Impeachment redux
This has been the Democrats’ plan nearly from the start: to impeach Trump and even convict him if possible (see this as well as this, for example). And later, when the four-year coup a la Russiagate didn’t work to that desired end, they found a pretext in the Ukranian phone call – or rather, in the story they told about it.
There was no conviction in the Senate that time because the GOP controlled it. But the goal of the Democrats was and is to taint Trump and to disgrace him in the eyes of the public and in the history books.
Now, like sharks smelling blood in the water, they think they’ve finally gotten their prey. I keep making oceanic analogies – another one of course is to Captain Ahab and Moby Dick. Recall what happened to Ahab as he went in for the kill, though – it destroyed him, his ship, and all his crew except Ishmael. I don’t know what this current effort to impeach Trump will end up destroying, but we’ve already lost a lot.
Do the Democrats think they can convict Trump in the Senate, before his term is over? I don’t think they have enough time left to accomplish it, even if they do manage to find enough Republicans on board, but I suppose it depends on how thorough a Senate trial would be or if they’d dispense with such niceties.
This is part of the “Achilles drags Hector behind the chariot” scenario I sketched out the other day, as well. The Democrats desire the kind of extreme disgrace for Trump that means that although he won’t be dead he’ll be as good as dead, and so toxic politically that he can never run for a second term. They don’t trust that his own behavior has been alienating enough to accomplish that.
Many Republicans have been rapidly backpedaling against Trump in order to try to protect themselves from being lumped in with him or his protectors. Perhaps some also feel pent-up fury at the calumny they’ve had to endure from the left during his administration. Or perhaps it’s simple cowardice. Then again, perhaps some of them really think Trump did incite an insurrection. That’s what the articles of impeachment are supposedly about: “incitement of insurrection.”
On the question of incitement and insurrection, here’s what Jonathan Turley, no lover of Trump, has to say on the matter:
So Congress is now seeking an impeachment for remarks covered by the First Amendment. It would create precedent for the impeachment of any president blamed for violent acts of others after using reckless language. What is worse are those few cases that would support this type of action. The most obvious is the 1918 prosecution of socialist Eugene Debs, who spoke against the draft in World War One and led figures like Woodrow Wilson to declare him a “traitor to his country.” Debs was arrested and charged with sedition, a new favorite term for Democrats to denounce Trump and Republicans who doubted the victory of Joe Biden.
In 1919, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote for a unanimous bench in one of the most infamous decisions to issue from the Supreme Court. It dismissed the free speech rights for Debs and held it was sufficient that his words had the “natural tendency and reasonably probable effect” of deterring people from supporting the international conflict.
That decision was a disgrace, but Democrats are now arguing something even more extreme as the basis for impeachment. Under their theory, any president could be removed for rhetoric that is seen to have the “natural tendency” to encourage others to act in a riotous fashion. Even a call for supporters to protest peacefully could not be a defense. Such a standard would allow for a type of vicarious impeachment that attributes conduct of third parties to any president for the purposes of removal.
Of course, impeachment is ultimately only a quasi-judicial procedure, and although it is supposed to be for “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the reality is that Congress can do anything it wants if it can get the votes for it. If it wants to turn the US into a banana republic – or if it already has done so – and it has enough votes for an impeachment and even a conviction, that is what will happen.
I don’t think the Democrats think this process will ever be turned against them. The only situation in which that could happen is if a Democrat president had a Republican Congress willing to go that far. Because the Democrats don’t expect to ever lose a national election again, they don’t think that will occur. And they intend to be the ones who write the history books.
The democrats remind me of a little child whose favorite toy was snatched away and they have been haveing a temper tantrum for four years.
Let them do it. The only hope now is that they go too far.
There is no going back. There is only going Through.
Some preening moral pygmies calling themselves Rod Dreher talk of Going Around or Hanging Around. That’s not going to work. Hanging might.
Been observing the Evil Giant Panda for years now. The turd-flinging monkey pile-on chorus of official sanctimonious opprobrium is a top-down driven strategy of the System for destroying any threatening individuals and discouraging future dissent.
We all know about the Stalin Show Trials and the confessions. What we don’t see unless we’re professional historians of the period is the deluge of national / local publications piling on + doubtless plenty of propaganda ephemera doing same. The show trials weren’t the main event. They were necessary to provide feed stock for the orchestrated media and public pile-ons — which were the real message.
@Ray:
The Giant Baby has another magnifying glass toy. It sees us as Ants. And it’s not forecast to be overcast.
Not going to play well in Peoria.
The Republican Mayor of Peoria is in the pocket of some Dot Indian firm headquartered in Bangalore, according to Wikipedia.
So it’ll probably head-wiggle-dance over hill and dale with some wet sari closeups – all accompanied by Playback Music in Peoria.
In other news, the Little Old Lady from Dubuque died in 1989. There’s probably a Taqueria or Shawarma Stand on the corner where she used to live.
Demographics and the (trigger alert) Will to not die out as a (trigger alert) People = Destiny.
neo,
Strong post, but I fear it may be worse than you project. I fear they are doing this to incite unrest on the right. This has been going on for years, and the right (or maybe I should write, “Constitutionalists”) have remained incredibly tolerant and peaceful. The first act of the new house was to outlaw speech based on words especially dear to traditionalists; “mother,” “father,” and other “gender related language.” Seems like that would not be high on the list of important work with a global pandemic in full swing. Yet…
They keep poking the hornet’s nest. It seems like they very much want a reaction from the hornets.
At first it was a plan but now it is personal between Pelosi and Trump. It has released the furies in her egged on by the media bubble she lives in.
She thought that this election would be the repudiation of Trump after having it rigged against him (and she knew). She really did believe that she would increase her majority. But the stunning repudiation of her agenda by the people. The true coattails of Trump and despite the Senate result she is in a much weakened position where SHE has to go, Chardonnay in hand to beg to maintain her post with OAC and her ilk. I bet she took to take a couple of deep swallows before that happened.
That who the Gods would destroy they first make mad. Nancy and her generation of leaders are out the door after this Congress and she knows it. Her cognitive decline is becoming more apparent It will not be a final term of triumph as they seal Democrat control but one of contention and strife. The Republican house is unified and angry. The Senate has to be managed. The supposed president is going to have to be eased off the stage and Jill Biden will not go quietly into the good night.
The Tech overlords have made their position clear and she has to bend the knee to them. When they do their over reach she will not have the clout to stop it. And there will not be Trump to unite the caucus. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving person.
RTF:
I fear you are right: keep poking that hornet’s nest and eventually you’ll goad some Republicans/conservatives into action that gives you the excuse for serious shutdowns or confiscation of firearms. Irony of ironies, a huge number of firearms were sold in the period since the election. A HUGE number! Every time the Democrats begin rattling those chains, people run out and buy more guns! The first cabinet meeting Biden holds will see half a dozen cabineteers calling for immediate gun roundups.
Don’t worry folks. The Conservative Media (hehe) have your backs:
http://voxday.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-silence-of-cucks.html
“We need to help induce national calm NOW,” Cumulus’s executive vice president of content Brian Philips wrote in the memo. The company “will not tolerate any suggestion that the election has not ended. The election has been resolved and there are no alternate acceptable ‘paths.’”
