Forgive me for falling off the “no politics” bandwagon. I’m only human. Tomorrow I’ll go back to home maintenance and firewood. You’re welcome to tune out in the interim. I won’t mind. Have a nice day.
Still here? OK then I’ll start. The Z-Blog posted wise thoughts in On Being Revolting in the Modern Age:
“Certainly voting for Trump sends a message, but messages need a sender and a receiver. If the people on the other end refuse to acknowledge the message being sent, then it’s not really a message. The Olive Branch Petition was the last ditch effort by the Colonist to avoid a breach with the mother country, but the King’s refusal turned it from a message to him into a message from him. That message was clear to the colonials. They could either submit unconditionally or prepare for war. A Trump win followed by a unified refusal by the political class to cooperate would also be clear message.”
You’d be hard pressed to find any living being who likes the 2016 election cycle so one more blogger bitching about it (self included) is irrelevant. But, just for the record, I’ve spent decades observing D.C. and thinking “these people are playing with fire”. I perpetually wish they’d quit trodding upon large groups of people. No good can come of it.
The Z-Blog adds the usual about the media giving up on even the appearance of journalism:
“A little girl skins her knee and there is a news team there to blame Trump in a four hour TV special. Hillary Clinton is caught running a pay-for-play scheme and no one can be bothered to ask her why she went to the trouble of installing an illegal e-mail system in her bathroom.”
While that’s all true I haven’t expected news from the news in decades. Nobody has.
My big observation of the “Hillary’s private server with State secrets affair” wasn’t about the press. It was about the people; or rather roughly half of the people. A moment passed that felt colder and more unsettling than the usual “they’ve fucked us again” situation.
Think about it like this; the FBI infuriated half the electorate and that half… did nothing. Yet it wasn’t a moment of defeat. It wasn’t a wail of despair, not gloom, not anger, not resignation, not desperation. It was a subdued tone of quiet finality. An acceptance that corruption is so deep that no one, nobody at all, can pretend otherwise.
We all know it. Jerks with badges will shut down a child’s lemonade stand, convict your car of a crime, demand a license for your dog, zone your house into oblivion for a salamander, and invade nations you’ve never heard of… but everyone everywhere knows that mishandling State secrets will put anyone in the clink. Or at least it formerly would.
The FBI just demonstrated they’re afraid to enforce the law when Hillary is involved. They did it in front of God. They did it on live TV. Like the moon landing, it’s an event with a clear “before” and a clear “after”. I think it unwise to have fomented such a moment.
The left side of the spectrum didn’t notice. They were busy rioting over cops being too racist, or not protecting them enough, or maybe wanting more cops but only when cops hug them, or maybe they need a safe space or whatever. Cars got burned, screams were uttered, some cops got shot, a person got blown up with a robot bomb defuser. As photogenic and ugly as it was, it also blew off steam.
The silence on the opposite side of the fence didn’t release a damn thing. It held that pressure. Their attachment to rule of law means blocking a road or smashing a Hyundai is not their style. It’s stupid, wasteful, and inefficient. Hillary and her minions might have thought silence demonstrated their total dominion. I doubt that. Americans are a prickly lot. Many will join the herd but many will not. Ever.
When a big bunch of them see something infuriating and then collectively clam up it’s not because they’re afraid. It’s because they’re thinking. Thinking hard. “What will happen next. How will it affect me. What is my best course of action.” The FBIs abdication led to the eerie and deafening silence of a people with a deep focus.
There are two kinds of silence. One is “you’ve beaten me and I shall go nurse my wounds”. The other is a grim “keep your powder dry” mentality. It is without humor and full of malice. It’s the intelligent observation reserved for when there’s wolf on the periphery and you’re not afraid of it but fully aware that it’s a predator and you should react accordingly. It reminds me of Ralf Waldo Emerson’s admonition “When you strike at a king, you must kill him.” I’d much rather have seen the right wing burning cars and spray painting American flags on walls… but the quiet ones don’t roll that way. And really, who thinks a riot and a burned car does any good?
