Author: Mark Noonan

How Do We Get Evil People to Stop?

Mark Noonan15 Comments

This initially started as a very long post on X but I ended up deleting it shortly after posting because I wanted to think about it some more. You’ll understand why as you read: it is a difficult thing to write about and no human being – if they have any wisdom at all – wants to presume too much. I worked into Book X of the Mirrors series (coming out later this year but it might slip to early next year) a bit where Fred is asking for a direct answer to what is going on from someone he’s certain knows: she gives an equivocal answer but rather than getting angry, Fred quotes Job 38:4, Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. And Fred, like Job, is comforted by this answer to all true Mysteries, continuing on with part of 2 Corinthians 12:10, for when I am weak, then I am strong. It is important, always, to be humble. To not be too sure and to ultimately rely on God, who’s judgements are true and righteous altogether. That said, I think this is important to say.

I was reading a post from a Catholic priest – a good priest, let it be noted – who was upset over the story that IDF soldiers were deliberately targeting Gazans coming for food aid. I noted that the story is almost certainly a lie – that its primary source is the Gazan health ministry, a known purveyor of fabrications. In jumped a Hamas-nik to deflect away from that indisputable fact to chime in with claims that the IDF routinely commits war crimes. Went back and forth a little bit there until it was certain the man was entirely wooden headed and would never think for a moment. But the whole interaction got me thinking about the concepts of justice and mercy. What, in fact, does love require we do here?

War is, of course, a nasty business. All we can learn of Our Lord tells against going to war. How can we love our neighbor as ourselves if we war upon him? On the other hand, the greatest – St John the Baptist – when asked by soldiers what they must do to enter the Kingdom merely replied – in essence – that they should be good soldiers. He didn’t say desert the army. This is pretty crucial if you ask me. That being in the military and carrying out your duties is pleasing to God. This indicates to me that Fallen Man is not going to stop being Fallen – and, of course, he isn’t. He still needs, every day, a Savior. Once we enter the Kingdom that is different – but until we do, we are prey to all the troubles of the world and war is one of those troubles.

That being said, it all comes down to why and how a person fights if war occurs. Naturally, no Christian may deliberately start a war. We are always to seek a peaceful resolution of differences and only engage in fighting if attacked or if an attack is so obviously pending that prudence dictates we strike the first blow. The only defensible war is a war of defense. Once a war starts, we are to act like Christians. We are not to be needlessly cruel to the enemy. We are to apply the necessary force to bring the conflict to its swiftest resolution, but no more than that. Nothing gratuitous. And these requirements are not just required of Christians – nobody wants as a result of war their own people to be massacred and despoiled. Muslim, Jewish, Hindu what have you, nobody wants that to happen to their side. And as they know they don’t want it to happen to them, so they know they must not do it to others. All human beings are morally obligated to be as decent as possible at all times, even the most difficult. So, in essence, there should be no war as nobody should attack unjustly and there should be no war crimes because everyone who engages in warfare should be as merciful as possible.

But what do we do in the face of the unjust attack? And, furthermore, what do we do in the face of an unjust attack accompanied by monstrous cruelty?

Naturally when attacked unjustly we are permitted to fight back in self defense. And the response must be proportional to the needs. In other words, if peace may be obtained by ten bombs then you shouldn’t drop ten thousand. But now we need to think a little bit. To consider just what we’re dealing with – and what response is proportional to it.

World War One morphed from a fracas in the Balkans into a World War for one reason and one reason, alone: the Germans unjustly attacked Luxembourg, Belgium and France. There was no reason for this German attack. Not the slightest justification can be made for it. The Germans did it because they thought they would win quickly and gain total mastery of Europe in six weeks. And the Germans, when they did it, knew they were doing wrong – because they wouldn’t want another power to invade Germany out of the blue in a bid for European mastery. They would have considered such an attack upon themselves as an outrage against all decency. And yet they went ahead and attacked France. They were in the wrong, totally.

By immense exertions and loss of lives, this German attack was defeated. The German army was forced to withdraw and enter into an Armistice before the German army was totally destroyed in the field. Germany then had a peace treaty imposed upon her designed to prevent a recurrence of the just-defeated attack. Germany’s army was limited in size and her economy was burdened with reparations payments designed to not only repay the offended parties, but to cripple Germany’s economic ability to wage war. This was an entirely just peace treaty given what had happened.

But it turned out that it didn’t punish the Germans enough. It left them intact enough to very swiftly rebuild their military might and try again – which they did a mere twenty five years after the first try. And this time their attack was accompanied by the most monstrous cruelty ever done by the hand of Man. People murdered by the millions. Rapes all over German occupied Europe. Massive looting not just of food and tools, but the very artwork of the conquered peoples. Meanwhile, over on the other side of the world, Japan had launched a totally unjustified war in 1937 – attacking China quite ruthlessly with the Rape of Nanking being a horror that would have made Attila the Hun sick to his stomach…an orgy of rape, murder and looting. And then, later, Japan just continued this in all the lands they occupied as World War Two became global.

War and cruelty go together. After all, even under the most honorable of circumstances, you are still seeking to end the lives of the other side. Who can say what lies and threats got that enemy soldier into uniform? Yet the soldier must kill – swiftly and without remorse. And in the heat of combat – with fear and hatred rising – at times even the most honorable of soldiers can commit acts which, in the cold light of reason, can only be described as barbaric. Of course, when such acts occur decent military organizations do seek redress. If for no other reason than to ensure good order and discipline in the ranks. But, often, because it is just the right thing to do. We understand why our boys might go too far at times and we want to be merciful to the man who may have been pushed too far…but right is right and sometimes we have to punish our own. But what the Germans and Japanese did in World War Two went far beyond this.

It is one thing for a soldier, or a few soldiers, or even a whole company of soldiers to go off their heads. At the Siege of Badajoz in 1812, Wellington’s army had to carry out an exceptionally difficult assault against an alert and entrenched enemy and the fighting was quite ferocious with no quarter asked or given. Those men were brave and disciplined British soldiers…but the cost of the assault seems to have set those men off their heads…once they had won they disregarded their officers from Wellington on down and went on a rampage of looting, rape and murder in the town. It was totally unjustified. A horrific blot on the honor of the British army. It took days for Wellington and his officers to regain control and turn their mob back into an army. It was horrible but not ordered by the command, nor sanctioned by the government, nor justified in any way by any British patriot. What the Germans and Japanese did was different from this.

