Open Thread

Mark NoonanLeave a comment

How desperate are the Democrats? Well, they’re playing both sides of the anti-Semitism street. On one hand, they plant anti-Semitic tropes in alleged MAGA accounts trying to get MAGA to hate Israel/Jews, on the other hand they’re trying to claim that Vance is a closet anti-Semite. The purpose here is twofold:

  1. Get Jews to stop voting for an allegedly anti-Semitic GOP.
  2. Divide MAGA so that Trump can’t motivate a MAGA vote this November.

It is all very transparent and clearly the same pay masters are funding both sides of this – and it is because the Democrats have nothing they can campaign on. Oh, sure, they’re also trying to complain about “affordability” but this falls flat because we know that Democrat policies would just make food, housing, fuel and medical care even more expensive – and they’re also using money bags to manipulate things like the gasoline market to keep prices high even though there are simply no shortages of gasoline. But on matters of actual policy, the Democrats have nothing – they want the flood of illegals to resume. They want the criminals to get out of jail. They still want to hobble us with Green ideology. They want us to allow the Mullah regime to survive. They want to return to China flooding our market with low quality goods. It is a disease of the modern Western Ruling Class – it hates the West and it can’t retreat from this hatred without proving itself not merely wrong, but downright evil.

We’ll see how it works out – a money-fueled campaign of lies vs Trump’s ability to motivate a MAGA vote. I’m betting on Trump because, well, he’s simply miles ahead of his opponents and has been since he came down that escalator.

There is a debate about immigration and the phrase “heritage Americans”. My view is that we don’t need any immigrants, at all. There are 340 million people here. We’re the third most populous nation on Earth. We don’t lack talent. Every ounce of talent which the USA might need is already here and in abundance. It is simply a stupid lie to assert that some programmer from India is the only person who can fill an American position. If we are to have continuing immigration, then it has to be very selective. Only the truly highest quality people. Nobody is can possibly be a burden to the welfare system. People who are already fluent in English. People who come here with money already in hand. And then not very many of them. No more than 340,000 per year – and that’s of all types, refugees included (and refugees must be strictly limited to people who are actually at risk – Christians from Muslim lands, whites from South Africa, that sort of thing). I don’t know much about the so-called “heritage American” idea – but my family has been here since the early part of the 17th century. The overwhelming majority of us have ancestors going back a century or more here. This is our land. We are native here. We have a right to preserve our American culture – to not have it swamped by foreigners who don’t want to assimilate.

A related debate is over the intellectual levels of the various peoples of the world. I do believe this is also a Ruling Class op to get people to become racists and thus socially (and electorally) unacceptable. Don’t fall for it, guys. You know – things like the map of IQ by country showing some African countries with an average IQ of like 59. First off, I doubt anyone has done systematic tests of IQ with large enough samples in Africa for us to know. But the implication here is that black and brown people are inherently dumb – inferior. This is an old idea (actually first pushed by the man who became the great-grandfather of Nazism, de Gobineau) and it was drivel when first uttered and remains drivel today.

To be sure, when it was first expressed, it seemed to make some sense – because it was made by Europeans in the 19th century who looked around at the absolute global dominance of Europeans and tried to explain why it happened. They hit upon the fact of being European – of being white. Refined – because of Anglo-Saxon power in the British Empire – into a view that a supposed “Aryan race” is simply superior to all the others.

Sorry, slick, it wasn’t that at all: it was Christianity plus geography. It was Christianity which created the scientific method. Starting with the theological idea that God is the fountain of Reason, Christians embarked on the effort to understand God’s reasonable creation. We no longer just figured it was fate or divine caprice – there had to be a reason behind all events. We started to write things down. Apply logic. Observe. Experiment. We became adept at taking in new concepts – even if the thing wasn’t created by a Christian European (paper money, the compass, gunpowder, etc) and by experiment made them better, and made the foundation for other, later discoveries and inventions. And that is where geography steps in: just look at the map of Europe, especially the western part of it – just stuffed to the gills with natural harbors and navigable rivers. In Europe you could move goods and people around faster than anywhere else on Earth. And the ideas as well. It started to build up in the wake of the Crusades and exploded in the 15th century…inventions and discoveries started to pile up at an increasing pace. Change became the norm. People didn’t just sit back and go “thus it has always been” but started looking for new ways and means. By the 17th century Europe was at the intellectual forefront of the world….while the rest of the world continued to slumber in pagan or fatalistic torpor. By the 19th century mere landing parties of European soldiers could scatter Asian and African armies with ease. White skin had nothing to do with it. Being Germanic had nothing to do with it. Being part of a Christian Europe had all to do with it…and the real pity is that European dominance didn’t last long enough to break the shackles of tribalism, paganism and fatalism in the Third World…and that is why it is still such a depressingly impoverished and barbaric place.