I’m not advocating violence. That shit sucks. I want nothing to do with it. I never will. I like my nation. I want it to be peaceful. Violence is the failure to find a more reasonable solution.
Also I’m a little worried. When Americans get motivated they’re not ineffective. They’ll put a man on the moon, build a 1,000 horsepower NASCAR, win every damn gold medal they can, whatever. I worry that should they get violent they’ll be too damn good at it.
And that’s what makes me nervous. It’s not the dog that barks that you need to watch. It’s the one you’ve kicked several times but it didn’t back down. When a beaten dog backs off, shakes out the kinks, and then looks you in the eye without a hint of cowering; that’s when you’ve made the dog into something you ought not have. Anyone sane would have know to not kick the damn dog in the first place… but once it’s done I’m not sure what defuses the moment.
Z-Blog is thinking American Revolution. I’m more worried about the Civil War. I’ve been reading a lot of American history. Something I didn’t understand until recently is that neither side really thought it was going to happen. For eighty odd years everyone had always come to their senses. The general attitude was sanity would prevail at the last minute. But it didn’t. Too many people played with fire and the nation stumbled backwards into horror. Hillary’s endemic corruption unnerves me because it’s a flame seeking a fuse. She’s played with fire so long she can’t imagine life without it. She can’t be boring. She can’t play by the rules. She’s dangerous to everyone, regardless of their opinion, because she can’t let sleeping dogs lie.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/BdNHf1g4ivA
I was aware of this story. The question is, why is this video on obscure links passed amid folks like us. Why isn’t it on TV during the Olympics?
Because neither the Democrats nor the Rove Republicans want this to get out. And the Media and Big Tech are more than glad to carry her water for her. Or something like that…
Because “Americans” are afraid of the repercussions if we discuss this.
Anyone think any “News” outlet would sacrifice their License?
I wonder why…
Rudyard Kipling’s poem, ” the Wrath of the Awakened Saxon ” pretty much covers the same ground. Great post btw.
Agreed. Though Kipling’s a lot better writer than I.
i think you are right that we are reaching a tipping point. The economy is not nearly as strong as it should be despite almost a decade of record deficit spending. We are watching the end of the rule of law since it is apparent that there is now an untouchable class that can get away with anything without fear of consequence. Racial tension has been increasing thanks to our “post racial” president who seems to think riots and dead police officers are perfectly acceptable. I think it is safe to say, there are millions of people sitting back with a very thoughtful look towards the coming election. Unfortunately, I don’t see sanity reigning supreme no matter which side wins.
I agree but I’d correct one line in your comment: “The economy is not nearly as strong as it should be [despite] due to almost a decade of record deficit spending.”
I’m not so sure they are unaware of what they are doing. Obama’s BFF Bill Ayers once said (according to the undercover agent in his group) that he estimated about 25 million Americans would not be re-educatable, and would therefore have to be eliminated.
What are the chances they’re just trying to get as many of those to self-identify, ahead of the powder keg going off, as possible, so they can handle them Ruby Ridge-style? To me, this aligns perfectly with the idea of settling “refugees” into middle class neighborhoods. Provoke, and put out, a bunch of small fires in order to keep the big fire from ever happening.
What’s worse is that a bunch of the good people will help put those small fires out because they haven’t yet realized just what these people meant when they said they wanted to fundamentally transform America.
Count on Bill Ayers to consider 25,000,000 dead Americans to be “a few eggs you must break” to make his Utopian omelette. Communists/socialists/progressives are mighty comfortable listing off great numbers of people who should be killed. I have a hard time imagining the hollowness of soul that leads to that kind of calculations. Why would one embrace inhumanity in themselves? Also I lack the immense ego that goes with the thinking that it’s safe to light the fuse that would kill millions and yet the guillotine will never call your own name.
