Culture Wars

There is No Magic Money Tree

Climate Change, Culture Wars, Electric Vehicles, Energy, Politics / By / April 18, 2023

This video is annoying as fuck. Ana Kasparian, who is supposedly one of the left’s thought leaders, obviously has no clue how economics work or where money comes from.

Stupid is as stupid does…

Poor Ana is “freaking the fuck out” that her HOA is going to have to take out a huge loan to buy electric vehicle charging stations and pass those costs on to the homeowners. It seems like she is just now realizing that the policies she has been promoting and voting for will cost a shit ton of money and make her personally poorer. She doesn’t yet grasp that global warming, and the switch to EVs in particular, is a fucking scam which will provide exactly zero benefits to society. She will probably really lose her shit if that ever happens.

It never seems to dawn on leftists that diverting resources from useful and practical endeavors that make life better to trendy inefficient boondoggles that they find ideologically pleasing will mean less material wealth and prosperity for them.

Yes, Ana. The switch to EVs will make you poorer and less mobile. THAT IS THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT! How do you not know this???

What is even more infuriating is what Ana thinks the solution should be. She wants the government to “just give me the money.” Arrghhh. This is just proof positive that even the “smart progressives” are completely clueless about economics. Where does Ana imagine the government will get this money to “just give us” to switch to EVs? Are Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer going to get 2nd jobs on the weekend? Donate some of the millions they have dishonestly attained through insider trading and shady deals? Of course not. Any money the government gives you, they first have to take away in the form of taxes. The are essentially giving you back your own money…. as long as you spend it the way they want you to. Or maybe they will just print more of it, making the money you already have worth less. Or maybe, God forbid, they borrow more money from China to pay for it, dooming our grandchildren to a life of poverty.

The point is there is no magic money tree. No free lunch. When you waste money on stupid things, you are less wealthy. Period. Having the government waste the money on your behalf does not change the equation,

But this is the level of thinking we are dealing with. This is how the younger generation has been taught to view government. As mommy or daddy here to take care of you and handle all of the adulting. And make things right when you come up short.

The left has waged a decades long culture war on American society. They started by taking over academia. Moved through pop culture and entertainment. And now have even seized the corporate board rooms and the military. Deprogramming the army of mindless bots they have groomed would take a massive and sustained effort. There is no sign whatsoever that the right has it in them to do it. America is good and fucked.

Democrats to Double Down on Critical Race Theory

Critical Race Theory, Culture Wars, Education, Politics, Wokeness / By / November 21, 2021

Democrats got their clocks cleaned in the election a couple of weeks ago, where even a reliably Blue state like Virginia went Red. Part of the reason is undoubtedly the unmitigated cluster-fuck that was Joe Biden’s first year as “president.” But it was also due in large part to the left’s total embrace of Critical Race Theory and WOKE(!) political activism in K-12 education. It turns out even most Blue State parents don’t want their children indoctrinated with divisive and racist Marxist bullshit. Whoda thunk?

Far from learning their lesson, it sounds like the Democrats plan to double down for 2022. My reaction: Yes, please! Push your unhinged, divisive, and racist ideology even harder. Let Americans know what you really believe. Not all Democrats have their heads in the sand. Plenty of voices are raising the alarm bells.

But the loony left base of the party doesn’t want to hear it. CRT is central to their entire worldview. To the hard core progressives, Critical Race Theory isn’t a racist and divisive ideology with no relation whatsoever to reality, designed to tear the country apart and collapse our institutions and culture. Critical Race Theory is just historical fact that the evil white supremacists want to perpetuate. To them, it is the ugly truth about America’s inherent racism that white people want to hide from their own children. Or a racist dog whistle that isn’t even taught at all. Or both at the same time. Logical consistency was never the left’s strong point.

A recent Business Insider article explores the Democrats’ thinking on CRT. The article starts off with a predictable trope. That this isn’t even a real issue at all, and the problem Democrats have is just messaging and fighting off Republican smears. The CRT debate has nothing to do with actual policy, they claim.