They’re rebooting the Narnia movie series and Meryl Streep will voice Aslan because the creators of the reboot hate Lewis, the stories, the civilization they spring from and any decent impulse human beings have ever had.

I don’t know who Ed Sheeran is but I gather he is an entertainer of some sort and he decided that another performer – a rancid anti-Semite who would make Julius Streicher blush – wouldn’t be his opening act. Since then, the entire global entertainment Establishment has united to destroy him. This is how deeply the anti-Semitic virus has infected the West. It is disgusting and inhuman. You vote for a Democrat, you’re voting for this – this is what, at bottom, the DSA barbarians want.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan18 Comments

There is a study which shows the massive lies the New York Times spread about the Gaza conflict. If you go through it, you’ll see it reached ridiculous levels that would have caused Goebbles to blush. A Narrative was pushed of innocent, long-suffering “Palestinians” being brutalized for no reason by cruel, Nazi-like Israelis. You and I – being free from lies and at least somewhat educated – dismiss such drivel…but the readers of the Times don’t. They are highly credentialed, of course, but almost entirely uneducated. The younger, the more uneducated. When they look at Times articles, they just take it on faith that it’s true…and reading those articles leads them to other outlets where the lies get even more intense. In the end, the consumer of the lies is carrying a “Palestinian” flag and threatening Jews in Brooklyn. And, of course, voting for Mamdani.

And I know what you’re thinking: “here comes Mark to yammer on about lies again!”. But not really. Or at least not just that. You see, ten years ago, Mamdani could not get elected. Al Sayed could not have won a Senate nomination. These rank, hate filled anti-Semitic, anti-American creeps would not have gotten anywhere. It took a whole program of carefully crafted lies to get them to where they are. And the program isn’t just to get some power – it is to get all power. Using the most nasty lies imaginable, the Left proposes to push into power people who hate the United States who will then simply rule that Americans don’t have rights. It will end like Nicaragua – where first the Commies packed the Court and then, at the end, simply announced there would be no further elections…not needed, you see? Democracy had produced the desired result and so no more Democracy was necessary. They will do that here. They’re trying to do it (with a lot of success) in Europe. And the twin pillars of it are mass migration (especially of Muslim males) and lies.

So, yes, I will say it again: Lies must not enjoy first amendment protections. The Constitution is not a suicide pact. We do not have to allow those who would shoot us to hide behind our Constitution as they build the wall we’ll be up against.

Twenty States are suing Trump over his plan to deny welfare benefits to green card holders. Think about that. Foreign bums are draining welfare meant for Americans and the Democrats – it is all Democrats – are suing to keep it going. They hate the United States…and they desperately need those foreign bums to vote for them.

Newsom has hired Abbe Lowell to do his legal work – from what I understand, Lowell is a cracker jack criminal defense attorney in DC. In other words, the person you hire when you’re looking at 20 years in the slammer. He’s in deep doo-doo.

A Florida grand jury has subpoenaed John Brennan, who is also likely in deep doo-doo. But here’s the kicker – the possible charge is conspiracy to deny Trump’s civil rights. Have you looked up our civil rights laws? They have teeth! And they make no mention of an exception for Trump…they cover every last person in the United States. We all have civil rights, guys! I know – who knew?

This is the tactic I’ve been wanting them to take and I hope Brennan is the test case – Trump lives in Florida so his rights, if they were violated, were violated in that State. This means that even if your conspiracy to deny his rights as organized in DC, you’re still going to face indictment in Florida…from a D+ 84 jury pool to R+ 13. Actually way more fair to Brennan than he deserves. And Brennan is just one of probably a thousand people who conspired to deny Trump’s civil rights. And once we get that rolling…do you know that a case can be made that my civil rights are violated when prominent Democrats around the country imply that I’m a racist Nazi due to my Trump vote? I think that is a serious problem and a grand jury of my neighbors – who also voted Trump – should look into that.

9/11 Plus Twenty Five

Mark Noonan54 Comments

Yeah, the world did change – but not like we expected as we watched those towers fall.

We knew we were at war the moment the second plane hit. Someone had to be destroyed. Rumors abounded about who might have orchestrated the attack but the larger picture is that we found we had an implacable enemy and that enemy had to go. As the days went on we all found out about bin Laden, Al Queda and such. And we knew that they were going to feel our fury.