Philips added, “If you transgress this policy, you can expect to separate from the company immediately.”
Amongst other warriors for Truth, Justice and the American Way belting out based commentary for Cumulus are: Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro, and Dan Bongino.
Rufus T. Firefly:
I don’t think it’s either/or. I think it’s both.
Rufus – “They keep poking the hornet’s nest. It seems like they very much want a reaction from the hornets.”
That is why we have to dampen down this QANON campaign. Suppression from the Tech Overlords will cause more anger. But when Biden takes office then it will be discredited. There are people that voted against Trump because of his personality not his policies. Once he is off the stage how will they react is the open question. My Brother in Law is someone I believe will be someone who will not appreciate the Tech Overlords actions. Nor the Biden/Harris economic plans.
So gird your loins for battle, put a stony expression on your face and act with purposeful cold anger. The battle is about to be joined and I am confident in victory.
Zaphod:
Sorry but that story is based from WaPost falsity, do your homework.
Nancy might want to have someone explain Brear Rabbit and the Briar Patch to her. She may not like what she is going to get.
The Pelosi needs an education about the execution of Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury – preferably via the Montessori Method.
“Do the Democrats think they can convict Trump in the Senate, before his term is over?”
You are giving them too much credit for thinking at all. I know it’s actually somewhat comforting to imagine the bad guys are smart and capable and in charge of everything. It’s an impulse that has bred conspiracy theories for generation after generation. But it’s not the way the world works.
The Democrats are not following any sort of plan. If they were, they would have simply let Trump slink away while trying to calm the situation and open the door to rapprochement with the tens of millions of Trump supporters out there. What’s happening instead isn’t some master plan. It’s a tantrum of shallow narcissists.
Check out the reaction from Europe to this Democrat/leftist frenzy. The governing class in America may be content to be the handmaids of the oligarchs. The governing class in Europe actually wants to be in control and they’re not going to tolerate Big Tech challenging their authority.
I’m also going to just put this out there. Bad guys around the world have been practicing restraint the last four years because they genuinely didn’t know what Donald Trump might do and were afraid to find out. NOBODY is afraid of Joe Biden.
Mike
I dunno… Slip some grit into Kamala’s kneepads and somewhere’s gonna get nuked.
I can’t help but think Rep Senators could call witnesses, like Raffensperger, to question them under oath about election irregularities.
But then I assume this won’t be allowed “by some rules”.
So Trump should have a website which lays out all the evidence – maybe with multiple front end pages allowing easy access.
But maybe no current web hosting would “risk” it.
Trump supporting Reps need to be buying servers to have an internet presence outside of the control of current Dem dominated Big Tech.
The big tech villains. They’re the baddies – among the many baddies. Too many to mention them all… far too many.
This impeachment push is childish, even more childish than the last one. As I Am Spartacus points out, this is Pelosi’s blind rage at nearly losing her majority. She is consumed with hate. Trump will not be removed before Thursday noon next week.
As far as I can see, even if he were impeached and removed (which won’t happen), that would not be a bar to his running in 2024, if he wanted to. If elected, that would be a different term of office.
a communist state is one party, made of many sub party variations of one…
Welcome, the revolution is almost over…
[do we forget how many years it was from when the leader was elected in Germany till when he had total social power to force others to salute, or kneel or what not as proof you were socially with the right side?]
Mitch McConnell has already (last week) stated that Senate rules won’t allow the impeachment to get to the Senate until 1/20/21 FWIW. Alan Dershowitz has stated that impeachment only applies to sitting presidents. Something about bill of attainers may also apply (one of those Constitution prohibited things). But they are Democrats/leftists so who knows?
Reminder to anyone who hasn’t seen this news yet:
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2021/01/11/report-parler-suffers-massive-user-data-leak/
If you have signed up for a Parler account and given them personal details, best plan accordingly.
The Democrats are scared shi**less of Trump. This is all about how to prevent him from running in 2024. They are hysterical.
They have no idea why he won in 2016n and don;t know what to do do to keep him from winning again. Except, of course, massive vote fraud.
Zaphod:
Well everyone knows that whatever your read from an twitter user is to be believed and you seem to love gab and WeMe or is it MeWe or WeWe or XiSpy?
Om:
Not going to engage with you. Your call.
I agree that they’re into the stage of provoking us in order to have an excuse to crush the “white supremacists”. I don’t think we’ll be allowed to secede. It will be a cage match, kill or be killed. Maybe I’m too pessimistic … but I read the posts on Silicon Valley (deep blue) NextDoor. Their “We believe in love” doesn’t extend to conservative Americans.
Here’s another case of ethnic cleansing. My brother is an avid hunter and this is his favorite website:
https://rantingly.com/godaddy-cancels-ar15-com/
GoDaddy Cancels AR15.COM
Mike K.
I think they do know why he won in 2016. They underestimated how much cheating to do. They accused him of cheating but didn’t even try to pursue it. It would have been too humiliating to expose that you cheated and still didn’t win.
This time they didn’t hold back knowing no matter what tried to come out their allies in the MSM and Big Tech would help with the cover up.
Well, the CEO of Parler was interviewed by Tucker Carlson, and he was so dumbfounded that he was nearly in tears. He had thought that he could get back up and running in no time at all by finding new server hosting. But he says that after having tentative agreements with numerous prospects, they are calling him up at the last moment and saying “sorry we changed our mind”. He tremulously opines that e-mail, the last service Parler still has may soon be turned off.
Looks like Rebekah Mercer had better get out her wallet and start investing in hardware.
In other social media news, Gab, the other social media alternative to twitter, and one that has long been on the outside and a comparatively slower growth one, may soon be the only one standing because they own their own hardware.
But the left has a plan to deal with that too. Found this from a couple days ago, in my alternate e-mail today:
REVERSE ORDER COMMENTS.
Kate, om — this is indeed my understanding
MBunge — “ It’s a tantrum of shallow narcissists.” NAILED IT.
ALMOST every Dem nominee for president is a narcissist. But it is rare among the Pubs. McCain and Nixon. Now Trump.
I’m usually repelled by them. But Trump ingratiated by his style of American exceptionalism that was pragmatic and goal driven. Not the ideas or ideology of a socially liberal/and mostly conservative dogmas, but instead the flag waving achievement directed awesomeness that an America Redeemed Again agenda needed.
God damn. I’m gonna miss that. Unless he launches His Second Act. Then the New Rally Rounds will commence to spawn more socialist “social” justice Satan’s than before, perhaps.
Neo “I keep making oceanic analogies – another one of course is to Captain Ahab and Moby Dick.” You do indeed. And other individualistic tropes.
The trouble with your framing and what may be propelling the incisive commentaries above is the fact that the Left is an emotionally driven mob of narcissist and narcissist worshippers.
Collectivism drives their herding.
I recal drsanity’s blog and the cultural psychology she gave to illuminating events that Dr Charles Krauthammer labelled Bush Derangement Syndrome or BDS. (Not to be confused with the anti-Semitic BDS against Israel.)
