The “debate” earlier this week disabused me of hope that Trump might be something other than yet another authoritarian collectivist.
He basically agreed with would-be (and probably will be) Chairman Hillary on every substantive point – from not disputing “climate change” to amen’ing her calls for government direction of the economy.
They bickered over details.
He did not denounce Obamacare – or take issue at any level with either the police state at home or the warfare state abroad. If anything, he has become even more belligerent on the latter score. For example, his blood-curdling call for the death penalty for any person who shoots an armed government worker (i.e., a cop).
Trump – like all authoritarian collectivists – views the lives of those who enforce authoritarian collectivism as particularly valuable.
Ours less so.
He defended presumptive guilt “stop and frisk” policies, an outrage against not just the Fourth Amendment but the core tenet of a free society: That a man who hasn’t done anything to arouse suspicion he may have committed a crime should be left in peace to go about his business – without having to prove he hasn’t committed a crime.
Donald is earning his Fez.
It’s all pretty depressing.
Trump’s appeal to date has been fueled by popular hatred for a system – a government/corporate nexus – that has become economically exploitative to a brazen and insufferable degree and contemptuous, at the same time, of whatever scraps of our rights remain.
A government – and government officials – who do whatever they like, often profiting despicably from it – and never being held to account much less put behind bars.
So many examples.
Snowden, for instance. This guy leaked “state secrets” revealing criminal actions of the government … and was targeted for criminal prosecution by the government.
Hillary commits criminal acts – and runs for president.
A cop shoots an unarmed, hands-up, retreating-from-her man… and is eventually charged with manslaughter. Only because of popular outrcry, which occurred only because the summary execution was caught on tape.
An ordinary citizen who shot an unarmed man walking away from him, attempting to retreat, with his hands up in the air, would be looking at a murder charge and decades in prison.
On and on it goes…
Trump’s meteoric ascendance was fueled by the hope that, somehow, he might do something to ameliorate these and many other outrages. That he might be different. Not one of them. Not another authoritarian collectivist.
Well, it looks like those hopes were misplaced.
On Monday, Trump ran out of gas. It was a sad performance – for those of us who were hoping (indeed, praying) that Trump was going to upset the authoritarian collectivist apple cart.
Or at the very least, give it a try.
Instead, he gave it a pat on the back.
Makes me want to go back to bed. For the next ten or twenty years.
Trump’s selection of Mike Pence – a worse-than-boilerplate authoritarian collectivist – was unsettling. But it could be put down to the necessity of making nice with the GOP partei establishment, which was necessary in order to secure the nomination.
I give him a pass on that.
But Trump’s refusal on Monday to disagree with Hillary in any fundamental way about the legitimate authority of the state – his piddling with her over how the state’s authority would be imposed by him rather than her – makes the idea of getting out of bed on Election Day seem pretty pointless.
They had elections in the old Soviet Union, too.
Team Red or Team Blue will win.
But the old American ideas of being left free to pursue our happiness as individuals, free from coercion to conform and submit to the “plans” of Dear Leader (and Chairperson) types in a far-away capital, their minions sent hither and yon to enforce these edicts…. well, they’ve been thrown in the woods.
Might as well vote for Chairman Hillary.
She’s more honest about her authoritarianism.
Now, perhaps Trump was merely unprepared – and fumbled. There will be another debate.
He has a second chance.
I would like to hear him question “climate change” orthodoxy and burst other politically correct bubbles. Talk about the problem of open borders and open-ended entitlements. That one – or the other – has got to be put a stop to. 
But there are certain critical things he must do in order to recover from this debate which wasn’t (there must be disagreement for it to be a debate):
If he states unequivocally that the government of a free society has no business forcing people to purchase health insurance and, accordingly, will if elected do everything in his power to repeal – not replace – Obamacare, I will reconsider my decision to stay home on election day.
If he defends the principle that citizens of a free society have a right to not be stopped, searched or otherwise molested if they haven’t done something to indicate they’ve committed a crime, I will reconsider my decision to stay home on election day.
If he states unequivocally that individual citizens have an absolute right to armed self-defense (no quibbling about “sportsmen”) and that he will nominate only men and women who understand and support that principle, as enshrined in the Second Amendment, I will reconsider my decision to stay home on election day.
If he states unequivocally that the proper role of the armed forces is the defense of the United States – not offensive operations to establish global hegemony – I will reconsider my decision to stay home on election day.
These are the minimums Donald must deliver, if he means to have the support of people like myself who have had it with everything embodied by the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama regime – a singular entity that has ruled the country for a generation.
If he is no different, represents merely the extension of this regime, why get out of bed on election day?
EPautos.com depends on you to keep the wheels turning! Clovers hate us!
Goo-guhl blackballed us!
Will you help us?
Our donate button is here.
If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:
EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079
EPautos stickers – new design, larger and magnetic! – are free to those who send in $10 or more to support the site.
well lets see – Trump pardoned a navy seal Edward Gallagher who stabbed to death an unarmed Afghan teenager while he lets Assange rot in jail. “I don’t know anything about wikileaks”
He is a full supporter of Civil Asset Forfeiture and the militarized police. He’s backed out of every significant arms treaty we had greatly increasing the odds of an accidental nuclear war. He hates Iran for some odd reason (himt: has something to do with the jews and his billionaire backers) and nearly got us into a brand new hot war in the middle east. He assasinated the Iranian general on another countrys soil who was the number one killer of ISIS and defender of Christians in Syria.
American troops continue to die for absoilutely nothing. He hires traitors that hate his guts including such fine people as Fauci the dictator runt telling us all what to do now – Nikki Haley the hysterical screeching banshee – Pompeo the zionist stooge – Haspel “I love torture” for the CIA. Not to mention letting Ivanks tears determine when he’ll send cruise missiles in over fake chemical attacks. And also not to mention the loathsome Kushner having any responsibility aty all, And not to mention endorsing the Israeli torture of the palestinians. And not to mention helping the Saudis genocide of Yemen and being best buds with their
murdering ruler.
And blowing up the deficit so banks and airlines get billion/trillions and we get squat.
Other than that great guy.
I couldn’t vote for him, but I slept a bit better, when he’d unbelievably won the nomination, that his incompetence might keep some of the wolves away until he was shot, impeached, or otherwise ousted for making them look like more talented thieves and murderers than he is.
The way the opposition is shaping up, perhaps dead-virus form of totalitarianism can inoculate us through 2020 and beyond.
Why vote for Ebola when you can be sickened by aluminum adjuvants?
“IF he states….If he defends,” etc.
If I had some baloney, I’d make me a baloney sammich…if I had some bread.
