VP Debate Open Thread

Mark Noonan17 Comments

I didn’t watch the VP debate!

Sorry, just couldn’t. Padres were playing Game 1 against the Braves. Keep everything in perspective! And the Padres won it 4-0. They are genuine Series contenders.

Anyways, I did follow along on X and I got the flavor of it – Walz is a knucklehead who’s friends with school shooters while Vance was like a wrecking ball fighting off both Vance and the “moderators”. We really have to stop having debates with MSMers running the show. First question should have been about inflation. Second about Ukraine. Third about immigration. Fourth about the Middle East. And that’s it – those are the issues that matter. Asking about climate change and J6 is just ridiculous.

But we live in a ridiculous age, don’t we?

This debate will not move the needle – VP debates never do. People don’t vote for the understudy. Ever. But I think that Vance’s overall performance solidified things for Trump. The MSM has been calling him weird and making him out to be some sort of woman-hating creep and he came across tonight as clearly informed and in command of the issues. People now know that if Trump wins then if anything happens, a fully competent person will immediately take charge. For Harris…not so much. Walz revealed himself as someone who is only possible in a hot-house Liberal atmosphere and only as long as he’s protected by the Media. He was protected again tonight but he still had to get out there…and while he wasn’t Biden-like in his performance, he clearly is not ready for the national stage. More and more it becomes obvious that he was picked because he was the only guy who would accept – nobody with real ambition and ability wanted to be tied to Harris.

I remain as I have since July: confident of victory. All real metrics are showing Trump strength – only some of the polling shows any chance for Harris, and even that is starting to waver as pollsters start to be concerned about future credibility and so start hedging their bets. People are tired; they do want a new way forward…and Team Harris’ attempt to make out that she hasn’t been in charge over the past 4 years has fallen flat. She can’t convince enough people that those who made the problem can fix it.

The precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart – Psalm 19

Mark Noonan13 Comments

You heard that this morning when you went to Church.

Right?

It really struck home…and sort of worked into something that occurred to me earlier in the week: the laws of God are not a ban on fun, but just ten simple rules (boiled down to two by Our Lord) for a sane life. The precepts of the Lord really do give joy to the heart. Think about it. If everyone on Earth just agreed to abide by the Ten Commandments for one week – just seven, little days – think about what a wonderful week that would be? No lies. No murder. No adultery/fornication. No theft. No wrath or jealousy. It would be a week of total chill…and it would cost us nothing. Nobody would lose a thing by it. If we would obey the precepts of the Lord, we’d be living pretty joyfully.

And that’s why the world today is held up by a scaffold of lies. It is all a bunch of drivel designed to really get to one thing – that people don’t have joy in their lives. And that just tells you who the author of the modern world is right there.

Here is Nevada we are inundated with pro-abortion ads. The most sick and twisted is teenage-looking girls (I’m sure they’re over 18 for legal purposes but clearly chosen to look 15-ish) begging us to save their right to an abortion. “Think about us”, they say. We have to make sure they can get an abortion…we have to make sure, that is, they can get their lives ruined as early as possible but at least scrape away the most inconvenient result (and, of course, protect the older men who abuse them…can’t forget that: Question 6 here in Nevada legalizes abortion for minors without parental consent…because we must ensure the degenerates can dispose of the strongest evidence against them). What strikes you about it – aside from revulsion – is how very sad it is. That we’ve clearly got girls of a very young age who are resigned to being sexually used and tossed aside…and abort that kid so you can have your career in a cubicle farm.

If they were just working on obeying the precepts of the Lord, of course, they’d look forward to marriage to a man who will promise and kids growing up and all that normal, sane, human stuff. Can’t have that, can we?

On and on like that. Young boys are also taught to ruin themselves – that their relationship goal isn’t to make a manly promise to a woman, but to skip from one to another because that “respects” a woman’s independence. This has had the effect of making more and more young men have contempt for women…to see them as objects. And irritating objects at that. Useful for only one thing so why put up with her outside of the bedroom? It is causing a real crisis in manhood…men aren’t geared to be like that and talking them into being pigs is causing psychic breakdown in the men as well.

There was a reason we used to stamp on people who lived badly and lied – and it wasn’t because we were anti-fun. It was because we had a little bit of common sense. We were a mature, sensible people – we didn’t believe childish notions about having one’s cake and eating it too. We knew that life was a series of trade offs and that if we wanted a bit of real happiness and prosperity then we had to ensure at least a basic level of morality – that we had a least a little bit of obeying the precepts of the Lord, even if a lot of people did cut corners on that when they could.

We have to get back to that.

It will be difficult.

But it will be worth it.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan34 Comments

You’re only as old as you feel!

Which is why we feel like extras in a Walking Dead scene!

But, seriously: earlier today and last week I was doing cannon balls into my pool. Its heading to 99 here in Vegas and the pool temp is 80…but I didn’t just get in to cool off. I decided to do some cannon balls. You remember those, right? I do. And I remembered how to do them…though I suspect I made a bigger splash than I did as a kid. Don’t know why I decided that a cannonball was the thing to do; just did.

They are just as fun as they were when I was 12.

And it got me thinking that the world really is a magical place – I just think that as we age, we lose our awe of it. If you’ve read any of the Mirrors series, that attitude probably comes through…the feeling on the part of the Lontarians that our modern marvels are magical even if we say they’re not. I’m flip-siding that a little bit in the soon-to-be-released Home World where Hadwin notes that there’s something technological in the magic, as well. And, to me, there is.

I think it is important that we never get “too old”. I mean, sure: there are practical considerations. Someone not too long ago posted a meme saying, “remember when we used to jump out of the swing and just land ok? Them knees were fresh out of the box!”. I do not recommend anyone in geezerdom to actually jump from any height. But I think that in our spirit, we should still try to see the magic. That it is a miracle – even if we can explain it – that we’re able to communicate instantly across vast distances. But that its also a miracle when a raindrop falls or a cloud drifts by. Of course, maybe I’m just weird…but I do feel inside like I always have. I’m nearly 60 and I just don’t feel the slightest bit different from when I was 16. Sure, my knees hurt all the time and I have to get a magnifying glass out to read a label..but I’ve never lost that fascination with the world; and I feel very young.