She put political and socio-cultural analysis of the events then distressing us into to sharpest relief employing psychoanalytical ideas to expose their generation and mind-capture.
We don’t have a replacement for her since she retired from blogging, already retired and relocated, when Obama was re-elected in 2012.
The media was in cover-up mode about Obama’s Red Diaper Baby origins and youth in 2008 and ever after, and only popular biographies published elsewhere like in the UK on him ever frankly admitted this.
And that’s when I seriously feared that our old Patriotic America was lost, as Con, Inc went to pretzel logic tricks to rationalise what’s a blind man could see: US flag upside down signals “HELP!”
And when at long last we got it, it was in the form of Trump. And the Conning Culturalists never reconciled to the Truth of this struggle: America’s Soul is at stake. Abandon Trump or you’ve lost The Great Republic.
Larry Arnn, President of Hillsdale College interviewed, December 2, 2020: “Is America, are we about to lose it all?” Yes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfrNkNSq2sA
Sorry to bring up that a very good post has generated a compelling case for the “it’s even worse than you think” critique. But I think that’s where today’s comment are going.
I forgot this peg to plug among Neo’s analytical postings: CIRCLE DANCE MUCH? Hell yeah — much too much.
THIS. These are indeed about social psychology in politics.
From the Reichstag Fire straight to Krystalnacht in less than one week! Isn’t that some sort of record accomplishment for our Mad Left? Alert the Guinness Book of World Records people — oh, no: that’s the Historians. And we ain’t got none honest of ‘em left at the fool store.
“Michael Yon: the US is in early stages of a civil war. ‘Unmistakeable’ “
https://joannenova.com.au/2021/01/provocateurs-tried-to-incite-more-violence-at-capitol-hill-but-failed/
(Well. At least I called it early.)
The Republicans are afraid of something. What? China? The intelligence agencies? The loss if their ill-gotten fortunes? Are they just cowards?
Mac Siccar —
The essence of a modern politician is wanting to look good on TV, to get re-elected as long as you want.
Under conditions of media air supremacy, they can’t really take a stand in any but the reddest jurisdictions, because then TV will make them look bad and they won’t get re-elected.
Even in Texas, Cruz nearly lost to that idiot Beto.
@Mike K: They have no idea why he won in 2016 and don’t know what to do to keep him from winning again. Except, of course, massive vote fraud.
Worked once. Why should they worry every again?
“The Republicans are afraid of something.”
I think the RINOs believe everything the Dems say about us. That we’re stupid, white supremacists, primitive, you name it.
They’re ashamed of the base.
“…the Democrats don’t expect to ever lose a national election again, they don’t think that will occur. And they intend to be the ones who write the history books.”
Unless there’s some radical redress & reset…they won’t ever lose any election ever again. And they will write those history books over and over again until they tell their story such that they are the heroes & the ending is happy. Facts be damned…narrative uber alles. Unless there’s some radical redress & reset…
}}} Or perhaps it’s simple cowardice
Cowardice, and/or the fact that they were wannabe NeverTrumpers but… too cowardly to take that stance.
1984 was not supposed to be an instruction manual
I actually have had a Gab account for four years. After setting up and making one posting, I never revisited … though I was notified that I had a dozen or so followers.
So all these years I have been getting updates, and basically ignored them.
Today, I tried to look in after seeing Andrew Torba’s e-mail and video message. The site is down for maintenance. Half a million a day trying to sign up.
Well … how about that …
I just hope that Rumble gets some good history channel and engineering style content. I’ll never have to look at YouTube again.
JimNorCal — The RINOs “are ashamed of the base.” YES.
It is and always was a class based war, Elites versus the middling yeoman of England from their revolution now manifest in the US today as Urban (Royalists or Monarchists) versus Rural minded (the more religious Parliamentarians). That’s the conflict.
They LARP on about racial injustice to keep their radical allies to keep them happy. They’re especially happy that they’ve joined or even led in the persecution of the Enemy.p, now.
But the Big Prize is controlling state spending and debt. We haven’t had an actual federal budget process since 2008, that’s 12 years. 12 years where Big Money International Corporations have called he shots. And some 15 of Biden’s Cabinet and close advisors are from Bug Tech Silicon Valley jobs.
A 2008 Cato Institute study found that Federal jobs paid in income and benefits about twice what the private sectors jobs do.
And thus, the richest county’s by income surround DC area, then 4 out of 5 richest, etc.
WE ARE THE SECURE ONES. We don’t want be accountable; we don’t want to change. So, to no one surprise, DC votes anti-Trump by 95%.
Although it’s a few days old, there’s an interesting video of a couple of Brits commenting on the demonstration at the Capitol. [Start watching around the 10-minute mark; it’s an hour long.] These guys are quite witty and funny, and make the point that a number of the protesters inside the building seemed to be treating it as a college prank, if not a tour of the building. Especially the guy walking out with Nancy’s podium. Robert Barnes has stated repeatedly that the demonstration started at the Capitol while President Trump was still speaking to the crowd on the Ellipse. I spent six years in downtown DC, and believe me, it’s at least a half hour walk from the Ellipse to the Capitol.
Alex Jones and Michael Yon have an interesting take on January 6th.
https://joannenova.com.au/
Well, guess what? A new internet is coming, and soon. Tim Berners-Lee has had it with the tech oligarchs and is designing a new web that will negate the business models of the greedy data miners. I’m not tech savvy enough to understand how it works, but you can read about it here:
https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/news/tim-berners-lee-wants-to-turn-the-internet-on-its-head-and-decentralize-it-once-more-353998.html?fbclid=IwAR27RyhasUSAFDhJoR4KPvSzwk9SEFK6uSBER3wikOQXR5E9oO8vpxH8LAc
Will Berners-Lee save free speech and much else?
Dennis Prager has stated that the Left ruins everything it touches.
In this case, the Left has taken impeachment, which was intended to address serious criminal or quasi-criminal activity, and turned it into a vote of confidence (at best) or a way of throwing a temper tantrum.
Democrats will not be happy when Republicans decide “these are the new rules, so we’ll act accordingly.”
Hi all. Haven’t commented here in a while–years, actually–but have remained a casual reader of the site, including the comments to Neo’s posts.
I think there is a solution to what has happened–what has been happening for years, to be more accurate–that a lot of people in their horror are overlooking.
Federalism.
No doubt you all remember when the Obama administration sued Gov. Brewer of AZ over her enforcement of federal immigration laws.
The case went to court, AZ lost, and Gov. Brewer accepted the court’s ruling.
Of course, she didn’t like the ruling, as it was detrimental to the interests of her state.
Yet she accepted, and for a very simple reason: She acknowledged that Obama had won the presidency fair and square.
Just as we did. We’re not the left; we didn’t put bumper stickers saying “Not My President” about President Obama. Like it or not, he was the President.
In other words, conservative Americans believed that the republic was still functioning sufficiently in accordance with the Constitution to make deferring to the federal courts the right thing to do. We rooted for Gov. Brewer in court but accepted it when she lost because there was no reason to think that Obama stole the presidency.
