Out and About on a Friday

Much argument these days on what a Conservative actually is – my two cents: a Conservative is someone who understands and believes the fundamental dogma of Original Sin. You don’t actually have to be a believer to hold this (though it’s easier if you are), but if you don’t work on the assumption that people can, even from the best of motives, get it wrong then your own policy ideas will eventually fall apart.

Trump is going to get crushed in an epic landslide – or, maybe not.

You know me – I’m not really in favor of all these late night, no-knock raids by police…but Belgium’s policy of no raids between 9pm and 5am is, well, stupid.

Georgia is debating a bill which would provide just a tiny bit of protection for those who want a conscience exemption – you know, not having to do things like hire people to work at the Church school who openly disbelieve in Church teaching and that sort of thing. Now, pay attention, Conservatives: Big Corporation is stoutly opposed to this. Big Corporation is even threatening boycotts of Georgia if the people there have the nerve to demand freedom of conscience. Big Corporation – and the so-called Capitalist system it lives in – is against us, folks. They are allied with liberals – and please let that sink deep into your heart.

Australia banned guns – and this led to the end of guns in Australia and everyone is now happy and peaceful! Just kidding – it has actually generated a violent black market in guns.

Scott Walker thinks that brokered convention will lead to a non-candidate getting the nod. I can think of at least one person I’d rather have than either Trump or Cruz. Can you? After all, if we are doomed to President Grifter, then I’d rather have us lose under an honorable banner.

Colorado’s dope industry is doing well – smoke a blunt for prosperity!

Out and About on a Friday

I’ve seen people saying that in a choice between Trump and Hillary, Hillary is the better choice. This just flabbergasts me – for all that Trump has done, he’s not as bad as Hillary. Hillary has deliberately lied again and again throughout her public life. I’m not talking about the exaggerations and evasions common to politics – I’m talking about deliberately lying to the American people about what she has said and done. The latest outrage, in my view, is the way she’s claiming that the families of the Benghazi dead are lying about what she said! This is getting very far into the theater of the absurd – and she just keeps going down it. Like Trump, Hillary is incapable of admitting error…but so far Trump’s enormities haven’t lead to the catastrophe which has been Hillary Clinton actions. I can well believe that Trump will wind up as disastrous as Hillary…but to say he’s now, today, worse than Hillary is just silly.

For those casting blame for the rise of Trump I do suggest you check one, last place before finishing: the mirror. It is all of us Conservatives who have failed, to one degree or another. Sure, some are far more culpable than others, but each of us had a duty – if we wish to engage in politics, at all – in making our movement palatable to the widest possible cross-section of Americans. If the GOP primary electorate was even 15% African-American, then Trump simply would not have been able to get as far as he did. Whatever happens in November – the Election of Generalissimo Trump or the Coronation of Her Imperial Majesty Hillary I – we Conservatives need to think long and hard about how we get more people into our movement.

Watch what people do, not what they say. People are saying that Trump is a massive electoral defeat waiting to happen…but if that were the case, then President Obama wouldn’t be turning up the heat to save Hillary (and his legacy) from Trump.

Is the fate of the GOP in the hands of Kasich?

Secretary of State Kerry, once again Johnny-on-the-spot, has declared that ISIS is committing genocide against Christians and other non-Muslims. Only a liberal, American government would take more than two days to figure this out…and only a liberal, American government would only make the move when forced to by outraged public opinion.

John McCain is in trouble in Arizona – only leads his challenger by 1 percentage point. Question: will McCain seek some anti-Establishment street cred by endorsing “whacko bird” Cruz? Alternately, will McCain toss over the GOP in order to save his own political skin and try to force a vote on Obama’s SCOTUS nominee?

GOP Establishment increasingly shows itself willing to rally around Trump – meanwhile, the True Cons grow ever more dismayed by him. So, we might have Everyone But Conservatives for Trump…this year will be strange.

Hey, remember Islamist terrorism? It’s still a thing.

Instead of appointing a Harvard or Yale lawyer to the Supreme Court, why not someone who lives in the real world?

In contested conventions, the guy who starts with the most votes usually doesn’t win it. Reason: If you can’t snag a first-ballot majority, it indicates a firm level of dislike for your candidacy. Those who vote against you the first time tend to dig in their heels and cast about for any reasonable alternative. We’ll see if this comes out like that if the GOP convention is contested.

