The RNC
I have watched as much of the RNC as my stomach can take without my dinner coming back up and I have little doubt that what we are watching is actually the Republican National Collapse.
Not that I would be sad to see either of the major duopoly parties go away but I can’t help but wonder if 4 to 8 years of president Hillary Clinton is not too steep a price to pay.
Several years ago, before Obama’s reelection, the great thinker Thomas Sowell opined that our Republic could not survive another Obama term. It seems we may have, although by the slightest of margins. (I am among those who think the ultimate reality of a given administration’s policies does not fully appear until several years after the fact.)
Having said that, I am fairly certain that there is no way our Republic can possibly survive even one Hillary term. Would there still be an entity known as the United States of America post Hillary? No doubt. Would it have any similarity to the Republic described in our Founding documents? Again, no doubt there would be none.
Aside from getting us into more unnecessary wars, as Hillary is bound to do, she will get to oversee the entire makeover of the Supreme Court – an action that will cause problems for generations. I have no doubt that the kind of people Hillary will appoint to the Court will quickly destroy what little is left of our Constitution. Hillary’s election will also prove that a person can violate any and all of our laws and still be awarded the best prize we, as a people, have to offer. That alone is cause enough to condemn our Republic.
Of course, there is that chance that The Donald will be elected despite the death throes of the GOP and the number of GOP stalwarts who are behaving like spoiled children. While his likely Supreme Court appointees would be less dangerous, he would be very likely to start trade wars that would totally disrupt the global economy. And, I see/hear nothing in his platform that even suggests shrinking government.
Despite Dave’s lack of enthusiasm, I think that a Johnson/Weld administration could actually help point us back in the right direction. I also think there is so little chance for them to be elected that it is not worth discussing further.
So, once again we are placed in the position of trying to divine the lesser of two undesirables in our quest for “leadershipâ€.
Or, maybe it doesn’t matter. I am still not convinced that Obama cannot provoke a race war sufficient to justify a declaration of martial law in the time he has remaining, thereby either postponing or negating the national election.
Indeed, as I look into my admittedly cloudy crystal ball, I fail to see much encouragement. I really wish I could but, try as I might, I simply cannot.
Some people try to tell me that I am simply too negative. After all, is not America still the place people clamor to get to? Are we not still a very wealthy people? Are our life spans not still extending? Do most of us not have all that we need and most of what we want? To all of this I must answer “Yesâ€.
Yet, when I look around me, what I see is barely controlled greed, growing ignorance, a lack of respect – for ourselves as well as for others, and an almost total lack of self discipline. For instance, several times in the last few weeks, I have barely avoided being literally knocked off my feet by children running wild in public places (sometime while using my cane to help me walk). Indeed, yesterday, in a Costco store, it nearly happened when three young animals were running wild with the apparent encouragement of their father. So that there is no misunderstanding my point of view, the father in question was apparently in his 30’s, white, and groomed and dressed like a member of at least the upper middle class.
There is simply no way a society with the above attributes can long endure. Yes, it may take a few years longer to totally squander all that was passed to us by forebears who had the opposite of these attributes but there MUST be an inevitable reckoning and it cannot be that far into the future.
Already, we sit by and allow our veterans to be mistreated and/or ignored after being maimed while fighting for us, we allow our police to be hunted like animals, we give billions to enemy nations that vow to destroy us and our allies (meanwhile helping them to acquire the weapons with which to do so), we refuse to take effective action against religious fanatics who are determined to eliminate not just us but our very way of life, we allow our “leaders†to publicly mock the very Constitution they took solemn vows to protect, defend and uphold, and, last but by no means least, we tolerate a so-called justice system that parcels out “justice†like it is a commodity rather than an equal right before the law.
I sure hope I am wrong.
Troy L Robinson
You are very wrong Troy. One of the better GOP conventions. Too bad a rotten apple (Cruz) showed his ass. Otherwise excellent speeches.