What was done at Nanking and Babi Yar was the considered policy of the respective governments. The soldiers were ordered to carry it out. And they carried it out. As time went on and the monstrous cruelties increased in scope whole support systems were put into place so that Germans and Japanese could kill ever more people…and with ever more attendant cruelty, including torture and looting. Japanese soldiers didn’t go berserk at Nanking. No more than German soldiers went berserk at Oradour-sur-Glane. They carried out orders. And orders they knew were wrong as they carried them out because not one German or Japanese soldier wanted those events to happen in their home towns to their own people. Basic human decency required them to refuse to obey…but they obeyed. It doesn’t, in the end, matter why. Cowardice or cruelty or any combination of human failings – they were still responsible adults who knew better. And the sheer scale of the atrocities of Germany and Japan required that the whole populations of each country become intimately involved in them. After all, the guy who drove the train full of Jews to Auschwitz couldn’t pretend he didn’t know what he carried…nor that he never carried people away from the place. He knew. And so did his wife and children. Did they approve? It doesn’t matter: they went along with it when they knew they shouldn’t have.

You can excuse it and try to explain it away but the bottom line is that death is preferable to participation in such crimes…even the death of you and all you love. It just isn’t worth it if life requires you to participate, even second hand, in massacres. You think about the endless number of German families who just quietly went along – and then the Ulma family of Poland which harbored eight Jews and, when caught, was massacred down to Mrs. Ulma’s unborn child. The Ulma’s knew the risks – and think of Mr. Ulma, dedicated to the safety and happiness of his family. He could easily have said, “I hate the Nazis and I want to help the Jews, but I have my wife and children to think of” and done nothing. But he truly thought of his wife and children – and did what had to be done. It is when things are worst that we are supposed to do our best. The Germans and Japanese, in the whole, did not do this (and all honor to the few in each country who did do the right thing).

Now on to the really difficult thing to consider and I pray to God I don’t get this wrong – I do not wish to lead myself or anyone else astray!

As the children of Poland, China, Philippines, France, Norway, Burma, Russia, Greece and so many other nations were martyred by German and Japanese cruelty, did not their cries for justice rise up to heaven? They spoke in a multitude of languages and they had often very different ideas about God, but all of them were human beings and all of them were caught in a welter of cruel slaughter they in no way deserved. Surely out of their mouths and hearts went up the cry: my God, save me!

Of course it did. And I can’t imagine God not listening. Not seeing their tears. And while God gives us the free will to do as we wish God is also just and merciful and His will is always accomplished. The fact that the Germans and Japanese were utterly defeated is an obvious example of God’s justice operating in the world. That people so depraved were not able to win is just and merciful. And how were they not able to win? By being subjected to such ferocious punishment that total destruction resulted.

Much is said these days about the strategic bombing campaigns against Germany and Japan. From right after the end of the war, it has been derided as a failure. The advocates of strategic bombing swore up and down that it, alone, would destroy the enemy and compel peace. Clearly, it did not and so it must have failed. This, I think, was based upon a faulty understanding of just what happened in the strategic bombing campaigns.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the Germans and Japanese were forced to expend enormous resources fighting against the bombings. Every plane, every soldier, every bullet and shell shot up into the sky at Allied bombers was that much less they had on the battlefield against Allied armies. Each bomb that dropped in some manner hampered both nations in the conduct of the war…even the fact that craters had to be filled in to get the roads open took time and manpower and so there was less power to apply on the battlefields. In short, without the bombings the fighting on the ground would have been far more intense, lengthy and bloody. Maybe so much so that the Germans and Japanese could have prevented the total defeat of their nations.

In addition to that, Allied bombing power was still growing in 1945. It was only in 1944 that the Allied air forces could really be certain that a bombing raid would seriously degrade the selected target. It was all a matter of getting sufficient planes, sufficiently skilled crews and learning the difficult task of hitting a relatively small target from a great height. By 1944 the Allied air forces were nailing this down – and the destruction went from bad to absolutely horrific. We’ve all seen the pictures of the ruined cities taken post-War but they don’t really capture what it was like – meaning for the Germans and Japanese on the ground. To be absolutely helpless as a thousand enemy planes leisurely pass overhead dropping tons of bombs was likely one of the worst sensation any human being has endured. Small wonder that very often downed Allied pilots in both Germany and Japan were lynched on the spot by outraged people. Had the Germans and Japanese been able to keep us away – prevent Allied invasions of their own territory – then the bombings would just have gotten worse. Even absent the atomic bomb! Just worse and worse and worse. By 1945 Allied planes were ranging at will over Germany and Japan and Allied factories were turning out planes, bombs and aircrews at an increasing pace…suppose, for instance, that the Battle of the Bulge pushed us back to Paris and that the Germans had defeated the Russians January, 1945 offensive in Poland…so much the worse for Germany as the number of bombs dropping would have simply increased – perhaps to the point where it was simply impossible for the Germans to live (seriously: by 1945 even ox carts were being strafed).

And here’s the interesting thing I want to say: is it at all possible that Arthur Harris and Curtis LeMay were instruments of God’s justice? That with all the cries to heaven for justice, it was those two men – and their intrepid air crews – who delivered the redress? I don’t know. But I can suspect. And I can definitely say that given what the Germans and Japanese were doing – as peoples – the bombings weren’t unjust even if not an expression of God’s justice.

What can we say? For the Germans this was round two. They had started a totally unjust war in 1914 and were totally defeated…but didn’t accept their defeat and so tried again in 1939 and this time were unbelievably cruel. So, too, the Japanese all over Asia and the Pacific…just simply mean and cruel…killing, raping, looting…both people lording it over the conquered even in the smallest ways. Simple military defeat in the manner of 1918 didn’t work…and so there was absolute crushing defeat on every level in 1945. And that did work. Nobody fears that the Germans or Japanese will ever try it again. So, just maybe the result of 1945 was totally just? Could be. This doesn’t excuse anything the Allies did which was actually wrong (like the behavior of Russian soldiers regarding German women), but the basic operation was just – it burned out of the Japanese and German populations any desire to carry on with their imperial and racist ambitions. And then we have God’s mercy working even for the Germans and Japanese: because of this massive application of power against them, the war ended before they were all killed and everything was totally destroyed. They, too, cried out to God for an end to it…and their prayer was granted.

And now lets go forward to today – the aftermath of 10/7. First and foremost, nothing can justify 10/7. Suppose Israel is guilty of every crime charged to her, there is no way to justify what was done on 10/7. First off, it was an unjust attack – there was no attack happening or pending on the people of Gaza. That they didn’t like the political and economic situation they were in doesn’t constitute a justification for war. To justify war you must be attacked or an attack is so imminent that you must attack to thwart it. Nothing like that was going on in Gaza on 10/7.

And then what the Gazans did: they didn’t enter Israel for a stand-up fight with the IDF: they came to rape and murder. Their primary method of warfare was to attack the helpless and treat them with inhuman cruelty. Even if someone did that to your people, you are not justified in doing it to theirs. Once again, as you do not want it to happen to you so you must not do it to others. And, of course, Israel has never sent in IDF units to rape and murder the helpless. What the Gazans did was a monstrous crime – something which hadn’t happened since the Germans and Japanese were doing it in WWII. And when the rapist/murderers returned to Gaza – often dragging their victims (living and dead) in their wake – the overwhelming mass of the people of Gaza cheered.