Latest polls are mixed – and I mean, completely mixed. Depending on which polls you look at, both candidates are winning. This is not possible. Any honest polling of the same population would show roughly the same thing. Sure, you might get Poll A saying Candidate X is at 47.2, Candidate Y at 46.8 while Poll B shows X at 46.9 and Y at 47.3. That is normal statistical variation. But when Poll A says X at 52 and Poll B says Y at 51…well, they simply both can’t have majority support. They both can’t be winning. At least one of the polls is then lying – could be both, but definitely is one.

In my opinion, the most likely liars are the Harris-favorable polls. This is based as I’ve said all along on voter registration info, primary voting patterns, etc. We can add to it now a slight bit of early voting data which is also favorable to Trump. The objective facts that we can see show Trump doing well, not Harris…and so it is far more likely that the pro-Harris polls are nonsense. But, we shall see, shan’t we? It is all up to who shows up – Team Trump is banking on angry, irregular voters to not just tip the election in his favor, but to utterly bury Harris. He’s got a whole plan to appeal to these people and get them to the polls – the segment of the American population that is fed up with the Uniparty. Will it work? We’re going to find out.

NYC Mayor Adams got indicted. Democrats are citing this as proof that the Justice Department is even-handed. We GOPers immediately assumed it was revenge against Adams. There are lots of theories out there as to why they would go after Adams for what amounts to fairly moderate and common corruption (trust me, he ain’t the only one getting airline upgrades) but nobody is really sure. Is it because he dissented from the immigration? Is it a power play by other people in NYC government? There is a chance the power players in NYC are perceiving him a disaster but one who will be re-elected next year…maybe this axe was swung to get him out and get in a radical-left Mayor who will so turn everyone off that a Bloomberg or Guiliani will get elected next year? Who the heck knows…but whatever it is, it isn’t merely going after corruption (they’d have to arrest almost everyone involved in NYC government if they did that).

Zelenskyy showed up to dun us for more money – after doing a campaign swing in Pennsylvania for Harris. Infuriating…but he was probably ordered to do it by Harris. I’ve read that he’ll meet with Trump tomorrow. Naturally the GOP has already signed on to provide more money…and material; even though our own military is saying the cupboard is bare. It’ll take us years to restock our supplies…we simply don’t have the manufacturing capacity we had even 20 years ago. This whole Ukraine thing is a mess. But it did occur to me as Zelenskyy marched though Congress flanked by McConnell and Schumer that there in front of us was the reason why Vietnam lasted 8 years while our involvement in WWII was 3 years, 8 months: a failure of will. Simply cowardice.

Let’s concede for the sake of argument that Ukraine is vital to America’s interests – ok, if that is the case then you gather your forces, send them close by and then issue an ultimatum to Russia to pull back…failure to do so being casus belli. It isn’t an unusual thing. Heck, it happened pretty much right there in 1854. The Russians wanted to take advantage of the Turkish Ottoman Empire – Britain and France didn’t want Russia to do that. So, when the Russians attacked the Anglo-French sent a fleet and army and issued their ultimatum. The Russians didn’t back down and so the Crimean War came. After it was over, Russia was defeated and had to accept Allied terms. Maybe Russia would back down this time? Maybe not. But if its vital, you must take the risks.

And if it isn’t vital? Then what the heck are we even doing here? But it has to be one or the other. It is either vital, or it isn’t.

But they won’t do that – they won’t call it vital but won’t declare it unimportant. They won’t fight and they won’t surrender. Just like Vietnam…fight but never win. Or even try to win. So, we just keep feeding the fires of war and immense monetary cost to us and a huge blood cost to Russia and Ukraine. Anyone around here long enough knows that I’ve always viewed Russia as a potential ally. Heck, even back when it was the USSR I had no real ill feelings for the Russians as people. Keep in mind that Russia provided diplomatic support for us during the Revolution, staunchly refused all efforts by European powers to recognize the Confederacy and, of course, were our allies in the field in both World Wars. We also share a lot of strategic interests. But now that is all burned…I doubt that Russia will want to draw close to us after years of American money buying dead Russians…and this will include the hatred of Russians who are opponents of Putin and/or the war. And now we’re about to give I guess another $8 billion so that Ukrainians can kill Russians and be killed by same with no possibility that Ukraine can force a decision in their favor. Just disgusts me.

On the economy – the official Stats show everything is ok. OTOH, credit card delinquencies are heading into record territory. Lots of stories emerging about rising eviction rates (which does make me suspect that corporate landlords are giving citizens the boot because they can get more renting to governemnt-subsidized illegal immigrants. It is still far too expensive for most youngsters to buy a home (seen a happy/happy, joy/joy ad for a bank showing a happy 20-something living in a studio apartment he’s got a mortgage on…geesh!). Food prices remain ruinous. In other words, what the people are living in is bad…and likely to get a lot worse. I suspect this will play a role in determining who the next President is.

Our Stupid and Violent World

Mark Noonan18 Comments

I got yelled at on X by an Irish guy. I had made a little joke about having my surname changed as I didn’t want to be connected with Ireland – and this in regards to the President of Ireland sending a congratulatory letter to the new “President” of Iran – you know, the fanatic anti-Semitic thug chosen by the Mullahs to replace the previous fanatic anti-Semitic thug. I momentarily pondered pointing out that his government had expressed condolences to Germany over Hitler eating a bullet in 1945 but I decided I was dealing with a lunatic and so just blocked him. But then I started thinking about it and I came to an odd conclusion: Irish independence has been a mistake.

Don’t get me wrong here: I’m not excusing things like Cromwell’s depredations nor the vicious anti-Catholic laws the Brits imposed on Ireland. Injustice is injustice and is always wrong. But the bottom line is that while the UK – and, previously, England – had made a huge number of mistakes and committed innumerable crimes in Ireland, by the time the Irish rose in rebellion in 1916, the whole cause of Irish independence was a moot point.

