politics

Trump-Vance, 2024

Mark Noonan48 Comments

Gotta say, I was a little surprised – I figured it would be Youngkin. But that might have been my bias: I thought he was best for the slot. But the decision has been made; the deed is done. No sense arguing about it any longer. This is our team: time to swing in behind it.

Vance does have an “American dream” story – he was born into abject poverty with a really bad family life. He rose above that. Very high above that. Even though standards have been dropped, getting into Yale Law still ain’t easy. So, the guy has some smarts. But he also seems to impress people…from working class to billionaires, people have come into his orbit and all seem willing to help him along to the next goal. To be sure, the billionaires do put a note of suspicion on him – but on the other hand, this guy from nowhere managed to get billionaires to back his dreams. It’s one thing when the scion of a rich family gets aid – that is just one rich stroking another. Putting money into a nobody is a risk – and you only do that if you think its worth it.

His wife is also “American Dream”: born in America of Indian immigrants (but much higher socio-economically than Vance), Usha Vance also has the Yale Law degree; they met in college. So, she’s also got some brains. Vance turns 40 next month so he is the youth and vigor for the team – and as he and his wife have three young children that will also strike a chord in a large segment of the electorate. Small side note and totally irrelevant: I’ve created a witch named Usha in Ghost Tower (Book X); she’s alluded to in Home World (Book IX). She is a horribly bad person but also kinda cool in that she can kill people via flames shooting out of her hands. I just hope that Mrs Vance doesn’t take offense!

Vance represents “Flyover America”. That is his thing – its what he’s for. His Hillbilly Elegy was all about it. Another side note: If Trump/Vance wins then for the first time we’ll have an Executive team made up of two New York Times Bestsellers (Trump for The Art of the Deal). I suspect that Vance was picked at least in part for his ability to connect with the alienated in the Rust Belt. Not GOPers – they’re already in Trump’s corner. I’m talking disaffected Democrats.

Within minutes of the pick the Left was out with a variety of hit pieces – I don’t think they’ve fully settled on whether he’s Worse Than Hitler or Hitler Lite, but that he’s some sort of Hitler is a given. Naturally they’re calling him racist (though with an Indian wife; weird, huh?), sexist, homophobic, fascist and all the rest. That “lowering the tone” speech Biden gave yesterday had about a 12 hour shelf life. But, we all expected that – hate and fear are all the Democrats have.

There were, naturally, the Nattering Nabobs of Negativism on the Right. People who wanted someone else. People who are just looking for a reason to attack Trump. Cowards who think we can’t win. I mostly ignored them. They are the people we used to lose with. Trump/Vance is the future; and that is where I’m looking. Can they lose? Of course they can. Anything is, always, possible. But I’m pretty confident it is Trump/Vance getting sworn in next January. Keep in mind: Trump was winning before the debate. He was winning comfortably after it. After Saturday, I think he’s well nigh unbeatable…certainly unbeatable by a frail, senile old creep. That will be as it will: as I’ve said all along, if we lose in 2024 then we never had a chance to begin with. Might as well joyfully enter the battle.

And I am joyful. Probably more happy than I’ve been about the future of our nation for a long, long while. I think we might have the people to actually get the reform ball rolling. I mean real reform; where things actually change. Not just window dressing on failure. There is much work to do – and much risk. The attempt on Saturday is revealing so much incompetence in the USSS that it is easy to get the feeling that they were intentionally inept. The Democrats have not stopped the incendiary rhetoric – and that will just increase as time goes on. Make no mistake about it: they do want a successful Saturday to happen. They hope that by continually stoking the fires that someone will make their dream come true. But the miracle of Saturday also gives me confidence that, as it always eventually does, right will triumph.

This Post Grants You Immunity

Mark Noonan39 Comments

I literally missed the Biden statement this evening…I wasn’t really interested in watching but I figured I’d tune in but by the time I did, he was a couple minutes gone. I don’t know the exact time but it was less than five minutes and he took no questions. I did see the video of him shuffling off afterwards and that is just the symbol of his Administration now…a hollow wreck of a man shuffling off to oblivion. Also: who the heck put the orange makeup on? They must have used a trowel. Our Orange Man may be Bad but at least he isn’t senile.

Now, as to the Court decision, itself: precisely what I expected from the start. The non-lunatic justices know enough history to know that if you start prosecuting former Presidents you’ll shortly have no former Presidents. Caesar crossed the Rubicon because his opponents proposed to prosecute him after his term as Governor of Gaul ended. It was kill them or be killed. That is the choice the Democrats want us to face in the future. The Supreme Court at least temporarily spared us that choice. The legal eagles will analyze it but my quick reading of it is that if you can accuse the President of a crime which is no related to official actions, knock yourself out. So, the President taking a bribe or some such. But, very broadly defined, if the President is just carrying out the powers of the office, you’ve got no case…and you can’t even use such actions as a predicate for a case (so, if the President were essentially to bribe a foreign leader to swing over to the US side in a conflict). The case is remanded and Judge and Prosecutor are going to have to figure out if any of the charges meet the Court’s definition. That pushes any trial beyond November…and some have written that it might take until 2026 to bring this to trial because there will be back and forth as the two sides argue details, possibly requiring one or more trips to the Supreme Court to sort it out.