Cheered.

They cheered rapists and murderers bringing home the victims of their crimes.

They knew precisely what those men had done and they were happy about it.

Now, did every last person in Gaza approve? Almost certainly not. But the number disapproving is very small. It took years to develop the rape/murder squads. To get people to think that it is good to do these things is not something you just whistle up in a weekend. You have to mentally condition people to do it and approve of it. The Germans were all “oh, Hitler went mad in 1943!”…as if it wasn’t insane to deny Jewish humanity with the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. Sure, a basic Gazan on the street might not have known ten years ago that it was specifically leading to 10/7, but that Gazan knew – knows and always has known – that propaganda denying the basic humanity of Jews is wrong. They know it because they would be aghast at propaganda which held that Muslims aren’t human. Bottom line, given what Hamas was doing in Gaza from the get-go, nobody could have the slightest illusion that very bad things were going to happen. The Gazans just hoped they’d only happen to Jews.

So, what is the best thing to do here? A ceasefire? You mean a pause until the next round? How is that good? What does that accomplish? Indeed, wouldn’t a ceasefire seem in the minds of the Gazans a victory? That they stood up to the IDF and forced them to quit? And what of the mindset of the Gazans – the mindset that approves the rape and murder of helpless people? Which, by the way, doesn’t just happen in Israel…you can see it happening all over Syria right now, as well as in Sudan and other places in the Muslim world where violence is becoming endemic. There is a mindset at work here – a belief system – which sustains such cruelty. Ceasefire with it? To what purpose? Negotiate a peace? What’s the half way point between rape and no rape? What’s the compromise position? A little murder?

Or is it time to emulate Arthur Harris and Curtis LeMay? That is, apply such ferocious force on these people that they fully understand what they’ve done is wrong and they’ll never do it again.

Honestly, I am not certain. But I can’t see the use of going on like we have. As if, perhaps, we are the bad guys – that there is some justification for what the enemy is doing, or maybe we should feel guilty about Dresden and so we’d better hold back going forward. All I know is that the only bad thing here is a continuation – letting this go on and on and on. It is time to end this – and unless we want to end this via our surrender, we’re going to have to get very stern in action. And true justice might require us to act sternly. After all, what would we say of the cop who let a murderer go, only to have that man kill again? We’d be pretty furious – and justly so. If we go soft on Hamas and Hezbollah and the other fanatic groups of killers, then all we’re ultimately doing is ensuring that some poor innocent at a later date gets killed. And innocents on both sides, it should be noted; some poor kid in Gaza who is killed by a bomb or a stray bullet didn’t deserve to die…and I’d prevent that if I can.

To get back to the genesis of this post, suppose the story of IDF soldiers taking pot shots at Gazans lining up for food is true. Well, I have some bad news for you: the only way to ensure it doesn’t happen is the total defeat of the Gazan people. If you take the position that the way to stop it is to punish the IDF soldiers and impose a ceasefire, then all you’re doing is making sure other innocent people are killed later. And I mean its as definite as Euclidean geometry: you are definitely, consciously deciding that some poor sap will die next week, next month or next year…and you’re doing it because you just want people to think you’re the good guy, today. The problem isn’t the IDF soldier taking the shot – the problem is that the IDF soldier is there in response to the 10/7 massacre. Had 10/7 not happened then no need for Gazans to line up for aid and thus no possibility of an IDF soldier going off his head and taking a shot at the Gazans. Get to the crux of the matter, people. The problem is an anti-human ideology which holds that Jews aren’t people and may be raped and murdered at will.

If we want an end to this then what must end is the ideology which generates the actions. An ideology of peace and brotherhood is very unlikely to start a war. An ideology domination is highly likely to start a war. Hamas’ ideology – like similar ideologies – is one of domination. Rule. Masters and slaves. It has to go. If you can think of a way to talk them out of it, I’m all ears. But I believe that its going to be necessary to burn it out of them. To let them know they’re just plain and simple wrong. That God has not decreed they be Masters.

Back At It Open Thread

Mark Noonan24 Comments

Well, wonderful time at Lake Tahoe. Totally exhausted and we had the fun of the last 100 miles home the AC in the car conked out. Still makes cold air but the fan system simply isn’t blowing it into the cab in sufficient force to counteract Southern Nevada sunshine! So, with more than 93,000 miles on the car, we’re already looking for a replacement as at that mileage cars always start to nickel and dime you to death (this is probably just a busted fan or, perhaps, some break in the venting…but I suspect the fan as I could still feel cold air right at the vent openings). Its been a good car but it is time for it to go to that great garage in the sky (ie, the high miles used car lot where some poor sap will pay three times what its worth on a 19% APR loan…on the plus side, the actual maintenance was done on the regular so it probably has 25,000 miles left on it).

Gabbard has referred the Trump case to the DoJ. About time! Everyone involved from start to finish was breaking a whole raft of federal laws day in and day out. There are a host of very serious federal laws regarding the improper use of intel and law enforcement powers. And every person involved is guilty of the conspiracy – even if, in theory, they didn’t know exactly what was happening. And for those thinking the statute of limitations applies because it started in 2015…bad news! These people kept on breaking the law right through the 2024 election. That is, the law breaking kept on going…so, if you entered into the conspiracy in 2015 and bailed out of it in 2018, you’re still on the hook.

It is hard to decide if this or Biden’s dementia is the biggest political scandal in history. Not just American history: world history. That officials sworn to uphold the laws failed to do so – and, indeed, deliberately broke those laws – isn’t unprecedented, but the staggering scale of it here is hard to imagine. And it cuts right through just about every institution…even MSMers could be caught in this net. Not because they wrote it up, but because they actively cooperated in advancing the scam. It is one thing to say “I’m just a reporting saying what I’ve been told”…it is quite another to rigidly adhere to what were clearly talking points all through the matter. Remember, they all refused to cover the Hunter laptop story…not one of them broke ranks and pointed out the obvious: it is real, it is Hunter’s and it details quite a large number of felony actions. There are coincidences, but none quite like that – and if we can prove they were part of the conspiracy (which doesn’t require forensic proof – that is, to charge someone with conspiracy we don’t need to prove they took orders), then they’re going down as well. And it was all of a piece – the same people and institutions which created and pushed Trump-Russia created and pushed the myth of Biden cognitive ability as well as Hunter’s innocence.

We’ll see how it goes. But this tells why Trump wants us off Epstein and the Democrats want to talk about nothing else. We all know what a complete slime ball Epstein was and that very large number of well-connected people were deep in with him…but the bottom line is that the man is dead and the more crucial law enforcement issue isn’t to go after those who covered for Epstein but to go after those who tried to carry out a coup against the elected President. Democrats would love to talk Epstein for a year – after all, Biden’s people had four years to destroy evidence in that case. And even if it singed some Democrats, that’s worth the price if it bogs down Trump. My view: I don’t think Trump has let Epstein go so much as back-burnered it. At all events, if we take down the people who tried to destroy Trump, we’re probably going after most of the same people who protected Epstein.