They’ve called it a “racist dog whistle” and a “lie.” But those messages haven’t helped Democrats tamp down the uproar Republicans are fueling over “critical race theory,” now a misused catch-all term for teaching on race and diversity in K-12 schools that’s firing up protests at school board meetings around the country.

And of course, they had to do the obligatory gas-lighting, describing CRT as “a misused catch-all term.” Nobody gives a fuck if CRT as used in the common vernacular is different from the original legal theory of Derrick Bell. When people talk about CRT, everybody understands exactly what it is they are objecting to (or advocating for.) Playing silly semantic word games is just a pathetic attempt to change the subject and shut down any debate.

In Virginia, Republican Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin exploited the term and pledged to “ban” it in classrooms on his first day as governor, even though critical race theory — an academic approach to examining racial bias — is most often taught in law schools.  Republicans plan to lean into the issue in the 2022 election cycle. 

Well, they would be stupid not to lean into the issue in 2022. Especially if the Democrats are dumb enough to double down on it.

Democratic strategists say the party should hit back harder against “divisive” GOP claims while not losing sight of the priority for voters; the economy.

LOL. Democrats want to teach elementary school kids that their country is racist to it’s core, and that all the white kids are oppressors and all the POC kids are oppressed. But it is the Republicans that are “divisive.” Projection, thy name is Democrat.

Democrats haven’t yet pushed back on this issue enough, but the “good news” is the party’s response is effective and there’s time to make the case before the 2022 elections, said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist. They just need to make the case “relentlessly,” he said.

Great insight! The problem with CRT adherents is that they aren’t relentless enough. If only they weren’t so calm and reserved, they could be more effective in getting their message out. I can see why this guy is a professional “strategist.”

“Voters run from the Republicans when Democrats peel back the onion on what these claims really mean,” he said. “It’s not just that Republicans want a bigger role for parents in education, it’s that Republicans are willing to let White supremacists write curricula.”

In addition to being relentless, progressives need to call out concerned parents as racists. That is a sure way to win back their votes. Of course. It all makes such perfect sense now. This guy is a political genius.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House campaign arm for Democrats, downplayed the threat to the party in congressional races. This fall, they tested responses to false claims about critical race theory in K-12 schools. The messages they say resonate most with battleground voters: Democrats want to teach the truth about US history and honor those who fought to make the country better

So the DCCC believes that better gas-lighting will fix everything. The Democrats main problem is that the claims about CRT in K-12 schools are not false at all. Parents can see the books and homework their children bring home. They can see what their kids are being force fed. And they don’t like it. But you Dems just keep telling yourselves that it is only a “messaging” problem.

Democrats keep insisting that teaching CRT is just teaching history. And they seem to actually believe it. They believe their warped perception of America is objective truth. They have convinced themselves that it is everyone else who is racist. The ones who can’t help but notice that it is progressive Democrats who make literally everything about race. And the ones who oppose the actual Webster’s Dictionary-type of racism going on in the here in now, instead of inventing new ways for benign things to be racist.

While it might be amusing to see the Democrats take an ass-whooping of Biblical proportions in 2022, the toxicity of WOKE(!)ness on American society should not be underestimated. The long term effects, especially on impressionable young minds, will resonate for decades. And in fact, that is exactly what the progressive left is counting on. This shit has got to end.

Corporations are More Gutless Than WOKE!

Cancel Culture, Culture Wars, Wokeness / By / November 10, 2021

Tucker Carlson is about the only cable news program I will watch anymore. The rest are just predictable corporate garbage or shameless political hacks. Tucker covers stories that are important to Americans that most other media won’t touch. He shows the appropriate amount of respect for DC politicians and media (i.e. zero.) And he delivers with a biting sarcastic tone. Tucker also usually provides inciteful commentary to go along with his schtick. Last night, he highlighted a ridiculous video that Microsoft prepared for it’s own employees. Each participant in the video bizarrely describes their own physical appearance before they begin speaking. Allegedly, to accommodate blind people. Why a blind person would need to know the physical appearance of a stranger feeding them corporate pabulum is left unclear. Perhaps so they know which intersectional group to assign the speaker to. Anyways, Tucker (rightly) makes fun of the clownish video. And then chalks it up to corporations competing to see who can be the most WOKE!