Ed, I’d send you some bread if I didn’t think you already had some cornmeal, a bit of milk, some salt and baking soda and a bit of bacon grease. Seriously, you don’t need no stinkin white bread do ya? I wish I was in the land of cotton(d’oh, I am), old times there are not forgotten look away, look away, look away, Dixieland.
8, then quit fartin around and brig me some cornbread. Anyway as usual I fucked up the joke. It’s supposed to go:
If? If I had some bread I’d make me a baloney sammich, if I had some baloney. I can’t tell a joke for shit.
Hey, here’s a funny one:
A polak, a hebe and a kraut walked into a bar. The bartender looked up and said, “Get the fuck outta here”.
See, that’s funny as shit.
How about this old bumpersticker – circa early 1968
I eat Kansas beef, not LBJ baloney
My favorite bumper sticker was one I saw in Texas in the ’80s:
HELL YES I’M DRUNK. DID YOU THINK I WAS A STUNT DRIVER?
The Polak, Sorry, I was just doing what they told me.
As soon as the Bad Hair Guy picked Pense, it was all over for me. If he were truly “anti-establishment”, he would have never picked one of their own- not only because of the clash of values, but because he knows damn well that if his VP is one of them, they’d just assassinate the Trumpster, and have their own political machine back in the #1 spot.
So, as usual, there is no real choice. (And that stupid Gary Johnson is an embarrassment to real Libertarians)
I took it as more of a compromise to put the establishment a little at ease, as he could have gone with other’s much worse like Kristy or Gingritch. I also think he did it to pick someone that “real” republicans/conservatives could associate with, as well as someone who had a likeable aura about them.
That having been said I’ll still cast my vote, holding my nose, for team red. Johnson ain’t a libertarian and Clinton ain’t a human being.
Well-said, A.J.
No matter how ya slice it though, Pense was a bad pick. Yeah, he’d definitely help traditional Repubs/NeoCons warm-up to Trump, but at the same time, he’s also alienating all of us who had a little enthusiasm for Trump. He should’ve picked Carson. As usual, I can not cast a vote for anyone in good conscience. (As much as I want to keep the Bitch out).
The choice is pretty much: Business as usual, or: A faster demise and likely WW3. Not much of a choice, eh? Maybe the latter would even be preferable, as then maybe we’d see some succession/resistance. Either way, we’re screwed- as usual.
“Yeah, he’d definitely help traditional Repubs/NeoCons warm-up to Trump”
Yep, and they ain’t even Trump’s base. He had to have done that shit deliberately, knowing his base would assume that he was just trying to connect a little with the turdball GOP’ers. I mean, nobody is that blind as to see that the GOP liberals don’t even count in this election because they are only a tiny minority of the party, and the party is only a tiny minority of Trump’s base, if they’re part of it at all.
I think he did it because he intends to be a typical republitard president.
http://www.infowars.com/u-s-army-chief-threatens-war-with-russia/
To echo Eric echoing Seinfeld, “Who are these people?” Unfortunately they are the Establishment. Not TPTB, but the burrocracy that will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to change, no matter who gets elected.
Why does this surprise you? Trump IS big business, and thus gets his marching orders from the same corrupt assholes that bought off Hillary.
Trump simply isn’t ALLOWED to do most of what he ‘promised’ because it goes against the interests of the military and business owners of your country. Just like Hillary wouldn’t be allowed to. All the rest of just a barking dog on a leash…Trump barks and his supporters get excited…and then the leash gets pulled and Trump slinks back into figurehead mode while the country runs on.
Trump has too many big business friends…friends that his personal wealth is dependent on, and THEY don’t like his ideas. You think he’s going to go against THEM…for YOU? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! His Mexico visit was proof enough of that if you needed it…all smiles and contrite head down, but the second he returned to home soil, back to the snarling dog against Mexico. Appearances to his fans, but NO action to the target…sound familiar? It should, your politicians have acted that way for generations! Hillary is the same of course, just more fun to focus on Trump since you think of him as some “outsider savior”, which was laughable the first time you mentioned it. Now you see why.
Just as I predicted a while back. Trump’s all talk and no action…and so is Hillary, and yet people insist on listening to them as if what they say even matters, rather than THINKING about what they say and how they plan to do it. BUT now that it’s getting closer to crunch time, they both have to start appeasing their corporate and military masters, and thus you’ll find they’re MUCH more measured and agreeable suddenly.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to you at all…you just had to think through the rhetoric.
Trump took the hard line in Mexico and offended everyone in the country as far as I can tell. The secretary of state who invited him got canned. He was trash talking as hard as he could go. It amazes me how politicians mention illegals coming to this country(used to be the “brown horde”)while saying nothing about why it’s better to come here. No one ever mentions the US role in keeping Mexico such a tyranny nor the laws that provide for illegals to be housed and fed and given medical treatment at taxpayer expense. I have been to the ER in a big town and friends who live in big cities in Tx. are treated like second class citizens when they are going to Pay for their services while they stand in line with no effort of triage to push real emergencies ahead of those like when I went with two broken bones and an Achilles tendon jerked loose in my foot as I waited behind a young Mexican who said she had a headache. Now there are headaches and there are severe headaches. She didn’t look to be in a lot of pain. Meanwhile I’m sitting in a chair with my foot doing a good plumb bob imitation. It was cold weather and my shirt and hair were soaked as I sweated those figurative bullets. “Sir, you can sit down(if I can find a place, far be it for any of those young Mexicans to give me a seat)while you wait. You have a few in front of you”. I don’t blame the Mexicans though. They didn’t set the system up and just did what they were told the same as me.
If only we would have voted differently in the last presidential election.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VZFQam2OvDU
Hi Tuanorea,
Remember D.R.E.A.D.
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy… are you able to post? Please do a “test” reply… site was done for awhile earlier…
I couldn’t even get on earlier this am. Seems OK now – except the Recent Stuff sidebar is still not updating properly.
Large swaths of stuff missing from home page for me as of 8:25 Central, but I’m away from home with flaky wi-fi.
HI Eric,
Test reply. Also, many comments have vanished.
Jeremy
HI Eric,
There is a 31 hour gap between my D.R.E.A.D. comment and yours above. There were alot of comments posted during that time that are now missing.
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks!
The good news is we’re back up; the bad news is we lost the comments and so on that were posted during that down time.
And here I had an epiphany last night, got up out of bed and posted it on the open tab and now it’s gone. I only remember it would change the course of mankind…..turning current political and philosophical thought on its head. Dammit…..doncha hate it when that happens? It may have had something to do with the tyrant Word Press and it’s iron fist on comments it deems too short.
Now I remember. Today is Stevie Ray’s birthday.