Yes, Obama enjoyed a ridiculously unfair advantage because of the way the press covered for him every step of the way–and maybe he wouldn’t have won without their help.
But maybe he would have. Born losers like John McCain and Mitt Romney losing seemed right, because that’s what losers do: lose.
That is not the case now. No one who has watched the hearings, read the affidavits, seen the videos (including the ones by the math nerds looking at publicly available data), and understands the statistical improbabilities inherent to Biden’s “win” thinks he actually won.
They know he lost, and not by a small margin.
The evidence proving that he lost is going to keep coming. There will be more analyses of hard data. Too many people participated in the steal, and there is simply too much evidence out there to be found for it not to be found.
Granted, big tech will do its best to keep people from learning about the evidence and sharing what they’ve learned with others. But the government is going to have to go full totalitarian to ensure that happens, and they don’t have that power yet.
And even then, there will be too many holes to plug; leaks are inevitable.
Yet there is something besides big tech’s censorship that the federal government needs in order to stomp out free speech, disarm the citizenry, and crush the citizenry with small taxes and regulations.
Something that can be taken away.
Namely, the cooperation of state governments.
That’s right: State governments will have to go along with federal court rulings ordering them to obey the dictates of the federal government *against their own interests*.
The same federal courts that told state legislatures they lacked standing to challenge the results of the blatant fraud and general lawlessness surrounding the election.
So, imagine that the new “president” issues EOs and regulations, or signs legislation, gutting the Second Amendment–or resettling half a million “refugees” in red states against their wishes–or declares that the administration will be tearing down the border wall in Texas and Arizona.
The case will go to court. Or maybe it won’t; I think it shouldn’t.
If I were a Texas legislator, answerable to Texans and no one else, and a federal court told my state government to do something I knew was tyrannical bullshit, I know what I’d tell the state court:
Sorry, court, but this is a State of Texas matter, and you don’t have standing to tell us what the federal government can and cannot do.
I’d tell them via registered mail.
Among the hundreds of Trump parades, caravans, rallies, flotilias, etc., in the run-up to the election, there was a 96-mile Trump caravan along a highway in Arizona.
96 miles’ worth of cars, trucks, and motorcycles on the Arizona highway for the president who worked his ass off for them and treated their concerns as legitimate and important.
74M+ voters–probably 80M or more, I’d guess. They’re not going anywhere, and they’re organizing right now.
And do understand, we’re not talking about people flying or driving hundreds or thousand of miles to protest in D.C.
We’re talking people protesting in *their* states, where they and their families live.
Organizing huge numbers of, say, Arizonans and out-of-state supporters to confront federal contractors sent to rip down the border wall that has vastly improved their lives–well, that isn’t quite the same as crashing the Senate in DC, is it?
So, what would “president” Biden do? Send in troops to hold their guns on Arizonans while federal contractors rip down *their state’s* portion of the border wall?
Arrest tens of thousands–maybe hundreds of thousands–of American citizens standing in their way?
Or, maybe, withhold federal funds from Arizona?
OK, fine–Arizona would then have to withhold income tax from the federal government.
Again, what would a Biden administration do? Send in a military-level police force to arrest state legislators and the governor? To arrest citizens?
How many police unions supported Biden in the election?
How many military types vote Democrat?
First of all, how many of the military and police sent by the administration would feel comfortable pointing guns at and arresting people in a state far away from Washington, DC?
Pointing guns at them for defending the wall that made their communities much safer and easier to manage.
If you think video of that sort of tyranny wouldn’t find its way all over the world, think again. There have been Stop the Steal rallies in Africa and Japan, for God’s sake.
Also, how do you think the governments of neighboring states would react to such federal tyranny? Think they’d stand with another conservative state like theirs, or a president that half the country (meaning probably 75% of the population of their states) believes stole his way into office?
In short, we don’t need a civil war–which is good, because we don’t want one. A civil war would be a disaster for everyone except our foreign enemies.
States don’t need to peacefully secede and form a new country, which would also be a huge mess and a cause of celebration for our foreign enemies.
We just need to quit worrying about what the Democrats and the federal courts will *do to us*, and start worrying about what we in our individual states will *allow them* to do to us.
What we need is a Federalist Civil Rights Movement.
We’ve needed it for decades now. The federal government and federal courts are way too powerful. And why is that?
Because state legislatures have been saying Yes when all along they should have been saying No a lot more often.
And practically speaking, why should the federal government and its courts have such power over our lives in our states? States have legislatures and governors and courts of their own.
Hell, there are federal statutes against marijuana, aren’t there? How many states have decided (rightly, in my opinion) to ignore those?
Poland is now planning to fine Facebook and other social media monopolies every time they censor someone.
I think it’s time for conservative states to take a page out of Poland’s playbook. Oh, Facebook won’t pay the fines? Well, I’m sure there must be a way to drastically reduce Facebook’s presence within a state’s borders, if that state decides it’s worth it.
I think it’s time red states started investing in server farms and other web hosting essentials. Twitter and Facebook hate conservatives enough to censor them, so why not roll out the welcome wagon for Parler, Gab, and other apps that don’t censor?
If the stolen 2020 election has taught us anything, it is that the people we send to Washington don’t represent us at all–not when it comes down to the wire. They’re either too corrupt or too cowardly to do the right thing for the people who put them in office.
They’re worse than worthless because they enable tyranny.
So to hell with them. Instead of trying to elect more of them to Washington, DC, we should be shoring up our state governments and stop treating DC as a legitimate power center.
We should treat it like what it is: a cesspool of corruption run by petty tyrants and mediocrities.
And the way to do that is by taking power away from Washington simply by telling the federal government No.
*Admittedly, I now have my doubts as to whether he actually did win. But that is neither here nor there.
Pelosi’s goal in pressuring Pence and the cabinet to declare Trump unfit under the 25th amendment was to disqualify Trump from running for reelection.
When Pence refused, Pelosi went to plan b, moving to impeach Trump. Obviously, she had already conferred with Schumer and others. So she knows there’s not enough time to convict Trump in the Senate. However much hate for Trump exists among House democrats, to gain the support for a tactic that due to time constraints cannot succeed, she has to have advanced a rationale that makes pragmatic sense to House democrats.
IMO, the only plausible rationale for proceeding is in hopes of beginning a campaign designed to defame Trump to such a degree that insufficient support will exist in 2024 for his reelection. Trump would be the only president ever impeached twice. Democrats and their propaganda organs, the MSM and social media are going to incessantly blame Trump and his supporters for everything over the next 4 years.
I agree that the democrats want a moderate amount of armed insurrection. They’ll probably get it, crush it and then use it as a casus belli for trying to disarm the public.
It’s going to backfire upon them.
Effectively canceling our unalienable rights; free speech, freedom of religion, right to assembly and right to bear arms will simply not be tolerable to Americans who still believe in its founding principles.
Permanently eviscerating America’s social contract by eliminating half of American’s say in our governance can only lead to one result.
Zaphod on January 11, 2021 at 7:55 pm said:
Satan took over VoxDay a long time ago, unfortunately.
If you have signed up for a Parler account and given them personal details, best plan accordingly.