Agreed, Jerry! Don’t worry about the Canadian Born Citizen. Between Newt’s immediate follow-up remarks, and Trump’s perfectly timed entrance, allowing everyone to turn their backs on Cruz to cheer Trump’s arrival, Cruz dove head first into the ash heap of history, to be soon forgotten. 😉 â—„Daveâ–º
Interesting… I am the cynic who has been cheering the wrecking ball’s effect on the GOP; but I have actually been rather enjoying the convention speeches. That is, until the smarmy Canadian Born Citizen committed political suicide last night. I must admit that Cruz still turns my stomach.
Agreed. Whatever the “right direction” is, the LP will never lead us toward it. Persuading or leading sheeple is beyond their ken, and always will be.
Agreed.
I wish you were; but you are not, and there isn’t a damned thing a couple of dismayed septuagenarians like you and I, could possibly do about it. 🙁 â—„Daveâ–º
I quite enjoyed the Ted Cruz evening. Trump played things masterfully. He set Cruz up to hang himself, letting him speak, but coming in to sit in the audience near the end to steal his spotlight. Then Erik Trump afterwards, who did an excellent job. Best of his kids yet. Then Newt twisting the knife. And finally, Pence, who I haven’t seen much of in the past. He is a very talented speaker and stayed on message. I’m excited to see tonight’s convention, how the Democrat convention compares (if I can stomach it), and to see the debates.
I totally agree, Steel, on all accounts. I am in the middle of Reinse Priebus’ speech as I write this, and even he is doing well! 😀 â—„Daveâ–º
I thought yesterday was better, but they did well enough tonight.
I am glad to hear that so many of you are enjoying the RNC snake oil show. I sincerely hope that your best expectations from all this come to be.
For my part, sorry but I don’t see it. First, let us dispense with Hillary — she is a crook who deserves to be doing hard time at Leavenworth. Nothing more worth saying.
As for Trump, I do not dispute that he says provocative things but I ask if any of them are really practical? Much of what he proposes to do would either be shot down by the Congress and/or the Courts or Trump would have to assume dictatorial powers to make them happen. Do you actually want that?
Then there is the question of whether the “hot button” issues Trump harps on are really the biggest threats to our long term survival as a free republic (IMHO, the only thing that really matters).
Do any of you actually believe ISIS will ever be more than a significant nuisance to free nations? Certainly, we need to give them a bloody nose for their crimes but they are NOT a threat to our continued freedom.
How about the breakdown of racial relations in our nation? For my part, this is one of the most serious problems in my lifetime. For sure,the Obamanation has stirred the pot in order to gain political power. But that is not the extent of the problem. While I detest what the Black Lives Matter folks are doing, I will admit that all too often they do have a point. We have too many videos of Blacks being unnecessarily shot by police to totally blame this problem on BLM. A leader who truly wanted to make progress in this area would have the courage to speak truth to all aspects of the issue. Yes, we have some bad cops. Yes, crime is out of control on too many Black neighborhoods. Yes, too few young Blacks have any chance of employment. So, why do these problems persist ans what can people on both sides do to fix them?
Illegal immigration is another irritant that does not actually threaten our future. We must admit that, for the most part, this situation continues because too many employers willingly and eagerly hire illegals. No wall (which Mexico in no way will pay for) will stop this so long as there are people desperate for jobs and other people desperate to hire them. Again, this problem needs to be analyzed honestly and real fixes proposed rather that stupid slogans and claims to do the impossible. Same with the drugs. If you want to stop the flow, stop the demand.
Lastly (so that this screed does not become a tome), what is the number 1 problem today that threatens our long term survival as a free Republic? Easy. The abominable and intentional failure of our public (government) education system. Until the federal education bureaucracy and the teachers unions have both been eliminated and control of our schools turned back over to the localities, we have not got a chance in hell of survival. And what does Mr. Trump have to say about that? As little as he can get by with.