Is that how many Democrats are in elective office throughout the country now?
isegoria linked to this, it seems a legit blueprint for how things go.
http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/glubb.pdf
I have read that successful revolutions were lead by leaders; landed gentry, people with skills and skin in the game. I haven’t seen those types; see plenty of big money cheering socialism.
you have put into words what has been swirling around in my thoughts. My first reaction was cognitive dissonance…this shit can’t be real because I know darn good and well what she did was illegal. Then a different type of un-belief; they didn’t even try to hide it or pretty it up…they went full out bold with subverting our laws. Then I went quite, with little bubbles of how do I deal and what do I do with what is coming. Thanks for these words, they help me focus.
Glad to help. Best of luck to you as you examine the handbasket and where it’s going. Many of us are thinking the same thing. I’m rooting for all of us.
Incidentally I don’t think all is lost. One example from history, the greatest empire on Earth (at the time) was The Holy Roman Empire. Even though it collapsed it took 500 years and presumably some portion of the population rode out the fall with minimal personal tragedy. I aim to be one of those “lucky” few. Not sure how I’ll do it but life has a way of working out some of the time.
Nobody ever tried to extirpate a hundred million armed people before. I dread the thought of Civil War 2.0 but the alternative might be the extinction of the American people. I like Americans. They set the high water mark for human achievement. I’d be sorry to see them go. But a nation needs a country and America is being dispossessed by a contemptuous elite using hostile foreigners. If there is to be an America in 50 years, something extraordinary is going to have to happen.
I’d really really really prefer not to see anything like that happen. I’d love it if the current moment of tension simply ebbed. There are some folks that would do the world a lot of good if they cooled their jets and stopped pushing groups of Americans around like toys in a sandbox. I certainly hope they just come to their senses…. not that I expect it but sometimes there are pleasant surprises in life. (For example who expected the Cold War to just evaporate? Having seen that I never throw in the towel on hope.)
With Reagan as President, what else would one expect but for the Cold Was to just “evaporate”? The USSR understood him, and realized they had better not start anything. When he reversed Carter’s treason and built the US military back up, they realized they had no means of responding effectively. Furthermore, when their leaders came over here and went through department stores and supermarkets and saw what was available to Mere Citizens, even WITH that military buildup, they acknowledged that they could not win. It took a few more years for the Iron Curtain to fall, but its demise was assured in June of 1987:
I was informed by mail yesterday that my drivers license is due to be renewed soon. Apparently I must report to the local DPS to be fingerprinted!!, prove I am a citizen, provide a social security number and a proof of residence. This seems excessively totalitarian. But I guess I can vote without any ID?
I wonder if California fingerprints people before they give “undocumented immigrants” (which used to be called illegal aliens) licenses?
They certainly fingerprint the undocumented tax collectors before they give them fully paid vacations in special resorts built just for them.
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It’s the intelligent observation reserved for when there’s wolf on the periphery and you’re not afraid of it but fully aware that it’s a predator and you should react accordingly. ”
Best thing I’ve heard recently, well said.
Awful shit is coming. Prepare while you can.
Twice in living memory we have seen the world go to war, each side convinced the other side would back down a bit and that it really wouldn’t come down to it. But that memory is held by the really old now, not so much the boomers and later who are now in the seats of power. They think it can’t happen to them, that they’re too smart, too sophisticated, they don’t like war and anyway is there really anything worth fighting for? They feel the same about the societies they lead, certainly nobody sane would think going to church, or rule of law, that flag or civil forfeiture and not-so-random IRS audits are worth losing a job or jail time, could they? They think they are in control of opinion, the economy, and us.