I think Tucker missed the mark a little on his analysis this time. Most corporations are still primarily focused on keeping their revenue stream going and turning a profit. Just like always. One of the things that can disrupt that flow of cash is to run afoul of the WOKE! mob. Doing so can result in bad press and boycotts, both of which are bad for business. And the WOKE! mob is nothing if not unpredictable, loud, and relentless. The slightest transgression can set them off. And once their focus is on you, they won’t let up until the next unfortunate target stumbles in and replaces you in their crosshairs.

So how do corporations try to insulate themselves? By creating a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department, of course. These WOKE! departments are generally headed by a younger person who got a useless degree in gender/queer/whatever studies. This person will generally know nothing about the actual business they are part of. Their small department will generally operate on a tiny budget and have zero impact on how the business actually runs. They don’t have the knowledge or skills to contribute anything worthwhile. But they still need to feel like they contribute something in order to justify their phony-baloney jobs. And that is why you get things like the ridiculous, and pointless, Microsoft video above. (BTW, Tucker interviewed a guest on his show after showing the video. The way he described his own physical appearance before speaking was pretty hilarious. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any video of it.)

My own perception is that while a few corporations actually do enthusiastically embrace WOKE! politics, most just fake it. Their only goal is to keep the WOKE! mob of scolds off of their back. Appeasing the mob is easier and less costly than standing up to it. If you are going to point the finger at anyone for the proliferation of stupid WOKENESS!, blame the online activist mobs and the Universities that keep churning out graduates with garbage degrees and zero practical skills. The corporations are more gutless than WOKE!

A National Divorce Will Be Bloody

Culture Wars, Current Events, Politics / By / October 13, 2021

After thinking about it a little more, I’m convinced that an amicable national divorce is impossible. An idea that initially sounded promising was a return to Federalism. Going that route, Texas could continue to embrace rugged individualism, while California could build a progressive welfare state. And both could peaceably coexist. In theory, at least.

However, if the left was actually open to a live-and-let-live solution, we wouldn’t be in this position in the first place. I find the modern progressive agenda to be so ridiculous, that I sometimes forget large swaths of the left really do buy into it. Progressivism is now the dominant faction in the Democrat Party. And for the true believers in progressivism, nothing but our subjugation will suffice. To the left, we conservatives don’t just have different opinions and priorities. We’re not even simply mistaken in our beliefs. To them, we are evil. And, they believe, evil must be confronted and defeated. Don’t believe me? Think I’m being hyperbolic? Check out this recent article from New York magazine. By a supposed “moderate” leftist. I strongly suspect it captures the majority opinion progressives will have on a national divorce.

The author starts out by acknowledging the obvious. That our divisions are “deep, bitter, and authentic.” He then cites the recent poll which found 52% of Trump voters and 41% of Biden voters favor seceding from the union. I personally found the 41% support from Biden voters most surprising. He won. Their guy is in power. Had 20,000 or so swing-state voters went the other way and Trump was still President, I bet a whole lot more than 52% of leftists would want out right about now. But the author instead attempts to attribute all the national divorce talk entirely to the pro-Trump right (i.e. the “crazies”.)

There is, moreover, an abundant literature of neo-secessionism on the political right these days, much of it coming from intensely pro-Trump quarters ranging from Glenn Beck’s Blaze Media fiefdom to the Claremont Institute. In the latter MAGA hothouse, secession is nestled within the concept of a “National Divorce,” in which the two mutually hostile sectors of the country would each go their own way.

Whatever. Wherever the idea originated, it is pretty clear that there is significant agreement on both sides that our feud has reached an impasse. The author then proceeds to declare who the good guys are:

Much like an antebellum southern aristocrat shaking his head at the Puritan fanatics of an abolitionist movement he imagined embodying the very soul of Yankeedom, Reaboi and his confederates assume that Blue America is the psychological prisoner of Woke Progressivism, which will destroy any part of the country where it is not denied

So, supporters of Donald Trump are just like the southern aristocrats of the Confederacy who condoned slavery. Get it? The subtle arrogance and self-righteousness is so typical. The author believes that Red America thinks of progressives like him as “Puritan fanatics”, and not degenerate morons. As if the right is saying to itself, “Damn you virtuous progressives. Stop ruining our system of white male supremacy with your infernal fairness and justice!” Seriously. This is what they believe. We can’t even talk to these fuckheads anymore. We’re not even on the same planet.