“If only we would have voted differently in the last presidential election.”
If only we had voted differently in every election since 1960. Or 1924. Or ever.
“If only we would have voted differently in the last presidential election.”
Or every election.
Or, better yet, kept the Articles of Confederation and never had a president to elect.
Just wondering if the siteware will do an imbed of a vid in the comments section:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sECmFbHjV5o
Nope, apparently not. Bummer.
Hi Eric,
The major problem with Trump is that he’s not an ideologue. He has said/done some very good things (somewhat non-interventionist foreign policy, NYC skating rink) and some very bad things (pro-welfare state, pro-police state). At least he isn’t part of the evil global elite. With that being said, Trump needs to dump the horrible people he’s surrounding himself with like Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich. I’m afraid Trump is a bit too ignorant and naive to understand who these people really are. If he does become president, I fully expect the tyrants will run his administration behind the scenes.
Hi Handler,
I suspect you’re right. Trump is – like all too many Americans – a utilitarian. He is in favor of “what works” – as he sees it. No guiding philosophy or principles. And his emotional inclination appears to be – be “tough.” This served him well in business but it’s a terrible basis for government because (of course) government is coercion. Business (usually) is about voluntary exchange. You can be “tough” but so long as those you’re doing business with don’t have to do business with you… it’s a qualitatively different thing.
Hi Jeremy, (Eric, all)
As always, you give us some the most salient words of wisdom. Thanks.
You say, “This is precisely why we should promote anarchy as the ideal. [Huge Snip] Only if enough people see the State as a robber gang that must be grudgingly tolerated (due to rational self interest) will the people “vigilantly watch and vigorously resist government tyranny.””
OK, I’ll buy that. But only if we use merriam-webster.com’s simple definition of anarchy, “a situation of confusion and wild behavior in which the people in a country, group, organization, etc., are not controlled by rules or laws”.
I don’t think anyone here, or any readers of LRC, Reason, and/or Balko et. al. can make a case that Govco is controlled by rules or laws. Nor could they make the case that innocents are NOT routinely prosecuted and imprisoned. Seems like anarchy is what we currently have.
So how do we get “enough people see the State as a robber gang”?
How can we “achieve liberty in our lifetime?” (As Ian of Free Talk Live repeatedly mentions.)
First of all we need to keep in mind that people are stupid, and that half of the people are even more stupid than average. (George Carlin – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyifuNC0MT8 )
Secondly, we need to admit that voting will not keep the boot from stamping on a human face – forever. (Carlin on voting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07w9K2XR3f0 )
There is absolutely no reason to wait for our new overlords to be seated after the election. We can all start today.
I don’t think that even the less than average stupid person is going to “vigilantly watch” the boot face shuffle, I DO think that we can make him watch the TSA Pokey Pokey. https://youtu.be/hs5_jB46xQE
We can give everyone in this once great country of ours the opportunity to not only “vigilantly watch” but actively participate in the TSA Pokey Pokey. Yes, at work, home or play, the amazing powers of the TSA.
I challenge you, Jeremy, to let you inner Fabian socialist pose just 3 simple problems with automobiles. Preface those with “How can the TSA help with the problem of…?”
How can the TSA help Volkswagen Chief Executive Matthias Mueller?
How can the TSA help with the problem of unarmed blacks being shot by local police on the side of the roadway?
How can the TSA help Greenville, South Carolina Police Chief Ken Miller deal with the problem of terrorist clowns?
Eric, why aren’t you using your talent and this forum to ask the tough questions? Come on Eric. Because what passes for libertarian today…
Why aren’t you asking why the local cops are allowed to shoot unarmed people along the road? Isn’t that under the jurisdiction of TSA? (Shouldn’t an armed TSA have that privilege?) What could possibly go wrong with VW’s Mueller, TSA, and DOJ working out a deal to finance VIPR Teams (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response team) in lieu of a fine?
At this very moment Eric, stupid people in Greenville, South Carolina are being absofuckinglutely terrorized by clowns. Why are you letting them suffer? Surely the modern day libertarian law and order types would want you to help. Greenville Police Chief Ken Miller has already put in a call to Homeland Security, can’t you help Chief Miller? Why haven’t you sounded the clarion call for VIPR team checkpoints at every US highway and Interstate in and out of Greenville?
A common theme on this site is mandated airbags. How can the TSA help with this problem? How is it that TSA (a member in good standing with the Department of Homeland Security) even allows people to be is possession of these explosive devices, let alone buy them?
Jeremy says, “If the choice between an utterly corrupt, pathologically dishonest, war mongering, corporate whore and a narcissistic, reflexively authoritarian, lifelong corporate parasite and political profiteer doesn’t kill the desire to vote, nothing will.”
I’ve got to call bullshit on that one Jeremy
Utterly, pathologically, mongering, narcissistic, and reflexively are words that do not exist in the vocabulary of the person paying between $70 and $330 for a ticket to see the Detroit Lions on new years day. They DO know what transparent means. But not only because that is the type of bag they will buy for $9.95 with the NFL logo of their favorite team. They know what transparent means because that is the only type of bag the NFL allows at the TSA style checkpoints as they enter the stadium.
When that Green Bay Packers fan goes through TSA at the airport, gets in a TSA approved taxi in Detroit after another checkpoint, gets dropped off at yet another TSA checkpoint at any of the streets going to Ford Field, and then has his transparent bag and his body checked again by NFL security, he might just start to question his desire to vote.
Jeremy to Phillip the Bruce, “The Donald’s only appeal is that he seems to pose a threat to the establishment. In a sense this is true, but not in a way that matters.”
Come on Jeremy, what threat could he possibly pose? Don’t you think he has already been taken into a room and been shown the original uncut Zapruder film?
Even if you are correct, a threat to the establishment isn’t going to change things. The threat of leaving your house and being POKEY POKEY’d might, on the other hand, and coupled with the threat of being caged every time you leave your home, that MIGHT get things to change.
Phillip the Bruce is correct about the flogging will continue. But that is just the status quo. Increasing the frequency and intensity of the flogging, as well as increasing the length of the lash will gradually be accepted.
How is one to stop that?
Send in the TSA.
“Seems like anarchy is what we currently have.”
The term that has been created for the present condition is anarcho-tyranny.
Anarcho-tyranny is a state where some are immune to or above the law but many, just about everyone else, are punished harshly for the smallest of violations.
BrentP,
My bad.
But I still stand by my preface every problem with “How can the TSA help.”
Hi Tuanorea,
Thanks for the rant, it was enjoyable.