Side note: Nixon is vindicated. It can be argued that his orders to staff to cover up Watergate were part of official actions. Bottom line, this wasn’t tested in 1974 because Ford pardoned Nixon.

I don’t know who’s idea it was to have Biden give a statement – he looked, as noted, terrible. Taking no questions was a bad idea, as well. Not that he could answer them but to have him trot out, slander the Court and then just wander off is very bad optics. I can only assume that the political professionals are being frozen out and this is now the Jill and Hunter show. They apparently believe they can animate this corpse sufficiently to prevail in November.

I doubt that will work – we’ve now got post-debate polling showing Trump ahead in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire and down just two in New Mexico(!). Nationally, the RCP average shows Trump up about two. There are rumors that Democrat donors are nervous, that plenty of operatives are in a funk – and a continuing rumor that Obama wants Biden out but Jill isn’t allowing him any access. That story is that Obama is willing to roll the dice with an open convention (probably on the theory that he can control such a thing and get his favored person the nomination – he’s probably right about this). Meanwhile, other rumors have Whitmer in Michigan convinced that Biden can’t win – and perhaps willing to make prophecy into reality because her best path to a 2028 nomination is a defeated Biden in 2024, thus taking Kamala pretty much out of the nomination picture.

I do lend some credence to the theory that Obama does want Joe gone – because at least part of the MSM is still attacking Biden. This indicates to me that at least some of the Democrat power structure is pressing for a Biden exit and that part of the MSM most favorable to Obama is falling in line. Keep an eye on Hillary – if she starts showing up in the media a lot then we might have a plot afoot to scratch Biden at the Convention if not before. Hillary would naturally be angling for the slot but I’m confident that Team Obama will thwart that. Main thing is that until all the Democrat leadership is on board, you’re going to see elements of the Democrat coalition pushing and pulling in different directions. And these fractures might continue right up to election day.

Joe-Pocalypse

Mark Noonan54 Comments

And this is a Data for Progress poll – they are a pretty good polling outfit but the name gives it away: they are a Leftwing outfit. They always put out the most rosy picture for the Left. In this poll one in five Democrats are more worried about Biden’s senility. One in five! If half of that number just stays home in November it’ll be a political meltdown.

Team Pudding Brain got him to shout semi-coherently in North Carolina for a few minutes the day after the debate and they are presenting this as proof that Biden can, at times, be lucid. They’re seriously running with this: he’s not a complete wreck! The other half of this effort is to sell people on the idea that they aren’t voting for a man but for an Administration – it is “Dr” Jill and Kamala and the Whole Team who have done such wonderful things…we don’t really need Joe to be there all the time.

I have my doubts that this is going to work – voters don’t vote for a team. And the actual crucial consideration here is that in an emergency there is one person vested with Executive authority in the United States and if he’s gaga at the moment, no legitimate, legal order can be issued…but some order would emerge from a shadowy group which does not bear the legal power to issue an order. Honestly, Biden should resign.

But, he ain’t going anywhere. It is my view that the Democrat Powers That Be did press for him to step aside after the debate – it was catastrophically bad, after all. But my guess is that Team Pudding Brain flatly rejected it. And without their active cooperation, there’s no really effective means to force Biden out. Sure, Kamala could try to 25th him but the Cabinet is Joe’s, not hers…very doubtful she can get a majority of them to sign on. And even if she did, Pudding Brain’s people retain under the Constitution the means to fight back against such a 25th action. Unless he dies, he’s their guy. Of course, the thing about Biden’s condition is that it will only get worse – each day that passes brings us closer to the inevitable complete mental breakdown, shortly thereafter followed by death. Think of it like this: if today there is a 5% chance Biden finally loses it, then tomorrow there is a 5.1% chance…and so on. Depending on how far along he already is, we might be pretty close to the absolute certainty that he’s gone. Sure, people like this can have temporary bounce backs: my mother in law came back to us for a couple weeks shortly before she died. We treasure that time and the memories we got out of it before she finally went. But here we’re talking about the guy with his hand on the button. Bit of a different set of concerns.

One thing we’ve seen on the Left since Thursday is the “hey, Joe is a good man but its time for him to go”. This is infuriating a lot of people because Joe is not a good man. Since he entered public life during the Nixon Administration (!) he’s been a liar, a grifter and a bully. He’s never once done a thing which was for the United States or the people – it has all been a continual calculation about how it could advance Biden and his vile family in power and wealth. Do remember that “Scranton Joe” didn’t try to become a Senator from Pennsylvania – a purple State where holding State-wide office requires widespread appeal and a vigorous fight each time around. Nope: Joe shook the dust of Scranton from his feet and went to Delaware – because in Delaware you only need about 225k votes in a Democrat-heavy State while in Pennsylvania you need 2.7 million votes in a purple State now trending GOP in voter registration. It was pure cynicism – it is easier to obtain and retain office in Delaware than just about anywhere else. And then he used this seat just to advance his power and wealth.