He continues:

More broadly, the MAGA movement resembles the proto-Confederates in that it bears a powerful sense of loss — that in Trump it had its big chance to Make America Great Again but was robbed of victory by tyrants who will now flood the land with the votes of swarthy immigrants and destroy American enterprise with a socialist administrative state.

Well, at least that part of the article is true. Trump supporters certainly believe they got shafted in the last election, myself included. And that the cabal in DC are tyrants. That they intend to cement their power through illegal immigration. That they will impose a socialist administrative state. And that the country is screwed because of it. How this makes us analogous to the Confederacy isn’t exactly clear. Nor is the relevance of how swarthy the illegal immigrants are (or are not.) Actually, the reasoning behind both statements is totally clear. They are just backhanded ways of calling us racists. Leftists reflexively believe that all conservatives are racist, and that all of our objections to illegal immigration are based solely on racism. At least the dumb ones do. The smarter ones know the race card is a convenient crutch that protects them from having to defend their otherwise indefensible policies.

The author then goes on to concede that some leftists, understandably tired of dealing with bigoted idiots for years on end, are ready to throw their hands up in frustration.

Now as then, some elements of the left are happy to let the reactionaries go in order to liberate themselves from the gridlock and paralysis that big national divisions operating under a limited-government constitution encourage.

And even admits that there would be some serious upsides:

Yes, I might derive great joy from the overthrow of the U.S. Senate and its filibuster and the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court. I would feel much safer in a progressive nation that didn’t arm its citizens to the teeth, didn’t view other nations as “shitholes” full of subhuman orcs to be subdued, and didn’t accept calamitous climate change as just the price of doing business.

It’s kind of fascinating to see what bothers this guy the most. You’ve got the Senate, which is one of the main safeguards for federalism. Then there is the Supreme Court, enforcers of the limits on government set forth in the US Constitution. And guns, the last defense against a tyrannical government. All longstanding thorns in the progressive side, so those three certainly make sense.

The “shithole” country issue is an odd one to single out. People on the right certainly believe some countries are “shitholes”, even if that isn’t a very sensitive way to put it. There are plenty of countries in the word that are racked with war, oppression, corruption, and poverty. It stands to reason that they aren’t very nice places to live. In fact, the left is constantly telling us we need to accept anyone who crosses our southern border because the countries they are fleeing are so awful. What are they then, if not “shitholes”?

Then there is the subhuman orcs conservatives apparently want to subdue. I honestly don’t even know what he is talking about here. I guess it could be just another ham-handed insinuation that all conservatives are racist. Being unfortunate enough to be born in a “shithole” country doesn’t make you subhuman. I don’t know anybody who thinks it does. And conservatives certainly don’t want to subdue those people. Supporters of Trump tend to be isolationists, if anything. Trump was all about putting a stop to the stupid endless wars and wasting billions on nation-building. The only people we are looking to subdue are the ones trying to illegally cross our border. Not because we think they are somehow subhuman or too brown or whatever other slanderous motive the left can dream up. But because you can’t have a country with no borders and no sovereignty. The United States can’t possibly allow every person born in a less prosperous country to just waltz right in and make themselves at home and still be viable as a nation. There certainly isn’t anything humane or compassionate about the current situation at our southern border. You might even describe the conditions as sub-human. But the influx is good for the future electoral prospects of the left, and that is what really matters to the progressives. You certainly won’t see any photo-ops with AOC crying outside the over-flowing detention centers now.