The obvious second most severe problem we have is the amount of the national wealth controlled by the central government. From what I can discern, Mr. Trump is just fine with that.
So cheer on as you will fellows — just try to keep a little perspective as you do so.
Troy
I wholeheartedly agree with your point about the failure of education in this country. Trump has stated many times that he believes that the Dept of Education should be eliminated and education returned to the states. I don’t think he’s being too vocal with this at this point since he needs all the votes he can get, but if he can get that done, it’s a great start!
Oh my! This looks to be an interesting debate thread, if we can just keep your curmudgeonly partner engaged, J9. Please keep him on his meds, at least until I am done sparring with him. 😀
Of course, everybody knows that education is one of my prime interests. If he could at least kill Common Core, that would be a great start. He also makes a lot of reference to establishing vouchers for “school choice,” which should win him some serious attention from disgruntled ghetto parents. Were I him, I would pound Hillary mercilessly over her unwavering support of the incompetent teacher’s unions, with their unflagging efforts to deny ghetto children the “school choice” they deserve.
Reagan himself promised to eliminate the DOE, and failed. If Trump could actually rally Congress to do it, he would deserve at least the Freedom Medal from a grateful nation. â—„Daveâ–º
What is the man supposed to do? We’ve seen campaigns run by reserved, honest, civil men whose campaigns are buried by a two party system and its donors that don’t want anyone without puppet strings to ever enter office again. Trump went up against a dozen household names and defeated them ahead of schedule and under budget by playing the media and their love of scandal.
As for what he can accomplish as president, see above. He is a masterful negotiator and manipulator. He’ll play party against party, donor against donor, and nation against nation, and come out of it having given up little to gain much. Sure, he may have to sell out in some cases, but he won’t go cheap, unlike our current president.
Education isn’t the core problem, it’s a symptom of authoritarianism and the insurance industry. A decentralized education system that didn’t have policies against everything made by a litigaphobic insurance regime might have failures, but it wouldn’t be a failure. I second his desire to remove the department of education. keep in mind that it was only created in 1980. Do you honestly think the education system has improved since then, despite the massive new tech resources that have been invented in that time period?
Immigration will be a problem so long as the world is overpopulated and we live in a nice place. If we don’t have border control, our nation will be inundated, despoiled, and assimilation run in reverse. Watch the Democrats next week and see how they pander. They pander because they consider immigrant populations to be the difference between winning and losing. Immigration impacts the outcome of this and future elections and policy, so of course he talks about it.
Well said, Steel. 🙂 â—„Daveâ–º
Thanks for returning to engage on your comment thread, Troy. I will take it on in chunks.
First, I suppose it is time for me to reiterate that even though I have evolved into an avowed anarchist, I am still a political junkie. Since I have come to realize that voting is an unjustified act of aggression against others, I will never vote again; but I am finding politics as a spectator sport, even more enjoyable than when it actually mattered to me who won elections.
I have always been able to admire political skill by the players, even those on the opposing team. E.g., I always enjoyed James Carville’s masterful spin, while despising his unprincipled candidate. I can marvel at the debating and extemporaneous speaking skills of a Ted Cruz, even though the oleaginous fraud turns my stomach, especially with his sanctimonious feigned piety.
I still enjoy a good political speech, and critiquing their effectiveness. Your LP candidates would do well, to watch a few of the speeches delivered in the last few days, by Rudy, Newt, Laura Ingram, Pence, and all of the Trump kids. Most sheeple will not remember the policy issues covered, even the next day; but their passion and emotions they triggered will stick.
For my part, my expectations have already been realized. The GOPe, including their sycophants in the right-wing media, are in total disarray and have lost control of their wing of the Incumbrepublocrat duopoly.
Of course not; but that cat is already out of the bag. Obama has proven that the other branches are feckless to prevent it. Hillary has already threatened to use her executive orders to defeat the 2nd Amendment. I don’t want that either. Are you convinced that your LP candidate would never exceed the Constitutional authority of the POTUS, if by some undefined miracle he could actually be elected?