Of course, by anarchy, I don’t mean “a situation of confusion and wild behavior in which the people in a country, group, organization, etc., are not controlled by rules or laws”. This is a derivative definition that presumes that such would be the result of the primary definition (no rulers). I mean the absence of “government” (common, monopoly of force definition).
“I don’t think anyone here, or any readers of LRC, Reason, and/or Balko et. al. can make a case that Govco is controlled by rules or laws. Nor could they make the case that innocents are NOT routinely prosecuted and imprisoned. Seems like anarchy is what we currently have.”
Of course Govco is not controlled by rules or laws. I have repeatedly made the claim that the very definition of government precludes “legal” limits on government. “Legally” limited government is impossible as Govco judges what is legal.
“So how do we get ‘enough people see the State as a robber gang’?”
I don’t know. But, pointing out that the supposed legitimacy of the State is based entirely on force (just like the mafia) is probably a good start.
“I don’t think that even the less than average stupid person is going to “vigilantly watch” the boot face shuffle.”
Nor do I, which was sort of my point.
“I challenge you, Jeremy, to let you inner Fabian socialist…”
I let my inner Fabian atrophy during late adolescence, can’t dredge it up anymore.
“Jeremy says, ‘If the choice between an utterly corrupt, pathologically dishonest, war mongering, corporate whore and a narcissistic, reflexively authoritarian, lifelong corporate parasite and political profiteer doesn’t kill the desire to vote, nothing will.’
I’ve got to call bullshit on that one Jeremy.”
That comment was directed to the “remnant”.
“Come on Jeremy, what threat could he possibly pose?”
Come on Tuanorea, I was explaining why the narrative that he poses a threat to the establishment agenda is nonsense.
I wrote, “Nor do his occasional, somewhat sane, foreign policy pronouncements pose any significant threat to the hegemonic agenda of the US, as these are vastly outweighed by the chest thumping, bomb them all, authoritarian bravado that permeates so much of his rhetoric. US establishment interests will be safe in the hands of Trump.”
And, “So, why do the Elite appear to hate him so much? My theory is that it has nothing to do with what he says or even what he may do if elected, but rather the manner in which he succeeded. He easily bypassed, and subsequently crushed, the party gatekeepers. This, more than anything else, is what they fear.”
Trump poses no threat to the establishment, he has merely upset the sensibilities of the gatekeepers. Their ire is born of vanity, not substance.
Jeremy
Hi Eric,
Good to hear you’ve finally seen the TEAM BE RULED (TEAM REDBLUE) choices for what they actually are.
I didn’t bother to register to vote, since my preferred candidate – “None of the Above” – is never on the ballot. And there are costs to voting, since it puts you on the government radar for jury duty and whatnot.
P.S. In the unlikely event The Donald DOES say anything you’ve said you wanted him to say — he’s almost certainly lying.
Hi Jim,
Yeah…I know… just sucks all around.
Maybe the poster who suggested it might be long-term smart (from our point of view) for the Red Queen to win. That collapse or at least, a disaster of epic proportions, is now inevitable and whomever is “in charge” will get the blame, regardless.
Then again, I dread what that woman will do. Truly dread it.
eric, while the thought of Hil for what might be 8 years, longer than I’ll be alive, is disheartening, it just might be the best thing in the long run. Ok, now that everybody has stopped screaming I’ll elucidate that thought. IF, the Republicans can keep their majority in congress, which is in serious doubt, and Hitlery got the prez, we’d MIGHT have a Mexican standoff. Hope springs eternal.
When Coke Stephenson was the leader of the house in Texas a bunch of congressmen from DC came to visit for whatever reason, probably just to get a trip to Texas. Once inside the lege, chaos reigned, loud and disjointed. They asked “Coke, why don’t you call this turmoil to order?”. Coke said ” As long as their doing this, they won’t be passing any laws”. Best damned thing I ever heard from a politician.
Eric,
“That collapse or at least, a disaster of epic proportions, is now inevitable ”
So, you just going to sit back and enjoy the inevitable?
One thing “they” (as in They Live) are not prepared for is the hoi poloi demanding the lash.
Demand the lash.
Hi Tuanorea,
Sometimes, I just get tired… seriously think about that cabin in the woods. Or that scene in Deep Impact… when the guy and his daughter wait for the wave to come….
Funny that eric, I just watched DI a few days ago. I don’t want to consider the lifestyle(sic)of the survivors. It ain’t gonna be pretty.
Hey Eric,
“seriously think about that cabin in the woods”
Eric, Eric, Eric. You truly are the ultimate optimist. You really think things will be that “good”?
I predict you’ll get your video blog going. And I think it will be very successful.
However, I’m pretty sure your videos won’t be about automobiles. Primarily because auto sales in the US will be similar to current Cessna sales, which have been holding steady at around 1,600 a year for the past 3 years.
Since you are a master of practical tips in the modern age, I see you covering helpful hints that everyone of us will be able to implement in the future.
Like the sage advice we get from this video. https://youtu.be/GrzC02_cjFU
If the safety tip at 1:22 doesn’t put a smile on your face, nothing will.
Eric and everyone else following the debates,
Have they invoked the Phantom of the Opera yet? “If these demands are not met, a disaster beyond your imagination….will occur! ”
I can picture Hitlery breaking into a coughing fit afters saying the “old fool he makes me laugh.”
Hi Eric,
If you do choose to go to cast a vote that will not be the deciding vote in anything on the ballot — there is a protest vote available for president that doesn’t suck nearly as bad as the two major candidates.
On balance, maybe Trump is slightly less evil — or, to be more precise, slightly less practiced at being evil in political context — than Hillary, but why endorse people who will, as Mencken put it, give you what you deserve for voting for them good and hard?
I think the main difference between Hillary and Trump for anyone who cares about freedom is that he might currently be slightly less evil because he doesn’t have decades of experience in working the levers of power against us.
Voting for one of them reminds me of the Mencken quote about voters getting what they deserve, good and hard.
Vote LP to cast your protest, or stay home and do something more life affirming, is my philosophy.
Hi Jim,
I’d love to vote LP… if they had a Libertarian candidate!
I’m almost happy HRC will win.
There is no stopping a major recession between now and 2020.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DRBLACBS
It doesn’t matter who is elected.
What DOES matter is who gets the blame.
The president (or party of the president) ALWAYS gets the blame. Every time.
If a “republican” is at the helm, “Capitalism” will be blamed (although we all know America’s 100 year old plus fascist ways are a far cry from capitalism.
If team blue is in for 2016 – team red will win in a landslide in 2020
If team red is in – vice versa (and more actual socialism – even though team red are damn near as socialist as team blue now)
So go Hillary!
I’m still hoping Illary does not win, because The Donald ‘may’ give us better court nominees.