And finally, we have the obligatory climate change canard. The existential crisis where the very last chance to act is always tomorrow. The crisis so dire, the politicians and media need to constantly lie and fear monger just to convince people it is actually a real thing. And of course, the “solution” to the climate “crisis” just happens to align perfectly with the political goals of the globalist left. What are the odds???Though, as far as leftist hoaxes go, I must admit global warming climate disruption climate change is brilliant. It can’t be positively disproven by pesky evidence for an entire century. So, point conceded, the vast majority of conservatives aren’t hip on voluntarily enslaving themselves because your computer models say Gaia is crying.

Despite all the positives, Kilgore points out that allowing the Red States to secede would have a dire consequence. They would actually be allowed to govern themselves in accordance with their (evil) culture and values.

But how could I happily accept the accelerated subjugation of women and people of color in a new, adjacent Red America, any more than abolitionists could accept the continuation and expansion of the slavery they hated? Would it really be safe to live near a carbon-mad country in which the denial of climate change was an article of faith? And could I ever trust that a “neighbor” whose leadership and citizens believed their policies reflected the unchanging ancient will of the Almighty would leave our fences intact?

Again, I have no idea what this shit stain is even talking about. The subjugation of women and people of color? Is that really what this turd thinks conservatives want? Apparently, treating everybody the same regardless of skin tone is the new Jim Crow. And protecting the lives of the unborn is just like the Handmaid’s Tale. Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of the science behind CO2 and global warming knows that proximity to the source is irrelevant. Even if you actually were concerned about such things. Oh, and of course the rednecks will be tempted to invade once they see how awesome the left’s socialist utopia turns out to be and they get super jealous.

However, there is a small problem for our potential leftist overlords. If the Red States did decide to secede, our friend isn’t so sure the soy-boys of the left would have the intestinal fortitude to stop them.

I don’t know if the hypothetical leaders of an America facing red-state secession would have the unshakable will of a Lincoln. And it’s not at all clear that young men and women in Blue America would be willing to take up arms in large numbers to resist secession with fire and blood.

At least he isn’t completely divorced from reality. Your average young leftists are accustomed to whining and crying to get their way. They fall to pieces if someone mis-genders them. Odds are they wouldn’t hold up too well under battle. Then there are the left’s shock troops of Antifa. However, Antifa like beating up on helpless victims and cos-playing as revolutionaries. They don’t like targets that can fight back and generally prefer to be back in mom’s basement by morning so they don’t miss out on playing video games.

Finally, then the author finishes up with the main point of his article:

So I say to the would-be secessionists: Please don’t go. And if it’s somehow in my power, I won’t let you go. I have no illusions of compromises yet untried or “third ways” left unexplored. So let’s have it out right here in America as peacefully as we can manage. Perhaps if we continue to battle for control of our common country, one side or the other might win a popular mandate to exercise real power and change the facts on the ground, breaking the perpetual stalemate. If not, then let’s consider the wisdom of those who crushed the Confederacy in the belief that the misery of political conflict is better than the literal civic death of national disunion.

After many paragraphs of pure vitriol aimed at Red America, the author then states that separation is not an option. Is it just me, or does this seem like a strange position to hold? He doesn’t even pretend there is common ground to be found. Why insist on sticking with a bunch of science-denying racists? Why share a country with people you clearly can’t stand? People you actually consider to be evil? The answer is actually rather obvious from the context: to subjugate them. To bring them to heel and control them. The idea of allowing conservatism to survive in America is anathema to progressive ideologues like the author.

So what does this all mean for an amicable national divorce? In short, it ain’t happening. No way. The bottom line is that the American left feels like they are winning. The election of Donald Trump gave them quite a scare, and it had them panicked for a while. But they have regained their composure, and once again feel confident that the arc of history is on their side. The left won’t make the same mistakes they made with Trump. They have made their way through all of America’s institutions. They dominate pop culture, the media, big tech, and the education system. They have finally sowed enough self-doubt and division in our citizenry to erode our national confidence and rot this great country from within. And they have inundated key voting regions with foreign invaders who have no understanding or appreciation of our nation’s founding, history, values, traditions, and culture. All of this smells like victory to the left. So a simple divorce won’t do. They don’t hate living with us. They hate us. Period. After spending decades working to bring us down, they aren’t going to let us peacefully go our separate way now. Not when they are so close to delivering that final coup de grâce they have dreamed of for so long. Or, so they think.