The Roman Catholic Relief Act had passed in 1829 so you could legally be Catholic. The Representation of the People of Ireland Act came in 1832, enfranchising the Irish population equally with the rest of the UK population. Ireland had proportional representation in Parliament and, indeed, at times the Irish Members held the balance of power in the UK (that is, nobody could form a government without getting them on board). After the Famine (which wasn’t deliberate no matter what some Irish guy might yap on about) ended in 1852, Irish prosperity grew rapidly with the Irish having access to work and live anywhere in the United Kingdom and the larger British Empire. What all this showed was that for all of the UK’s flaws, it was a Rule of Law State which afforded its people – of whatever background – all the Rights that people should have, even if securing those Rights took some political battling (as it always has everywhere). Just before World War One – indeed, it was a massive political issue in the UK just as the War came in – the Brits had even agreed to Home Rule: that is, setting up an independent Irish Parliament much as Scotland has today. It was delayed by the War but it was still coming. Whatever lingering feeling remained of being “ruled” by the English was coming to an end…peacefully and with Ireland getting the benefits of local rule combined with those of being part of a larger political, social and economic entity. So, what was the fuss about?

Mindless tribalism. The Irish Nationalist leaders simply didn’t want to be part of the UK because it was dominated by the English. Because great-grandpa had been hung for stealing a sheep. In other words, nothing. No real cause. Just hatred – and hatred which was fueled by German arms provided to the Irish rebels while the UK was fighting for her life against those same Germans. They say the Brit reaction to the Easter Uprising in 1916 is what turned the Irish people in broad majority towards independence. If so, that actually makes the Irish out to be pretty lousy people. What they heck did they expect? Britain was losing thousands of men a week fighting the Germans and here comes Paddy armed with a German rifle to start a rebellion in the rear? Yeah. Guess what: the reaction to that isn’t going to be nice.

But it wasn’t all that harsh. Once the Easter Uprising was suppressed, the Brits took about 3,500 prisoners, about 10 percent picked up for looting. Nearly half were released in a couple weeks. Only 187 were put on trial. Remember, this was an armed uprising against the government during wartime that was supported by the enemy! Thousands of Irish participated – 187 went on trial; 16 were executed. That’s it. For armed rebellion during wartime…and rebellion against a government which was equal for all citizens in the United Kingdom. It just wasn’t a totally Irish government. That was the only objection.

And that is the real problem here: mindlessness. People pick their tribe – or are born into one – and just pigheadedly defend their side no matter what facts might say. Chesterton pointed out that saying, “my country, right or wrong” is like saying, “my mother, drunk or sober”. Patriotism isn’t chauvinism. Love of country means, at times, admitting your country is in the wrong and needs to be corrected. The Irish never seem to have got to that point.

The Irish stayed neutral in World War Two simply because they didn’t like the English…as if that mattered. Some credit to the Irish people – especially some Irish soldiers – who joined up with the British, but Irish society and the Irish government were very much “a pox on both your houses” as they pretended that anything other than an Allied victory would save them. Think about that: the most titanic struggle in human history against the personification of evil…and the Irish stayed out because they didn’t like the English. You know, Mexicans do have some cause to be upset with Americans over various historical events…but in WWII the Mexicans declared war and while unable to provide much, did provide something to the Allied cause. It wasn’t like anyone was expecting Ireland to conscript her entire manhood and send them into battle…a just about symbolic declaration and maybe a regiment attached to an American division. Oh, and don’t go getting weepy eyed at the Nazi embassy after Hitler offed himself. Not much of an ask.

And this is why the Irish are, perhaps even by majority, rabidly in favor of the “Palestinian” cause – simple thickheaded hatred. The Irish do see kindred spirits in Hamas and Hezbollah. Keep in mind that even after independence, Irish people were setting off bombs in the UK into the late 1990’s in service of the cause of bringing Northern Ireland under the rule of Dublin. Why? Because in the distant past (like 300 years) the land had been majority Irish. That’s it. Forget that a huge number of events came between, say, 1650 and 1950: it had once been Irish and Irish it must become again. For…reasons. Can’t really think of any. Whatever might have happened in the past, by the time of Irish independence the majority of the population wasn’t Irish and didn’t want to be part of Ireland. That’s an end on it. There was no just cause for anyone to complain about this. But there was the IRA setting off bombs in British pubs in the 1970’s because of some mythical past in Ulster. So, too, the “Palestinians”. Not quite as much time but what happened on 10/7 is that the great-granddaughter of a Jew living in 1948 was raped to death by the great-grandson of a Muslim who tried to kill the Jew in 1948…the modern Muslim trying to annul the last 75 years and make Tel Aviv Muslim…which it hasn’t been by majority population since some time in the mid-19th century. But it was Muslim once upon a time!

As if that matters. It ain’t now. Whatever wrongs happened didn’t happen to the people today (the youngest Muslim who can have a complaint against 1948 is, of course, 76 years old…just figure it out for the youngest adult Muslim who can have a legit complaint: 94 years old). We’re not talking a large number of people even if there was a legit complaint…and the people with a gripe (if there are such) did not take part in 10/7.

And that brings us to a stark realization that we have, for a very long time, allowed very stupid people to disturb the peace of the world for nonsensical reasons. We’re on the brink of a regional war in the Middle East – which could eventually drag in the Great Powers – because of a very stupid concept: that there is some cause “Palestinians” are fighting for. It isn’t a cause. It is an idiocy. It is twaddle. It is infantile nonsense. But we treat it with great respect. We hold conferences about it. UN votes. It is disturbing our own domestic politics. We’ve imported some of the problem so that we can now have “Palestinians” beating up Jews here in the USA. But not just the ridiculous “Palestinians”…time and time again around the world since WWII we have seen these fights emerge as idiots decide to go on murderous rampages in service of stupid causes based upon alleged injustices of the past. Think about the Rwandan genocide as the worst sort of example: Hutu massacred Tutsi…because of some bizarre complaint about who was better off under Belgian colonial rule decades previously. It was just mindless savagery…and the world sat back and watched it happen because for whatever insane reason it has been decided that stupid people acting like lunatics are to be treated with respect.

We have to stop that. Understanding that we live in a big world with lots of different people. Understanding that our understanding of what is true and beautiful might be different from someone else’s. Sure. All that. But nobody can be allowed to act like savages over the past. Did he, that person, do something to you? No. Then shut up and sit down; we have nothing to discuss unless he does. And when some person or group or even nationality decides to go on a violent rampage based on some alleged past action – true or not – then that person or group or even nationality should be punished with exemplary brutality to make sure they – and everyone else – learns the lesson. We will not have any more of this nonsense.