Like it or not, barring an assassination or civil war, the next duly elected President will be either Trump or Hillary. That is reality, and all the wishing and dreaming in the world isn’t going to change it. I don’t want to give the power of the office to either one of them, and refuse to even participate in the sham election; but given the choice, pragmatically, I hope it is Trump.
More to follow… â—„Daveâ–º
Dave, I do not have any expectation that “my” libertarian candidate will have any serious effect on the general election. For sure, the winner will be either Hillary or The Donald. Given this dismaying choice, I lean toward The Donald but that does not make me happy about it.
My attempted warning is against broad promises backed up by little to no substance along with a pandering to fear and confusion.
Nor did I intend to imply that immigration and ISIS are not problems that MUST be dealt with. I only suggest that they are more based on emotion than any real threat to the long term fate of our Republic and, that addressing other problems promises more hope for our continued existence as a free Republic. I cling to the belief that, if we are free, everything is possible — if we lose that freedom, little is possible except a sort of miserable “equality” for all.
Most of the ills that plague us are internal and of our own making. This means we must do some honest and un-impassioned analysis of the root causes and go from there. Trying to blame all our ills on external factors is, IMHO, intellectually dishonest and unproductive.
FYI, I have doubled my Prozac dosage and, as a result, am feeling (and thinking) much better. Constant pain, narcotic addiction and depression are an awful combination even for a curmudgeon to cope with.
If (and it is a big IF) The Donald can get himself elected, only time and circumstance will tell us what he is really all about. My advice is to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best. BTW, like many, I was quite impressed with the family Trump at the RNC.
If Hillary gets the nod, it is time to acknowledge that the forces of darkness and ignorance have won, ergo to give up all hope for the immediate future.
Troy
What a target rich environment! I’m not even done with your last comment comment yet, and now I don’t know where to strike first! 😀
I’ll start here:
Then, I have to inquire, what is it you intend to accomplish, by validating the oligarch’s rule over our lives, with your feckless participation in their sham ‘election?’ How can you not see that Hawk Newsome is engaging in the more principled — and potentially effective — protest against the corrupt ruling establishment, which is counting on his sanction, while ignoring his concerns? Their PSAs have been saying it openly for years — they don’t care who you vote for, as long as you “do you civic duty” and vote! Hillary and the Democrats might care; but their puppet masters don’t, as long as they control whoever wins.
I believe the word you are looking for is demagoguery, not pandering. I doubt that any of us participating here, are being hoodwinked. We, like millions across the country, are just tickled to see a candidate that has the cojones to say out loud exactly what is bothering us, without bowing to the PC gods. Sure, he is arousing our passions, and trying to convince us that he intends to change the way the government deals with our concerns; but isn’t that precisely what we expect him to do?
When did it become de rigueur to elect rigidly principled ideologues, loyal first to their donors, their party’s platform, and beholden to caucus consensus, rather than populists, beholden to the expectations, desires, and will of the hoi polli? Whether he ultimately succeeds or not, having openly identified a fundamental flaw in current government, should voters settle for anything less, than a commitment to do his best to correct it?