Tamara, a gun blogger and author, once opined, “I dunno… The EUtopians may seem all soft, docile, and toothless right now, but the recent immigrant welfare sponge class is playing with fire here. Euros have a proven zero-to-jackboots time lower than just about anybody on the planet. Get Gunter or Pierre all backed into a corner and feeling existentially threatened and you’ll be wishing you hadn’t, faster than you can say “Arbeit Macht Frei”. http://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2013/05/stockholm-is-burning.html
What is it about World War 2 that made the Germans such a pariah? It wasn’t what they did, I don’t think. The Japanese did just as bad in China, if not worse. The Russians have a body count second to none from themselves, let alone those they rolled over. We certainly can’t hold our heads high with incendiary bombs on Tokyo that killed more than the atomic bombs, or making the rubble bounce all the way from Hamburg to Berlin. No, what horrified people about the Germans was how the civilians and government did their atrocities — cold, methodological, and on an industrial scale. We looked at them and we saw what we could become if we let ourselves. Many of us come from Europe not too long ago. We share the Christian religion, have a common history and traditions, common foods and stories. We are them.
And that ought to scare the hell out of anybody in government thinking they’re in control right now.
– Max
I’m a Kipling fan, too. I think, in this case, that ET DONA FERENTES is the more accurate piece.
https://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/what-i-saw-at-the-coup/
When People of Color do rage cities burn. When White People do rage continents burn.
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Reblogged this on Starvin Larry.
Lets go back a bit further in time than the FBI revelation on Clinton….. I had the realization that this was a done deal when I repeatedly watched the execution of LaVoy Finicum on video. He was obviously not holding a gun in his hand,, his hands were up, and they shot him in the back. And then the powers that be posted it on the web in less than 24 hours. That was the clue. The boldness of the strike. They were proud of what they did. It was a message to “us/me”. We can do what we want, and even film it and absolutely nothing will happen, nothing. It took a few weeks to digest that finality. So, now I mainly ignore what is happening. It is likely a diversion, whatever the news of the day is. I simply focus on ways to improve my survival odds for the next 10 years. I figure by then we will be well into or past whatever will become of what was once the USA. And I will either be dead or hopefully off everyone’s radar and ignored. With most of my family safely tucked away somewhere in Appalachia with me.
“I like my nation.”
“I want it to be peaceful.”
No.
What you want is to hide
behind pacifism at all costs.
What you like is being an enslaved
slave who submits to any and all
mistreatment, brutality and abuse.
As long as you are left physically
unharmed and alive, to enjoy the
window dressing freedom of beer,
barbecues, NASCAR, fishing, and
the NFL, with frequent side trips to
zombie mass chantings of USA, USA, USA.
Wow, you have a powerfully imagined ability to see into other people’s minds. What’s it like being God?
I thought “I want my nation to be peaceful” was a pretty tame statement. One that all would take at face value. Apparently not.
I’ll restate the obvious. Yes I like my nation. Yes I want it to be peaceful. No I don’t hide behind pacifism at all costs. I’m not a pacifist. I never said I was a pacifist. Everyone sane knows violence (even if it is sometimes necessary) is abhorrent, brutal, and expensive. Wishing to avoid it is not pacifism or surrender, it’s rational. This isn’t rocket science.
Most importantly if I say that is my mind than it is. You don’t get to define me. You want to define some other being? Get a dog.
There, we got that covered? Good.
Dial down your crazy or post elsewhere. My blog is not the place for you to rant about going out in a blaze of glory.
Don’t bother responding to the LARPers like that dude. They have an elaborate internal fantasy life where they’re Mel Gibson killing Englishmen in job lots and you’re just playing the Angus Macfadyen or Adam Baldwin role, to make his jaw look squarer by comparison.
Don’t even think about crossing state lines with your canoe; and avoid having it inspected and certified for invasive species.
With proper planning you can cross national lines with a canoe. (See: http://www.bwcaw.com/rabc/) Of course that’s subject to change as soon as Hillary starts banning assault canoes.
Which is why we must strive to divest ourselves from this government… We need numbers of Liberty folks to be congregating in areas where we have the best chance to succeed in doing that…
Or you can go it alone. The alone thing is much harder but some folks do it.