No wonder somebody sent me a text with a “private video” link. Oh that’s satan hijacking trojan right there. Delete and block promptly. The phone number does not even exist, that’s high tech woo woo there.
Did I know that going in? Oh yes, and I don’t even use parler most of the time.
JR Dogman on January 12, 2021 at 1:55 am said:
Coming out of the shadows and writing such a comment, interesting.
State Nullification, which is a real state right and another thing that happened before CW2.
I’m getting the idea that at least part of this is about destroying the GOP by proving its cowardice to its base. The problem is, that’s true: they are abject cowards and traitors. So there’s no choice but to purge them and start over.
Frankly, it was a long time coming.
You wrote:
“The Democrats desire the kind of extreme disgrace for Trump that means that although he won’t be dead he’ll be as good as dead, and so toxic politically that he can never run for a second term.”
You are forgetting a second objective:
To teach the voting public that they will suffer if they ever again vote for a Swamp Drainer.
And the Democrats would be right in assuming decades of supine behavior on the GOP part. To assume otherwise is to ignore history, on a host of issues.
Matt_SE on January 12, 2021 at 3:41 am said:
You can blame me for that. I promised via the Words of God, that the GOP would be burned down. November 4-7th.
Another promise with God as witness. I will liberate the oppressed.
The Left is safe from the Congressional Roll Over Party as currently constituted. The current Roll Over Party is the party of gracious losers. Whether some future version of the GOP grows a spine and learns to fight back and win ugly remains to be seen.
I hate to say this, but on the basis of the Democrats and judiciary handling of the last election, it is clear that they have no intention of giving up power going forward. And, to the extent that they pursue Trump, the power of that intention is exponential. After all, if they can do that to us, we can certainly do that to them.
Not mentioned yet: even after Impeachment, the Senate votes. Sure there are plenty of RINOs but how will they get to a 2/3s majority?
I tend to agree with MBunge, here. Our politicians tend to be very unremarkable people. They have the ambition and skill to run successful fundraising and publicity campaigns and (in re the House) to put together a staff who undertake constituent service. (The congressional aide in my circle of friends tells me that a lot of that consists of making importuning phone calls to contacts at the U.S. Consular Service). Dan Quayle was derided during much of his time in national politics largely because he doesn’t bull$it on his feet well; to the extent he differed in kind from other members of Congress of his era, it would be that his level of general intelligence is somewhat lower and his level of integrity is somewhat higher.
Have a gander at the congressional leadership of the last generation. John Boehner and Tom deLay are about the only ones who’d ever run a business (one ratchet down, Jim Wright had been a participant in a business run by someone else and Eric Cantor, Wendell Ford, and Donald Nickles each worked in a family business). John Brademas, Bill Frist, Newt Gingrich, Richard Armey each had at one time professional employment that was such that getting elected to public office could have been considered a sidetrack. Howard Baker, George Mitchell, John Kyl, and John Cornyn were working lawyers (most of the lawyers in congressional leadership practiced for fewer than a half dozen years if they practiced at all). Given the number of man-years logged in congressional leadership since 1977, you could say that about 20% of the time those positions were occupied by someone who’d been in business or been in a profession long enough that you could say he’d had something else he could have been doing with his time.
I think it’s good to have people with provincial backgrounds in Congress and that the British practice of recruiting people from elite universities and parachuting them into constituencies is not the way you should assemble your legislature. The problem is we’re not getting capable provincials, but crummy and mediocre people who know how to operate the mechanics of electoral process.
https://graymirror.substack.com/p/big-tech-has-no-power-at-all
Pelosi’s goal in pressuring Pence and the cabinet to declare Trump unfit under the 25th amendment was to disqualify Trump from running for reelection.
If that’s the case, Pelosi had never read the 25th Amendment or the clauses of the Constitution which define eligibility to stand for President. His eligibility is unaffected by any action under the 25th Amendment and he can only be disqualified following impeachment by (1) a vote to remove him from office (requiring 67 Senators) and (2) a subsequent vote debarring him from federal office.
The 25th Amendment gambit requires (1) the consent of the VP and (2) the consent of a majority of the cabinet – 8 of 15 members. Currently, five positions are vacant and occupied by placeholders, so you’d need the consent of 8 of the 10 remaining.
It’s difficult to believe the the frigging Speaker of the House is so ignorant of the hurdles that this is anything but an act. Now, how many media outlets have pointed out that it’s an act or if it’s not an act we have a presiding officer in Congress who doesn’t know something that a random high school social studies teacher likely does know?
Sure there are plenty of RINOs but how will they get to a 2/3s majority?
There is hardly any such thing as a RINO outside the world of the Lincoln Project / Bulwark grift. There is a mess of capons in the Republican leadership, a mess of Chamber of Commerce shills, and a scatter of others who appear to be motivated by spite. The smart money says upChuck Schumer cannot wheedle more than four votes out of the Republican caucus, if that.
}}} F: The first cabinet meeting Biden holds will see half a dozen cabineteers calling for immediate gun roundups.
No doubt. One smart thing to do is to make sure you have multiple stashes. **Assume** they intend to get confiscatory. I have no doubt they think they have the power this time around.
I saw one small ray of encouragement. Elon Musk, who I am just beginning to appreciate, is clearly fed up with Leftist government, and is acting on it by abandoning California. Moreover, in the past few days, he has forcefully denounced Big Tech censorship.
Here is a man with the financial wherewithal, the imagination, and the energy to take on Big Tech, or anyone else. He is obviously a man who takes risks.
I would say, “Mr Musk, reorganize your priorities. Space will always be there, devote your imagination, energy, and resources to ensuring that American freedom will also. Challenge the anti-democracy crowd in the market place.”
Anyone have a bank recommendation. The bank I’ve been using for 30 years has decided it’s more interested in Policital Science than Finance and Economics and I (and my money) wish to part ways with them.
I’m serious. Curious to know if anyone has a bank to recommend. I’m especially interested in “Internet” banks with no physical branches. Seems an unnecessary operating expense in today’s e-commerce world.
ALMOST every Dem nominee for president is a narcissist. But it is rare among the Pubs. McCain and Nixon. Now Trump.
I’d be wary of diagnosing people from a distance. And ‘narcissist’ seems an odd term for Nixon at any rate. Camille Paglia thought John McCain a man with very little inner life, but I don’t know that that’s what you’d call narcissism. Narcissist also seems an odd term for the entire run of Democratic nominees ‘twixt 1965 and 1990, though Michael Dukakis did have an annoying superciliousness. John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson could certainly be called self-centered hedonists and Johnson a low-grade megalomaniac to boot (though my impression is more before he sat in the President’s chair than after; see Henry Fairlie and John Roche on the personal meetings they had with Johnson). Nixon was unscrupulous in his work life and had far too much emotional scar tissue and too little administrative talent to be doing the job he was attempting to do.
The bank I’ve been using for 30 years has decided it’s more interested in Policital Science than Finance and Economics and I (and my money) wish to part ways with them.
Dunno. Never got a political statement out of the banks I use. And I’ve never seen any evidence that the woke-tards in corporate marketing departments have any interest in the observational study of politics, just in striking attitudes.