Out and About on Tuesday

Ever wonder what goes on in colleges? Here’s a sample:

Glaciers are key icons of climate change and global environmental change. However, the relationships among gender, science, and glaciers – particularly related to epistemological questions about the production of glaciological knowledge – remain understudied. This paper thus proposes a feminist glaciology framework with four key components: 1) knowledge producers; (2) gendered science and knowledge; (3) systems of scientific domination; and (4) alternative representations of glaciers. Merging feminist postcolonial science studies and feminist political ecology, the feminist glaciology framework generates robust analysis of gender, power, and epistemologies in dynamic social-ecological systems, thereby leading to more just and equitable science and human-ice interactions.

This is what is known in polite society as “bullsh**”. But it is BS with a purpose – to pretend that people who don’t know anything must be listened to. Oh, and you paid for that with your tax dollars. Human-ice interactions? For normal people, that is when you pour the bourbon…

Did George Bush lie us into Iraq? Short answer: no. But check this video out.

The hacker Guccifer has been extradited to the United States – he’s the guy who, among other things, hacked Hillary Clinton…but you can bet your last dollar that the Justice Department won’t bring up that little detail.

A chance to turn New York red in 2016? There’s been a surge of Democrats re-registering Independent and Republican this year…and Democrat primary turn out is not just a bit low, it is disastrously bad. Things could get interesting.

Why we Catholics have to keep “Popesplaining” things to you:

1. Pope says that Europe is facing an “Arab invasion” and notes that Europe has been able to deal with such invasions in the past.

2. MSM reports it as “Pope says Europe is being invaded and it is a good thing”.

The other day I saw a bit of a joke on Facebook – three pictures. First picture is of a smiling Pope Francis with the caption, “we must love all men”. Second picture is of an MSM talking head saying, “Pope Francis has made homosexuality mandatory for all men”. Third picture is of Pope Francis with a WTF look on his face. Seriously guys and gals, the Pope is not a Commie and he’s not an agent of the Global Jihadist Conspiracy. He’s Catholic – he’s going to say Catholic things and he will try to give as little offense as possible because if you’re insulting people, it is rather difficult to convert them.

Related: mass baptisms of refugees in Germany.

Related, Related: number of Catholics continues to increase faster than global population growth. Still down in the Americas and Europe, but growing by leaps and bounds in Africa and Asia. Main thing, we’re eventually going to take over. Muhahahaha! You’ll all be doing Rosaries!

Reports that plenty of DC Republicans might vote Hillary is that is what it takes to stop Trump. Sorry, folks – but that is just another indicator if its Trump Vs Hillary, Trump wins. Maybe 10 or 20 thousand upper echelon GOPers might vote Hillary…but millions of Democrats will vote Trump. If we want to stop Trump, November ain’t the place to do it…he’ll have to be stopped in the primaries.

Weekend Open Thread

Over 80% of the jobs added in February – if we can trust BLS stats, at all – were low wage (and there’s a Zero Hedge link for those of you who have been starved for such). But don’t sweat it – I’m sure that our economy is far more valuable with more people tending bar than working in mines…

On Saturday, the GOP has caucuses in Kansas, Kentucky and Maine and a primary in Louisiana – if the Great Wall of Trump is starting to crack, we should see some signs of it in these places.

People are still arguing that Cruz should step aside and allow Rubio to be the Anti-Trump – sorry, folks, but that just isn’t rational. I caucused for Rubio but you just have to admit that stopping Trump requires someone to get more delegates than Trump…and Cruz is best positioned to do that. Cruz is, on balance, probably the guy who can keep most of the GOP Trumpsters on side. Whether or not he can generate the sort of cross-over Dems Trump has been getting is an unknown. Now, if Rubio starts to do well and pulls ahead of Cruz (this would require, at minimum, winning Florida), then perhaps Rubio can be our Anti-Trump…but elections are about votes, not about what one prefers. Right now, Cruz is getting more votes.

Gallup has Obama above 50% approval…that is bad but, also, I think quite wrong. What has happened in Obama-world which would make people think, “wow, he’s doing a good job?”. It could be a reflection of popular disgust with Obama’s prospective replacements which is driving Obama’s numbers up. It’s the first time in two years Gallup has Obama in positive territory, so I suspect it is an outlier. This is is borne out by Gallup showing Obama +7 while no other recent polling shows him in that condition – and his RCP average is 48% approval, if you include this latest Gallup poll. But, we’ll have to see how it goes – keep in mind that the President’s party usually scores within a point or two of the President’s approval rating at election time…so if people are getting happy out the Obama Era, it bodes ill for the GOP…on the other hand, the collapse in Democrat primary turnout (ie, what people are doing rather than saying the pollsters) is a stronger indicator that Obama’s time has gone.