Democrats are saying Colbert was fired from his TV gig for political reasons – as someone pointed out on X, the truth of the matter is that Colbert was kept on the air for political reasons. His ratings were horrible from start to finish. He was just considered a useful took in the DNC propaganda machine…his usefulness is now at an end.

You can – in theory – be liberal and be funny as well as insightful (stop laughing! It is possible!). A liberal host could make a success out of a late night or other TV gig. But it must be entertaining. I’ve watched a few episodes of Guttfeld’s show on Fox – sure, he and the guests lean Right (or at least Libertarian) but the most important thing is that they are funny and have something interesting to say. Endlessly repeating variations of Orange Man Bad is, at the end, just boring. It might make Liberal trained seals happy but nobody else. Joe Biden was a gold mine for the host of any humor-centered late night show…they left him untouched. Meanwhile, Trump is actually a funny guy – and the key to getting a hit on him is to first laugh with him…then you can tweak. Heck, the guys at Babylon Bee do it all the time. Trump also rolls with a joke – liberals never do. At least, not in some decades. One thing for certain, if Biden had been mentally competent those four years he would have been furious at the slightest fun being poked at him – so, too, was Obama (he actually took people aside and scolded them for being other than laudatory in all respects about him). This is why anyone with an actual sense of humor these past ten years has gravitated to the Right…first off, we laugh. Secondly, we can take a joke – in fact, we tend to laugh harder at jokes at our expense. We know we’re the Stupid Party! There’s a goldmine just in the Senate GOP for laughs (one recent joke: Senator Graham had to call his doctor after we bombed Iran because his erection lasted more than 4 hours). Democrats just can’t get this – and their attempts at being funny just fall flat.

On Vacation (Again) Open Thread

Mark Noonan15 Comments

Ok, so I’m here or somewhere close:

If you’ve never been to Lake Tahoe, put it on your bucket list! It is just one of the most beautiful places in the world. That water is cold. All snow melt. But its so sunny and warm up there this time of year that the water doesn’t feel so bad after the first shock.

I won’t try to anticipate the future here – we’re on Trump Time so what was OMG!!!! today is “remember the Old Times?” in a few days. Confident Trump will continue to confound his opponents.

The Blood Libel

Mark Noonan

In olden days, this entry would have been in the “What Media Bias?” series but we all know about that – this isn’t just about the specific lie.

Rashida Tlaib posts on her X account the accusation that Israeli settlers – backed by the IDF – beat an American citizen to death in the West Bank. The American citizen being a man born in Florida but visiting family in the West Bank; with news accounts saying he was just there to have a good time (because people always visit war zones just for a lark). Then Tlaib issues the call for us to get on the stick and start punishing all Israel for this crime.

Tlaib is a known and egregious liar so you instantly take it with a grain of salt but you decide to check into it. The primary source for the stories is the Palestinian Health Ministry. These are the same people who claim that war in Gaza has claimed 55,000 Palestinian lives, over half of whom are children. So, you know: straight nonsense. So, in addition to knowing that Tlaib is a liar, we also know that the primary source of the story is from a liar.

What we do know for certain is that the man is dead because he was beaten. That’s about it. Everyone saying anything else beyond that is merely speculating when not outright lying. From what I can tell, there was some sort of confrontation with no confirmation of who started it. But, of course, Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank do not get along. The sort of Israelis willing to live in such a doubtful location are, face it, the most ardent of Zionists. And the Palestinians have been taught from childhood that Israelis are evil. Won’t take much to get a fight started – a shouted insult or even an insulting look might set things off and you’ve got a fight with people hurt or killed.

To be sure, just like all people around the world, there are Israeli jerks. That is, Israelis who are mean and stupid just like there are mean and stupid Americans, Brazilians and Gambians. And, of course, mean and stupid Palestinians. What I’m saying here is that, sure, it could have been an Israeli who started the fight. But I also note in one of the articles about the incident, the dead man – after being lauded as the kindest, warmest person who ever lived in the whole, wide world – is described by his family as a man who “[died] protecting his family’s land from settlers who were attempting to steal it”.

This is a bit of a jarring note. Now, perhaps his family is merely trying to give his death a heroic cast – Palestinian culture currently placing a high value on dying fighting the Jews – but to say he “died protecting his land from settlers” doesn’t indicate a guy who was merely visiting the West Bank for a good time. Like he went there with a purpose. Perhaps that purpose being to stir up violence which could then be used as Palestinian propaganda against Israel. This doesn’t mean the man wanted to be killed – or even should have been killed – but it does show that a deep investigation is warranted before we get all upset with Israel over it.

But that is not how things work in the modern world. Had a little discussion with a Jewish friend on X: he had brought up the fact that while people complain about Jewish bankers, the bottom line is that lots of Jews are bankers (and lawyers) in the West because for the longest time they weren’t allowed to be anything else. They couldn’t integrate. Specific laws prevented it – including bans on Jews owning land and so forth. To be sure, that isn’t the case today (pro tempore in Europe and Canada), but the Western Jewish culture just isn’t geared to get a Jewish guy going, “I think I’ll buy a farm in Kansas”. To be sure, there were Jewish people involved in all aspects of the growing USA (after all, Levi Strauss invented blue jeans), but America has always been a little odd as its always been easier to integrate into our life if you want to. But, still, even in America, lots of Jewish bankers and lawyers because, culturally, that’s what they were geared towards.

This brings us to try to understand what Zionism was and remains: it is an attempt to give the eternal alien a home. Technically, this could have been done anywhere in the world, of course. Could have carved out 8,500 square miles in the USA, Australia or lots of other places around the world and done the same thing as was done in Israel – given a land to Jews for Jews to live in and rule themselves. Israel was chosen because of the Jew’s historic connection to it and it was nearly empty at the time of the first Zionists who began arriving in Israel in the 1880’s (and there was, of course, a Jewish population already residing there at the time: as far as we can tell, since the time of Abraham there has always been some Jewish people in Israel).

And it really was pretty empty: according to the Ottoman census of 1849 – 99 years before Israel became independent – the population of Jerusalem was 5,800. To give you a good idea: in the Old City (which was pretty much the total city in 1849) there are currently more than 31,000 people. Modern Jerusalem has nearly a million people in it. So, 5,800 to start. Pretty small. And this was by far the biggest city in what is today Israel. Today between Israel, Gaza Strip and West Bank, about 15 million people live. This is more than have ever lived there (estimates are under Roman rule it was a few million, tops). Nobody really knows what the population was 200 years ago, but guesses are about 100,000, mixed between Jews, Muslims and Christians. Bottom line, almost everyone alive in that area today is descended from someone who arrived less than 200 years ago: they’re almost all Settlers. The point here is that when Jews started to immigrate in the 1880’s, they came to a nearly empty land which was bereft of civilization. Only Jerusalem was barely livable because it received a steady income from Christian pilgrims. Other than that, complete dump and wasteland. Minimal agricultural or other economic activity. Visitors were pretty much disgusted with how poor, ignorant and degraded the local population was. And that is why the Turkish authorities – and even the local authorities – welcomed the Zionists: they brought a chance for some economic growth.