The Democrats are gonna try. Biden in his lucid moments will lie. The MSM will continue to be in the bag. But right now, at this moment, if the election were held today, Trump would win – and both popular and electoral votes. The Democrats are the desperate, thrashing people right now. Anything can happen! Keeping in mind that “anything” includes the geezer keeling over (something I rate about 50/50). But I’ve never been more confident about the result…a thoroughly bad man in his dotage is the Democrat flag bearer for 2024 against an increasingly united and enthusiastic GOP. Let the games begin!

UPDATE: Rumors abound this Saturday evening that Biden and team will confab at Camp David tomorrow about the future of the campaign.

First take: he won’t quit. He has too much pride and First Lady Macbeth wouldn’t let him anyway.

Second take: It has been repeated in lots of news outfits.

Third take: At least part of Team Pudding Brain is denying it.

Fourth take: there is now a crescendo of MSM editorials calling on Biden to quit.

So, what’s happening? I’m still in the “I’ll believe it when I see it” camp…but there is clearly an internal war among Democrats right now. There was a DNC call earlier today and we’re getting different reads on it: some Democrats saying it was excruciating and others saying it was all rah-rah for Biden. They’re being pulled every which way. This, by the way, is proof positive that Biden isn’t in charge – if he was, the rumors never would have emerged and if they did they’d be immediately squashed and those responsible for floating the rumors sent into political exile. Can you imagine what Obama or Clinton would have done to any staffers who floated something like this? Democrats have not at this moment decided what to do but there is clearly pressure being exerted on Team Pudding Brain to bow out.

My bet is that its the Money which wants him out – the chances that Biden wins are low and falling. But even if he wins, there’s very little chance he lives deep into a second term. Money buys influence, not a nice thank you letter. The people who provide the cash want someone they can call for favors…and Biden isn’t that guy any longer or, at best, he won’t be very soon regardless of how November comes out. But for the Electeds it is a whole different ball of wax…jump ship on Biden too soon and he takes revenge. Wait too long and the New Guy snubs you. And who is the New Guy? Harris? She’s despised. But she’s also black and female. Newsom? He’s white and male. They likely haven’t the foggiest notion of who it would be if Biden goes. This means that various factions in the Democrat party will be saying this, that and the other thing, often flat contradictory.

So, in other words, this will be a lot of fun.

Debate Night Open Thread

Mark Noonan69 Comments

I admit to having a sense of dread about the debate. Been gnawing at me all week. After thinking it over, I realized why: the concept of seeing and hearing Biden for 90 minutes utterly disgusts me. He is such a thoroughly bad man and such an egregious liar. The thought that he was installed into office is an outrage against all decency.

Like many, I do think it was a mistake for Trump to agree to a debate on such unfriendly grounds. Rely on it, both Biden and CNN will be working from a script they’ve both had for the past week. The questions are known. The signals for where the moderators should jump in to help. Plans already in place to cut away from Biden if he glitches out. If they need Trump’s microphone to “malfunction” it is all set up. The questions will be dishonest and all designed to work against Trump no matter what direction he goes. It is a mistake because it allows liars a platform to lie to the American people.

But, it is what it is. Trump wanted this. Presumably he’s got a plan here. Hope it works!

I doubt, though, that the debate will move the needle much either way. Don’t get me wrong, the MSM already had instant and other polls ready to show a Biden bounce. Regardless of how Biden does, they will straight face announce that all questions of his physical and mental capacity has been answered by his vigorous and scrappy debate performance (and I mean this literally: Biden could pee himself on stage and these pre-set talking points will be used). Meanwhile, Trump will be Trump: the good and the bad. He’s not a very good debater. Biden allegedly is but that is only because the MSM lies for him – he’s actually a quite stupid man who tells the most fabulous lies. But it is up to Trump to make some lemonade here – to place a garnish on the poop sandwich. We’ll see if he’s able to do it.

Whatever the talking points and polling shows, observe the iron-clad Ten Day Rule when dealing with Trump. If in ten days polling is roughly where it is now, then the debate did nothing. My bet is that it’ll be roughly where it is now. And this is especially true if Trump does very well – the better he does, in fact, the more the MSM will cook the polling books to show otherwise. The very last thing the DNC will let the MSM do is show Trump pulling away. As I’ve mentioned before, if in October the reality is Trump heading for a Reaganesque win, the stats will still show it close – perhaps even a Biden lead. This election will be decided by the voters…and it all hangs on whether or not Trump can, as he has before, bring to the polls people who don’t normally show up. If he does, he wins. It is as simple as that. What the Establishment will be doing is trying to drive down turnout…to make it appear as if Biden has this in the bag so don’t bother.