The world is becoming increasingly violent and teeters on the edge of conflagration. We have to call a halt to it. Back in the 19th century, a halt was called to it. The Great Powers simply did not permit lunatics to go on rampages. The British sent a whole army to Sudan in 1898 to overthrow a thug regime which was practicing slavery. Not because it threatened the British – but because it was a thug regime that needed to be overthrown. No worries about national feeling or the pride of the locals…they were selling slaves. Stop that or here comes our army. When the Rwandan Genocide happened the world knew within days what was happening…and the world should have said, “stop it or we’re sending an army in to hang every Hutu caught with a machete”. They would have stopped. Heck, if we had a world where that sort of firmness was common then it probably would not have started. A bunch of Hutu dimwits would have been sharpening their machetes and really, really wanting to dice a Tutsi…but then they’d remember that each time savages go on a rampage the savages all end up hung…so, maybe find something else to do that day.

And this isn’t difficult. It isn’t morally murky. We Americans might get it wrong from time to time but we’re not setting off bombs because Cromwell burned an Irish farmhouse in 1650. Not massacring people because they had a privileged position the past. In short, we’re better than that – and better than any “Palestinian” setting up a rocket launcher in UNRWA school. And that means we get to tell them what they may or may not do and if they act like pigheaded, disobedient savages then they will be punished. The world is on fire and it is time to put it out.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan29 Comments

I admit to feeling a little sick about how the campaign is going – what I read this morning placed a deep bit of fear on my heart.

No, not the ridiculous polls that came out Sunday – and were, at any rate, totally contradicted by the polls that came out Monday. It was when the FBI decided to release the “bounty” letter from the Florida shooter. An FBI which never releases anything suddenly decided that today was a good day to release a letter allegedly from the shooter calling on others to finish the job for him. It doesn’t matter the actual provenance of the letter – the fact that it was released was the bad thing. It was a call for every Leftwing nutjob to grab a gun and get busy. It disgusted me.

Trump is being hunted and the agencies tasked by law to protect him are doing everything they can via calculated incompetence to help it along. I really do hope that Trump has contracted private security…some of those former Navy Seal or SAS Commando types who hire themselves out to provide security for those really at risk. You know: the kind of guys who held off Jihadists in Benghazi back in 2012 when outnumbered literal hundreds to one. The kind of guys who almost ensure you never get a first shot and definitely never get a second.

What has happened to our country? What has become of us? We still have people on the Right objecting to Trump on moral grounds as if the Ruling Class, in all its nauseating elements, isn’t simply anti-human. Trump isn’t our savior – he’s not even the guy to save America, really. He’s just a stopgap for us. A desperate attempt to hold the Ruling Class at bay as we look for the means to destroy it utterly. These people simply cannot be allowed to retain any power anywhere in the USA.

Of course, we all bear our share of responsibility for this. On X yesterday someone claimed that Warren Zevon’s Werewolves of London was an allegory of the overall Entertainment industry creepiness. Don’t know for sure – and I can’t find anything where Zevon, who died in 2003, made the explicit connection. But then you think about the lyrics (for instance, “I saw werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vick’s and his hair was perfect”) and match it up to the “open secret” perversions of Jimmy Savile when the song came out and you think, “sure, maybe”. The main thing here – and with the Epstein, Weinstein, Cosby and now Diddy revelations – is that they all knew. None of it is actually secret. Nor are things like the insider trading, kickbacks and other such corruptions a secret. We’re being run by a corrupt, cruel and stupid Ruling Class and they are ever more just throwing it in our faces, confident that we’ll just continue to put up with it.

We can’t. We must elect Trump. I do believe we will but now its a matter of simple national survival. And then starting with Trump and continuing as long as it is necessary we simply must cut down these people. Expose them all. Jail them. Turn them against each other so that some will talk. It is either them or us, and I choose us.

Decent People

Mark Noonan23 Comments

You probably heard of the scandals swirling around Mark Robinson – the Lt Governor of North Carolina and current candidate for governor. Its pretty nasty stuff he’s accused of but he’s denying it entirely. Someone, therefore, is lying – Robinson or CNN which broke the story. CNN does have a history of lying – of essentially being a comms shop for the DNC so I don’t see why anyone should just automatically accept their word on it. Maybe they are telling the truth – but how about a grain of salt here?

That is not how a lot of people on the Right decided to go – Never Trump, obviously, but even quite a few regular GOP/Right voices immediately spoke up to totally condemn Robinson and the overall GOP for nominating him. Based on a CNN story. About something he allegedly did 15 years ago. Isn’t that just par for the course? We’re being lectured again about decency. But what, exactly, is decency?

Robert K Massie in his masterful Nicholas and Alexandra (about the last Czar of Russia) discussed the overall influence of Grigori Rasputin noted that while he was a bad man who did many bad things, unlike other 20th century monsters he didn’t organize the murder of millions nor build a Cult of Personality around himself. He stole, but he also gave away. He’d debauch a duchess, but he’d also send a poor girl to school. He advised badly, but was also against Russia going to war against both Japan in 1904 and Germany in 1914. What this points out is that things can have a bit of nuance in them and that nobody should rush to judgement. We do have to really drill down and decide what is right and wrong. What is decent and indecent.

To our opponents, we are indecent. From Trump on down we’re just these vile people who must be stopped at all costs. We’re deplorable, right? To our opponents, what Robinson is accused of doing just highlights MAGA’s overall depravity. They accept at face value the accusations and have immediately mounted their high horses to point at us and say, “how dare you! How could you besmirch Our Democracy with this man? Repent!”.

Did you know that for 2023, Nancy Pelosi’s stock portfolio experienced a 91% increase? She’s beating Warren Buffet as an investor. By a lot. But here’s the funny thing, before she entered politics she was just a housewife in San Francisco. Never worked at an investment bank. Since then, she’s been kinda busy, right? I mean with the whole politics thing and rising to become Speaker. Where did she find time to learn to be such a stellar investor?