Make no mistake, a progressive like Ed Kilgore wouldn’t be so gung-ho for a final decisive showdown if he thought his side might actually lose. When he talks about one side exercising real power and fundamentally transforming the country, it is blatantly clear which side he envisions vanquishing the other. “Breaking the perpetual stalemate” is his euphemism for destroying conservatism and America-as-founded forever. To Kilgore and his ilk, it is a moral imperative akin to defeating the Confederacy to end slavery.

Diversity of political perspectives is one thing the left absolutely can not tolerate. There won’t be any “coexist” bumper stickers for conservatives or Red America. They want us eradicated.

National Divorce Idea Gaining Some Traction

1 Comment / Culture Wars, Current Events, Politics / By / October 5, 2021

A while back I lamented that a national divorce might be necessary. Since then, the idea actually seems to be gaining a bit of traction. People on both the right and left have been kicking it around. Still, the level of support shown in a recent poll was a real shocker. If you believe the UVA poll, close to half the country already agrees that splitting up is a good idea. In fact, the push for a national divorce has gotten strong enough that a New York Post writer felt the need to throw cold water on it.

In solidly blue New York, Trump won 3,251,997 votes to Biden’s 5,244,886 in 2020. Trump’s 3.2 million is more than five times the number of people living in Wyoming, the reddest state in the country, and more than 16 times the votes Trump won there. Do conservatives simply surrender the whole Empire State, and those 3.2 million voters, in the divorce? How would those 3.2 million feel about that?

The columnist’s main argument against a split seems to be that it would be messy. Well, duh. Any kind of divorce is gonna be messy. Dividing up a couple and their assets is hard enough. Dividing up a country will be extremely difficult and contentious. And unlike, say, Brexit we won’t have a body of water separating us from our exes. How is the national debt divided up? Military assets? What happens to all the illegal aliens? It would be ugly. And exactly what the break up would look like is tough to say. Maybe we don’t end up as separate countries at all, but revert to an extreme form of Federalism? Who knows. But, yes, a national divorce would obviously be a colossal mess. However, the alternative the Post offers up seems to be a no go.

We’re still a very new country; we continue to grow and evolve. The solution isn’t to divide it up so we could be (briefly) better represented. It’s to persuade others to our way of thinking — and voting. And to remember the ideas that forged our national marriage in the first place.

The reason a national divorce is even being discussed is precisely because we can’t persuade others to our way of thinking. One side is explicitly repudiating the “ideas that forged our national marriage in the first place.” We have literally nothing left in common. The right believes in free speech whether they agree with it or not. The left wants censorship of misinformation and hate speech codes. The right wants a free market economy with minimal regulations. The left wants a socialist centrally planned economy where corporations are compelled to serve the common good. The right believes in the right to keep and bear arms. The left wants to confiscate all the guns. The right believes in a color-blind society where everyone is treated equal. The left wants an identity-based politics where equality of outcomes is enforced. I honestly think we are close to being the most divided we have ever been. Leading up to the Civil War, the North and the South were bitterly divided over the issue of slavery. But even back then, Americans still shared most of the same values. When the war was over, they had some common basis to rebuild. We don’t have that today. The left and right in America are fundamentally opposed on almost every single issue. In my opinion, the idea we can just talk it out is hopelessly naïve. Either we split. Or we fight it out until one side subjugates the other. Possibly with bloodshed involved.

To my thinking, the real impediment to a national divorce would be the political class and the special interests they serve. The cabal entrenched in DC has got the most to lose from a national break up. They have spent decades building up their power, and won’t willingly give it up. Something truly ugly would need to happen before the political class would grudgingly get on board. Things will have to get a lot worse before a national divorce is really taken seriously. Sadly, I believe they will.