One thing: they might hop Biden up on drugs so much he gets all shouty. That would be a catastrophe for him. Worse than him glitching out for a minute or two. Nobody likes to see old men shouting. It is cringe.

UPDATE: Good, lord that was terrible! I knew Biden was senile and physically decayed but I didn’t realize how badly until tonight! Is this guy even going to be alive in November?

Trump kept pretty solidly to message discipline – the muting of the microphone may have unintentionally helped in here. He was still able to get his Trumpist digs in but he wasn’t able to fly off on weird tangents as he’s prone to do at times. He landed several very telling blows on Biden’s record. As for Biden? His few coherent statements were just lies.

Team Biden Implodes

Mark Noonan46 Comments

Biden’s intern put up a post on X where a picture of a smiling Biden has the caption, “On my watch, when we make promises, we keep them. And we leave no one behind.” This is after Afghanistan and was posted the day after Team Pudding Brain announced a suspension of military aid to Israel. Here’s the thing about it: as of this writing, it has 3.7 million views…and 11,000 “likes”. Of the people who have seen it, 0.29% have liked it. And keep in mind that on X a certain large percentage of likes are really just “I saw it”, not necessarily an indication of approval. For a bit of comparison, I checked Trump’s old X account – it has been restored but the only time Trump has used it since his suspension was to post his mugshot. He was routinely getting low end 50k likes, high end 300k.

Then there’s the comments! It is hard to find positive comments at all – and the post has been “ratioed”; that is, far more comments than reposts (and indicator that the best time to delete the post was before you sent it; second best time is right now). Most of the comments you’ll find could be shortened to two words beginning with “f” and “y”. This guy is getting scorched by a nation increasingly outraged by how bad things are going.

Meanwhile, Decision Desk (a normally very reliable source) figures that Trump leads in both head-to-head and wide-field matchups in the 7 crucial Swing States.

You can never tell when a shift will happen in politics. In hindsight you can always see it, but while it is happening it is easy to miss. We might not be at the point where it all changes. Heck, Biden could still win this thing. But it seems to me that people are just sick and tired of all this. The betrayal of Israel to curry favor with college anti-Semites might be the last straw – not that most Americans are deeply invested in the outcome in Gaza (they aren’t) but it is just a sleazy move. Everyone can see why Biden is pressuring Israel – and pressuring Israel by denying aid which he and his people rammed through Congress just a couple weeks ago on the assertion that it had to be sent right now. This might be straw/camel’s back stuff.

But it is also a rather large pile of bad – the war in Ukraine is clearly failing. We’re pumping money into Ukraine and while the number of Ukrainian millionaires is at an all-time high, the Ukrainian government has announced that they’ll be combing the prisons for men to draft into the army. Russia continues to advance slowly but seemingly inexorably and we’re just waiting to see if there’s a major Russian offensive this summer (June is the time when the ground is really hard and dry enough in Russia for major movements).

Inflation continues to bite – gas prices are high, food prices are getting ridiculous. Everyone but the rich are being priced out of single family homes. The American Dream is currently unobtainable by youth.

The border remains open – today the story broke of an illegal dragging an 11 year old girl into a van in broad daylight and raping her. Yep: Biden’s people had refused to deport this Dreamer who Just Wants a Better Life. Hey, we gotta have these illegals in order for wages to be crushed so guys who fly private jets to climate change conferences can make a higher rate of return. We’re talking maybe a whole percentage point more annually, guys. That ain’t chicken feed…and if your daughter has to be raped, that’s a price they are willing for you to pay.

And what is the Team Biden program here? Abortion! Our Democracy! Orange Man Bad!

That’s it. All they’ve got. Could it work? Yes. As I said, if it does, we never had a chance.

But I think it won’t work. In fact, I think Biden might already be toast.

Trump, 2024

Mark Noonan30 Comments

With DeSantis out, that’s pretty much it for the primaries. Haley is still in but it is shaping up to be a blowout win by Trump in New Hampshire and I imagine she’ll bow out before she gets humiliated in South Carolina. So, we’ve got Trump. For the third time.

Can he win? As I said the other day: sure he can. Make no mistake about it that this will be a high hill to climb. He has a lot of strikes against him.

Even accounting for fraud, the fact is that he’s been rejected once. It isn’t impossible to get accepted in politics after rejection, but it isn’t easy. The two most famous cases are Cleveland and Nixon. Keep in mind that in both cases, the people felt that the other guy, the initial winners, didn’t measure up and so were primed to flop back the other way. Without a doubt, Biden isn’t living up to expectations, especially since expectations were for peace, prosperity and no political problems here at home. We’ve got war, spreading poverty and more and more people are broaching the subject of civil war these days. Trump can very much say, “I told you so”.