Of course you know what’s happening here – she, or her third-party cut-outs, are using her inside knowledge to position her portfolio for the best gains. She’s done this all along as far as can be determined. She got into office and the money just started to roll in. She’s continuing to do it. But here’s the thing, her estimated worth is $240 million. Even considering how pricey it is to live in California, that’s quite a bundle. But she’s not stopping. She’s 84 years old and still raking it in as if she’s counting on living to 100. And wants her great-great-great-great-grandchildren born rich.

Isn’t that a little indecent? I mean, as far as earnings go the most she ever made was 223.5k annual as Speaker. She’s worth $240 million. Didn’t someone once say that there comes a point when you’ve earned enough? This wizened crone who has been a barnacle on American politics since 1987 seems to me to have earned enough. But she just keeps at it.

But that’s mere financial chicanery. Not the exact sort of thing Robinson is accused of, right? I mean, the Feds managed to obscure what happened in the Paul Pelosi case and make out that the assailant was some right wing zealot (they are so common in San Francisco, don’t you know?) so we can’t officially categorize whatever Paul was up to with what Robinson allegedly wrote on a message board (writing things on a message board is always far worse, right? I mean, doing something is nothing…it is when you write something that you really get into evil…hey, I’m just trying to understand Decent People Values here).

One thing I do note about our Decent People is that, for the most part, they are ardent supporters of the Ukraine war. Nobody really knows how many have died in the war as both sides are brazenly lying about it but a mid-level estimate would put it at around a million dead between the two sides about evenly split. We’re told we have to keep this up and there’s no possibility of any compromise peace…the Ukrainians must fight on until all of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory is cleared of Russians. How that is to be accomplished when at the moment it appears Russia has 3 to 1 manpower superiority is never explained. But fight on they must! Decent People say so!

Of course, these Decent People never seem to mention the Sudan Civil War. Heard of it? Probably not. But it started about 18 months ago. Nobody really has any clue how many have died but its well past 100,000 for certain while millions of people have been forced into refugee status. There is also massive amounts of just plain murder, rape and robbery going on as all authority has broken down. Not making the nightly news. The leaders of the conflict are not being invited to address Congress. Billions of dollars are not being appropriated. Why is one horrible war demanding our effort but another horrible war not? Can’t say for certain but I do note that no President’s son ever got a 50 grand a month, no-show job in Sudan. In fact, I haven’t heard of anyone in the USA getting paid by the Sudanese…and though our Ruling Class is entirely made up of Decent People (they are dead certain about this), they seem to be a little selective in what they care about…and where cash is placed on the table always seems to command their attention.

Dunno. Maybe I’m being weird here. I mean, if the accusations of Robinson are true then he wrote things. How can I possibly compare that to millions of people fleeing their homes ahead of genocidal enemies? I should be more like Decent People, I guess.

But you make that turn and you set up your shrine to Mitt Romney (once Hitler II, now Revered Republican – I’m sure him being anti-Trump has nothing to do with the switch) and you try to wash all that MAGA off…but then you suddenly remember that the Decent People are in favor of abortion until birth. Of open borders which has created a new slave trade with all its attendant horrors. The Decent People don’t seem to care much about the number of Americans dying each year of drugs. They say they want to solve homelessness but we look at where they’ve poured money into it and see…bums defecating on the streets which are filled with garbage and boarded up shop windows. They are the Decent People, right? They do think its wrong to poop on the sidewalk, don’t they?

Or maybe I just don’t have the wit to understand it – maybe I’ve been wrong my whole life? Maybe Decency is ignoring drug-addled zombies as I make my way from gated home to guarded bistro? Maybe Decency is ignoring pathetic graves in the Ukrainian steppe while greedily following Raytheon’s stock performance? Maybe Decency is saying one thing and doing the opposite? All we can say for certain is that Decency is not writing things on a message board. That is beyond the pale. Of that the Decent People are quiet certain.

I mean, being Decent People is not hard. And look at the rewards you get for being one of them – you know, things like invites to Diddy’s parties.

Oh, wait; scratch that. Been a sudden change. Sure he was given an MTV Global Icon award – but that was last year. I mean, forget that he’s been a star since 1990 and has appeared with just about every prominent person in the USA at one time or another and had honors showered upon by the largest American institutions…absolutely none of the Decent People had any idea what he was up to! Complete mystery! Nobody dropping by Diddy’s house ever noticed the 700+ dildos. He’s now accused of all manner of horrors and looks like he’s going to spend the rest of his life in jail (and depending on how “Epstein” this whole thing is, that might not be very long). And none of the Decent People had anything to do with it! Just like Maxwell being convicted of selling kids, there are no purchasers to be charged! The Decent People are sure of that. Diddy did horrors and nobody but Diddy. Stop looking!

And remember to condemn the guy who wrote down some stuff in 2009 when he was a complete nobody working at a furniture factory. He’s the real bad guy! Not the rich and famous hanging out with the guy facing massive charges. Give the Decent People a break – Mayor Adams’ has revoked Diddy’s key to New York City. What more do you want?

America will be saved when at long last everyone who ever wrote a nasty note is destroyed and the Decent People who didn’t know anything about Cosby, Epstein and Diddy are free to govern America unhindered.

Or, maybe not?

Trump is Rolling

Mark Noonan17 Comments

Trump went to New York for a rally and a lot of people are puzzled by that – with the puzzlement ranging from “he’s an idiot wasting time” to “he’s gonna flip New York!”. Neither are correct but that we’re getting that wide a variance indicates that one of the main things about the 2024 cycle is the lack of thought people are putting into it.

As I’ve been saying for years, Trump reads from a script. It seems spontaneous – and he has the talent to insert genuine spontaneity to his public appearances – but it is all very carefully planned. Guys who earn billions of dollars off of real estate don’t do things on the fly. They can’t. There’s too many moving parts and too many things that can go wrong. So, you plan. Here in 2024, Trump is working from a plan. This plan appears to have been thought out within weeks of the Presidency being declared for Biden. I doubt there was a moment’s doubt in Trump’s mind that he was going to try again (though I suspect that Melania was a voice against it; not that she’s not supportive, but I get the sense that she thinks it a burden…though I’ve detected a switch to steely determination since the assassination attempts). The first step in this plan was to keep “Stop the Steal” alive.