Do I expect him to succeed in all of his goals? Hell no; but it sure is fun to hear him speaking truth to power for a change, PC be damned. 😉 â—„Daveâ–º
Good! Just be careful. Don’t get so happy that you lose any interest in arguing with me. 😀 â—„Daveâ–º
Wait! I have found great news for you, Troy! 😆 â—„Daveâ–º
Nothing lost… I had already given up all hope for the future, before Trump entered the scene. Where would we be if he hadn’t? Would you be more hopeful for the future, if Jeb! was the Republican nominee? Or even the phoney Canadian Born Citizen insider, pretending to be an outsider? Would we all be better off if most of the rhetoric this week had been about opposing abortion, drugs, gay marriage, and promising to use the power of government to impose Christian dogma on citizens? â—„Daveâ–º
Agreed; and all of them would not exist without the state causing and/or perpetuating them. Eliminate the state, and most of them would soon fade away. â—„Daveâ–º
Uh-huh… and which is more likely to receive valuable advice from, and/or strive to retain the respect and esteem of, their family? Hillary or Trump? Come to think of it, which is more likely to even have their spouse in bed with them most nights? 😉 â—„Daveâ–º
Yes, they are, Troy! At least the Islamist/Jihadist ideology is an existential threat to Western Civilization, whether or not ISIS itself remains the at the forefront of their quest for the worldwide Islamic Caliphate, or Iran takes over. Hell, at this point, Turkey’s dictator may decide to resurrect the Ottoman Empire. As I have been saying since I wrote my Dark Ages II essay, about ten years ago, it is inevitable that America’s future citizens, will be down on their prayer rugs five times a day, praying to Allah… in Spanish.
This is true for two significant reasons. First, since we bought into the Malthusian ZPG nonsense, most ostensibly intelligent Americans have stopped breeding. We have outsourced our duty to breed and raise our replacements, to third world peasants. Most of whom, either speak Spanish or are born into the Muslim faith, and have no particular desire to assimilate into our culture. The Imams, entrenched in the unbelievable multitude of mosques being erected all across America, will have a field day ‘radicalizing’ their progeny.
Second, the foolish notions of “Freedom of Religion” and “Democracy,” are baked into our DNA as Americans. These crippling concepts, will prevent us from ever doing what would need to be done, to actually defeat the Jihadist ideology, and stop their attaining political power through the demographic insurgency, which they freely admit they are embarked upon.
Indeed, it seems every politician besides Trump, is anxious to import millions more Muslim ‘refugees.’ How is that working out for Europe? Since they are out breeding us about 7 to 1, just how long do you think it will take before Sharia law comes to America? 😯 â—„Daveâ–º
The racial problems were caused by the state, the state perpetuates them, and the only way to ‘fix’ them, is for the state to stop trying. If as you suggest, people are so desperate for unskilled labor that they are anxious to import illegal aliens, why not give them an incentive to import labor out of the ghettos instead? Stop feeding the welfare addicts from the public trough, and they will soon be looking for a job. Those trapped in the ghettos don’t need another government program, they need a U-Haul truck and a destination. Those who assimilate into traditional American culture out in the heartland, away from the violent gangsta culture extant in the ghettos, have little if any more interface with the police than the rest of us.
Of course, a working class black family, living in a traditional American neighborhood, is at risk for developing conservative values that might lure them off the Democrat Party Plantation. As is well known, without the ‘minority’ vote, the Democrats could never again win an election. Without that leverage, the race hustlers like Al Sharpton, et al, would also have to find honorable employment. Empty the ghettos, and the cities would find it necessary to lay off thousands of police, as their crime rates plummeted. â—„Daveâ–º
Yes it does, for the same reasons I already articulated about the demographic apocalypse underway, which is already irreversibly modifying our society. It may take a few decades; but the culture of our posterity, will be very different from the one our parents left us, and it is most unlikely to be an advancement.
Instead of encouraging new immigrants, legal or not, to assimilate into the melting pot of our ancestors, the state is encouraging them to retain their native culture and language, in the name of diversity. In other words, we are committing cultural suicide… slowly, perhaps, but surely nonetheless. â—„Daveâ–º
Dave, Seem I lose again as I take nitrates for chest pain so no doctor will dare prescribe Viagra (or any of its cousins) for me.
Troy
What a shame. My sympathy, especially for J9… No wonder you get so grumpy. 😉 â—„Daveâ–º
You constantly refer to me as grumpy — on what basis?
Troy
The meme got started years ago, Troy, when Jeannine earned the moniker ‘Saint J9’ for her devotion and willingness to put up with your disposition, when suffering bouts of excruciating back pain. Although you do periodically refresh it with curmudgeonly posts and comments, for the most part my references to you being ‘grumpy,’ are meant to be in the genre of good-natured locker room towel snapping.
