Wednesday, June 28, 2017

An Interesting Take on the German Motivations

According to Nikolaas de Jong (a Flemish history student with several articles to his record), Germany's current policies are merely an extension of their historical goal - to control Europe. He makes a case - arguable, but, still a case - for his point of view.

Although Germany is openly, rabidly anti-historical Germany, quick to point fingers and scream "Nazi" at the drop of a hat, their actions contradict that position.

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Sunday, June 25, 2017

What's the Difference Between an Investigation and a Cover-up?

There are some very interesting revelations in this link. It does discuss the difference between a normal investigation, in which someone is brought in to answer questions (what you might call a normal interrogation), and something called a "proffer" - which, until now, I'd not heard of.

It's worth checking out the link.

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Saturday, June 24, 2017

Borrowing Tactics From Dictators

I was reading about Trujillo of the Dominican Republic here, and found a reference to a phenomenon that I've been seeing lately, but had not known its name:
Many times, I have written about “actos de repudio” in Cuba — “acts of repudiation.” What happens is this: A government-inspired mob appears in front of the house of a disfavored person. They hurl things at it, scrawl things on it, and scream threats. They also use their fists, when they can.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/448908/goat-and-feast-trujillo-vargas-llosa-and-more
 It's interesting just how much the so-called Revolutionaries borrow from extremely violent and repressive regimes, and, yet, have the gall to scream about the 'scandalous and dictatorial' American system.

Really?

For all their 'broadening' travel, Progressives never seem to learn the basic facts on the ground. They take 'learning trips' to what amount to prison camps - such is a fair description of modern-day Cuba - and return from their travels, starry-eyed and evangelistic about the country.

Every time.

So, no, I'm not impressed by those sophisticated travelers who can return from the EU, excited about the possibilities of a Diverse and Wonderful Socialist Paradise. Nor those, who having returned from the latest Progressive Wonderland, tell all about the AMAZING social, political, and cultural system that the USA absolutely MUST adopt, ASAP.

Morons.

They never seem to see the detractors - nor, wonder why they are NOT seeing dissent. It's because to dissent is to die, along with all your family. Or, to spend long years in a prison camp that makes death seem kinder.

I highly recommend the article at the link.

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Friday, June 23, 2017

Nothing to Worry About, However

The first picture is of John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Democratic "Resister" who shot a Republican President, Abraham Lincoln.

The second picture is of Johnny Depp, an actor and Democratic "Resister", who recently made a cryptic 'joke' about assassinating a Republican President, President Donald Trump.


Apparently, they may share more than their similar appearance.

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How Many Republicans Have to Die...

...before the Media finally admits that SOME of the Left are truly unhinged?

30 Republican legislators threatened - since MAY of this year.

Not content with threatening the Congressman, also threatens wife and daughter. I like the part in the article about how the Capital police warned him to "knock it off". Only after he continued the threat was he FINALLY charged. Glad to see that these threats are taken seriously.

/sarc

Death threats against President Trump (yes, I know that I could just write Trump, but it's so much FUN - the descriptive 'President' attached to his name just ENRAGES Leftists).

Normally, I'm in favor of NOT sending Christians back to the Mideast - with the conditions there, it could be a death sentence.

However, the article makes clear, these are not just hapless schmucks caught up in a misunderstanding. At least one of them was an accessory to MURDER. Of many of the others, it was said:
The overwhelming majority of those arrested had convictions for crimes including murder, rape, assault, kidnapping, burglary, drug trafficking, weapons violations and other offenses, Christensen said.
Not exactly model would-be citizens. They deserve to be deported. I don't have sympathy for them.

Mrs. Bernie Sanders, AKA former Burlington College head Jane Sanders, has retained a lawyer, because of the MANY questions being asked about her use of false information to get a bank loan.

Now, if you or I had done that, we'd be in deep doo-doo.

Now so the Progressive Elite, whose airy disregard for the law never seems to result in jail time.

Lots more in the news, but I've run out of time.

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Thursday, June 22, 2017

It's an OUTRAGE!

Racist Senator writes:
“When I see Mexican flags waved at proimmigration demonstrations, I sometimes feel a flush of patriotic resentment. When I’m forced to use a translator to communicate with the guy fixing my car, I feel a certain frustration.”
Who was that Racist?

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Barack Obama.

I was going to stop blogging for today (or, at least, schedule the posts for a future date), but - come ON! Who could resist?

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So, What is All of This 'Conspiracy' About?

Boy, oh, boy.

You know how, in conversations with old people, they often spend a LOT of time re-living the old days?

How they steer conservations to remembrances of how "it used to be done"?

So many times, they start a conversation with, "In MY day..."

We sometimes smile at the actions, letting them, once again, take center stage. Sometimes, we repress a sigh, as they highjack every get-together with their insistence on dragging the group back into the past, when they were Kings of the World.