OIdflyer,
Musk’s first, big pay day was building and selling PayPal with his pal, Peter Thiel (and a few others). Thiel gave a speech supporting Trump’s election at the 2016 GOP Convention. The founders of PayPal were an interesting group.
These days the current owners of PayPal are using the platform for SJW causes and to punish people who do not vote D.
I’m not sure Musk is as political as you believe. He’s obviously extremely practical in regards to systems and project planning. Moving from California to Texas makes sense, fiscally. Avoiding services that record, track or sell data makes sense, personally. He may not be motivated by anything other than what’s good for his family, his pocketbook and his businesses. (He was raised in South Africa, however…)
If you’re not familiar with Thiel I think you’ll find it interesting to take a day searching for his writings and speeches on the Internt. He was also foreign born and, like Musk, came to America for freedom and opportunity.
F, only if the want to start a shooting war. There are 400-600 million firearms in the US. 10’s of millions 30-round mags, and who knows how many trillions or rounds of ammo. 40 million firearms sold in 2020 according to the eff bee eye.
There is already a bill to require a license to possess firearms and ammo. Plus universal registration of firearms and taxing semi-auto firearms and magazines like machineguns. I expect 2A sanctuary states to refuse to enforce.
Of course if you can license the 2A then you can license the rest of the BoR too. If you can create 2A prohibited people then you can create prohibited people under any other part of the BoR too, in fact any part the constitution.
Irony of ironies, a huge number of firearms were sold in the period since the election.- F
Have you tried buying ammunition? The shelves are bare– Still some shotgun ammo. A firearm without ammunition is just a club. A baseball bat is more effective.
Will there be a shortage of baseball bats?:)
I’m one of the many that bought a rifle before Christmas. A 22 mag. semi-automatic (which surprisingly is now considered an assault rife) There were still a few boxes of ammo on the shelf.
JR Dogman @ 1:55am offers an interesting path forward. It would still lead to a civil war, but at least the boundaries and goals would be defined. One of the problem’s in a state resisting federal edicts is even the most red states still only have less than a 60% majority (if I’m wrong here, I’m sure I’ll be corrected).
The sort emotional reaction calling for civil war by some undefined insurgency shooting from behind trees at the loyalists in pursuit of an ill-defined goal of “liberty” will lead nowhere.
There needs to be a clearly defined, concrete goals.
(And shorter comments) 🙂
Rufus T. Firefly, I would not expect Musk to go political. On the other hand, he could compete with Big Tech. They made billions, and I suspect that the door is open for someone like him to cash in on the angst they have generated. He loves challenges. Here is a big one. “Do well by doing good.”
I, too, am looking for a banking alternative. USAA, with whom I have had a symbiotic relationship for 63 years, recently pledged $50M of Association member funds for “Racial Equality” initiatives. They have been a wonderful company, but have been morphing into something else for some time. They have now morphed beyond my limits of morphing tolerance.
Trump’s second impeachment reminds me of the Dreyfus Affair, see: https://laurencejarvikonline.blogspot.com/2021/01/will-president-trumps-second.html
art deco @ 10:56 am makes a good points.
We need doers in Congress, not just talkers.
One of the things that attracted me to candidate Trump was the fact he was a doer. He had built things. He had run his company.
they are proposing laws to effectively ban trump supporters, that is coming from hopkinson enabler, lois lerner collaborator durbin, the spearhead of this impeachment seems to be crazy jamie raskin, the son of the founder of the Soviet front group institute for policy studies, they seem to have taken the example of the social revolutionary move against lenin, as well as the kronstadt uprising, over a stupid prank out of animal house,
“The sort emotional reaction calling for civil war by some undefined insurgency shooting from behind trees at the loyalists in pursuit of an ill-defined goal of “liberty” will lead nowhere.” Brian E.
Entirely agree. Attacks should be directed at logistical infrastructure. Destroy their ability to impose their edicts. Tanks, bombers and fighter aircraft are fearsome weapons, without fuel they’re the most massive of doorstops.
Civil war, if it comes will be the result of the leftist directed democrats imposing things like this; “PBS Counsel Michael Beller Caught on Video Promoting Violence, ” Americans F**king Dumb – Take Their Children” (VIDEO)”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/james-okeefe-strikes-pbs-counsel-michael-beller-caught-video-promoting-violence-americans-fking-dumb-video/
Anyone who imagines thar Beller’s ideas are uncommon on the left is not paying attention. The indoctrination that has been taking place in the schools, colleges and universities is just a precursor for what leftists think necessary, an ideological imperative.
“Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” Vladimir Lenin
“Hate Speech” laws will be the rationale used to take children away from parents who spew “hate”. Hate being defined as anything the left dislikes. Can’t have children ‘infected’ by hateful parents.
Biden has given a statement indicating he expects a Senate trial to be conducted AFTER the inauguration. Isn’t it moot, at that point?
If you want a vision of the future, imagine your being forced to watch Sesame Street in a re-education camp forever…
Biden once again shows his cognitive skilzs.
How long until he shuffles off for President Harris? 25th Amendment indeed.
Or Barney, Teletubbies, Sponge Bob Square Pants forever …
Geoffrey Britain-
JR Dogman @ 1:55am offers a path forward that makes the most sense of anything I’ve read– and most of what I’ve read is just emotional frustration.
“What we need is a Federalist Civil Rights Movement.”
Taking back the principles of the Republic through state action has the best chance of success. Using a state to push back and force the federal government to respond.
@ Chases Eagles on January 12, 2021 at 1:14 pm
What they will do is make ammunition illegal.
You can keep your lump or iron, but have any feasible way to use it as intended.
Rufus, Oldflyer,
Not a bank, but you might be interested in PenFed aka Pentagon Federal Credit Union. Has
just a few branches on military bases, so mostly online. Buys full page ads in NRA magazine and hasn’t injected any politics in the couple of years I’ve used them. penfed.org
Also, wiki says Charles R. Schwab is a big GOP and Trump supporter.
Brian E.,
I just read JR Dogman’s comment, which I had missed.
It’s basically an argument to utilize State’s Rights under the Constitution to fight against the left’s political impositions through its control of the Federal Government.
It relies upon three factors; the willingness of State legislatures, Governors and citizens to be arrested and imprisoned. (3rd factor outlined below)
Based on the unwillingness of State legislatures to confront a blatant, undeniable fraudulent ‘election’… l’m a bit skeptical that enough State Legislatures possess enough truly patriotic representatives to force their State to take the actions Dogman suggests. As example; look to the effectiveness of Michigan’s republican legislature when dealing with Gov. Whitmer. I suspect it would be even less effective in dealing with the Biden administration.
The third factor is the demonstrated unwillingness of democrats to conduct themselves within Constitutional restraints. They just stole a Presidental election and are now calling for what effectively amounts to an escalating evisceration of Constitutional rights. Upon what basis do you imagine they’re going to accept what amounts to nonviolent protests by the States?
I hope you, Dogman and any others here will offer rationales that address my concerns. As I agree that another civil war would be a horrific disaster. One that China, Iran and Russia (to a lesser degree) would happily welcome.