Perhaps 2020 will give a 3rd party candidate a true shot at the White House. If the voters had any common sense – but who am I kidding?
I’m still open to Trump as well – but he needs to get it together. Monday’s performance was abysmal. He appeared unprepared, petulant and – worst of all – not much different from the Red Queen.
HuffPo is saying this makes Trump dangerous: “We had thought the racist eugenics movement had died out, but Trump wants to bring it back.”
Sorry folks, but the eugenics movement never died out. It just morphed into “Planned Parenthood,” something strongly supported by Illary and the DNC.
Lefties should take note of what a low opinion their leaders in politics and the news business (but I repeat myself) have of their intelligence. Every time Trump makes a funny crack about something, they pretend to go ballistic, and expect the faithful to pile on.
For example, when Trump quipped that maybe the Russians could find Hillary’s missing emails, these dullards urged everybody to be oh-so-appalled that he would invite foreign espionage. Uh, it was a joke, folks. Stop pretending that we don’t all know that.
Trump is given to speaking tongue-in-cheek and using hyperbole (all of which he mislabels “sarcasm,” btw). It can be entertaining, but the Clintonistas think we’re so dumb that we will take it all literally, and flock to the pant-suited witch.
It didn’t morph into Planned Parenthood, PP was the embodiment of eugenics in America from the get go. PP was Margaret Sanger’s direct contribution to the eugenics movement. How they choose to gloss over that fact today is incredible. It is textbook racism institutionalized and for some odd reason, it’s about the only time racism never gets yelled.
Really, anyone could see that Trump’s history of “my way or the highway” would be a strong indicator that he was an authoritarian.
I’m sorry you were let down. But it was going to happen eventually (tiger, changing stripes, etc). Or in this case, a skunk.
Gary Johnson gets no love here, but given the other choices, he’s a pretty reasonable candidate. Ok, he didn’t know where Aleppo is. The other two have had their “senior moments” too, but their handlers & PR people have made sure they didn’t become the big story that day.
“Gary Johnson gets no love here, but given the other choices …”
I’m still holding out for the Brewster’s Millions choice – None of the Above.
“Gary Johnson gets no love here, but given the other choices, he’s a pretty reasonable candidate. Ok, he didn’t know where Aleppo is.” — his foreign policy should be nonexistent (as any country’s should).
Hi Barney,
The fact that the GOP seems to like Johnson is all the reason I need to never vote for him!
And in a similar vein, a lot of the people who are saying Trump would be a terrible president are the same ones who said O-Bomb-ya would be a good one.
Oh, and I have voted Libertarian before – in 1988 when Ron Paul was their ballot listing.
eric, here is something I think should be passed along. Chris Hedges is a pretty fair journalist from what I’ve seen over the years. More bad shit from cops and his take on why it won’t get any better.
http://www.truthdig.com/
Hi Eight,
The other day, I heard Trump double down on the Drug War rhetoric. He is going to “stop the drugs.” Translation – more cops locking more people up for more victimless “crimes.”
Feed him fish heads.
Surely not eric, he’s going to curb all that unnecessary spending. I never cease to be amazed at what politicians have planned for my money.
Right here in my county we have a new $8M+ cop shop and jail(2 prisoners and without the war on some drugs, none). Did we vote for it? Hell,no since landowners have to pay for it. 4 county commissioners decided we needed it. It was illegal as hell too. I’m still hoping to organize a big suit against the commissioners and everyone in on it. We’ll just drag the money out of their pockets.
Johnson is a pathetic spokesman for libertarianism, but I can’t help but feel for him when he draws a blank in an interview.
It’s a sad commentary on the American political scene that these pop quizzes – and debates, for that matter – make or break a candidate. What, is the next president going to have a winner-take-all debate with Putin to decide who will own the world? Why is thinking on one’s feet the be-all and end-all of what makes a good president? It’s silly.
I would rather the candidates be given an essay exam that they have to complete with no outside help. Make them prove they can think, not just deliver one-liners.
Roland, you said it for me. How many things can you keep up with when you’re trying to juggle daggers to begin with. His campaign manager should have somebody keeping him up to date. I liken it to picking out one exceptional fry in a school of fish.
BTW, for anyone who is a music fiend, I recently discovered Joe Bonamassa. I’m sure I’m behind times but this guy does some great blues. Eleven Hundred Springs has some great music too. It’s some sort of country but if you can lump all country in the same genre just pass it by. I don’t know how people can do that but whatever they think.
What is important for a President (or anyone for that matter) is not that they know everything off the top of their head, but that they know where to look or who to ask. I know a lot of stuff, but no one knows everything. And the President shouldn’t have to know (or care) about Aleppo. Syria is none of our (US) business.
My point exactly PtB. On this site we depend on each other to educate one another about a plethora of things. I could teach you all sorts of things about a truck or trucking but why the hell would you want to waste your time to learn it?
Heck, Eight – I’d love to learn to drive a big rig!
eric, be in Sweetwater, Tx. @5 am Monday morning and get a lesson in a brand new tractor and trailer(can’t believe, a first for me, never had a load on it). You’ll get to see such exotic sights as 3 wrecking yards the first 20 miles, a huge prison, the Colorado River, the Alon refinery in Big Spring, the lovely Garden City, every stinking inch of the infamous Ranch Road 33 and beautiful Big Lake, home to a few people and lots of big rigs and oil field equipment. There are some impressive sights too such as some large wind farms, some of the largest transmission lines you’ll ever see in a place with virtually no people, might even get to see a red wolf/coyote cross and various African animals plus more pumpjacks, pumping stations(some provided by yours truly), pipeline HQ’s, oil storage tanks and too many water haulers.
Ever been to Utopia, TX? I had (briefly, thank goodness) a co-driver from there. Nice guy, but never quite mastered double-clutching. Really hard to sleep with all that grinding and shaking…
I never made the excursion to Utopia or Concan for that matter. Clutch? What does it have to do with shifting?
Haha, trust me, you wouldn’t want that fellow trying to do it clutchless either.
Roland, he sounds like management material.
I dig it, Eight!
In principle, I think I know how to get an airplane off the ground… getting down, on the other hand…
eric, you’d have no problem, you have the feel.
Eric,
“getting down, on the other hand…”
As far as I know, the getting down part has never been a problem.
Years before the FAA, or even the Wright brothers, someone passed a law that can never be broken. I think they call it Gravity.
Shortly after manned flight, that law was amended to require the aircraft to arrive at the scene of the crash at least two minutes before the ambulance.
Have you ever written about the requirements for a driver’s license vs. a pilot’s license?
Guess which one takes less hours to obtain.