This was nearly universally derided by everyone outside Trump’s orbit (and I’ll bet dollars to donuts plenty of people inside it urged against it). Even I thought for a short while he should drop it…but he kept it up. A rolling, steady drumbeat about the questionable actions. And that formed the basis for his 2024 primary campaign – which he was supposed to lose as a GOP electorate, tired of Trump’s “tirades” about 2020 switched over to a new standard bearer. But a funny thing happened – it worked. Mostly because the Democrats walked right into it…opting for lawfare which merely solidified in the GOP base’s mind that the steal was real (not that we needed much urging – we could see it). The fatal moment for those who wanted to replace Trump atop the ticket, turns out, was their failure to condemn in no uncertain terms the 2020 result. That became the litmus test – the only thing which could tell a GOP base voter that a candidate was reliable. We all knew there was fraud. It was obvious…to not condemn it and seek to alter the system bespoke a desire to please the Establishment rather than us…and so Trump cruised to a win in the primaries.

You have to sort of review all that in your mind – the events from December 2020 to the time Trump was indicted. Once you look at it in hindsight, you can see the plan. “Stop the steal” rhetoric kept the base on Trump’s side…and positively goaded the Democrats into ever more extreme actions. They knew they had used fraud to get Biden in…but what stuck in their craw was Trump not politely rolling over on it. Nothing angers a liar than being called out on it. You can just see it got under their skin…probably most of all under Biden’s. Of course, the ever more extreme actions just solidified Trump’s position in the GOP…while the totally absurd nature of the lawfare started to generate some sympathy for Trump outside his base voters. I mean, seriously: dragging Trump into court in New York because a clearly insane woman wanted to use a law written just for her to sue Trump for assault was ridiculous…and outside far left partisans, everyone could see it was ridiculous. The rest of the cases were no less silly. And they all have worked out to Trump’s advantage.

I don’t know if Trump counted on wiping Biden out in a debate. But he sure leaped at the first opportunity, didn’t he? Everyone said it was a huge mistake – Trump was walking into a trap. But here’s what we can see in hindsight: for all of Biden’s manifest flaws, he does have working class appeal. Can’t deny it. He really did grow up poor. He can speak the language of the working class. He’s lying his a** off when he does it, but he can do it. Trump to win in 2024 needs blue collars…lots of them. The upper and middle class urban and suburban whites rejected him in 2016 and even more so in 2020. No doubt they will largely do so again in 2024. It became a crucial necessity to break Biden’s ability to pull in blue collar voters…and Trump knew that Biden was going gaga. All he had to do was get him on any stage, even in the most Biden-favorable circumstances, and Biden would be exposed as the senile, frail old man that he is. Presto! Done. Whether or not he thought they’d dump Biden for Harris or just put Harris front and center to keep Biden off stage would become a complete irrelevancy…only Biden can pull in the blue collars that Trump needs and if he’s off the ticket or off the stage, he can’t do it. He was able to do it with rare appearances in 2020 because he was still reasonably lucid and Covid gave the excuse for being rarely seen. But in 2024, it had to be Biden out there matching Trump appearance for appearance and the debate showed that Biden is done…and simply can’t do it. Meanwhile having Harris out there either in the top spot or as surrogate is a complete disaster for Democrat attempts to pull in working class votes…she’s just too clearly West Coast upper class Leftist…the very sort of person that the entire American working class has always despised.

So, for Trump, it doesn’t matter who the nominee is – as long as it wasn’t a reasonably lucid and energetic Biden. But Mark, you say, isn’t the polling going bad for Trump? Most of it is. But do remember that when they finally pushed Joe out and inserted Harris the Trump campaign said, directly, that the polling was now going to favor Harris. It had only gone against Joe – and only moderately in public polling – because the Democrats had decided Joe had to go and so needed public polling that pressured him to quit. Team Trump knew that the positive public polling for Trump was a chimera…a temporary glance at reality just to get a particular job done. That finished, the polling switched back to the norm: massively overstating Democrat strength. Someone earlier today posted a screen shot of the Quinninpiac Pennsylvania polling for 2020…it showed Biden leads from 7 to 14 points or so. He barely won the State. Now, this was a whole series of polls done over months and they never even got close to the final result…when you see that sort of miss that consistently in one direction, then that graduates your poll from “mistake” to “lie”. It wasn’t that Quinninpiac got its model a bit wrong or that they missed some detail…they were lying. Bald faced, ridiculous lies. They’re lying again here in 2024. All the pollsters who got big misses in favor of the Democrats (and that is most public polling) missed consistently in the Democrats favor in 2016 and 2020. Not mistakes. They are lies. Lies designed to depress GOP turnout and encourage Democrats to donate and vote.

So, how does this tie into Trump being in New York? Well, it can be one of three things:

  1. Just a huge, stupid mistake.
  2. A headfake to confuse and scare Democrats.
  3. Confidence in 270.

Although Trump is working from a plan, this doesn’t guarantee its a good plan. The most brilliant leader can simply screw up. It happens. We won’t know if Trump’s plan is a good one until 11/5. But that there is a plan can’t be doubted. So, it could be that stupid mistake. If so, we’ll find out for sure on Election Day. It could be a headfake…just a foray into the Blue stronghold to make Democrats look over their shoulder. But such a thing would be better done in Virginia or Minnesota where there is polling showing Trump at least close. So, absent it being a mistake or a headfake, it is confidence in 270. Personally, that is what I think it is.

That is, I believe that Team Trump is very confident that they’ve got more than 270 electoral votes sewn (though they will continue to campaign in the battlegrounds right up to the end) and now they’re making a play for something I think Trump wants very badly: an overall popular vote win. We all know it is irrelevant…but it is highly symbolic and it is something the Democrats have invested in as some sort of political holy grail. Trump can’t win New York – figuring he’s going to flip it is, sorry, just silly. There are simply too many Democrat voters in New York City for that to happen. But if Trump can increase his vote share there by 450,000 (and consequently drop Harris that much from Biden’s 2020 total) then its a huge boost in his chances to get to 50%+1 of the vote. He needs to flip the overall popular vote about 3.5 million his way out of what will probably be 157 million votes. Doable. Not easy. If you had to bet on it then don’t bet the rent. But it is doable. And if done, it takes away most of the arguments the Democrats have against Trump…and the last shred of Never Trump argument.