But we also had jarring notes which didn’t register much at the time. We mentally glossed over them because in a glow of national unity and determination, we figured it was for the best. Bush getting up there and saying Islam is a religion of peace – complete drivel but we let it slide. Nobody in the intelligence community getting fired. Hearings which obviously glossed over failures during the Clinton Administration. We should have paid closer attention because in hindsight we can now see that the US and larger global Ruling Class merely asked as those towers fell, “what can I get out of it?”. They were only interested in what they could grift off the death and destruction.

As time went on I looked at the map and figured our path was Kabul (sideshow as it was) to Baghdad to Damascus to Tehran (maybe a side trip to Tripoli). It was obvious that the Islamists had to be wiped out – and the center of Islamism was, is and remains in Tehran. In spite of theological disputes and ethnic hatreds within Islam, the center was the Mullah regime. It provided the funding, arms and training. It greased all the wheels. Sure, there were Saudi sponsors of it. Sure, there were groups which would shoot an Iranian if given the chance. But the nexus of it was in Tehran. Had been since 1979 when, under Mullah direction, terrorism started to shift from Soviet-sponsored socialist/nationalist ideology to Islamist. I honestly thought when Bush sent us into Iraq (well more than a year after we should have gone) it was to stage attacks on Syria (Iran’s protege) and then Iran, itself. I had no idea he was just going to shove us into a shooting gallery while leaving the Islamists sanctuaries in Iran and Syria. I don’t really know what W’s goal was – he is a creature of the Establishment and he might have simply been going along with Establishment recommendations. I stuck it out supporting Bush because our boys and girls were in harms way and I didn’t want to leave them in the lurch…and I still, at the time, figured we could find a Muslim coalition willing to be decent about things. We still might find that – but never among anyone who ever took a shot at anyone for ideological or theological reasons.

We live and learn and I’ve learned a lot. The Establishment is corrupt and stupid to the core. The military leadership is rotten. Nobody gives a damn about the fate of the United States. Except Donald Trump and his MAGA movement. Trump is the ultimate result of a gigantic number of failures across decades by both major political parties. Had they not been corrupt and stupid, Trump never would have arrived on the scene. Because they were (and are), here he is. He is our answer to those who knocked our towers down…as well our answer to those in the USA who let it happen and then went about seeking to profit in the aftermath. Had Trump been in office on 9/11, I suspect that Iran’s days would have been numbered…he is cleaning up the mess left by his predecessors…and he appears to have seen it all along.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan30 Comments

There was a reason the British formed a Protectorate over what we call the United Arab Emirates. Same reason they grabbed Gibraltar and Malta. Singapore, too. Not to be overlords. It was just to have control over vital trade routes. Strategic points on the globe which the safety of Britain’s trade required. Because that was what the British Empire was actually about: trade. To be sure, the British eventually lost the plot. Pitt the Elder and Younger envisioned a commercial Empire where Britain ruled the waves and thus controlled global trade…this to both make Britain rich and to ensure Britain’s independence (an island nation controlling the seas is safe). As time went on a lot of factors combined to get the British into the game of massive land holdings until they ruled a quarter of the world’s land area…that was the real death knell of the British Empire because Britain was simply too small to both rule the waves and the land (they’d have needed a population many times larger than they had).

Basically, the UK got infected by Liberalism – the economic Liberalism which held that trade should be 100% “free” and the social Liberalism which held that you had to both extend the franchise and save people from themselves. A program of controlling global trade became Britain paying a premium to keep global trade free for economic and political rivals. The extension of the franchise brought into British politics people far more interested in getting welfare than defending Britain’s far-flung territories…while “saving” the people under their rule worked out to half-educating a bunch of rebels who undermined British rule. And we can see the end result – the half-educated rebels are now overrunning Britain while the welfare bums are only angry about the former colonial subjects dipping their fingers into the welfare pot. All around, a bad move – but the basic idea was correct. Had it been followed, Britain would to this day be a major player in the world. That, I think, is what Trump is basically after – control of global trade. A commercial empire designed to enrich us and ensure nobody can effectively attack the United States.

This is why we pressured Panama to get the ChiComs out of our Canal. Why we’ve entered into agreements with both Singapore and Malaya to control passage through the Straits of Malacca. Why we’re working with Morocco to essentially make our on Gibraltar in the Western Med. We’re essentially taking over the global movement of oil and natural gas. We’re building up our Navy and working on the means of reviving the American merchant marine. We don’t want anything but the trade – the ability to trade anywhere we want while being able with the snap of our fingers to bar a rival from the global trading system (China’s revived silk road through Asia will never do the trick – you just can’t beat moving goods by sea in terms of speed and cost per ton-mile). Iran is getting hit like it is because it was simply in the way of a larger plan – they don’t fully realize how unimportant they actually are. Neither does the rest of the world…because the rest of the world has been used to the USA standing in for Britain – keeping the sea lanes open for everyone else.