I think Democrats are going to get into trouble over Taiwan. The CCP knows about our leadership because it has already dealt with Hunter and Joe. China is going to try to take over the Island because this is a singular and prime time to do so, almost irresistible. See Hong Kong. Our response will be weak: ineffective sanctions and zero or slight and desultory military action by the Democrats, and poor recruitment of allies. And this flab by the world’s defacto policeman is going to allow Taiwan to slip back into China’s fold.
And for years we are going to have national shame and guilt and trade disruptions with terrible stories of human rights violations. The MSM will be mute for as long as it can stand the embarrassment. But the accountability on the progressives will finally land home.
The National Pulse (Raheem Kahan’s post Breitbart effort) shares a nationwide poll on current things Trump, including impeachment.
The poll of about 1300 people was done for Vox by a Leftist outfit, Data For Progress. But with an almost 3% plus/minus, Athevslightbor more skew to women and Democratscmay not matter.
On impeachment, overall evenly divided at around 40%, for and against. Dems about 70% for, Rs about 70% against.
But next, here’s where the results get very interesting for America:
-47% think Antifa is very or somewhat responsible for Cap Hill riots.
-43% think vote fraud questions raise doubts about Biden’s victory.
-39% say they do not trust” the “US electoral process.”
THE STEAL IS NOT A SEALED AND DONE DEAL!
https://thenationalpulse.com/breaking/biden-voter-fraud-poll/
Geoffrey Brittain
The strategy would only work in deep red states, where they comfortably control all branches of government. The most unpredictable element would be state courts. They no doubt would back the Feds. But once again, courts only have the power given to them by the other branches.
If legislators in these states came to understand their actions may be the only backstop to the coming authoritarianism expressed by the left. The may rise to the occasion.
This isn’t a short term solution. It may take a few election cycles, but this strategy may be our best hope. Focus on these red state elected officials. Campaign for people who are committed to the strategy.
A backstop will be retaking the house in 2022. This is why the Trump supporters response to what’s happening right now is crucial. President Trump will not be president on Jan 21. I’m mad that the system failed us, though the loathing of the President was palpable.
How do we channel that anger into a strategy that has the best chance of success. Patriots with guns attacking the infrastructure has zero chance of winning over Americans, IMO.
SORRY my format editing fails got overlooked.
“for years we are going to have national shame and guilt and trade disruptions with terrible stories of human rights violations.” dnaxy
Like the national shame and guilt over our abandonment of South Vietnam, the Kurds and Israel (under Obama)? It’s true that most on the right who are familiar with those abandonments feel disgust but how many do of those who voted for Biden? Add them to collaborating country club republicans and you have a clear majority of Americans who could care less about obsolescent concepts like honor.
TJ,
“here’s where the results get very interesting for America:
-47% think Antifa is very or somewhat responsible for Cap Hill riots.
-43% think vote fraud questions raise doubts about Biden’s victory.
-39% say they do not trust” the “US electoral process.”
Don’t ignore the corollary percentages;
53% don’t think Antifa is very or somewhat responsible for Cap Hill riots.
57% don’t think vote fraud questions raise doubts about Biden’s victory.
61% say they DO trust the “US electoral process.”
Since the democrats can now manufacture however many ‘votes’ are needed to ‘win’ to maintain its needed majority… upon what basis is there to imagine that the democrat party will ever again allow electoral reforms to be signed into law? Given that the courts do not allow legally valid challenges to be brought to trial, upon what basis should we imagine that “redress of grievance” still exists?
DNA test — THIS!
Geoffrey Brittain — awesome roundup of hate speech against Deplorables.
Art Deco — I Hope I said MOST Democrats nominated for president are (we’re) narcissists.
I agree that Dukakis probably was not. And Walter Mondale? Such a blank figure is tough to gauge much about; but narcissist hardly leaps to mind (even though he was my folk’s neighbour).
But George McGovern? Probably, possibly.
But you doubt the embarrassingly hotheaded John McCain possessed all the hallmarks?
REALLY? Any others want to weigh in on THIS definite difference of opinion?
GREAT ADDITIONS to my post, Geoffrey. Thanks.
And serious doubts about our electoral future? Naturally.
Brian E.,
“If legislators in these states came to understand their actions may be the only backstop to the coming authoritarianism expressed by the left. The may rise to the occasion.”
That’s a very big “If” and “may”. Upon what basis do you imagine that there is less corruption in State legislatures than in Congress? Less RINOs in State legislatures than in Congress?
“A backstop will be retaking the house in 2022.
Upon what basis do you imagine that the democrat party is not going to apply the same fraudulent mechanisms in 2022 Federal elections for House representatives, as they did in the 2020 Presidential election?
Given their success in both utilizing those mechanisms and the protection they receive in Federal and State courts, why would they not be planning to apply them all the way down to elections at the local levels? How shall we ‘prove’ fraud when confirmation of actual vote totals is ‘legally’ blocked and illegal actions effectively supported in the courts?
Yet, given the incomprehensible disaster that a new civil war would bring, Dogman’s suggested strategy is certainly worth a try. Along with civil suits that only require a “preponderance of the evidence”.
I’m just very skeptical that it will work for the reasons given and that the corruption across every branch is too widespread and the moral decline of a majority of the public too deep.
I’m sorry but the “rule of law” is now, “heads we win, tails you lose”.
“Redress of grievance” a laughable delusion.
“Unalienable rights” about to be fundamentally transformed into revocable privileges…
And the Constitution now rendered a dead letter.
The brutal truth is that the left has just “cut down all the laws”. The resultant winds have yet to blow only because so few have yet to fully comprehend the ‘new reality’ we are faced with…
I deeply hope I’m mistaken but I’m equally confident that we can trust that the left will over the next year begin to fully impress upon us our ‘new reality’ as they have already begun to do. And if my perception is accurate, that’s when the winds that no man can withstand will begin to blow.
CORRECTION auto correct won’t let write dnaxy.
“DNA test — THIS!” ought to read: dnaxy — THIS!
Leftist always assume once in power they will always be, it will never be used against them if the can turn the country into a one party state.
Brian E.,
“Patriots with guns attacking the infrastructure has zero chance of winning over Americans, IMO.”
Where did I suggest “winning over Americans”? Americans that voted for Trump are already won over. Those who voted for Biden are either fools or knaves. Mostly fools with a substantial minority (25mill?) knaves. Note; I classify as knaves those who reject individual rights and America’s founding principles.
Nor am I suggesting solely the use of guns. IEDs are particularly effective. Blowing up bridges too and rifles can be used to take out the back tires of trucks bringing in supplies to cities. The object is not to cut off supplies but to reduce them to the point that liberal willingness to sacrifice is ended. The hard core left cannot prevail without liberal enablement.
In the aftermath, knaves disarmed, citizenship revoked and permanently deported with all assets confiscated upon conviction. Fools; loss of the vote for perhaps a period of 5 years, if not permanently.
An Article V Convention of the States attended solely by those who fully support the Constitution (as written) could enact amendments that derail the left’s tactics and strategy that undermines constitutional governance.