It won’t be hostile press: it is hostile every American – and, indeed, global – institution. Especially after Argentina, the Global Ruling Class will not want Trump to get in. For goodness sake, it is bad enough that Argentina – if it can but stay the course for 3 years or so – is about to prove that the post-WWII Social Democratic order is a failure, if the USA proves it between 2025 and 2029 then that is all she wrote…everywhere in the West people will start to wonder why they have to keep the Progressives around. They will go after Trump with everything they’ve got. They will lie and break every law on the book. There is no cost to them higher than Trump winning. Can Trump survive that? We’d like to say he definitely will, but the purpose of the exercise is to convince moderate voters to stay away from Trump even as they can’t afford gas and groceries. Will it work? Only time will tell.

The Never Trump Right is already going ballistic – showing that they also never really were DeSantis supporters but were using him as a cat’s paw to scratch Trump. DeSantis swallowed his pride and endorsed Trump. Trump then said kind words about DeSantis. Everyone who is interested in defeating Democrats accepts this at face value and prepares to unite for November. You can absolutely rely on it that almost every last person who is still on the Never Trump side would have turned viciously on DeSantis had he got the nomination. They aren’t Never Trump – they are Never Rebels. They are Always Ruling Class. The Ruling Class hates DeSantis, too. But, while the Never Trump Right retains a semblance of being GOPers/Conservatives, they will be able to muddy the waters…and that is their purpose right now. To get moderates to mistrust the GOP before Never Trump announces it is voting for Biden. As for me, DeSantis is my guy for 2028. Obviously that is a long way away and things can change…but all else being equal, it is going to be hard to get me to switch to someone else next time around.

To me, 2024 has always been about GOP No Matter Who. The particular candidates are irrelevant. Sure, we all have our favorites and we all want the perfect person…but any GOPer is better than any Democrat. The objectively evil policies being advanced by Democrats must be stopped by whatever means we can find. Right now, for the Presidency, our only means to the end is Donald Trump. I will be enthusiastically supporting him going forward.

Post Iowa: Now, What?

Mark Noonan31 Comments

Over the past 48 hours I have seen enormous amounts of hurt feelings over the Iowa result. I don’t really know why – I mean, come on: a white, Evangelical State. That is Trump’s meat and potatoes. There was little chance anyone was going to gain traction against Trump in that electorate. I was a bit surprised that DeSantis staked so much on it: he’s a much better fit for the New Hampshire electorate. But, nobody calls me up for campaign advice.

But a lot of DeSantis supporters are very upset about it all – and not just the Never Trump plants who were paid to go on social media to talk up DeSantis as a means of harming Trump. I’m talking about some sensible people. I can only assume they just invested too much emotion in their guy. Never do that: no matter what, they’re all politicians. All politicians are at least a little bit insane and they all hedge a bit even when they don’t outright lie. The people running for office are the merest tools – and sure I’d always like to have a perfectly made hammer to drive the nail in, but the nail must be driven and if all I’ve got is a wrench, I’m still going to pound away at it.

But it was also a pretty big result for Trump. True, the turnout was lower but the weather wasn’t just bad, it was downright awful. But Trump’s 51% was astounding and probably would have carried through in a high turnout. To compare, the 2016 winner got 27%, 2012 24%, 2008, 34%, 2000 40%. You generally don’t get close to a majority because the field is usually very crowded and so the votes are split up. Bottom line is that the GOP base is still solidly behind Trump. There isn’t much chance of anyone knocking him off – they’d have to win NH and SC to have a shot and polling in both States is favorable to Trump and likely to go more favorable now. Nutshell: it is highly likely that Trump is the 2024 nominee.

That the base is so solid for Trump is, I think, another reason for the anger – people were talking themselves into believing that the Orange Man, being Bad, was done for. When the results came in for Iowa that theory was proved wrong. But do keep something in mind: everyone who hates Trump (this is different from someone who might not want Trump for policy reasons) does so because the TV told them to. Tell them this and they will hotly deny it. Usually claiming they’ve hated Trump since he first became famous. But that is absurd: why in heck would you invest in hating a real estate tycoon/television personality? Nobody would do that. Nobody hated Trump before he came down that escalator. It has become for many a negative feedback loop: they took the Orange Man Bad position, have diligently sought arguments supporting the Orange Man being Bad and are absolutely shocked to find that for a lot of people, the Orange Man ain’t all that Bad.

Make no mistake about it, there was a drift away from Trump in 2022. I saw it. I talked with ardent Trumpsters. They were ready to move on. They were casting eyes at DeSantis as RDS went his most Trumpy in fighting woke ideology. But then the Mar a Lago raid happened and the GOP, on the whole, did not rise to Trump’s defense in what was clearly a politically-motivated prosecution. On the sly – and it could be seen – they, too, hoped that this would sink Trump. At that moment, I started saying that the only way to beat Trump would be to out-Trump him: in this case, it would require people to get up and loudly condemn the raid, condemn 2020 as a fraud and call for the pardon of all J6ers. That would show the Trump base that you’re serious…and failure to do that makes you a RINO/Commie traitor. And so it is happening.