Allahpundit wonders – is it going to be Trump/Kasich or Trump/Cruz after all is said and done?

Topical: Hitler or Stalin – who is worse?

Progressives explained: “There’s no alternative to logic except laziness” – G K Chesterton.

Making sure Trump cannot corner the Insane-American Vote: Hillary will get to the bottom of the UFO business in Area 51.

UPDATE: Well, Cruz crushed it in Kansas and Maine, while Trump narrowly carried Louisiana and Kentucky. What we have here is a political contest which no one can see the end of – Trump still has the advantage, but it is small and shrinking. Meanwhile, Bernie took Kansas and Nebraska while Hillary rolled to victory in Louisiana…I’m starting to suspect that Her Majesty’s coronation might be delayed.

Open Thread

The Justice Department has given a grant of immunity in the Hillary case…grants of immunity are usually only given to someone who is guilty but willing to spill the beans on someone else. My guess: beans will be spilled on Someone Other Than Hillary. This way we get a prosecution while Hillary can be given an allegedly clean bill of health on the whole matter. Only question is who get thrown under the bus.

But is Bernie playing his hand in a manner to ensure that no one else can step in if Hillary is indicted?

Mitt Romney is going to give a speech tomorrow – some expect a Rubio endorsement, everyone expects some sort of attack on Trump. I don’t think an attack on Trump will do much – the sort of people backing Trump will treat Romney’s words with contempt. On the other hand, endorsing Rubio might help. On the other other hand, endorsing Cruz would be quite the unexpected thing – and probably be most useful in stopping Trump, if that can still be done.

Related: Lindsey Graham suggests it might be time to rally around Cruz.

For an alternative GOP view on Trump, Roger L. Simon appears unfazed by Trump’s enormities:

…With all his victories, however, many Beltway Republicans are obviously still tremendously upset by Donald’s success. It’s hard to tell how big the #NeverTrump crowd is, but you will excuse me if, in plain English, I don’t know what the Hell they’re talking about.

Do these people want to lose? Would they prefer Hillary Clinton be president? Are they looking for a perfect candidate? Has there ever been one? Donald Trump may actually be expanding the Republican Party. Isn’t that good? … For that group I would recommend a reading of Hugh Hewitt’s “Six reasons Trump is still better than Clinton.” If Hugh can write that after Donald famously dissed him for low ratings at the last debate, a lot of other people can swallow their pride too and get on board…

Meanwhile, Jonah Goldberg isn’t having any of it:

…Trump says he gets along with everybody and will unify the country, even as he suggests that an inconvenient judge is biased because he’s Latino, vows to ban all Muslims from the country, insists his Central Intelligence Agency will torture people, and boasts that he will declare war on disloyal journalists.

When your opponent is that unreasonable, the reasonable response is not surrender.

I don’t know whether Trump will win the nomination or the presidency. But I am fairly certain that if he does, a great many people will one day say, “My God, what have I done?”

It Ain’t Super Tuesday So We Don’t Have to Be All Depressed (Yet) Open Thread

So this Swedish teenager – apparently starry-eyed for some boy – agrees to travel nearly 2,000 miles with him to Syria. The story says they took a bus to ISIS controlled territory! What in heck is going on in this world? First off – just what did anyone ever hear about ISIS which makes them say, “sounds good; sign me up?”. She’s not Muslim – she’s native Swedish…what brings such a child to such a place? And how in heck did she just waltz in there where our Special Forces troops risk life and limb to get in?

We live in very strange and amazingly stupid times.

Christie endorses Trump. See my above comment.

Glenn Reynolds analyses the Trump phenomena and notes that similar political rumblings are being seen in Britain. Boiled down – people are afraid to hold in public unpopular opinions until it is safe to so do. As more and more people “let it all hang out” people start to realize that their secret views are not really all that unpopular and a preference cascade erupts – in a flash, safe political calculations are upset. Trump’s vulgar demagoguery is allowing more and more people to, as it were, let it rip in the public square. This is allowing some people of decidedly fascist and/or racist views to poke their heads up a bit, as well – and that shouldn’t be ignored and should be smacked down as much as possible…but it is also allowing people to say true things which have been forbidden for a long time. We’re all going to get to see how this plays out – I don’t think anyone is going to be able to stop it from happening, even if Trump ends up losing. The cat is most definitively out of the bag.