As I’ve always said, in politics look at what people are doing rather than what they’re saying. Harris is camping out in Pennsylvania. Trump is having a rally in New York. Trump is clearly far more confident than Harris. To be sure, Trump’s confidence can be misplaced. I am absolutely certain Trump will win. November 5th might merely prove me a fool. But I do believe I have facts to back up my case: voter registration numbers, early ballot requests, anecdotal evidence of Trump strength on the ground, etc. Any objective analyst of politics is going to say that if they had to choose who to be, they’d choose being Trump…he’s clearly got the inside track to win. But however you wish to slice that up, Trump is clearly confident of the outcome…and he’s going to follow his plan right to the end. With right now being the play for a popular vote win…which is just as downright ridiculous as the part of his plan that had him shouting from the rooftops in 2022 that the 2020 election was stolen. But, then again, how did the earlier part of the plan work?

I’ll finish up with this: I’m not asking for anyone to love Trump. You don’t have to wear a MAGA hat. But I am asking for all patriots to join in giving a gigantic middle finger to the mountain of lies which sustain Harris and the Ruling Class. Dooming does nothing for you. Having confidence will turn the campaign in to the funnest thing you’ve ever done. Lets get out there and save our country, friends. It is in our hands.

Update: I had talked bad polling for Trump in the post and then Emerson went and did this…with their thumb on the scale for her, this is the best they could do!

Slowly, and Then All at Once

Mark Noonan7 Comments

With the second attempted assassination of President Trump the Democrats – the overall Ruling Class – is completely taking the mask off. After the first attempt for at least a couple days they pretended to be upset about it but within an hour of the second attempt, the Democrats were out there blaming Trump for the whole situation. His “violent rhetoric”, you see, was responsible for this – not Democrats calling him Hitler II and saying he poses an existential threat to “Our Democracy”. Oh, no – that had nothing to do with it! It was all Trump…that whole thing about not wanting millions of foreigners flooding into the country! That’s what sparked the violence! Haven’t you seen all the MSM reports about threats against Haitians?

All of those threats, turns out, were bogus – and most of them originated from overseas. Kinda odd, don’t you think, that they had a ready-made excuse for shooting at Trump…almost like, I dunno, someone kinda knew there was a threat on the way.

At least in this case, we got the guy – and DeSantis has pledged an independent investigation by Florida law enforcement. He has to – and not just for his own political future…for his own life. If he does emerge as the front-runner in 2028 then this will happen to him, unless he can smoke out what happened.

As per usual, massive questions about this guy – sure, he’s a nutjob…but he’s a nutjob who illegally obtained a weapon. Don’t know about you, but I don’t even know the first step in obtaining an illegal weapon. I don’t know who to ask – or even how to ask. This guy had one. And he got within a few hundred yards of Trump with it…scope-sighted! Had Trump come into view, it would have been an easy shot. He’s also a nutjob who lives in Hawaii…not Florida. That’s not a cheap flight, even if you book it a bit in advance. From the looks of it, the guy doesn’t have a pot to piss in…but he got himself an expensive, illegal rifle with scope and got himself from Hawaii to Florida. Naturally, he was also on the FBI’s radar…he’s been convicted in the past (and so can’t legally purchase a weapon) and he was investigated in 2019 for attempting to obtain a firearm.

Make no mistake about it, the Democrats willed this into being just as they will the first attempt into being. They want Trump to die. They are willing to do anything to get rid of him. Their rhetoric is specifically designed to play upon the fears of lunatics so they will go and do something…while the Deep State gives them every opportunity to do it. And this time around they are keeping up the hate filled rhetoric. They are running out of time and can’t afford even a couple days of laying off…they need the next lunatic to act fast.

But this doesn’t end well – not for anyone. Civil Society is all nice and civil until its not. In Spain in the 1930’s there was first no violence, then a little violence…and then one side whacked the other side’s leadership…within months Spaniards were at each other’s throats and hundreds of thousands died in some of the most cruel and grisly ways. It is very much slowly and then all at once. The most peaceful, laid back people in the world will turn to violence very fast if they feel under threat…and because they are peaceful, when they turn to violence it becomes extreme violence. No quarter asked or given. The idiots in our overall Ruling Class simply don’t know what they’re playing with. They have to stop – but I don’t think they will.

Pray for Trump. Pray for victory. Pray for our poor country.

Open Thread

Mark Noonan12 Comments

An Atlas poll came out Saturday showing Trump at 51% and this means, of course, that ABC puts out a poll on Sunday showing Harris at 52%. Guys, you can’t get results like that via honesty. At least one of the pollsters is just flat out lying. It could be both of them, but one of them definitely is. Given that ABC is ABC, my assumption is that their poll is flaming garbage. But the real lesson here is to never put too much faith in polls – as we’ve seen and discussed for years, even those trying their best can get it wrong. What do we see rather than hear? That Harris is pretty much setting up camp in Pennsylvania. If she was up by six, she would be trying to expand the map, not trying to thread the needle to 270.

Now that we’re past the initial Cat Memes, the Left and Never Trump are saying we were wrong to bring it up – racists, too. Of course. But the crucial aspect of it was to bring to the public mind the real problem: that we’re taking in just tens of millions all at once and it is causing problems. Here’s the bottom line on it – if you are an immigration supporter and think we should make it as easy as possible for people to move here, you’d still be opposed to the sort of influx that Springfield, OH is enduring. It is just too much, too fast. But that the other side of this is not conceding this – and calling us racists for noticing – points to the real problem we have here: a significant portion of the power in the USA wants this to happen. That is, for a variety of reasons, they see mass migration to the USA as a good thing.

It is partially for money; a lot of people make a lot of money just bringing them in. In this, non-profits make, well, huge profits bringing them in. Billions in taxpayer dollars are passed out to non-profits based on the number of immigrants they handle and, guess what?, that means they work diligently to increase the numbers they handle. I’ve seen reports where some of these organizations have had their revenues increase by several orders of magnitude since 2020.