We will keep them open. As long as you cooperate. It is a very new day in global affairs.

How is Trump feeling about the midterms?

Could it be bluster? Well, everything about the future has some bluster attached to it – because we don’t know what will happen. But I’ve never been less worried about the outcome of an election. Partially this is just me getting old – the closer you get to the end the less you worry about how things are going here on Earth. Got bigger fish to fry, long term. But most of it is that the only metric looking good for Democrats is polling – and even in that, there are a few polls out there given zero play in the MSM/Social Media which show the GOP poised to do well. We will see how it comes out. High gas prices are a persistent negative…but employment is up, wages are up, crime is down, deportations are proceeding quickly…we’re doing well. And I doubt the people are ready to toss that all aside because some upper class white women still haven’t got over 2016.

Jaguar is set to lay off thousands while Nike is being delisted from the S&P 100…both companies went completely woke. You might recall the Nike ads showing morbidly obese people and that bizarre Jaguar ad of a bunch of useless freaks telling us to be different. That kind of nonsense. Jaguar cars have a market – upper class men who want to impress the kind of chicks who are impressed by a Jag. Nike has a market – gym bros. Making your main pitch to people who don’t use your product – and likely despise the people who do – turns out to not be a good idea. Who knew?

Been thinking we need to allow people to start taking their SS at 62 without any tax penalty. Right now, if you do that and keep working, they tax most of it away. But, thing is, any person at 62 can start collecting SS – and if they do, the monthly payment never rises. That’s fine – but I don’t think we should penalize the 62 year old if he or she is willing to keep working.

This has nothing to do with the fact that I’ll soon be 62.*

*I might be fibbing here.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan13 Comments

The Republican Midterm Convention happens September 9th and 10th – never been done before. People thought it was a bad idea – partially just on the fact that Trump wanted to do it, partially on the theory that the incumbent party never wants to nationalize the midterms. That is, make them a referendum on the person elected two years previously. To date, that conventional wisdom probably had some merit in it…but I don’t think it does now.

As I’ve been saying, I’ve been rewatching the election night coverage from 2016 and 2024 and I’ve noticed that both in 2016 and 2024, Team Trump put the word out, fairly early, that it was over and their man had won. 2016 was really remarkable because it was Kelly Anne Conway putting out the word at about 9:30 pm Eastern that it was all over but the shouting…while most of the MSM still clung to a Hillary victory for at least 90 minutes after that (and some until close to midnight, Eastern). That was a bold statement for Conway to make – unless she knew. And it looks like she did. Similarly, Team Trump was feeding Sean Hannity the straight scoop in 2024 and he estimated while still very early (I think around 8:30 or so Eastern) that it was all over. This goes along with something I’ve known for a while – most campaigns know how its going, and sometimes a while before show time.

I got this first by watching an interview with Jimmy Carter’s campaign manager some time in maybe the late 1990’s (though it might have been early 00’s) where he told the story of how he informed Carter a week before the election that it was over. He had crunched all the numbers – real numbers, that people paid money for – and there just wasn’t any way Jimmy was getting another term. This is why Carter was so quick to concede on election night – there simply wasn’t any point in dragging the matter out. As one TV show put it very succinctly once, “if you’ve got to eat a sh*t sandwich, do it all at once: bite, chew, swallow”. The only reason Mondale held out until a little later in 1984 is that the networks had decreed they wouldn’t officially call an election until after the polls closed in California. Point blank: Mondale knew he wasn’t going to win. In his case, he probably knew all along he had no chance. Since then, the Democrats who lose just never want to eat that sandwich. This is why Gore reneged on his concession (he knew he had lost Florida all along). Why they always put it off to morning or some drivel. The networks now don’t wait for California to close: they wait for the Democrat campaign to give permission to call it. What I’m saying is that in both 2016 and 2024, the elections should have been called by, latest, 11 pm Eastern.

And, so, Trump is making this a national election. Deliberately putting himself out there as the central motivator for the vote. Knowing that this will fire up Democrats. But it also fired up Democrats in 2024. Didn’t matter. There was no time in 2024 that Trump wasn’t going to win. Harris’ own pollster admitted it after it was all over: she never had a lead. The polls aren’t mistaken: they’re lies. But the campaigns commission real polls which tell them where to go and where to spend money. They don’t let those polls go public; don’t want to give away info to the other side. I think Trump already knows how it is going to go.