Unless you plan on living like a hermit you have to have interaction with the outside world…If the outside world is still using Federal Reserve Notes then your not really divesting yourself from them…Also those people that do will never have True Liberty because all they are doing is hiding hoping they don’t get noticed…
“Never have true liberty” is letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. There is no Utopia and pining for one puts you at risk of missing out on life’s greatest (and freest) joys. Get as much freedom as you can and enjoy it. To put it another way you can spend the afternoon fishing or you can sit indoors complaining about boating registration fees.
Brother you misunderstood me like so many others have before… I have that and want others to experience it as well…I could be like some that say f#%k you I’ve got mine but I don’t work like that and just want to help others since I’ve been blessed…You Take Care…
Ah… sorry about that. I’m certainly not endorsing the “fuck you I’ve got mine” attitude. I hope I don’t sound like that.
I was thinking more like “see these examples, other folks can do it too”. Something like “light a candle rather than curse the darkness” or “blaze a trail for those who’ll follow”. I suppose it’s a hard idea to express without cliches. I take heart whenever I hear someone has made the leap; even if it happened to someone I’ll never see or know.
In the end a person must seek freedom on their own. You can help them in the struggle (and it’s hard enough to be called a struggle) and in fact that’s a very nice thing to do. Good for you! But nobody can “grant” freedom in its entirety. Some portion of freedom must come from within.
The problem with Hayek, et al’s individualists is that they want to be individuals and do their thing. The “Liberty folks” have every shade if individual and arguments and Balkanization. Used to be a GOP, then a GOP with Libertarians, then Neo-neocon “conservatives” (now NeverTrumpers), and now we added the “Alt-rights” (whatever they are). Some of thjis was loosely held together for a while by the amorphous Tea Party. And we argue even more. OTOH, collectivists just want to collect and agree and force you to do what they what to do. And they are much better at collecting. Ironically, our very pursuit of liberty and freedom divides us but not the others.
The most worthwhile portion of freedom comes from getting rid of those who would threaten or strangle it.
We are in the twilight of rational action, and may yet pray for a long late summer surfeit of it, but it’s not become quite dark enough to go out slitting throats and torching hostile headquarters.
I suspect that when things finally pop this time, it’ll be a lot less Fort Sumter 1861, and a lot more like Dresden 1945. And then it will get medieval.
It’s not that dark. Though medieval might mean “feudal” as in Texas is free and Massachusetts is a prison and the two don’t see eye to eye.
Also the most worthwhile portion of freedom is being free. If you could be free without “getting rid” of anybody that would be much better!
Good piece.
Thanks.
Sorry, but you , like most people of conservative bent, doesn’t understand the silence of the left. “The left side of the spectrum didn’t notice.”
Wrong. They did notice. The actual issue is- They Don’t Care.
And that should scare you too.
The left, especially progressives, have no issue with either what tactics, or what individual is used to achieve their ends. They truly believe in the adage, the end justifies the means.
I’m well aware that the left is happy with what they wrought.
And now we learn that Hillary ran the State Department like a cash register. This will only further fuel the silent rage…the flame seeking a fuze.
Interesting times.
Gustav LeBon discusses the ‘Conservative mind’ in less than two chapters in his various studies on culture and mass gatherings (mobs). He states, and I paraphrase, “The world has rarely seen such violence as when the conservative mind is unleashed. Conservatives are tolerant, patient, kind, forgiving but when they finally have ‘had enough’ the explosion that follows often leads to horrific consequences. More importantly, though, the conservative mind does not relent until the last threat is quashed.” LeBon also writes, “The heart (mind) of the revolution is in place long before the revolution occurs.” This, then, begs the question: Is the heart of the next American revolution in-place or are Americans pacified by the illusion of symbolic patriotism?
I’ve never heard of Gustav LeBon, I ought to read his stuff.