It is partially for exploitation: huge numbers of these people are ruthlessly exploited by corporations, sex traffickers and criminal cartels. They take these poor people and squeeze the blood out of them. Every year untold billions of dollars are remitted by immigrants to foreign countries and if you think even a large percentage of it is winding up in the hands of some poor farmer in Oaxaca then I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Drug cartels run the poorest areas of Mexico…and gangs that chop off heads to send a message aren’t going to pass up the opportunity to steal from a multi-billion dollar revenue stream. One must keep in mind that the most valuable commodity on Earth is human beings. Wars were fought to secure the African slave trade because it was so incredibly valuable. An ounce of gold is great…but an ounce of gold can’t clean up for you. Can’t be exploited every single day to provide unearned income for you.

And it is partially political. Not for nothing have most of these immigrants been sent to Red States. The Democrats are now starting to lose every demographic except upper class whites and black women. The blue collar votes they are losing to Trump and an ever more populist GOP have to be replaced…and that is precisely what they’re trying to do…totally abusing Executive authority, they are bringing in millions on parole, calling them legal immigrants and giving them work permits…but also welfare. And you know darned well that their goal is to amnesty these people and get them voting as quickly as possible.

So, when you’re called a racist for pointing out there are downsides to mass migration, remember who is saying it: ruthless, cruel people trying to exploit the poor of the world for personal benefit. And when Trump wins in November, remember that it was silly cat memes that helped him to victory: never accept the Left’s Narrative. They’re only mad right now because we successfully implanted immigration as an issue.

J D Vance continues to impress – he did 3 Sunday talk shows today while Harris and Walz did zero. He’s articulate, intelligent, has done his homework and doesn’t roll over for MSM lies. He doesn’t accept their premise and that is so very crucial…Trump started down this path but, lets face it, he lacks a bit of discipline in this. Vance just crucifies the lying sons of bitches. He’s going to be an excellent Vice President and we GOPers are going to have a tough call in 2028 choosing between him and DeSantis.

Here Kitty, Kitty Open Thread

Mark Noonan35 Comments

The Democrats hate those cat memes.

I love how the MSM is all “official sources are denying reports of cats being eaten”…as if anyone believes official sources…or that the MSM’s job is to just repeat the press release rather than checking.

Look, do I know with existential certainty that a cat has been eaten by an illegal immigrant? No. But there is enough anecdotal evidence to indicate it…and it would be rare for a person to call the police to report a missing cat. The place to check is actually the local animal shelters: has there been an increase in inquiries about missing pets? That would tell the tale…but the MSM won’t do that. Why not? Because they are terrified of what they might find.

What is important about this – and why Democrats hate it so much – is that it makes it personal and easily understood by the American people. There was a news report not too long ago about the Biden Administration providing “temporary” protected status for another 309,000 Haitians. We know that “temporary” means “forever” – but it is another 309,000. Meaning there are far more than 309,000 Haitians in country. 309,000 is nearly 3% of Haiti’s total population. Just how many of them are here? 5%? 7%? 10%? We really don’t know – and extending “temporary” protected status to 309,000 means its really extended to every Haitian who can get here…how in heck you going to sort them out? It isn’t like there’s a government in Haiti we can check with…even supposing the Haitian government actually kept records about their people.

But all that I just wrote still doesn’t mean a lot. It gives a sense of unease…but nothing you can put your finger on. Missing kitty cats? That is something. Huge numbers of us have cats. We love our little kitty cats. If someone is doing something to them – and we’ve got enough recent reports to say that things are being done to them by foreigners in the USA – that is horrific…and easily understood. It demonstrates the complete cultural incompatibility of these people. They simply don’t know that you can’t kill Fluffy…nor are you allowed to hunt the geese in the local park. To a Haitian flown from his shack next to an open sewer in Port au Prince to a Section 8 house in Ohio, that goose is just free food…he doesn’t understand. And why should we expect him to? I don’t blame the Haitian guy for seeing the tame park goose as an easy meal…I blame the monied interests who brought him in.

It is entirely killing their Narrative about Dreamers…an already unpopular thing (illegal immigration) has become politically toxic. And they can’t do anything about it – the Democrats, as a party, are committed to mass importation of a replacement population. If Harris were to really get up there and say “we’re going to deport and we’re going to seal the border” then 20% of her vote would to to Jill Stein. The far Left will not forgive such a thing. So, she makes vague statements about providing more funding for the border patrol and getting tough on drug trafficking…which statements are, of themselves, lies.

Gavin Newsom signed a new law to “get tough” on smash and grab robberies. Or, at least, that is how the regime propagandists at the Associated Press described it. But once you dig into it you find out that its only if the robber passes $50,000.00 in theft or damage. In other words, it is the Beverly Hills Retail Establishment Protection Act. Gavin must have got some calls from the rich about how they don’t want their nice little shopping areas ruined…and like a good, little Ruling Class tool, he got the job done. The poor suckers in Compton losing their local CVS and Target get nothing. I think Trump should figure out a way to bring this one up – it so clearly shows that the Democrats are just the Ruling Class and only care about the Ruling Class.

Over on ABC’s Tik Tok account, Trump’s closing statement from the debate is past 23 million views, overwhelmingly positive. Harris’? Not quite 4 and a half million views.

I’m sure you saw that video of Biden putting on a MAGA hat. I’m still not 100% sure about what happened there: was he just senile and didn’t know? Just having a little fun?

Or was he giving a gigantic middle finger to Harris and the DNC for what they did to him?

Nobody despises Biden more than I do but the bottom line is that they did totally screw him. The time to get him out was June of 2023. That’s when Hillary and Barry and the other leaders should have gone to Biden and said, “Joe, we love you; we appreciate all you’ve done and we’re forever grateful…but your fast ball has lost a bit and it is time to bow out gracefully”. Biden probably would have agreed. There would have been a real primary and the Democrats would have someone who could credibly campaign on change…but, no: they decided to lie (with Biden’s cooperation, of course; he is still a rat bastard in his own right) and keep him in only to have him implode…and now they’re stuck with Harris.