Of course I could be wrong – but a lot of people in this world have ended up looking like total idiots by figuring Trump has it wrong.

If you subtract the oil Iran used to export through the strait then what you get is oil transiting is now back to pre-war levels. We’re not letting Iran export. Iran’s tankers are now in hiding off Sri Lanka and I hope we take them as Prizes. Bottom line, it just gets worse and worse for Iran. Don’t know how long they’ll hold out. Don’t care, either. If we need to blow them up some more, we will. But the days of the Mullah regime throwing weight around are over.

Gloria Steinem died. We do pray for the repose of her soul but she was an absolutely hideous, anti-human person. Pure poison to every decent impulse humans have. The world would have been much better off if she had never lived.

There’s been a 206% increase in arrests of repeat offenders in New York City. Because they keep releasing them. Just more anti-human Leftist policy. The Left says we have to go soft on black crime because racism caused it. This is stupid, but for the sake of argument, let us say it is so: by the time a man is on his sixth of seventh felony arrest the problem isn’t the racism, it is that the man has utterly failed in the “being a member of society” effort. There are black people – presumably just as much victims of racism as any black person – who go their whole lives without an arrest. Let alone multiple. You might be able to argue in favor of a Mulligan. Maybe even two. But after a while there’s just nothing left to do.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan52 Comments

The push against data centers is just a Chinese op. I mean, you all see it, right? It is so obvious – who would want us to not lead the way in AI? Duh.

We really need to be on these ops – someone on X brought up the atomic bomb where Victor Davis Hanson was calling it a bad bomb to bring a good end to the war…the comment on that, it was a good bomb to bring a good end to the war. And I’m firmly in that camp. Know what would have stopped Chinese intervention in the Korean War? A Mark IV atomic bomb dropped on Antung, Manchuria right around October 1st, 1950. That was where the Chinese army was massing prior to entering Korea. Literally boom, done.

Seriously think about it – what could China or Russia do? China had no nukes. Russia only had a few and no real means of delivering them to the United States. Plus, why risk the total destruction of your own nation over the fate of Korea? At the time, North Korea was already defeated – China was set to begin a totally new war, confident that they had numbers to match against firepower and that the USA would not seriously attack Chinese territory. Switch it about and make it suicide to challenge us…the world changes. There would have been no Korean stalemate. No Vietnam, either (after such an event, telling North Vietnam in 1965 to withdraw all forces from South Vietnam or suffer serious consequences would have got the job done). What I’m saying is that since WWII (and even during it) we have suffered one op after another all designed to prevent the full development and use of American power. Time to ditch that. First step is no longer falling for the ops.

Saw a video of an unruly mob of Brits assaulting the police after yet another British person was stabbed by a foreign invader. What was key – to me – is that they were really rioting. Throwing things at the cops…and the cops backed off. That is what is needed in Britain and the rest of Europe (been a bit of it in Cueta, Spain as well). These police – and the armed forces – of Europe are not trained to fight and die…they are trained to mindlessly enforce political conformity. And they are used to their people supinely accepting it. It only works as long as everyone rolls over. As soon as someone actually uses violence against it, the whole edifice will crumble. As I’ve been saying – 10,000 determined British patriots could overthrow the government in an afternoon. Nobody is going to fight for King and Country if that means fighting for a King who’s at least half Muslim and a Country being destroyed by its own Ruling Class. We’ll see if this spreads. The more the better.

In order to advance Women’s Liberation from the Cruel Patriarchy New York Governor Hochul donned a hijab while meeting with Muslim men. I called it years ago – the Feminists will go Muslim and say the burka is to protect from The Male Gaze.

Hearing some stories that the Nepalese flood might have been triggered by China building a hydroelectric plant upstream…if so, China will order the Western MSM to keep a lid on it (they’ll do anything to keep access to the Chinese media market).

Meanwhile, I think some are catching on to the DSA scam…

Open Thread

Mark Noonan13 Comments

Goodbye, Dolly! Passed away at 80 – and one of the few remaining universally beloved people in the USA. I figure she leaned a bit Left, but she never made a thing about it…and that is the key to keeping that universal love. Of course, maybe if she was younger it would have proven impossible? These days, just to keep your gigs coming, immense pressure is brought to bear on you to toe the Leftist line. By the time that came in about 25 years ago, Dolly was so established she could just ignore such things, had anyone attempted such pressure on her. We probably can’t have anything universal across American culture any longer – and until we destroy the Left, that is how it shall be. For goodness sake, the Left pitched a fit about America 250 just last month.