Nobody else was going to do it. Not ever. The land lacks any significant natural resources. It isn’t strategically important (too far from the Suez canal to be either used to defend or attack it). If it wasn’t for Jews wanting to be Jewish there, it would still be an insignificant and grossly impoverished backwater of the world. The Turks were probably delighted that someone was willing to come down and spend some money there – anything to build up a bit of economic activity so that governing the area wasn’t just a drain on the Turkish treasury. And so the Jews came. And came. And came some more. Swamps were drained. Roads built. Schools and hospitals. Farming commenced. Now where there had been nothing of value, there was wealth…and the non-Jews looked at this and saw it was good…but also saw that the Jews kept coming. And coming, and coming and coming. Two and two were put together. Eventually, the Jews would be a majority.

Now, when faced with such a thing, you have two choices: just go along with it, or fight it. I do understand why “go along” wasn’t appealing. You’re a Muslim who is living in a Muslim majority land and even though you’re poor, you’re still of the Ruling Class. Muslims hold all official positions. Muslim law dominates. Your cultural and religious ideals are dominant. Here come Outsiders and they’re coming so fast that soon they will outnumber you and start to vote into place themselves. Most people would try to stop that, if they could. But it is important here to note how this fight was conducted: not a straightforward, “we’re Muslims and we’re just going to stay in charge, and if that means we have to kick out the Jews, then we’re going to do it”. Nope. It was The Jewish Conspiracy that is insidiously destroying us! Those Jews! Damned bankers! Cheating us out of what is ours! They didn’t buy the land and start farming, they stole it! Crafty sons of bitches! Kill them all! In other words, not a manly fight of people vs people for ownership, but a cowardly set of lies designed to instigate murder.

That is all this is really about: faced with a Jew sitting in the shade of a tree he planted on his own land, the opponent must cook up a reason for killing him for doing that. The tropes about Jewish Bankers and cabals and so forth is mere cover for “I just want to kill the Jews”. And that is what Tlaib is doing – keeping up the lie to justify murdering Jews. She, personally, might just be stupid – but whatever made her say that, the goal is specific: she wants Jews to be murdered. She and way too many tens of millions around the world: repeating the Blood Libel under varied forms all to get to the same result: murdered Jews…who are malevolent aliens everywhere.

And this goes for everyone who says things like “hey, I’m just asking questions”. No, you are not; you are participating in the Blood Libel. It doesn’t matter what happened in 1948. Or even last week. A Jewish guy pruning his rose bushes in his home didn’t do anything to anyone. But it is said that killing him is justified because of what other Jewish people are alleged to have done. Why? Because its all part of The Global Jewish Conspiracy! In other words, he has to die because liars want to lie. You can’t have an argument against Israel. It is there. It exists. Millions of people live there and have never lived anywhere else. They are not collectively responsible for everything that may or may not have happened in the past. You can’t call for “from the river to the sea” except as a call to murder the innocent…to murder people just because they are Jewish. Remember what Tlaib said in her post: it wasn’t “we must find the Israeli miscreant and punish him”. No. She said “our government continues to send billions to prop up the apartheid system that killed him and kills Palestinians like him every day. Arms Embargo Now.” The dead man wasn’t killed by an Israeli, but by The Jews.

And here’s where I get broken record: we have to punish lies. Tlaib is lying to get people killed. She’s hoping that some moron lunatic out there will take her words at face value and go out and kill a Jew. To Globalize the Intifada. Because in her mind The Jews are all one thing and purely evil. She won’t stop. Not ever. It doesn’t harm her to lie. In fact, she gets praise for it. She’s wealthy and powerful today because of lies. Until she is made poor and powerless by her lies, she’ll keep doing it. As will all the other liars. Just how many people have to die so that we don’t risk the financial and social position of anti-Semites? Just curious. Wondering if anyone can give me a number?

The Past Was Just Like Today, Just no Wal Mart

Mark Noonan1 Comment

The Commies over at Pamphlets posted this on X:

I noted that the thing about pre-history is that it is prehistoric – nobody really knows. But by the time human beings started writing things down, we had government, laws, property and trade. But it is far more fun – and politically useful – for people to stick with what isn’t known and make it how you prefer. I think it was H G Wells in his histories where we get an assertion that primitive society was the law of the club. That is, the biggest, meanest guy would just beat down everyone until they accepted his rule. This leaves off the fact that the second and third biggest, meanest guys could take down the biggest, meanest guy with ease. It should be noted that Wells also thought our ancestors rather stupid – he acknowledged that the “cave man” could create art, but Wells still just put him down as a brute savage. But, here’s the thing: the “cave man” was, well, a man. Human. Just as inherently smart as anyone alive today. That is the real problem with the people who cast their current views on the deep past: they somehow forget that the prehistoric people were people.

Wells is just as silly in his assertion of brute savagery as our Commies are of people living in Communist bliss. First and foremost: we don’t know. But, additionally, they were human beings…so you kinda have to put yourself in their shoes if you want to get any sensible thought about them. That is, pretend you were suddenly set down with twenty of your fellows in a howling wilderness with no tools whatsoever. What would you do? Perhaps any one of a thousand things – but the people who are going to survive are first going to start gathering food, making tools and building shelters. There will be cooperation – and there will be property. Share and share alike, sure: but the lazy butt is being left out in the cold. And the guy who finds a jackpot of wild vegetables is going to trade his surplus to the guy who figured out how to make a rabbit trap. Who will then trade some of the veggies to the person who actually worked out how to turn a flint rock into a knife. And suppose someone tries to take over by strength and fear and start ordering everyone about? If the guy is useful – that is he can envision the ends as well as will the means – then his rule might be ratified…but if he’s just a crazy guy lording it over physically weaker people then the flint knife will be inserted into his rib cage when he’s asleep.

And this, more than likely, was how primitive human societies operated. There were rules, and there were the means of bending or breaking the rules at need. There were leaders…and there were councils of some type which could check the leaders. There was cooperation because human beings can’t live without it – and there was property because people like to hold their own. In fact, one of my pet theories is that it was women who created agriculture and, eventually, civilization. Think about it: in those olden days pregnancy was regular and children were numerous. And while women will cooperate a great deal with each other, a woman’s children will always come first in her heart and mind. And the primary concern of a mother back then was having a secure supply of food. The men may or may not be able to kill the mastodon…but those berries always grow on that slope of the hill at this time of year.