Or, at least, King of the Mini-Hill.

We have many elderly people in Congress and the Senate. Some of them REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to re-live the Watergate Days.

When they, with the active help of the media, forced a President to resign.

When they, in their eyes - and, despite many illegal and unethical acts on THEIR part - were the Good Guys.

When they were Young and 'Brave'.

Although, curiously, not in ANY danger of death or imprisonment - save for the few who committed overt acts of terrorism. And, even those few - if they were members of the Elite Privileged Class (trademark pending) - suffered, at most, a few months in jail. Unless the evidence was overwhelming. And to fight the charges might implicate other, more privileged terrorists.

I'm talking to YOU, Bernadine Dohrn.

So, it's totally understandable that the older people who largely populate the legislative chambers of the Federal Government would want to re-live an earlier time of their lives, by staging a tableaux of Watergate II - The Revenge!

Bookworm has an excellent re-cap of the situation (perhaps, I should say, 'matter'?). It's long, but worth it for the comprehensive nature of her analysis.

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Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Understanding the Enemy

One thing Leftists are quite inept at is understanding how they are perceived by others. This happens, because, all too often, they don't know people outside of their echo chamber, and don't receive the corrective pushback from their opponents. Over time, their statements and positions become ever more extreme.

It's primarily the Left that has 'de-friended' those whose views they oppose. They are forced to invent stories that explain 'what conservatives are like' or 'how the other side thinks'.

I'm not one that goes into internal motivation for people's actions. I pay more attention to what they actually DID.

And, what some of the Left is DOING is appallingly anti-democratic.

Go to this link, if you want to have a cogent explanation of why non-Leftists are NOT jumping on the bandwagon to demolish Trump. The author is a well-regarded Classics professor at a prestigious university, Jonah Goldberg.

BTW, that title - Understanding the Enemy - does NOT explain how I think about Leftists.

It's how - all too often - they think of US.

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Saturday, June 17, 2017

Boomers - Ineptitude, or Treachery?

Depending on the person, it may be one or the other - or both.

Full Disclosure: I am a Boomer, born in 1951. I'm 66 years as of March this year.

In my youth, I did ape the politics of my peers. I followed every mushroom-eating, Elite-college-attending, trendy political 'activist'. I did NOT do drugs, nor did I engage in any violent acts. But, I tended to agree with those who did, and I did NOT condemn their actions.

Should I have? You be the judge.

Even in my thirties and early forties, I had a warm feeling for the 'true believers'. I was too busy to engage in anything more active than voting, but I still was starry-eyed at their commitment.

It was the Bill Clinton years that started me thinking (and, truly, I was NOT thinking before that - I was just blindly agreeing with 'everyone else'). I was appalled by the crass partisan actions of the feminist movement, that abased themselves swearing that they would 'gladly' perform fellatio on BJ, in sheer gratitude for his work to keep abortion legal. Their turn-about on 'always believing the victim' once that victim turned out to be a young intern who inconveniently implicated their original Chosen One, was duplicitous, self-serving, and anti-woman. I was NOT one of those who cheered the Senate vote.

Are the remaining True Believers still starry-eyed, or is their adherence to total belief in all that the Progressive Leadership says and does a cynical pretense? Are they just not able to see the slimy underside of the Progressive Leadership (Ineptitude), or have they chosen to ignore reality and throw in their lot with the Dark Side (Treachery)?

Friday, June 16, 2017

If We're Going to Investigate Collusion with Russia...

...and other foreign governments, we need to start with:

How come the Democrats/Progressives only care about behind-the-scenes diplomacy when it might involve Republicans?

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Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Is Comey Being Persecuted?

Short Answer:  No

Long Answer:  Hell, no!

Here are some links that might persuade the open-minded to reconsider their support of Comey's testimony:

  • Early in Comey's career, he handled the Anthrax Poisoning Case - badly.
  • Details of the Martha Stewart and Frank Quattrone cases - Comey displayed incompetence, dogged refusal to follow the law, truly twisted reading of the law, and, in general, the same partisan, hate-the-rich attitude that he directed to try to bring Trump down. I am NOT saying that Trump or any of these other people are saints; I AM saying that they deserve the same protections from government that ALL Americans are guaranteed under the Constitution.
  • Here is a summary of the MANY cases in which Comey displayed confidence in his case, vindictiveness in pursuing questionable 'suspects', and generally following a Javert-ian, dogged pursuit of Democrat 'enemies'.


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Friday, June 09, 2017

Outing Someone is a VERY Bad Thing

Unless it's someone with a very loose connection to the US military, who was previously held by terrorists, and you give ALL the juicy contact details, including his family's.

Then, it's a RIGHTEOUS act. Although, since the information is classified, a felony.

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MacArthur, Redux

Comey's performance before Congress reminds me of Gen. MacArthur's appearance, after his justified firing by Truman.