The economic pressure being put on Iran is immense and destructive. We’ll see if it works – that is, will it convince the Iranian people (cowards, for the most part) to rise up? They don’t want freedom – they’ve made that clear by supinely allowing themselves to abused by dirty-necked Islamists for decades. But they might be just materialist enough to want their stuff…said stuff now being denied by the US blockade. We shall see. If it doesn’t work, then I suspect it will be bombs away for one more sustained campaign to cripple Iran for a generation.

Trump is also upping the pressure on Canada – which has been getting a free ride since WWII. They have had essentially free access to the American market while carefully protecting their own from us. Now they are saying they’ll let China use Canada as a means of getting around our tariffs on China. Screw them. Nothing against those Canadians who are what I’m now calling Old Canada – allies in two world wars and great people all around. But New Canada is filled with Leftist bigotry and hatred…stupidity as well. We do not need a thing from Canada while their economy collapses without access to our market. Either conform yourselves to our desires or go jump in a lake.

Trump is set to revoke the visas of 200,000 people who are here on business or tourism visas but are claiming asylum. Think about that – they were able to get visas to come to the USA but are now claiming asylum status. Just insane we let this sort of nonsense go on. If you can get a visa, you’re probably not oppressed. Asylum is for people who will die if they don’t get out of their home country…and you get asylum in the first country you can. Essentially, asylum and TPS have been used – by Republicans and Democrats – to back-door amnesty. It is good that Trump is ending this but it can also be un-ended by his successor. We need laws clearly laying out asylum. I mean very specific…actually listing social categories of people and countries of origin we’ll accept asylum applicants from (like, say, a gay person from Iran, Christian from Pakistan, white person from South Africa). If you don’t meet one of the legislatively decreed categories then you can’t even try. We also need to change the laws so that asylum is not a fast track to a green card. It is your life that is at stake – you just need a place to hide from those trying to kill you. We’ll forward you to some other country if at all possible…if you get asylum here, you’re in some sort of holding camp until you find a country to emigrate to or are able to return home.

The Cowardice of the West

Mark Noonan6 Comments

In 2025, about 41 million Americans received SNAP – food stamps, as we geezers remember it being. Of these, about half had worked in the month previous to receiving benefits. This would indicate that a significant portion of those on SNAP are just people who are going through a rough patch and need a little help. But it also means that a significant portion hadn’t worked in the month before. That is, we do, indeed, have welfare bums. People who are drawing funds without contributing.

This is simply wrong.

Unless one is a child, physically disabled or elderly, there is a moral obligation to work. To do something for your daily bread. This is true whether you believe in God or not – it is a universal that nobody may be allowed to skate. To be sure, some people will be able to skate out of this because they are born rich and so get to live in indolence. They shouldn’t. But, what of it? It doesn’t cost the taxpayer anything and I’ll guarantee you the number of rich layabouts is tiny compared to the number of welfare bums we’ve got. I couldn’t get a figure on how many on SNAP hadn’t worked in the previous six months but lets say it is merely 20% of all SNAP benefits – those are the bums. And there are 8 million of them. And they probably pull down other benefits as well (housing/utility subsidies, internet/phone subsidies, Medicaid, what they can cage from food banks, etc, etc, etc). I bring this up because we are told that we must continue to accept immigrants – and must go gentle on deportations – because we need these people. That is, to “do the work Americans won’t do”. In other words, to replace the 8 million bums we’ve got sitting on Welfare.

Nope. That isn’t being sensible – it is simply being a coward. You’re refusing to make the bums get to work because that would be hard and, in the minds of the infantile, make you the bad guy. You’d rather take the Cartels importing quasi-slave labor to build homes and mow lawns – and then talk yourself into thinking your the smart, good guy who is all reasonable and stuff. You’re leaving fellow human being to wallow in the indignity of being a beggar (and, worse, a fat, illiterate and barbarian beggar) while assisting in the cruel exploitation of Third Worlders. You’re degrading your country, spreading crime and urban squalor and pitching Western Civilization down into the gutter.

It is like that all through our society these days – everyone simply afraid to do what is right, and so goes along with a horrible, anti-human and destructive expedient. Don’t make welfare bums work: import illegals. Don’t abolish the public schools: do a voucher program so at least your kids can escape. Don’t arrest the homeless and put them in work camps: just make certain they are contained in certain areas of town we don’t go to any more. Don’t flog miscreants who disturb the peace: just stay away from them. On and on and on like that. Every time we’re confronted with a hard, adult choice – to prove we can, indeed, govern ourselves…we slide away. Hope it all works out. Place a band aid on a bleeding artery. If the Republic dies it will be because of this – whether a Communist tyrant or a Caesar takes over, it’ll happen because we, the people, were too chicken to rule ourselves.