Russel Brand Gets Red-Pilled (Sort Of)

Culture Wars, Current Events, Politics / By / October 1, 2021

The right-wing blogosphere is making a big deal about a video British comedian Russel Brand recently posted:

Brand is well know for his left wing politics and activism. Brand was apparently dumbfounded when he finally realized the whole Russia Collusion narrative was a hoax cooked up by the Clinton campaign and (knowingly) spread by the DC political machine. Apparently it was previously beyond his comprehension that the saintly Democrats and their media lapdogs would engage in anything so sordid and underhanded. My first reaction is, what the hell took you so long? Is your BS-meter completely broken? The Russia Collusion hoax is one of the dumbest conspiracy theories to emerge over the last few decades… right up there with 9-11 Trutherism and the Obama Birthers. But because the garbage media played it up and devoted countless hours to analyzing it, a lot of people just assumed that surely there must be something to it. Serious journalists wouldn’t waste countless hours fluffing a hoax. Would they? But I digress.

So, mind blown, Brand goes on to question what other narratives the left might by trying to use to cynically manipulate him. He goes on to question whether hot buttons like diversity, inclusion, and climate change are just a ruse for politicians to accumulate more power. OK, so far so good. He then goes on to lament that government is beholden to powerful special interests, and doesn’t represent the will of the people. He’s almost there. He has correctly identified all of the symptoms.

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely

– Lord Acton

But then Brand draws exactly the wrong conclusion. Unable to shake his collectivist mindset, the solution Brand offers up at the end is: more regulations. Where these regulators will come from, how they will be empowered to overrule the politicians, and why they will be immune to the money and power that corrupts everything else in government is left to the imagination.

So close…

Power is the root problem. Washington DC has too much of it. And they are constantly seizing more. The politicians want the power to control every facet of our lives. And why wouldn’t they? Power and influence are the commodity they sell to enrich themselves. The more of it they have, the more secure their positions become. And the more their bank accounts grow.

Government is simply the name we give to the things we choose to do together

– Barney Frank

There is so much wrong with the Barney Frank quote above, that it would take an entire post just to unpack it. But to Russel Brand, and others with the collectivist mindset, the idea that we are all just one big happy family eager to work together to reach our shared goals is a fantasy too cherished to abandon. The idea that human nature is corruptible, and no amount of regulations will change that, is anathema to them. The fact that many Americans would just as soon use the power of government to subdue their fellow citizens as work with them is too difficult to bear. Like all the collectivists before them, they still believe that next time socialism will work. To the left, all that is needed are a few minor tweeks and the “right” people in charge, and Utopia can be just around the corner. It could never even occur to them that reducing the power of government, and empowering the individual, is the real solution.

Yet, sadly, my solution is just as much a fantasy as Brand’s at this point. The odds of the DC “elite” voluntarily giving back the power they have usurped over the last decades are pretty much less than zilch. In fact, the odds of us just keeping the freedoms we still have left are pretty grim nowadays. Seems the best we can hope for is to slow the downward spiral.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

– Thomas Jefferson

SJWs Attempt to Dunk on Lincoln

Culture Wars, Politics, Wokeness / By / September 30, 2021
https://twitter.com/FordsTheatreNPS/status/1439291882660679689

There are SJWs littered all throughout our government. Apparently, they have even taken over Ford’s Theatre, and are encouraging the WOKE! to redefine the 16th President’s legacy through a 21st century Social Justice prism. They will no doubt find plenty of reasons to find good old Honest Abe problematic, and insist the history of his life be presented in a more critical fashion. These noodle-armed turds will then no doubt congratulate themselves on how virtuous they are and how much they have done to further justice and equality in America. And of course they will complement each other on their bravery in taking on the white supremist system of oppression.

Of course, in reality there is nothing brave about these petulant snowflakes. They SJWs pretend to fight battles that have already been won by others. Battles fought by people who actually were principled and brave. And then they wrap themselves in the honor and glory that others actually earned. Lincoln did more to advance freedom and equality in America than probably any other human being who has ever lived. And he paid the ultimate price for it. The civil rights activists back in the 50s and 60s risked beatings and lynchings while fighting for their righteous cause. Many of them also made the ultimate sacrifice.