Both men couched their actions in defiance of what their boss directed as 'answering to a higher imperative'. In MacArthur's case, he disagreed with Truman's directives to confine his response to containment. He also took his complaints to an adoring press. When Truman tired of his posing and self-serving actions, he fired him.

MacArthur then appeared before Congress and gave his 'Old Soldiers Fade Away' speech, to tremendous applause and copious approving press coverage.

Then - he did, in fact, fade away. Never held another position in government, found himself ignored by those that had egged on his actions.

Comey may find that his 'fame' is also fleeting. Oh, the Progressive/Leftist establishment may use him as a figurehead for a time. They would be well advised to keep an eye on him - those who use deception and treachery as a tactic will not change.

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Wednesday, June 07, 2017

Now, What Might This Remind You Of?

It's the appearance of the two Trumpian advisors, before the Senate committee today, whose answers were NOT satisfactory to some of the Senators.

From my observations of the testimony, the two men - Coats and Rogers - were in an impossible situation - they couldn't answer fully, as their testimony likely fell under reasonable Executive Privilege provisions, the Senators would not accept the answers they felt they could give, and they were carefully phrasing their answers to avoid lying, as that could lead to loss of their job, if not potential jail time.

From Wikipedia, about the Star Chamber of Henry VIII, which bypassed rules of regular courts:
One of the weapons of the Star Chamber was the ex officio oath where, because of their positions, individuals were forced to swear to answer truthfully all questions that might be asked. Faced by hostile questioning, this then gave them the "cruel trilemma" of having to incriminate themselves, face charges of perjury if they gave unsatisfactory answers to their accusers, or be held in contempt of court if they gave no answer.
It's such situations that the 5th Amendment was designed for, to give protection to people accused by courts. Other means of stopping the power of the Star Chamber included Habeas corpus, which is used to keep people from being detained without a charge being brought (a common occurrence in the Star Chamber).

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The Opioid Epidemic

I knew the quantity of drugs was increasing, but I wasn't aware it was THIS bad. As DEA Head Chuck Rosenberg points out:
To grasp the enormity of the epidemic he claimed that if three mass-shootings as deadly as the Pulse Nightclub Attack occurred three times every day for 365 days, then the death toll would roughly reach that of drug overdoses in 2015.
The increase in opioid addiction is caused mainly by an increase in the numbers of White users. The number of Black addicts has been relatively stable.

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Is Hacking by a Foreign Power a BIG Deal - or NOT?

Well, it might depend on who the President is.

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Monday, June 05, 2017

The Red Guards & the Cultural Revolution

I first began reading about this time in Chinese history recently. Well, correction - I had been assigned the book Eighth Moon, by Bette Bao Lord, in high school. It's about the time period of the revolution before the Cultural Revolution. Even before the Red Guard terrorized the Chinese people, particularly the teachers and other educators, the roots of that madness were apparent.

Lord wrote of events she had experienced first-hand, before she was able to escape to freedom in the United States. I doubt that her story would be considered worthy of study in schools dominated by Progressive ideology, that chose to ignore the abuses of Left-leaning governments.

What I find interesting is the degree to which both modern movements, such as Occupy Democrats and other 'anti-fa' actions, and the original Red Guards of Mao's China, work as a Collective. The quotes below come from an amazing study, published in 2001, Student Attacks Against Teachers: The Revolution of 1966, by Youqin Wang. She is a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago.
In most cases, beatings were a collective activity, conducted not by individual students but by a group of Red Guards. A group of Red Guards acted together, inciting each other and encouraging hostilities. Sometimes, a beating took place in front of hundreds of people. On such occasions, everyone just wanted to show his/her sympathy for brutality and cruelty against the “enemies.” On the other hand, when a person was beaten to death, the group of beaters would not take responsibility as individuals and thus did not fear committing murder.
The callous use of young people is one of the most disgusting parts of this. By using kids to denounce influential adults (including, at times, their own family), the Chinese leadership obliterated the traditional respect for older people, and forced kids to rely on the 'revolutionary cadre' for their family.

Was extreme youth a factor? Certainly, the leaders targeted younger people as the most malleable group. However, it must be said that these were not those we think of as middle-school age. They were certainly old enough to have developed a conscience.
 the middle school students beat many more teachers to death than college and elementary school students. In the summer of 1966, middle school students were from fourteen to nineteen years old. They had received more than seven years of education—higher than the average level of education in China. Therefore, “ignorance” or “innocence” cannot be used as excuses for the cruelty. Nonetheless, the degree of the violent persecution that students implemented may be related to their ages to a certain extent.
Coincidentally, that's the age which has been used by many high school 'activist' teachers to round up bodies for their 'protests'.

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Lies of the Left

This COULD be a lengthy post. But, I'll try to winnow it down to a reasonable length. The CA Parent Bribery 'Scandal' - the 1...