect the Last Days of the Left to get grimly ugly.
When everything is on the line, they won't lay down and cry. At least a few will take the attitude, if I'm going down, everything and everyone else is going down with me.
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