Phillip, your comment got me thinking: If I were to take that imaginary essay exam as a candidate, and the questions were written by mainstream news people, I might have trouble filling one page.
The answer to any domestic or economic policy question would be “Repeal all laws having to do with that, and never interfere again.”
The answer to any foreign policy question would be “Get out and stay out.”
Pat Buchanan wrote an op-ed this week about unfair trade practices against US companies. While what he said is true enough, our main problem is the “empire” he speaks of. Empires rule over other countries, ever country that they desire to “trade” with. Isolationist is the dirty word since it involves very little military or taxation of the US people. Fair trade is when you don’t have a virtual gun to the head of other countries.
MSM shills for the empirists whose mission it is to hold a gun(nuclear weapons)over the enemies of today until they get some nukes and delivery system and become our “ally”. If I were “manager” of a country I’d want enough nukes and missiles to keep the US at bay. You notice no politician speaks of this reality of “foreign policy”.
Hi Eight,
I know Pat a little; been to his house twice (back in the ’90s). He’s a good dude; you’d like him. Off the record, he’s a lot of fun!
eric, I’m sure I would. He really sees the faults most of the time I do and says mostly what I agree with. He is Blind to Nixon though and he believes in empire….our main difference. It is possible to lead the world in every aspect and not be the bully. I do realize some countries dislike the US for the fact that it is the best in many ways and that wouldn’t change no matter what country were the best in a great many things.
Yes, Trump disappoints, but there were a couple of bright spots:
He mentioned the Fed’s manipulation of interest rates and how it can’t allow rates to rise without crashing the stock market. Everybody yaps about the debt and deficit, but Trump linked it to the Fed, and dissed Yellen by name.
He criticized the trillions squandered on foreign military adventures. During the primary campaign he even pointed out that Bush the Dumber failed to keep Americans safe on 9/11. That took balls.
But will I vote for him? Of course not. I’ll get out of bed on election day, but it will be to do something productive like blowing leaves off the yard, clearing brush down by the creek, or working on my tennis game.
Same here, probably it will be a good day to clean the gutters if not too cold out. Whichever of those two turkeys gets in it and whatever they’re going to to it they’ll be doing it without my vote. My conscience will be clear.
The late great George Carlin’s rant about voting seems particularly apropos this time around…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIraCchPDhk
Hey, let’s watch it with the disrespect for turkeys. I was born on Thanksgiving Day, so they hold a special place on my plate, I mean in my heart.
And for those who have never eaten wild turkey I can honestly say they have no idea what turkey tastes like….not a damned thing like the ones you buy.
I’ve not eaten wild turkey, but we have raised our own heritage breed, bourbon red. That’s pretty tasty too. Besides, I thought wild turkey was for sipping.
PtB, Wild Turkey is for sipping and of the bourbons I can afford, it’s the best. I find it to be very much like single malt Scotch but I can’t quite take Scotch, just a little too much of something wood-like. Now we have a plethora of Texas brewed bourbons and they are excellent, of those I can afford which isn’t many. I am told some of the expensive ones are worth the money which I don’t doubt but that’s all relative….so to speak…..and I don’t have any rich relatives ha ha. I now and then think about the $80-100 bottles but those on up to a couple hundred I can wait on….till somebody else buys it. My favorite place has taste testing, a good way to sell the good stuff and that’s about all they have. The problem is their not selling a bunch of anything being in a town of less than 400 people. I’ll be honest, the best bourbon I can get is from an old boy from Tennessee who works in the patch with me and it’s clear and in a Mason jar and damned good. Of course he doesn’t “sell” it although I don’t know what the diff would be if he did since we can’t legally distill in the dip shit country. I do buy him some expensive things regularly though.
Wild turkey is almost all white meat and really moist and tasty. There isn’t a best or better part of it, it’s really great. I think it’s the very reason some people only hunt for turkey. it’s worth it. i can hear them out the window at the computer and so can CholleyJack. I’ll get my call and have them within 30′ of the house and sometimes right along side it just cruising along. That ain’t a tough shot at all and it doesn’t take long to clean them. When they’ve just been shot the feathers nigh onto fall out of them so it doesn’t take much hot water to have a perfectly clean bird. Organs look a bit different too, much milder taste.
Jason,
Beat me to it, :).
Call me a conspiracy theorist or whichever, but I think Trump is now trying to pander to the crowd who does things more on feelings than common sense. Let’s be honest, anything short of declaring himself the supreme leader of America and instituting a revolution of Trumpian law, he wont lose my vote. So many like myself can’t vote for Hillary for anything, our minds are already made up and I think he knows that.
The others though, they vote based on feelings and who makes them feel better, so he’s playing for that crowd. I hate to say it, as much as it goes against my Libertarian Red Flag Radar, I think he’s doing the right thing.
You were expecting Ron Paul?
No, Trump is a statist, but he will smash the globalist elite statists.
Only then will a Ron Paul have a chance.
America in 2020 will be different.
See Ted Cruz’ list, but two things stand out:
The supreme court will be set for a generation – either textual literalists like Scalia, or living document social engineers like Ginsberg. The latter can only be solved by an article 5 convention, secession, or insurrection.
But Hillary will flood the country with central and south Americans and Muslims that will turn Texas and many other states permamently blue. Same solutions.
With Trump, there is hope for the next few decades.
With Hillary, we become Mexico or Venezuela.
Take global warming – Trump wants to restore coal and domestic oil, and yes, keep ethanol. Hillary wants to shut it all down.
You don’t have kids to my knowledge, but Trump wants to get rid of common core, Hillary wants to end homeschooling.
Hillary wants to confiscate all guns. Trump is pro gun (even with a few proposals to the contrary which the federalist judges will reject).
You can’t vote for no speed limits, just 55 (yes, Hillary has proposed a return) vs 80. Oh! they are just the same, it doesn’t matter?
Hi Tz,
Yes, agreed – but he didn’t come out and defend those things. I heard him basically agree with Hillary on almost everything.
Sadly have to agree, when Trump said we need “law and order” I immediately thought of Nixon, the root of most of today’s evil. He birthed the EPA and the DEA, not to mention all the warmongering chickenhawks like Rumsefeld, Cheney, etc. that got their start in his administration.
Hi Mike,
Ditto.
Nixon was one of the “greats”… The Good Doctor (HST) knew this instinctively. Nixon was grandfather to The Chimp, who shat out Obama… who morphs into the hermaphroditic creature CliTrump.
God help us all.
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
btw, Gary North is saying that there is another recession coming, and soon. ‘Whoever’ is elected this year will NOT be reelected, nor will anyone from the same party. Even though it will be the fault of the Fed, that is not how the Booboiuse ‘think.’