And that sort of knowledge does both stick in the brain and get you thinking: if they grow well on this hillside at this time of year, why not on that other hillside at the same time of year? Maybe we should plant some of the seeds in places similar to where we find them? And maybe pull up plants that are near them so that they can grow bigger and faster? And, hey, this is my hillside and those are my berries (or primitive wheat, or corn, or tomatoes or what have you) so, clear off you interloper and find your own hillside. So, now this is property – and it is my husband’s property because he’s the only man I can be sure of protecting me…and if he dies it becomes my son’s property because, once again, he’s the only man I can be sure of protecting me. And the gods honor the men who protect the property…and plow the fields and isn’t it time you put up that fence so that we don’t get interlopers wandering across our lands?

That, in my view, is probably how it worked. Humans learning how to do things and then wanting to make sure that their efforts were rewarded. Once again, no problem providing a little charity…but it begins at home and only after me and mine are secure can we spare something for you…and, hey, why don’t you work as hard as we do? Perhaps if you’re in a bad way and need help, you should spend some time in my fields? And that is probably how slavery began. And with property of various types came a need to adjudicate disputes about property other than by physically fighting over it…so government would develop from primitive chieftains and tribal councils to Kings and Senates. Oral law gives way to written laws. Barter gives way to trade and contracts…and before you know if you need a lawyer. Which is a strike against civilization but human beings found that the more they went forward into the whole property and law thing, the better life got for them.

Main thing, there almost certainly wasn’t a Communist past – which is a central tenet of Marxism: that we had Communism, got it wrecked by Capitalism and now we’ll return to Communism. The primitives owned as much property as they could – might have started with a spear, knife and a leather bag to hold stuff…but it was as much property as a hundred acre farm, and as jealously guarded by the owner. The only reason the “cave man” didn’t have land he owned was because he hadn’t learned how to do agriculture yet. He was finding fruits and vegetables but it took a little while to put two and two together on the whole seed to plant thing. As soon as people figured that out, the concept of landed property emerged…simply because the one who sows wants to be the one who reaps.

Another thing to consider about the deep past is that most of it is lost and gone forever. That is, what bits and pieces of prehistoric humanity we have found represent only a fraction of a fraction of what once was. For all we know highly complex civilizations existed in parts of the world that are now drowned under rising sea levels since the last glacial maximum. We know that most of what is today the North Sea was Doggerland until just 7,000 years ago. This land was tundra and we now know it had huge amounts of wildlife on it with the Thames and the Rhine flowing together into one river which seems to have flowed down what is now known as the English Channel. Humans loved themselves some mammoth meat (human beings probably hunted them to extinction) and we also love to live near fresh water rivers. So, whatever our primitive ancestors were doing in that area is now underwater…we just don’t know about it. So, too, all around the world: sea levels have risen hundreds of feet since the last glacial maximum…most of our past is drowned (and probably laid the basis for the Atlantis legend). You think about the megaliths we’ve found – some of them dating back eleven or twelve thousand years…how many more were there that are now under water? What symbols and such might have been carved on them to form the earliest basis of writing? All gone. Never to be known. So, trying to impose our own fancies on the past is really rather silly…the ancients might have got much further along than we suspect before disasters overcame them.

But here’s the really important thing: suppose a person from 15,000 years ago suddenly showed up – traveled through some wormhole in time and appeared at your local Wal Mart. He’d be in shock (you would, too, at his sudden appearance) and would stare in wonder at the things we’ve got on the shelves. But he would be human, just like you. Just as smart as you. Once the first shock is past and you both settle down you’d start to communicate. That person can speak – not English, of course and probably not with as varied a vocabulary as we have today, but speak. The two of you could eventually start to sort out some basic words and mental concepts for each other…to start to tell each other your stories. And that person is going to figure out things – like what a lighter is, what a metal knife can be used for…and so on and on. With a bit of patience, that “cave man” in five years has learned to live in our society and is regularly on the talk show circuit telling us what life was like back in the Ice Age. He’d joke about the high skill he has in tracking down a mastodon but how much easier it is to just buy some chicken nuggets.

It All Comes Together

Mark Noonan5 Comments

In a little bit of a follow up to the last post: people on our side are getting ok with responding to violence with violence. Even saw a guy on X who suggested flogging for the more minor offenders…including, outside politics, those who shoplift and such. This is the way we’re going to have to go. Mostly because just like those attacking ICE, it is the stupid people who shoplift and vandalize.

If you catch an 8 year old trying to lift a candy bar from the store you understand the whole sequence: he saw the candy bars. How many of them! It is just one. And, wow, a candy bar would be nice right now!

The 8 year old doesn’t understand the amount of labor that went into getting that candy bar onto the store shelf. How razor thin the profit margins are on each candy bar sold and how the owner of the store has to sell quite a lot of them just to make ends meet. And we don’t get too angry with the 8 year old – sure, some punishment is warranted – and must be done – but an 8 year old lacks the knowledge and wisdom necessary to fully understand the action taken.

By the time we’re talking about a 28 year old, a different set of parameters come in. To be sure, that 28 year old shoplifter or vandal still might not understand the full ramifications of what is being done – but if that is so, it just means our actions must be even sterner than we might initially contemplate. A 28 year old should fully understand it all – if a person after nearly three decades of life doesn’t understand it, then we’d better make darn sure that they at least understand risk/reward and how very, very painful its going to be if they get caught.

The bottom line is that someone stupid enough to steal from a store or think that ICE should be attacked isn’t someone you can reason with. Such people are all impulse and emotion. They should have been taught very young to control that sort of thing but they weren’t. In fact, here in 2025, they were more than likely taught that impulse and emotion are the way to go. That the whiny shout is how you get your needs met. In a lifetime of shouting and grabbing and having a temper tantrum they’ve never once met someone who will say “no” and make it stick. We’re going to have to do that.

Right now the DOJ is applying current laws to the problem – with some success. You might note that its been a while since a Tesla was set on fire. But I’m concerned this is mostly due to people finding out that Teslas have cameras all over the place – that they haven’t learned their lesson so much as just shifted their target…to now throwing rocks at ICE agents figuring that masks and numbers give a good shot at getting away with it. Plus the MSM Propagandists aren’t talking to much about Musk and DOGE of late and the target audience has the attention span of a gnat. I suspect we’re eventually going to be forced to extreme measures.

This is because illegal immigration is the lynchpin of the whole Leftist operation. This is why right now the Democrat-paid “MAGA” influencers are going ape about the Epstein issue. Which we all do care about very much and would like to see unraveled but everyone paying attention realizes that Trump really hit the nail on the head with his emphasis on illegal immigration. The Democrats would love to have us talking about anything else but immigration and would also love to get MAGA fighting itself over the Epstein case. But here’s something to chew on: Trump repeatedly promised to release the JFK, MLK and RFK files…but he didn’t actually get up there and make a specific promise regarding the Epstein files. He alluded to the issue, but it was never central to his transparency program. And, of course, file releasing of any type was never as big a Trump campaign issue as illegal immigration.