Some are saying that the indictments, etc of Trump are 4D chess where the Democrats are hoping to make Trump a martyr and so get the GOP to nominate the guy they think they can beat. No. They’re not that smart. They are, in fact, enormously stupid. They are indicting Trump not as 4D chess but because the TV told them to. Yes, I know that the TV was told to say that by the DNC, but the actions of the DOJ and others are motivated by what the TV said. They consider indicting Trump a righteous act and they are certain everyone wants them to do so…after all, everyone on TV says that is what everyone wants. Maybe Trump will lose in November and the Democrats will luck out…but it is just as likely that they needed Trump as much as they needed a hole in their head.

Can Trump win? Sure. There’s a non-zero chance he wins big but don’t make any plans on that. Right now, given polling, he’s well positioned to get past 270 outside the margin of fraud. A lot of people are harping on suburbanites and Independents hating Trump. True, they do. But at least the Independents also hate Biden. Stepping away from the fraud that actually installed Biden, he did do better among Independents in 2020 than Hillary did in 2016 – but at that time he was still a mostly unknown quantity and the MSM pumped him up as kindly Uncle Joe who was going to end the stress of the Trump Era and let America just move forward…we were supposed to get the late 1990’s and this time without even so much as a blue dress to disturb the peace.

Didn’t get that, did we?

The MSM is still relentlessly covering for Biden but what the MSM can’t do is make us not see the price of gasoline and butter. Can’t spin the Afghan defeat into a win. Can’t make us think that Ukraine is going well. Can’t shake us from seeing that under Trump the middle east was largely peaceful while under Biden it has exploded. Sure, the MSM will never talk about the border crisis…but it is a crisis and via non-traditional media, people are seeing it…and the GOP sending illegals to Blue cities is also making it more noticeable. The pragmatic facts of life is that the Independents now hate Biden at least as much as they hate Trump…and as Biden is the person currently making them mad, the jump ball for independents slightly favors Trump at the moment.

As for the respective party bases: who is going to be more motivated in November? My bet is on the GOP base. Democrats are trying to work up “democracy” and abortion as their key campaign messages but that is thin gruel…especially as a crucial part of their base, black voters, is very much angry when they see illegals getting free housing and phones while black Americans get nothing. Not saying these people will vote Trump…but staying home works out just the same.

It is a wide open race and there are so many variables that nobody can say what is going to happen. For goodness sake, Biden might keel over at any time now and that would just put a tornado into politics as Democrats scramble for a replacement. And imagine if that happens in, say, September? Buckle up, kiddos, we’re in for a wild ride.

The Fight for Survival Starts Now

Mark Noonan33 Comments

The Iowa caucuses are tonight and I don’t think I’ve ever been less interested in them. Sure, there was that period of time in my 20’s when I was having too much fun to care about anything but the fun, but even then I at least took a peek at the caucuses. But this year I just don’t care. I suspect that Trump will win them handily based on some polling which has rolled across the time line but it occurred to me just yesterday that the people who are pouring over the polls and arguing this, that and the other thing about what may happen are just like a used to be. But now I’m not.

And as I analyzed this realization it hit me: I’m supposed to care about the caucuses in one, small State as our nation falls apart? That if I somehow care about these caucuses and do my political junkie thing it will alter the fact that our government, our corporations, our education institutions and just huge swaths of every other facet of American culture is assuming that there are trans kids? That it is a self-evident truth that some people are born in the “wrong” body and need to be surgically and chemically altered to “correct” the “mistake” that Nature made?

And then the phrase “abortion is healthcare” came to mind and think about it: what they are saying is that pregnancy is a disease and it must be treated by abortion. And at least half – perhaps more – of my fellow citizens hear the phrase and nod along. Do you realize the level of ignorance and evil that has to be reached to accept “abortion is healthcare”? That you have to simply deny the biological facts of life and come to a conclusion that the normal, healthy activity of the human reproductive system is a bane?

And we can go on; there are many millions who wonder if we really should be controlling the border. Whether or not we should have an economy where we produce our own goods. We can slide into the climate cult where we’ll find people seriously saying we have to restrict agricultural production in order to lower the global temperature. Do you realize how stupid, ignorant and evil you have to be to think that reducing food supplies is a good idea? Right now people are working out ways to make sex robots which are so real you can’t tell they’re not human; and there are people – I’ve seen them! – arguing that for a man a sex robot is superior to a human female. My goodness, the levels of evil stupidity we are plumbing!

But wait: there’s more! We’re funding a war of attrition in Ukraine because somehow defending a Donbas packed with Russians from Russia is the most crucial thing in the world. But, meanwhile, Israel fights for her life against people who want to exterminate Jews and we’re tut-tutting about how Israel is fighting her battle. Hooray Ukraine if they can bomb a Russian city – damn those Israelis if they bomb a Palestinian city.