I’m not saying there’s an easy fix. I am saying that men and women with courage can fix it all. And not just our social pathologies; the whole raft of problems in the world today can be eliminated or at least rendered nearly harmless if people will just screw up the courage to do what needs to be done.

And do keep in mind that failure to flog is the cruelty. That is, failure to impose the harsh punishment is the evil thing to do. When faced with a barbarian who has the social skills of a spoiled six year old, it is for the civilized to make sure that person is instructed. Failure to do so harms both the barbarian and the larger society. It is required of us that we make the lazy work. The boorish behave. To insist everyone in the public square is at least clean, decently dressed and has basic respect for others. Drive through the bad areas of town – see that bum? That filth? That’s on you. You didn’t do it, but you allowed it to happen. The bum swilling cheap booze or taking drugs made his choice…and it is your moral obligation to punish him for that choice. To take away his booze. Get him cleaned up. Put him to work. It is better for him. Better for you. Better for everyone.

We can’t survive if we forever think all of this is Someone Else’s Problem. Are we free men and women or are we not? Do we say we shall govern ourselves? Ok. Then we’d better get on to it. Show a little courage. Do the right thing. Or become slaves, ourselves.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan8 Comments

The Federal workforce is at its lowest level since 1966. Think about that – this was before the Welfare State was fully built. Some of this reduction is simply not replacing people who leave, some of it is firing people. The main thing is that each person reduced is one less person who can pester us…one less button for the Ruling Class to press to gain our compliance. Sure, if a Democrat gets in they can hire a lot…but that does take time, and the precedent has been set that the President has broad powers to fire Executive Branch employees.

Democrats made a huge mistake in taking Trump to court on a lot of issues, but taking him to Court on grounds that he’s not really the President has been the most bone-headed. Again and again, the Courts are forced to rule the obvious: Trump is, indeed, President and the President is the sole person vested with Executive power under the Constitution. We haven’t quite got to the ruling all the way. We won’t while Roberts is Chief Justice…but if you read the Constitution properly, the President cannot surrender Executive authority. It is vested in that office. Even if an Executive signs a law limiting Executive power, that law is completely unconstitutional. There is one person in the entirety of the USA who holds Executive power: the President. We will get there…and the Democrats will have made it happen.

Here’s the real kicker in all of this: had the Democrats told Hillary to go jump in a lake and simply let Trump be President then he would have sailed through eight years ending in 2025 – to be sure, making some lasting changes (most notably in immigration and trade) but no real fundamental shake up of the system. Trump is, after all, a moderate man – he’s a New Yorker, ya know? He’s no more far right than Ed Koch or Nelson Rockefeller. They could probably have got a lot of things they have long desired but no Democrat could ever get enacted into law. But, no; they decided to indulge Hillary’s temper tantrum and now its snowballed into opposing Trump 100% of the time. Resist!

Ok. But you just resisted your way into President Vance exercising power a President hasn’t used since FDR. Good luck, Democrats. You won’t be able to take him to court. The cases have all been decided. You’ll have no recourse at all – even if you take Congress there’s nothing you can do other than refuse to spend money (ha!). It is so very crucial that we win in 2026 and 2028…the stage is set, the ball is rolling…if we can just keep things going for another 5-10 years, we’ll have won for good. Personally, I think we will win – polls are not just mistaken, they are fabrications designed to warp the political system (mostly, this year, to get GOP money to flow into sure-things rather than being spent on good opportunities). Outside of polls, everything is coming up roses for Trump and the GOP…Trump will nationalize the election and then spend a billion dollars telling people what a great job he’s done and how it will all be lost if the Democrats get in…MAGA will show up.

I’ve heard about the lady who is alleged to have killed her kids but I haven’t paid remotely enough attention to render any sort of judgement. But it is bizarre there are women out there cheering the accused. Seriously? What if she really did it? What the heck are you cheering for? Has Moloch really captured that much of upper class white women? Geesh! It betrays a deep sickness in our society, even if the lady is acquitted. No matter what, children are dead. Someone murdered them. Even if she’s particularly innocent of this, she’s guilty of being part of a social dynamic that murdered children. This is an event to provoke a desire to confess our sins to God and amend our lives. Not to make some sort of social media sensation…and all of this before all the facts are presented in Court.