Why?

I think we were all a little blind on the matter – we were all just thinking it isn’t good to have millions of foreigners wandering around. We knew about lots of other things involved – for instance, I have repeatedly said that Cartel involvement (and bribery of US officials) is a major aspect of it all. But Trump made it very central and we’re just now starting to see why.

Announced today is the termination of a Clinton-era (!) program which allowed taxpayer funds to pay for trade school for illegal immigrants. Think about that for a moment…since Clinton we’ve been forking over money for illegal immigrants going to trade schools. When did this happen? When was it debated on? Passed through Congress? Why didn’t W stop it?

It just sort of happened – Clinton ordered it. No debate. The funding was just included – year after year – in those omnibus bills of thousands of pages. Did W even know of it? Did anyone other than the people involved in dispensing and receiving the money? Who the heck knows. Main thing, the money flowed out – and has been flowing out for decades. All based on a self-perpetuating Executive order by Bill Clinton. And then the light goes off in your head: how much of that money actually made it to helping Jose from Chiapas learn how to be a plumber? We Americans didn’t know about it – how in heck would an illegal immigrant know about it? Oh, sure, there were people enrolled and money was dispensed…but how much – what percentage of it – actually educated an illegal immigrant? What percentage just went to line the pockets of politically connected individuals? What percentage eventually wound up kicked back to the Cartels who traffic the people into our country?

Start to see it?

Trump didn’t just see the millions flowing across the border – huge as that issue is – he saw it as a gigantic system of misappropriating tax dollars into the pockets of the criminals and the connected (often same/same). Untold billions – probably trillions over the years – has gone through this. Money for “trade school” is only a small part of it but it just one of ten thousand spigots tapping into the US Treasury…and it all has become an ATM for lots of people…from Senators to Mexican drug lords. And they’re big mad that Trump is threatening the gravy train. Now we also see the connection to USAID – cuts to which sort of caught us all on the hop but Trump new all along what he was doing.

And this is why we’re probably going to have to get very stern – and I think we’ve got the stomach as a people to get that stern. People who have access to hundreds of billions of misappropriated dollars per year will not give up on that without a fight. They’re around the edges of violence right now…but if Trump keeps going, they will get actually violent, with the stupid being the cannon fodder. And so we’ll have to treat the stupid very, very harshly. Making up for what they lacked in childhood…someone to knock some sense into their heads.

The Democrats are Inciting Violence (as Usual)

Mark Noonan16 Comments

There have been quite a lot of violence directed towards ICE of late. Attempted ambushes of ICE officers, attacks on their buildings. A man was killed in Los Angeles when he arrived, armed, to attack ICE officers (the LA Times that day, of course, ran with a story about how illegals are feeling “fear” over the ICE raids). These attacks are the direct result of Democrat rhetoric about ICE and the immigration enforcement efforts.

Keep in mind that ICE is made of American citizens – you and me, that is – who are merely trying to enforce long-standing American immigration laws; and these laws were passed in a bi-partisan manner as everyone agreed that we needed strict enforcement of our immigration laws. The Democrats are making out that ICE is a Gestapo-like organization of purely evil people who are “invading” America to snatch people at random off the streets and “disappear” them to nobody knows where. This is all very stupid rhetoric…but, remember, it isn’t designed to get to you and me. It isn’t even really designed to get to most Democrats. It is designed to get the most stupid people in America to commit violence. It is intentional – and it is having its intended effect.

Someone in Democrat-land has decided that the way forward here is to incite violence – likely on the theory that if enough violence happens, the American people will be intimidated into abandoning Trump on the immigration issue. Sure, they are still keeping up with the lawfare with ever more absurd court rulings from activists in judicial robes, but they know where this ends: the Supreme Court swatting it all down. Perhaps on 7-2 votes in the end. This is because there is simply no case to be made that removing an illegal is wrong. Heck, you’d be on thin legal ice bringing a case about a legal immigrant being deported – foreign presence in the USA is a revocable privilege. And the Executive has near-plenary authority on deciding who can come…and who has to go. So, the Democrats know that the system won’t back them – and this means it is time to wreck the system. That is, apply violence to it and hope that everyone runs away.

This is just like their anti-Trump rhetoric – calling him a Nazi and an existential threat to Democracy…it got shots fired and a man killed in Butler and nearly in Florida…and they do hope still for someone very stupid to get close enough to try again. This is why I am always worried when Trump does a public appearance. But the man has a yard of guts and simply won’t be intimidated. Will we?

I hope not. No matter what they do, remain firm. They are trying to terrorize us into giving up. Don’t give into it. Stout hearts! Once the fever breaks – and it will – if we remained strong we’ll win it all.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan16 Comments

In the immediate aftermath of the Texas flood the Democrats swung into action!

Going to help and raising funds for the victims?

Oh heck no! They got their talking points out and started blaming Trump! You see, because NOAA had some DOGE staff cuts a few months back, THIS WAS ALL TRUMP’S FAULT YOU MAGA MORONS!!!! Of course, if you read the articles about the NOAA cuts from the time they don’t actually list who was fired – sure, they say it was vital people but since they didn’t tell us which, exact, people were let go, you can rely on it was the Deputy Assistant Director for Diversity Affairs – not anyone mission critical. And, anyways, as the storm built up the NWS in the area called in the troops and so they were actually overstaffed at the time of the disaster.

I pointed out on X that after reading the articles about it, I got the distinct impression that nobody had messed up. The warnings were issued in a timely manner and people reacted responsibly to them – but it seems that the storm cell stalled in place for a bit and just dumped water…and in a particular place where the terrain ensured it was going to be bad. In short, it is a natural disaster…like an earthquake or tsunami and while we can all look back and wish this, that or the other thing had been done, there really wasn’t anything that was going to change the result. It is all just a horrible tragedy and Democrats are some sick, twisted people trying to wring political advantage out of it.

Elon has started his new American Party – which is going to be a bit interesting, mostly in who joins it. Most will be sheer lunatics. But what Musk will first find out is how difficult ballot access is. Here in Nevada it is fairly straightforward – but even here we require a new party to get the signatures of 1% of the voters in each House district. Each district: you can’t roll up the numbers in NV-01 and use that to make up for a deficit in NV-04…he’s going to have to hire people to wander around Elko trying to get signatures. Also, Nevada already has an Independent American Party (a last echo of Wallace’s 1968 campaign) and that will cause confusion. And other State’s have positively Byzantine access laws. Bottom line, it will be very difficult for Elon to get on the ballot in all 50 States by election day, 2026. And he’s already said he’s going to be very targeted…which translates into, “I’ll try to torpedo GOPers in tight races”.