Host of un-watched ultra-leftwing TV show is boycotting her show because it keeps getting pre-empted by things people would rather watch.

Yet another false accusation of racism. Racism does, indeed, exist in the United States. My “block” list on Twitter is probably half outright racists. But it doesn’t really keep a minority person down…and 7 years after we elected our first African-American President is is the height of absurdity to keep harping on racism as if this were still 1960 in the Jim Crow South. But, liberals want to keep harping on it – and if they just have to make stuff up, that is what they’ll do.

And also 7 years into Obama’s Administration, the Washington Post makes the shocking discovery that here is a lack of U.S. leadership in the world.

What’s coming for us…

Love and Peace South Carolina Primary Weekend Soft Fuzzy Bunnies Open Thread

Been a lot of grief these last couple weeks – so, my thread title should fix that right up. Right?

Oh, well – as least I tried.

Anyways…

Yet more on the Hillary scandal(s) – as I said, she won’t get indicted. Obama just won’t allow that…but the more of this that comes out, the more likely Hillary won’t get elected…and may not even get the nomination. If you think a GOP brokered convention would be a clusterfark, you ain’t seen nothing…if the Dems have one, it will be downright insane. Just imagine all the varied and conflicting Dem interest groups demanding a seat at the table…

Allahpundit does a bit more Romney ’16 trolling – in a confused and broken world, it’s good to have some things we can rely on.

Jeb is going to lose very badly in South Carolina tomorrow – and his donors are getting ready to bail out. Over to Rubio? Time will tell…

Liberals coming up with more excuses to dump Hillary.

Foreign policy: it’s bad. It needs to be fixed. Unless we get a 9/11 style attack on the USA between now and November, I don’t think it’ll play a role in the election.

College – a place where you rack up 30k in debt and come out knowing less than a 12 year old did 40 years ago.

Remember when America had talent?

Out and About on a Weekend

Various part of the GOP are starting to do opposition research on Bernie Sanders. As I always say, don’t pay attention to what people say, watch what they do. People would not expend the time and money to do this unless some serious political number-crunchers have found out that Bernie has a path to the nomination.

Related: far left coming up with excuses for ditching Hillary.

What to do in an active shooter situation:

I have watched training videos on what to do in the event of an active shooter situation, and they all focus on the Run/Hide/Fight principle. Run if you can, hide if running isn’t an option, and fight if options A and B fail. What you should not do is simply lay down and die, or hope that the attacker dies of a stroke, or sit passively and get murdered. And in every one of these training videos, if you get to the Fight stage, the video producer recognizes something very basic, very simple, and yet so important – arm yourself. Grab a chair, grab a stapler, grab a binder or a coffee pot. Grab whatever you can to inflict the maximum amount of damage on your attacker, because something is better than nothing. But you know what is better than something? The right tool for the job, that’s what. You can attack an active shooter with a coffee pot, if that’s all you have, but wouldn’t you rather have a rifle at that moment, as well as the training to use it properly? Of course, because it’s the right tool for the job.

There’s a surfer gang that keeps others away from surfing. Who knew?

Lunatic lefty politician and corrupt, political hack get into a fight. It is Grayson vs Reid: Pass the popcorn.

Democrats must be more worried about 2016 than we thought – the Maryland legislature has over-rode a veto and will ensure that about 44,000 felons are able to vote in Maryland this year.

I’m Writing Another Long Post Open Thread

I really did like writing that last long post – and, so inspired, am in the process of writing another. It’ll likely become a series as I explore my views of just what, exactly, makes one a Conservative or a Progressive. But as enormously long posts take a long time to write, how about some content?

Well, the Broncos won – and all Chargers fans are delighted as it means the near-certain retirement of Manning and thus the Bolts will have a shot at the AFC West next year. As for Newton’s meltdown in the post-game presser: I cut him some slack. He’s a young, vigorous man who just had a fantastic year but the Big Prize – the thing he’s worked his whole, young life for – was ripped away from him…by that absolutely stunning Denver defense (I hadn’t seen a Denver game all year – I had no idea just how good those guys are). Newton will be back – and I think he’ll eventually get his well-deserved ring…and he’ll mature and do better.