Trump is going to bankrupt Iran. It is an interesting strategy – and one that hasn’t been tried since the WWII blockades of Germany and Japan. But this will be much worse because Iran has only limited domestic capacity. For instance, in the USA we have about half a hectare of arable land for each one of us…in Iran, they’ve got less than a quarter of a hectare per person. Hard to feed 92 million people like that – especially as Iran is in a severe drought (Iran has floated some plans to move its capital from Tehran as there simply isn’t enough water to sustain the city). They don’t make much of anything. So, throttling their economy – already a basket case – is going to hurt. A lot. And very soon. My bet is this is a gambit to get the Iranian people off their cowardly butts and overthrow the regime. If a desire to be free won’t make you fight when you have IDF and American air cover, maybe running out of food will get you to move? We’ll see. I don’t see this going beyond November. The oil flows out of the Gulf. Iran’s military capacity is gone. Economic pressure is being applied…and in November there will be no political concerns to restrain Trump from turning Iran into a junk heap.

Allies?

Mark Noonan16 Comments

Yesterday, Trump posted that he was ordering a reduction in our participation in a joint military exercise with South Korea – at the same time saying a few kind words about the dictator of North Korea. It seems to have passed without much a ripple in the MSM, but it has caused some consternation on the right. How could he? What is Trump thinking? South Korea is a close ally!

Yeah – a close ally which has refused to help us in our battle to secure the Straight of Hormuz, vital for South Korea’s energy needs. Trump did point that out in the post. This, my friends, is actual diplomacy. Everyone is a League of Nations man as long as someone else is the patsy.

Mark, just what the heck are you talking about? Glad you asked!

The concept of some sort of League of Nations showed up in the late 18th century – a sort of last gasp of the Enlightenment (so-called) which had asserted that private judgement would be great only to have it finish up in the September Massacres. What was needed, it was asserted, was a body of some sort where all the nations of the world could come together and compose their differences in a spirit honest give and take. Just about everyone agreed with the idea…but it didn’t get anywhere because while the theory was excellent, the pragmatic facts of life is that there had to be an enforcement mechanism. Someone who would be willing to underwrite the military defense of the agreement and the members of the League. For a long while, no takers – not even when the thing called a League of Nations was made in the aftermath of the First World War. It was only at the tail end of World War Two that the world found its sucker – more accurately, its Uncle Sucker.

There is absolutely nothing better than having a Protector who also isn’t a Ruler. In fact, this is the first time its ever happened – one nation, the most powerful on Earth, allowing itself to be financially bled white (and some times actually bled) so that everyone else can abdicate their responsibilities while still getting a say in how things are done. Don’t worry, guys, America will protect you! Vote against us in the UN! Trade with America’s enemies! Call American soldiers war criminals! It doesn’t matter – America will still be there for you! Paying for your defense. Heck, in some cases paying you for the privilege of defending you! You can massively expand your welfare state. Cut your defense to the point your military is a pathetic joke. Indulge in all sorts of crackpot social experiments which unman your own people so that a few foreign savages can take over…go ahead! Uncle Sucker will be there for you!

Until now. Trump has decided to end this farce – and it is way past time. An alliance must be a two way street. If I agree to send America’s sons and daughters to defend the 38th parallel, then Korea’s sons and daughters better be available at need. And it isn’t a big ask. We’re not asking Korea to send an army to occupy Tehran…but a bit of assist in securing the Straight. No, Korea, you don’t get to make back room deals with the Mullahs…trying to play both sides of the street. You picked a side. Ours. If you wish to switch sides, fine. We’re ok with that, too. But no more free ride. Trump is also doing in with our European “allies”. Put up or shut up.

And it will make for a far more rational world where US interests are advanced…as well the interests of those who are friends. After all, it might be a tough thing to swallow for South Korea. Their politicians get a lot of domestic political mileage out of denigrating the United States. But that isn’t in Korea’s interest. Korea really does face a hostile power to the north which is backed by the second most powerful nation in the world, China. Unless South Korea wants to become a conscript ally of China, they’d better decide to be America’s ally. That means helping us when we ask. Being on our side in global conflicts. A cessation of cheap shots at American honor. Be an ally. Or be an enemy. I don’t really care. But don’t be a two faced sack of…stuff.

So, too, all the rest of the nations of the world. Vietnam needs us as an ally against China. Poland needs us as an ally against Russia. Russia needs us as an ally against China. Israel needs us as an ally against the Islamists. Greece needs us as an ally against Turkey. There are lots of things the USA can do with other nations which are beneficial to both parties…but it can only be beneficial if it is honest and if both sides ante up their blood and treasure for the other. The world will be a safer and freer place if we insist upon real alliances – as Trump is doing.