That was certainly true in this case, and it surprises me that it wasn’t received as such. I guess levity just isn’t my strong suit. In the future, I will try to keep that in mind, and endeavor to avoid poking any tender spots, my friend. 😉 â—„Daveâ–º
That may well happen but, if and when it does, it will be because of our own ignorance rather than the conquering ability of the Jihadists. They are simply too technologically backward, despite Iran’s attempts to build nukes (which is also likely to lead to their annihilation by Israel).
I predict that what Turkey’s dictator is more likely to do is get himself killed by the very Turks he is abusing. For my part, it cannot happen too soon. All he is serving to do is teach the freedom lovers in Turkey to plan better next time.
Troy
It is not about technology. It is about demographics. They take the long view and have the patience to succeed, which we lack. In a way, technology is doing us in. Had we not invented effective birth control techniques, and the necessary infrastructure for an effective global economy, this wouldn’t be happening.
Their dictator is a symptom, of fundamentalist Islam taking Turkey back from the forces of modernity, not its cause. The same thing happened to Iran back in the ’70s, and is now happening all over the Middle East, since we deliberately helped depose the secular strong men who kept them in check. â—„Daveâ–º
Dumb observation. Only an idiot would choose to bed down with Hillary rather that Melania. Indeed, only an idiot would choose to bed down with Hillary no matter what other choices may be available.
Troy
My point was that, with the exception of Webb Hubbell’s daughter, and his grand-kids, Hillary doesn’t have much of a family. If she does win, it will be amusing to notice how few nights Bill actually spends in the White House. 😀 â—„Daveâ–º
That is a (justifiable) condemnation of political correctness and the diversity nonsense rather than of immigration.
Troy
Alternately, WTS could realize that WE ARE THE STATE and act accordingly. Our most basic problem, IMHO, is that we have allowed the formation of a “state” that is separate from the people. When we were still self governing, WE were the government — as it was supposed to be and still could be if Americans were educated and motivated to take their citizenship and their freedom seriously.
Troy
“We” did that back in 1787, when the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention, were permitted to scuttle the Articles of Confederation, in favor of writing a new Constitution, giving the Federal government infinitely more power. It has been an instrument of the oligarchs ever since, and the sheeple have been brainwashed to think otherwise from the beginning. 🙁 â—„Daveâ–º
Imagine, if you will, that Trump is totally successful in bringing a massive number of jobs back to the US. Who is going to take those jobs? Hardly the ignorant, lazy, spoiled government-dependent Americans that I see all around me. I highly suspect that all the truly qualified Americans who want a job actually have one — even if that had to create it themselves.
With our technology, we have the ability to be the most productive people on Earth. No business person in his/her right mind would have anything built anywhere but here if our people performed at their potential. And, in those sectors where we do, jobs are plentiful. Sadly, we have to import educated people from other lands to take many of them because too many of our people can’t be bothered with such useless activity as learning and working hard.
Harking back to immigration for a moment… does it not strike you as odd that so many people are risking all to get across our borders to get jobs while Americans fully able to do those same jobs are queued up at the welfare office?
I repeat my earlier conclusion — most of what is wrong here is self inflicted.
Troy
OK…agreed. So what can be done about these realities? You seem to agree that voting for the LP candidates would be ineffective. Pray tell… what would? Should we all just curl up into the fetal position? Or might it be OK, for a few stubborn souls to take hope, and support the brash over-confident guy, who intends to try fixing these self-inflictions?
Unless you have a better idea that is practical and executable, I don’t see what we have to lose by giving him a shot at it. Who knows, he just might at least delay the apocalypse, until after we old folks have checked out of this life. 😉 â—„Daveâ–º
No tender spots here. I did not realize that what I think of as sharp commentary is taken to be “grumpy”. I am actually a pretty carefree and very funny person.
Troy