Sanders and Hillary are tied in national polls – mostly a meaningless thing as the Primaries are a series of electoral contests which don’t 1 for 1 relate to each other…but it is a stunning fall from the heights for Hillary, who is now nakedly demanding Progressives support her simply because she’s a woman. I still think she’ll steamroll her way to the nomination, but she’s heavily damaged goods. This is what makes the GOP primary so important – whomever we nominate is likely the next President, even if it’s Jeb (that is a change for me – I thought him the one sure-loser for 2016, but Hillary is so bad that even Jeb could possibly beat her). Related: final poll for NH shows Bush in 2nd, Rubio in 4th. If it works out that way, then we’ll have Jeb to kick around for a while longer. I hope it’s not true – I hope by SC (or, at least, by the “SEC Primary” we’re down to a three man cage match between Trump, Cruz and Rubio). Also related: pretty, young woman is feeling the Bern…which is still rather sad, but I have about 1,567,978% more respect for any Prog backing Bernie than I do those backing Hillary. Seriously – Bernie is lots and lots of things I disagree with, but he isn’t a nauseating tub of corruption.

How do you fall on the “Obama is doing this deliberately/Obama is just an incompetent dolt” debate? My view: he’s an incompetent dolt who is managing to deliberately wreck things because for more than 7 years, no one has really dared to try and stop him.

NARAL/Moloch = Same/Same.

A financial expert opines that there is zero chance of a recession this year. I’m sure you’re comforted.

Keep Libya in mind – Obama’s failed war there might be heading towards Failed War II.

Draft women into the military? I’m a bit old fashioned – heck no. But here’s the thing – if we believe that women should serve in combat then there are two requirements:

1. Women must meet the exact same standards as the men and there can be no lowering of standards and

2. You’d have to register women for the draft.

Call me whatever you want – but I think that it is the duty of men to fight; to spare women, as far as possible, from the horrors of war. Liberals don’t particularly care about that – ramming through their idea of equality is far more important, even if “equal” means “lower the standards until the women can meet them”. They also aren’t at all concerned about combat efficiency because war is wrong and, at any rate, Soft Power will make war un-necessary. Meanwhile, careerists in the Armed Forces are willing to do anything to get another star on their shoulder and if that means lowering combat efficiency in order to suck up to the politicians, they’ll do it.

If all that is happening is getting you down:

A Ballade of Suicide

The gallows in my garden, people say,
Is new and neat and adequately tall;
I tie the noose on in a knowing way
As one that knots his necktie for a ball;
But just as all the neighbours–on the wall–
Are drawing a long breath to shout “Hurray!”
The strangest whim has seized me. . . . After all
I think I will not hang myself to-day.

To-morrow is the time I get my pay–
My uncle’s sword is hanging in the hall–
I see a little cloud all pink and grey–
Perhaps the rector’s mother will not call– I fancy that I heard from Mr. Gall
That mushrooms could be cooked another way–
I never read the works of Juvenal–
I think I will not hang myself to-day.

The world will have another washing-day;
The decadents decay; the pedants pall;
And H.G. Wells has found that children play,
And Bernard Shaw discovered that they squall,
Rationalists are growing rational–
And through thick woods one finds a stream astray
So secret that the very sky seems small–
I think I will not hang myself to-day.

Not a Massively Long Post Open Thread

Figured my last post was way too long, so let’s put up something more immediately topical.

Cosmopolitan puts a sad face on the fact that more Texas women are having babies…I’m telling you, abortion is a sacrament in the Church of Progressivism.

Jimmy Carter opines that Trump is far more malleable than Cruz – and he would know about being a malleable President!

Do you like your recently reduced gasoline prices? Obama doesn’t.

Rob long points out that organizing and voting is what wins elections – it was, after all, Team Obama’s massively efficient organization which got him the votes in 2012. My note on this: of all the candidates, Cruz and Hillary have, by far, the best nuts-and-bolts political organizations. All else being equal, this indicates they will be the nominees and one of them will out-organize the other and win. Preparation wins battles.

I watched The Right Stuff the other day – delightful movie but what struck me most about it was that it was really a story about men being men; wanting to be tough and brave and do the grand deed simply because it needs to be done and brave men have to step up and do it. We’ve lost that.

Hillary doesn’t want to release the transcripts of the speeches she gave before various fat cat corporations and organizations. Is it because she reveals secrets – or because they are such clear boilerplate garbage that no one could possibly justify paying $250,000 to hear it, and thus it is clearly just a bribe for future access?