El Presidente is in charge, and gets credit for all good and blame for all bad.
(a) Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
(b) Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2071
Snopes says this does not mean that Illary is ‘disqualified from office.’ I guess that depends on what the definition of ‘be’ be.
Hi PTB,
Comey, during his obligatory exoneration of the wicked witch, willfully misrepresented the legal meaning of intent. He falsely claimed that because he could discern no “intent to harm the US”, her actions did not meet the criteria for prosecution. This is unambiguously false, and he knows it. If Snopes is hanging on to this reed, then they are ignorant or dishonest.
As the statute clearly shows, the criminality of her actions does not require an intent to “cause harm to the US”, but merely the intent to “unlawfully conceal, remove, mutilate, obliterate, or destroy, etc… any “records”. She clearly did this and even Comey acknowledges such.
The simple fact is that the political elite exist entirely outside of the law. Comey admitted as much when he conceded that other people have been prosecuted for similar actions.
If the choice between an utterly corrupt, pathologically dishonest, war mongering, corporate whore and a narcissistic, reflexively authoritarian, lifelong corporate parasite and political profiteer doesn’t kill the desire to vote, nothing will.
Cheers,
Jeremy
It’s another clear case of the ‘Just Us’ system in action.
“If Snopes is hanging on to this reed, then they are ignorant or dishonest.”
There is little doubt in my mind that Snopes is just another piece of the lamestream media.
PtB, I’ve caught Snopes in out and out fabrications before. I haven’t referred to them for years.
I still think there is a chance, a slim one, I admit, but a chance, that the Donald will not be ‘as bad’ a president as Illary would. And encourage anyone who wants to waste their time voting to mark his box. But I won’t be going to the polls. These days I don’t think the possibility of a ‘good’ president exists. I know Gary J doesn’t fit that bill.
Hi Phillip,
If I had no choice, if I had to vote – and the choice was Hillary or Johnson – I’d pick Hillary. She’s the mor honest of the two.
I despise Johnson.
For the same reason I despise The Chimp and Mittens and Grampy McSame…
It’s no wonder Ron Paul never stood a chance. He is a decent human being, something quite different from a politician.
Hi Eric,
I wrote the following to another libertarian writer that I respect, you may find it interesting.
“As for the LP, Weld is hopeless; clearly picked for media attention in the vain hope that the CPD will somehow be forced to include them in the debates. I actually know Gary Johnson. I have worked on his bikes a few times and he is involved with a long time customer of mine. We have met socially on a few occasions and we both attended a dinner gathering after the Santa Fe century just before the Weld pick went public. He is a pretty decent guy who, politically, is really a liberal Republican repulsed by the increasing insanity of the GOP. His economic and foreign policy instincts are better than most, but his beliefs are not backed by any coherent theory or principle. He lacks any intellectual curiosity and I know that he has not read anything from the libertarian canon. We spoke at the dinner gathering and it became clear that his “Trump strategy” consisted solely of insisting that Trump, and most of his supporters, are just racists. I tried to explain to him that this strategy would not work. Most Trump supporters don’t consider themselves to be racist and claiming that they are will only harden their resolve. That and his bumbling, incoherent defense of the “wedding cake” persecution, makes me agree with you that he is trying to woo Bernie supporters. A doomed strategy. After all, those Bernie supporters who will not support Hillary have a better third party candidate, from their perspective, to choose: Jill Stein. His strategy is guaranteed to increase the resolve of Trump supporters while alienating disaffected conservatives and purist libertarians. I would be surprised if the concept of free association as a natural right has ever entered his head, certainly he has framed the issue solely as one of religious liberty (defending such would create a “black hole”). So, to libertarians he gets it wrong and fails to see the “big picture” and to conservatives he comes down on the wrong side of the issue.”
In a sense, the ‘Libertarian Party’ is a contradiction in terms, since a true libertarian, at least an ‘Ancap,’ wants nothing to do with gunvermin.
True dat. Libertarianism is either a philosophy or a religion, depending on how you frame it. And this coming from a guy who was proud to be one for 30 years. Unfortunately, libertarianism suffers from the same feet of clay as communism- they draw heavily from theory and disregard human nature. If we were all 120+ IQ and ethical, libertarianism would work splendidly. If we were all 80 IQ and irredeemably corrupt, Communism would be a great solution.
Any form of government has to be vigilantly watched and vigorously resisted. And anarchy is not a viable option due to the human animals pack/tribal nature. There is usually an easy answer and it is almost always the wrong one.
HI Ernie,
“Any form of government has to be vigilantly watched and vigorously resisted.”
This is precisely why we should promote anarchy as the ideal. Sure, we may never get there and it may prove to be unsustainable but, conceding that the State is necessary, destroys the “vigilant resistance” you correctly note is necessary to restrain government.
Ironically, “minarchists” should promote anarchy for, as William Lloyd Garrison pointed out, “gradualism in theory is perpetuity in practice.”
Those who wish to limit State power, but argue for the necessity of a “night watchmen” state, will always lose, for they have conceded that the State, in theory, is legitimate and good. The only possible means of achieving the “minimal” state desired by some libertarians is to never concede that the State is legitimate. Only if enough people see the State as a robber gang that must be grudgingly tolerated (due to rational self interest) will the people “vigilantly watch and vigorously resist government tyranny.
Jeremy
Jeremy, 100% with you. But what you are saying puts it in the category of a philosophical ideal or a religion. Yes, anarchy is the ideal to strive for, just so long as nobody thinks we can actually reach it.
Hi Ernie,
I have been wanting to gather my thoughts about practical Libertarianism into a coherent manuscript for some time. I hope I eventually find the time to do so.
eric, I have heard too many times that the lesser of two evils is still evil. I won’t argue that. I would argue that it could be a great thing in DC to have the lesser of two, or in this case, three evils.
I’m working myself up to go vote for GJ…..just for the hope it screws up the other two evils a bit more. I won’t consider that vote thrown away.
We have to remember between two elections, the Libertarian party went from .7% to 7%. I don’t think it’s going to go tenfold again but voting for it would certainly be the less of evils and if everybody who can settle(I’m not perfect and don’t think I’ll ever live in a perfect world)for the lesser of evils would vote we could possibly end up with just that. It beats hell out of another BO or Shrub or any Clinton.
Well, I voted for Gary J 4 years ago, just as a protest vote. Not sure I would have done that if I had studied him at all.
Hopefully in 4 years, the Libertarian party will not only be more viable, they can also manage to nominate a real libertarian candidate. As pathetic as Gary is, Bob Barr was magnitudes worse. I voted Constitution Party that year (after voting Ron P in the primary).