Huge crowds come out almost daily in our major cities to support Hamas, a group dedicated to genocide of the Jews…and in a really bizarre twist these crowds are demanding we stop an Israeli genocide of Arabs which isn’t happening! Do you realize the level of mindless ignorance it takes to get huge crowds out in support of genocidal rapist/murderers and to condemn the civilized? What in heck am I supposed to do with such people? Let them vote? Let them have an equal say along with me in how things are going to be? How can I possibly?

Ok, Mark; take a breath. God is in control. Relax.

So, what I will do come November is vote for the GOP. Not because they are any good but because they aren’t overtly evil, like the Democrats are. But I have no illusions: I’m not voting GOP in any expectation that the GOP will fix things. I’m voting for them as the merest stop-gap; an attempt to slow the roll of destruction as we work out on the local level what we’re going to do to save ourselves. Governor Abbott is actually leading the way here – sending the illegals to Blue States and using his National Guard to secure the border of Texas. Florida has made “woke” largely illegal. We need more and more of this, even if it provokes a permanent split in the nation. That is, we must protect ourselves…and if that drives such a wedge from those Americans determined upon national suicide, so be it.

Because we can’t proceed as if the Left (the Woke, the Progressives, the Democrats, the Communists, the Chamber of Commerce types: whatever you want to call them) is legitimate. They are equal parts insane, stupid and evil. What we must do is prevent them from having a say in our lives…and this means making laws on the local level, ignoring contrary federal court rulings and, if necessary, physically moving ourselves to parts of the country where insane stupidity doesn’t rule. We’re heading that way – and maybe towards national divorce. We’ll see about that: there is a chance the Left gets so crazy that their support dries up even in their strongholds. Not holding my breath on that, of course.

But now it is about survival. Can we preserve out of the wreck something sane and decent? We’re going to find out.

The Conservative Left

Mark Noonan36 Comments

I’ve seen several posts from the Right on social media over the past few months, though increasingly recently, of people now eschewing the Conservative label. This does not surprise me because I pretty much dropped it years ago – after all, what has Conservatism conserved? But the latest raft of them seems to be people who want to take a more Libertarian label, with a very firm rejection of the Populist label. Populism: that is the real bad thing. I mean, seriously: Left and Right people are saying endlessly that we must crush Populism.

Some seem to be impelled by a desire to put a huge distance between those Right voices who have gone overtly anti-Semitic since 10/7 (a not insignificant number; vastly less than Left voices going overtly anti-Semitic, but it is there) while others just don’t like the idea of having, for lack of a better phrase, supernatural moral codes – you know, codes that are based upon a belief in God and revealed Truth.

The one I saw today – until today I never knew the person existed but her account has many tens of thousands of followers – took both tacks: she didn’t want to be associated with any Right anti-Semitism and she didn’t want to be associated with Christians who take it seriously (she did assert her Christian faith). And then it sort of struck me: outside the far Left kooks, she’s probably where the vast majority is…socially Left, economically right, rejecting the latest Leftist fad of transgenderism and claiming she just wants to move on and have a good life. Yeah. Sure. Seen this movie before.

She was basically being a rock-ribbed Conservative from any time 1950 to 2020.

Sure, to her - and many like her – this was like a new discovery but the primary reason Conservatism hasn’t conserved anything is because of people on the Right dispensing with this or that aspect of what was to be conserved…until, decades on, there’s nothing left to conserve. And what really flashed in my brain is that the basic person on the Right hasn’t the foggiest notion of what they believe. In fact, it mostly seems now to just be a distaste for the latest bit of Leftist drivel. And so the lady’s assertion that she rejects transgenderism but has nothing but praise for LGB. You see where its going, right? Ten years from now people like her will be seeking to conserve “gender-affirming care” for minors.

And I understand it. Heck, I can even sympathize with it. It is all for the quiet life. After all, here in 2024 to point out the obvious – that two men cannot, in fact, get married no matter what the law says – would outrage most on the Right. Easier to just accept that Progressive innovation…and stand tall against 11 year olds getting sex changes. Until 2034. Then the story will be how, hey, I’m totes cool with all the wonderful LGBT but I just can’t go with those who are marrying their cats.

For now.

Give it a little while.

Here’s our real problem: the Left, when it doesn’t have the power to have you shot for Wrongthink, has this particular cachet which is irresistible to Fallen humanity: the getting of one off the hook. If you really want to boil it down, the appeal here is the endless reasons for getting out of going to Church on Sunday. I know that sounds trite, but think about it: it is the Left which said it was ok to break your promise (get a divorce!). Left said it was ok to get a girl pregnant and not “do the right thing”. Left said it was ok to be on welfare. Left said it was ok to lie. On and on and on like that – and what a relief! Don’t have to go to Church. Don’t have to actually care for the poor. Don’t have to stick with the guy/gal once they’ve become a little boring. Off the hook! And even better for those of the Right/Libertarian views…because they don’t immediately approve of the latest, worst thing the Left is doing, they can pretend they have morals. What fun: being a completely amoral piece of garbage and thinking you’re smart and good!