It’s not like the world is out of just causes to champion. But those fights are hard. The cosplay activists of today risk nothing and accomplish nothing. The worst thing the spindly-legged hipster lecturing you about pronouns will suffer is a dismissive eye-roll. These dipshits no nothing of history or real hardship. Most are too dumb to realize they are just pawns being manipulated to serve a political movement. Lincoln freed the slaves, won the Civil War, and saved the Union. The SJWs invented dozens of new genders and cancel culture. I will continue to put the real heroes on a pedestal.

Critical Race Theory Rebuked Decisively in Texas Town

Critical Race Theory, Culture Wars, Current Events, Politics / By / May 4, 2021

With all the bad news lately, even a little bit of sanity is a welcome change. Residents of Southlake, Texas voted overwhelmingly against pushing Critical Race Theory in their schools. Critical race theory is the toxic pile of divisive garbage the left has latched on to as a way to tear down the American system so they can replace it with a European-style nanny state run by an army of leftist technocrats. The poisonous effect it has had on American society has been a recurring theme on this blog (see, for example, here, here, here, and here among others.)

The voters have come together in record-breaking numbers to restore unity. By a landslide vote, they don’t want racially divisive critical race theory taught to their children or forced on their teachers. Voters agreed with my positive vision of our community and its future.

Hannah Smith, newly elected school board member in Texas

Of course, NBC news could barely hide their disgust at this story. After all, how could any decent person oppose “a proposal to combat racial and cultural intolerance in schools”? And what, exactly, is wrong with supporting “new diversity and inclusion training requirements”? Progressives just want to make “children feel safe and welcome”, according to NBC. And they use a bunch of other flowery euphemisms for CRT throughout the article. Of course, critical race theory isn’t really about any of those things. Critical Race Theory exists to sow division, resentment, and anger at the “system.” Like all critical theories, it’s main goal is to weaken and eventually collapse that which it is critical of. Namely, America as founded. Thank god the good people of Texas weren’t buying the horseshit the progressives and NBC were selling.

The left is notorious for taking words for things that are good, and coopting them to describe things that are actually the exact opposite. “Liberal” used to mean you supported economic freedom, civil liberties, and the enlightenment. Until the left got a hold of the word. “Tolerance” used to mean live-and-let-live, an essential trait any large and diverse country needs to hold together. Now it means conform to the Woke! worldview, or else.

By controlling the language, Big Brother controls the way that the people think. With a limited vocabulary, the people are limited in how much they can think, as well as, what they think about.

George Orwell, 1984

And so it is with Critical Race Theory. The left knows it would be dead in the water if they admitted what it was really all about. So they rebrand it as “diversity and inclusion” or “racial sensitivity.” Critical Race Theory must be vigorously resisted and exposed as the racist garbage it really is.

Are the Useful Idiots of Antifa About to Find Out their Services are no Longer Needed?

Antifa, Culture Wars / By / April 24, 2021

Huh, sounds like the mayor of Portland has declared war on the Antifa thugs terrorizing his city. Just last summer they were the darlings of the left… a group of brave and (mostly) peaceful protestors venting their righteous rage against an evil, oppressive, and racist society. Now Democrats sound much less willing to let their cities burn for the sake of social justice. Wonder what changed in the last few months?

Oops! CNN Director Says Quiet Part Out Loud

Culture Wars, Media, Politics / By / April 13, 2021

This video is fascinating and totally unsurprising at the same time. Anyone with an open mind who paid any attention whatsoever during the last election cycle could clearly see that the mainstream media was actively propagandizing to get Donald Trump out of office. That is not a shocking revelation at all. The fact a CNN employee would be so openly candid about it is a bit of a surprise. One interesting tidbit is that CNN already has their next progressive cause to agitate for all planned out: climate change. In case there was any doubt left, CNN is clearly not an actual news network but a propaganda outfit that pushes pre-written narratives to advance progressive causes. They aren’t alone. The New York Times did the same thing with race after their Russia collusion hoax failed. I can almost guarantee all the major networks do it as well. The US media is total garbage, and the enemy of the people. Their demise can’t come quickly enough.

P.S. You almost feel sorry for the smarmy little turd caught on camera, until you realize what he has been a willing participant in. F*** him. He might want to update his resume.