Remember in Master and Commander a few years back where Russell Crowe’s character said that you should always choose ‘the lesser of 2 weevils’ (in a weevil race). So maybe we just consider the election as a ‘weevil race.’
PtB, that old saw about throwing your vote away is what keeps the Republocrats in power. You know it, I know it. The MSM makes sure the sheeple don’t know it. Well hell, looks like time to return to the basics, Put what little money you have left into more AR’s, a great deal more ammo and all those things that keep you alive including that evil refined petroleum product. Did you know equal amounts of gasoline and orange juice concentrate, molasses or corn syrup make an evil brew called napalm?
Hey 8, I heard somewhere recently that you could use molasses instead of diesel to mix with your ammonium nitrate
PtB, at $2.20/gal I think I’ll stick with diesel. That’s what the quarries use….or used to. Now I think it’s all pre-made and highly controlled. Funny how some false flag even can keep a guy form making his own. Everybody I ever knew to make it used it for business.
Ernie,
I suspect that at some point in the future government, defined as an entity that enjoys a monopoly on the legal use of force within a given area, will be seen as barbaric and incomprehensible as slavery. Also, in a certain sense, we “reach anarchy” all the time. The vast majority of all human interactions are anarchic in nature. So much so that most people can’t see it.
That being said, I am using “ideal” in the philosophical sense. However, I am trying to explain the practical consequences of choosing which ideal to strive for. I have no idea whether society will ever repudiate the idea that coercive, monopoly institutions are necessary in order for society to function. In fact, such is unlikely.
But, minarchy is even less likely than anarchy because the very definition of government precludes the possibility of legally enforceable limits on its’ power. Only the refusal of people to obey can limit government. Thus, the only hope for a tolerable minarchy is the advocacy of anarchy.
Jeremy
Government is a part of human nature. We are pack hunters. We are hairless killer apes with oversized brains.
As to anarchy, I personally live it. And that includes accepting the world as it is and supporting tribal leaders who further my interests. It is a form of multivariable calculus. And easy answers are seldom right.
Hi Ernie,
In re:
“If we were all 120+ IQ and ethical, libertarianism would work splendidly. If we were all 80 IQ and irredeemably corrupt, Communism would be a great solution.”
Yes. Indeed. Though we still have the problem of smart people who despise the former and embrace the latter. Who hate Libertarianism because it does not offer them the power and control they seek.
Communism, of course, does.
I read a long article about GJ today along with an interview of him. He’s so much closer to being a non-criminal than the other two I may just vote for him. He’s taking away about the same amount from the other candidates and if I vote, i’ll cast one for him as a “fuck you all” vote.
As Trump keeps speaking his views are no different from the neocons. He’s even called Hispanic’s who were born in this country aliens. Not my kind of guy for sure.
If GJ would remain consistent he could draw 30% from both other parties. It wouldn’t give him a win but it would be closer than what everyone is thinking right now.
Remember what they used to say about Ron Paul – if everyone who said he can’t win voted for him, he could win.
Really had high hopes that Trump would shake things up, but the more I hear from him, especially his “law and order” bullshit, the more I see that he’s just more of the same old same old. Couple of months ago I was thinking I might actually get out and vote for the first time in about 40 years, but nope, gonna stay home and sit this one out too. You’re right Eric, I’ll give Hillary (and Pelossi & the rest of the “progressives”) a few points for being more honest about what they represent than the “conservatives” who represent the same damn thing but won’t admit it.
Hi VZ,
Yup.
I had hoped he’d at least critique the warfare state, or Obamacare. He did neither. Those are two of the main reasons I had supported him – tepidly – over Hillary.
But if the wars are going to continue, if Obamacare is going to continue and we’re going to get more “law and order”?
Might as well get The Chimp to saddle up again.
HI PTB,
The Donald’s only appeal is that he seems to pose a threat to the establishment. In a sense this is true, but not in a way that matters. The manufactured outrage over what he says is clearly disingenuous as he has said nothing that goes beyond current US policy. Nor do his occasional, somewhat sane, foreign policy pronouncements pose any significant threat to the hegemonic agenda of the US as these are vastly outweighed by the chest thumping, bomb them all, authoritarian bravado that permeates so much of his rhetoric. US establishment interests will be safe in the hands of Trump.
So, why do the Elite appear to hate him so much? My theory is that it has nothing to do with what he says or even what he may do if elected, but rather the manner in which he succeeded. He easily bypassed, and subsequently crushed, the party gatekeepers. This, more than anything else, is what they fear. The political elite cherishes the stranglehold it enjoys over who gains entry into the “big leagues”. Trump has forced a crack in the wall, that is why they hate him; the “unqualified, lacks the temperament, dangerous, racist, etc…” hysteria is just cover to obscure why they really fear him.
Jeremy
Trump’s only appeal is that he isn’t the hildebeast. It ends there.
Yes – it’s that desperate.
For me, it was that he seemed less warmonger-y. And that he said (at one point) that Obamacare should be repealed. But lately, he has been tub-thumping about the “threat” of (drum-roll) “Islamic terrorism” and appears to have become a Good Republican when it comes to “health care.”
Feed him fish heads.
Both candidates are born out of World War 2 and the 1950s red scare. Their’s is the first generation to fully live their entire lives under the Progressive state established by their grand parents and parents’ generation. Their’s is the first generation to get their news and entertainment from television. Their’s is the last generation to attend a “traditional” church, with crusty old relics damming them to hell and antique music no one plays anymore. And their entire lives have been influenced by the constant drone of statism and cheering for the government.
They both came of age in an artificially turbulent time, the 1960s, when people figured out that images on television and Life magazine were even more powerful than politics and flag waving. By staging a riot, a few hundred people who were easily swayed could make us all believe the world was going to hell. Eventually everyone figured out the secret and we really did see masses of people destroying (their own) neighborhoods.
Some of the conspiracy-nut websites have been following the Black Lives Matter funding, and drawing lines back to George Soros. People arrested at protests and riots supposedly are bussed in, and the arrest logs show a lot of out of state addresses. Maybe that’s the nature of the Internet and the ability to create a flashmob. Maybe it’s because someone is paying them to go protest. I don’t know. As much fun as it is to play the conspiracy game, I really wonder 1) to what end? and 2) how is it possible to keep this stuff on the fringe? Complacent media only gets you so far when it comes to getting eyeballs, nothing generates a buzz like a good scoop. The idea that no one in the mainstream has any integrity seems like a cop-out. But then again, maybe everyone has a price, or perhaps the owners/shareholders demand a milquetoast staff, or maybe everyone is close to retirement and unwilling to take on risk. Don’t know the answer, if I did I wouldn’t be looking at the clock and realizing I’m late for work!