If you really do the full Libertarian-Right thing then not only all that, but you can pile up money by any means necessary, grind the faces of the poor and still feel good about yourself.

But here is something I’ve noticed among those dropping Conservatism (and condemning Populism) as they take up some sort of Libertarian label…they’re all well off but don’t do any particularly useful work. In other words, among these Libertarian-ish Populism-rejecters what you won’t see are plumbers. Farmers. Stay at home moms. Truckers. You know: the people who actually make things work and who are raising up the next generation of people who make things work.

Donald Trump’s constituency.

Because that is another thing about these people condemning Populism: they don’t like Trump. And it has puzzled me but I think I can see that the reason they hate Trump isn’t anything Trump has done (in fact, these people desperately crave being just like Trump) but the people who support Trump. That’s who they hate. That is who they want to keep down and keep out of power. Why? Because such people want there to be rules – basic rules of human decency which have been rejected by the Left and the Right. They aren’t against Populism – in fact, they probably don’t even know what it is. But they are against the Populists. Likely from a deep understanding that the Populists, triumphant, would hold them in as much – or perhaps even more – contempt as they hold the Left.

The good news is that this species of people is shrinking. No surprise, really; who the heck wants people like that? Don’t let the door hit ya, as far as that goes. The bad news is that they are going to do everything they can to help the Democrats. This is because, at bottom, they’re really rather stupid, silly people. I saw one such account the other day going on about how everyone should vote for “moderate Democrats” until the GOP and the Far Left are destroyed…as if there is such a thing as a moderate Democrat! I mean, other than Fetterman and he’s already being attacked for going off the ranch about Hamas…while the other moderate Democrat, Sinema, isn’t polling 20% in her re-election bid. I mean, just stupid to think you can help Fetterman take over a Democrat party which considers AOC to be a worthy member. Give it up – Fetterman is a Left Socialist Revolutionary trying to make nice with the Bolsheviks. Ain’t gonna happen.

But that is how very stupid these people are – and wow have they dragged us down over the past few decades. Good riddance to bad rubbish. If we can somehow get a Populist win in 2024, that will spell the end of them. Before the next Presidential cycle they will announce their conversion to the Left and that will be that.

Lies Must be Punished

Mark Noonan44 Comments

We found out a while ago that the 50 intel people who signed the “Hunter’s laptop is Russian disinfo” letter were lying when they signed the letter – but what we’re finding out now is what we’ve suspected all along…the “Russian disinfo” story was concocted by Team Pudding Brain as a deliberate and malicious lie to protect Joe’s electoral prospects. The current Secretary of State was a lead person in this effort to deceive the American people. To, as our Democrats like to put it, interfere with Democracy.

It needs to be understood that the laptop was a career-ending event if the people found out about it. To this day, most Americans are still not familiar with the contents of the laptop. The normal course of events – in a sane society – when something like that laptop appears would be the 24/7 coverage which would reveal the info and drive it into the public mind. Had that laptop belonged to one of Trump’s children, that is how it would have been covered and by election day Trump would have been lucky to get to 35% of the vote. It is that bad – it details horrific crimes, some of which were clearly known by Joe and some which also implicate him in the criminal activity. The reason Team Biden went into damage control mode was because of the devastating nature of the information. And that action, of course, doesn’t really upset anyone all that much. We do expect politicians to lie when they get caught. We wish they wouldn’t. We wish they would repent, confess and then go away. But we also know that doesn’t happen.

What we do expect to happen – what we demand must happen – is that the MSM and the officials of government not help the politician lie. Team Biden was only able to bury the story because of the active cooperation of the MSM and America’s intelligence and law enforcement agencies. What happened in 2020 was a conspiracy between the Democrats, the MSM and the American government to lie their favored candidate into office. This is absent any concerns about voter fraud – even supposing the vote was totally legit, the fact remains that Biden would not have got nearly enough votes had the truth come out. And everyone familiar knows this to be the case.

We have a very serious problem here – not that people lie. People have always lied. The problem is that everyone with power is lying. All the time and about everything. They do this because it works. The other day Biden’s press secretary said that Florida law now bans a gay teacher from placing a photo of their spouse on their desk. This is complete fabrication. A bald-faced and quite shameless lie. But it is said. And it works. Such a lie, by the way, isn’t meant for you and me: it is meant for suburban white women who still get their news from the MSM. It works splendidly to keep such people on side. But here’s the kicker: the lies work because nobody is ever punished for the lies.

A society buried under a morass of lies will die. It can’t be sustained. Eventually everything falls apart. We must develop the means to punish lies. To make those who lie suffer a great deal – perhaps even in the most extreme cases with their lives. But certainly with their money – all of it. It is the only way to make it stop. Lying must come with such grave penalty that they’ll be afraid to lie. In the States we control, we should be seeking means to punish lies. If we gain trifecta power in DC again, we must do it at that level, too. The lies must stop and only force will get them to stop.