Why is he doing this? Can’t say for sure: I can’t read his mind. But I did find out that one of the things OBBB did was terminate the sale of what amounts to carbon credits to meet CAFE standards. The CAFE standards still exist but the fine for noncompliance has been reduced to zero…Musk’s Tesla makes huge money – apparently the difference between profit and loss, by a lot – selling credits to other car makers who don’t meet CAFE standards. They won’t need these credits and so Tesla will lose money…lots and lots of money. If what I read is correct – and it seems to be – Musk is already selling each Tesla at a loss…and more than making up for it via Green New Scam provisions which will now no longer matter. As I said many times before, people who make the kind of money Musk has have a primary loyalty to their money. If Musk had just wanted to be rich then once he got to a couple billion dollars he would have kicked back at the beach…that he keeps going piling up more and more means that money (and the power it brings) fascinates him. You risk his money and he will be upset with you.

Also as I’ve said, Musk is no Conservative – he’s really rather all over the map and mostly seems to favor things which work out best for Musk. Heavily invested in solar, so he boosts solar. Heavily invested in EV’s, so he favor’s EV mandates and subsidies. Heavily invested in space exploration, favors big subsidies for that. Etc, etc, etc. I personally think that he’s simply trying to pressure Trump and the GOP into making concessions…that in the next reconciliation bill promised by Speaker Johnson, he gets back some of what he lost in the OBBB. Perhaps Trump will accommodate him? He is a deal maker, after all – but Trump holds the whip hand here: Trump is actually popular and he doesn’t need Musk for anything. In addition, we have the history of Trump – everyone who crosses him gets wrecked, usually by their own stupidity.

July 4th 1776

Mark Noonan14 Comments

So, what did we say that fine day?

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident,

This means they don’t have to be proved. They are like the sky being blue. You can argue if you like, but no American will accept any argument that these truths are not self evidently true.

that all men are created equal,

This is a dogma much like the Christian dogma of the Trinity (though on a lower level, of course). You can’t prove it. In fact, you can easily find evidence that while we are created equal, we are not actually equal. Not in physical ability, not in intellectual capacity and so on. But we hold that all men – though in 2025 we would write it “all people” – are created equal because this is the only way to justify a government by consent. We’re either equal and thus can only be governed at our consent, or we are unequal and our superior masters shall rule over us.

that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

We are endowed with the rights. That word is very important. Government doesn’t grant us our rights, we are endowed with them from the moment we are created. And these rights cannot be taken away – not even by our voluntary agreement. They exist outside of human reference. God or Nature – take your pick based on your beliefs – endowed us with them by the simple fact of our being human. Why do we assert this as self-evident? Because like our being created equal, it is the only way to justify the sort of government we have. If our rights are contingent upon agreement or law, then it is not self evident that we are created equal and the whole edifice collapses.

–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

Another key part: we institute government simply to secure our rights. Anything else governments do at the behest of the people is all fine and dandy, but the purpose of government is to secure our rights. It is the only thing the government must do. We might want government to pay us all money out of the Treasury…but we demand that government secure our rights.

–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

No government is permanent. Not even our sublime Constitution. Humanity is Fallen. We sin. We err. We get greedy and stupid. We forget what we’re doing here. When that happens, we have the right to alter or to abolish that form of government which failed and try again with a new form of government.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

We can and will put up with a lot, but when our form of government starts to abuse us and usurp our rights, it is our duty to alter or abolish the government. Jefferson wasn’t letting us off the hook. The United States was founded on the dogmas listed above and subscription to those dogmas – a requirement for any person who wishes to have the title of American citizen – lays upon us the duty to change things when they’ve gone wrong. We are not to wait upon the boss to tell us – we tell him what we’re doing, and if we have to fight, so be it.

There is nothing like the United States. Nothing like our Declaration. Nothing like our Constitution. And there never will be another like it unless we Americans simply try to make what was done in 1776 better. Other nations – other peoples – are incapable of this form of government and our concepts of liberties and rights. We don’t know what magic of the universe – what interventions by God – made us what we are and gave us our Founders, but however it came to be, it was and remains unique. Other people do approach our ideals of government and liberty, but they always fall short…too fearful from long habits of servility of actually taking that final step to full, adult and human responsibility. Only we have said – and as far as we can tell, only we will say – “I am an adult human being with Rights and they will be respected”. Everyone else always places a “but” in there somewhere…some escape hatch which allows the adult to hide and allow some form of Master to take charge and order things to their liking.

And it is hard, my friends. We already know that some substantial portion of our own people have been so ruthlessly propagandized that they are eager to surrender their rights in return for a government subsidy. But it was hard in 1776, too. In fact, it is said that only about one in three of the Founding generation were active participants in creating our nation. Such is how is was, is and always will be: most people are afraid of taking any sort of responsibility. But true Americans never shy away from it – we eagerly demand to be given the choice, and we choose liberty at all costs and hazards. Outside of our varied faiths in God, nothing is more important to an American than being free and equal under God.

Look back upon that generation, now nearly 250 years past. They are long gone but they remain our standard. Do we measure up to them? Are we as brave as they were? If we have but a tenth of their courage, we shall remain free.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan2 Comments

I stayed up to watch the vote on the Rule for the OBBB…and it was all just so very irritating. I’m sick of these GOPers who play this game of chicken.

I get that everyone wants to maximize their political gain out of these things…but the place to do that is while the bill is being crafted, not when its up for final passage. It is like we’ve raised up a generation of Congresscritters who don’t know how to do it…and then as I mentally ranted and raved about it, I understood: they really don’t know how to do it. Do you realize how long its been since real politics took place in the Capitol? It isn’t a political field…its a stage. Its where you go to have an impressive background to state your talking points. Politics is done in staff offices…and for staffers, a bit of backstabbing at the crucial moment is probably what they’re told to do…and likely by Democrats (there is a poll of staffers for DC…and I’ll bet most of them are Democrats).

I don’t think these guys know how to horse trade and I’ve got the horrified feeling that they can’t horse trade because horse trading requires that you keep your word. In the old days of politics, a person’s word was their bond. You only rarely made a solid promise to do something but when you did, you kept your word. You had to. If you got a reputation for ratting out, you’d be finished. Nobody would trust you – the Party bosses would find a primary challenger because nobody likes a liar. Or, at least, nobody used to. Olden days valued honesty. Modern times seem to value the brazen lie – and the more brazen it is, the more it is admired. One of the GOPers causing the hold up last night just last year was stating that border security was the most important issue of our times…and there she was last night, objecting because the bill didn’t cut spending by an additional one percent. That isn’t principle – that is being a liar.

We really need to get people to understand that this isn’t a game. The fate of our nation is at stake – and while Democrats can gum up the works and prevent us from getting all we want, we still must get as much as we can. Trump must be able to rely on a solid GOP caucus…and if he can’t, then its time to primary until we do. We can’t make these people honest, but we can make them afraid.

Oh, Jeffries got up in the House to rant and rave against OBBB and he said, I quote, that the “deportation machine will be unleashed on steroids”. So, what we voted for.

Have a great and safe Fourth!