Yes, a civil war would be horrific and to be avoided if at all possible. Other strategies such as Dogman suggests should absolutely be tried. With the understanding that time is not on our side. That if clung to after it is evident that they are unsuccessful, and gun confiscation and surveillance too deep, civil war may no longer be possible. In which case the tragedy of a civil war will pale in comparison to the ending of man’s last, best hope.
The imposition of a 1984 style of governance will over time, destroy far, far more lives than any civil war.
And the 20th century’s 100+ MILLION dead place a distant second in lives lost and destroyed.
Discussing the constellation of issues surrounding a possibility of retrenchment and a revitalization of Dual Federalism, a commenter remarks:
… while other commenters, myself included, have remarked upon the problematical nature of such a proposal; given that even the red states, especially the more populated ones, have themselves large classes of inert government dependents, and members of the client classes: i.e., the Democrat Party constituency.
Furthermore, the left has long been waging a two prong attack on federalism itself, as it is a natural impediment to the centralization of power. The first, is to do through law and enticements whatever can be done to neutralize it. The second, has been to distribute when possible, clients of the government broadly throughout the states in order to ensure that there are no geographical redoubts or overwhelming political concentrations of independence-minded people free of interference and impediment anywhere.
Now, the idea that someone might wish to move somewhere in order to liberate themselves from political oppression, is not hard to grasp.
But the idea that “ordinary citizens”, or even ardent ideologues, would be willing to move among a culturally antagonistic populace purely in order to disrupt them and advance a centralizing political agenda, comes harder to grasp.
Nonetheless, for those whose incomes are secured by the bureaucratic authorities, and whose pleasure it is to work toward “evolving” all mankind according to their template, it is not a stretch.
In fact, once the left has complete control of the federal government, they can basically turn it into a sinecure machine for left-wing activists whose only loyalty is to the Party and its aims.
There is no reason why a left-wing executive and congress could not devote virtually the entire treasury input [exaggeration of course] (including the budget for supposedly untouchable social programs – legally speaking, Social Security could be abolished almost tomorrow as it is mere statutory law) into a giant make-work patronage program, and then build bureaucratic infrastructure in some western state which would require the relocation of tens of thousands of left-leaning government do-nothing employees to that state.
The basic idea of migrating into a territory in order to take it over and deny it as a resource to an ideological enemy, is nothing new – not even in this country.
It’s how the civil war ramped up: Beecher’s Bibles, the New England Emigrant Aid Society, and all of that. And that took place without the lure of government livings for the emigrants.
It’s been on their minds for a long time …
Vox:
Hate Speech, Racist Rhetoric.
Coming to a “Civil Rights” leader near you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBY0CKknW_w
Just imagine if ANYONE Trump ever picked had written something about how black people DUE to melanin, were less mentally AND MORALLY capable than whites.
Would you ever hear the end of it? No, you would not.
}}} “What we need is a Federalist Civil Rights Movement.”
Hrm, Good Luck with that. I’m down for trying it, but think it has the same chance as the nitrocellulose dog chasing the asbestos cat through Hell.
In the meantime:
Stock up on food in the red states.
Then, tell the cities to go eph themselves, we “deplorables” are done growing ANY food…
See how long people going hungry is going to set with the Feds.
Then they can XO take over the farms. OK, no problems…
Who is going to run them? Pissant shithead useless welfare children from the projects? Yeah, sure.
THAT should get them into acting as the dictatorial pieces of shit we know they are, and then we will have every reason to strike back.
Make no mistake. This is clearly a “Tree of Liberty” moment.
“Then, tell the cities to go eph themselves, we “deplorables” are done growing ANY food…”- OBloodyHell
“The object is not to cut off supplies but to reduce them to the point that liberal willingness to sacrifice is ended.” – Geoffrey Britain
Exactly how are the farmers supposed to pay their bills if they’re either not growing or not selling their products?
Oliver T.,
Thanks! I will check them out.
DNW- The Supreme Court disappointed most of us this year, but maybe they’ll find their inner federalism and see a place for state autonomy over issues directly affecting them.
In this case, Dogman was suggesting the border wall removal might be a trigger event.
Texas and Arizona might not take kindly to the federal government removing border security that has been important to their state.
https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/arizona/arizona-sues-federal-government-for-failure-to-secure-border/article_372cf9f6-355d-11e0-9c91-001cc4c002e0.html
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/should-texas-sue-the-federal-government-over-border-costs/
As to the feds taking punitive action against citizens in these states, once again the Supreme Court might actually find that discriminatory.
Since we’re just spitballing here, my grand vision would be to an eventual succession of one or more states and see if other states would follow. That is risky, but has a better chance of reaching a satisfactory conclusion than a low level insurgency, scattered around the country.
@ Brian E.
No low level “insurgency” has a snowball’s chance in Hell of succeeding in accomplishing anything, other than provoking a no-limits “by any means necessary” response by those leftists formally wielding the levers of coercive power, and their go-along (for a plethora of reasons) hirelings. I mean, think of the German military just before WWII.
Somebody blow up just one federal building of state governor’s mansion, and all Hell would be unleashed on everyone not taking affirmative oaths of allegiance to unlimited government.
No, the left is way ahead of the right in preparing for these days, as they are the ones who have continually squeezed and provoked and then squeezed again, without any provocation, and when they were under no threat whatsoever from the right.
Politics and childbearing are probably the way out of this … though as we all know, they are coming after your children as well.
If such a thing happened, and the law and all social compact predicates are cast to the winds, then the only solution might be the unthinkable.
And the unthinkable is a response that caused so much general chaos that not even the military could successfully intervene. I mean we are talking St. Bartholomew’s Day type reactions, which are for most of us, unthinkable.
But in a world where every square inch of soil is geo-mapped, and technology can see inside your houses, escalation, or hoping to hide, is an unworkable idea.
These people are ready to nuke Middle America. You would only get one chance.
That is talking as if the rule of law and the sanctity of private property will somehow be respected in such a situation. Your farm would just be expropriated. And there are enough corporate farms and alien labor to feed the cities.
Geez, people. You need to read some of the history of the attitudes and activities of the Union Army in the South during the first Civil War. Forget for a moment how much you hate the rednecks who got what they deserved, and just look at the mechanics of it, and read the writings of those run of the mill Union officers who basically wanted to just kill off the Southern population, if they could not humble then to their satisfaction.
And that was in an era where some vestiges of honor and nobility still remained generally spread throughout the country.
DNW:
I don’t remember which leftist Democrap was musing about the 2nd Amendment and seizing of legally owned firearms and who controls (or will control) the nuclear arsenal. It was a few years ago. Would be a bad thing since most of blue America is downwind of middle America …. unintended consequences. They think GMOs and BST were bad for food. Care for some Sr-90 or Cs-137 in your munchies?
Back in the 1950’s there was a Sr garden (at the 100-F Area) where the AEC grew crops is soil laced with Sr-90 for research of uptake to the human food chain. That was the Cold War not the Civil War.
JJ – For the Record, the Berners-Lee alternative internet does seem to be in operation (your link was from 2018).
https://www.inrupt.com/
Also for the record – Elon Musk is building an alternative internet called Starlink.
https://www.starlink.com/