Opus 2020-134: Headlines: A Walk on the Wild Side

Why is Trump so popular among the deplorables?  There are a lot of good reasons.  He kept his promises.  He loves America.  He gets things done.  He is not a professional politician.  I am sure the list could go on but there is one reason he appeals to the smelly masses:  He has a pair.

I watched the video of him walking off the White House property on his way to visit the historic church that the insurrectionists had tried to burn.  Yes, he was surrounded by a small army.  Yes, they had cleared the area.  It was still a gutsy thing to do and people who love America sat up and cheered.  The icing on the cake was the screed put out by the snowflake Bishop who claimed to speak for Christians when she stood up for the rioters and criticized the President.

If you are not a Christian you might misunderstand one keep point:  Neither is she.

Pray for his safety and wisdom.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-133: Buddy, Got Some Change?

“You go to war with the army you have.”  I have seen that idea applied to many different scenarios lately.  It is a statement of truth.  An offshoot of that would be about the problems we are seeing in our leadership during the China virus panic and now the riots in our cities.  The sad truth is we go to war with the government we have.  I also believe that people get the government they deserve.  Keep in mind that the governors and mayors in the shut down states and burning cities tend to be Democrats and have been cheered on by the voters as they implement Democrat policy and reinforce Democrat values.  Have you had enough virtue signaling yet?

Keep in mind that the army changes.  They adapt.  If they don’t they lose.  At the beginning of World War II the Japanese had the finest airplanes and best pilots in the Pacific.  Our guys were blown out of the sky.  They fought on as the nation adapted.  By the end of the war things had definitely changed.  Think of the Civil War.  All the good generals went south.  It took Lincoln years for the Grants and Shermans to rise to the top.  If McClellan had remained in command the United States southern border would be the Potomac, not the Rio Grande.

It is time for the government to make changes.  We are at war for our lives as a nation.  Many people think that Rome fell because it was conquered by barbarians.  Not so.  By the time the Western Roman Empire finally came to an official end it had been infiltrated by the barbarians and the Romans had taken a cultural holiday.  Our barbarians are among us.  They represent a way of life in which the only acceptable result is a country run on Marxist principles.  They want a country like the Soviet Union became with a small group of powerful and wealthy elites at the top and the masses of people living in brainwashed poverty.  That is the goal of the Progressives*.  These people control about everything you read in the establishment press and that your children hear at school.

It is time for the government to change.  In this case the change goes back to the basic principles of the Constitution which involves the rule of law and people being responsible for their own lives.  Those changes start with us in the ballot box.  We cannot continue to elect the likes of Pelosi, Schumer and Romney on the national level.  We cannot afford to let so many of our states be run by the, if you will excuse the phrase, little Hitlers that have emerged to lay down their nonsense regulations.  The change depends on thousands of ballot boxes around the country.  If the people of Michigan, Wisconsin and New York are happy with their leadership then we may want to start talking about a peaceable division of the country between the coastal elites and the working class fly over country.  (Yes, I know that Michigan and Wisconsin are not on the coast.)

Change is coming.  If the Progressives* have their way we will all go down together.  If people wake up we will see the results of MAGA.  If we can’t agree maybe it is time to go our own ways.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-132: On the Street: “Fear Itself” Is Winning

Have you noticed the similarity between going to a restaurant and attending an Antifa rally?  People are wearing masks and either they are afraid to look you in the eye or they stare at you with hostility.

I have been out twice in two days.  It is not because I need to go out but the women in my life do have needs.  On Sunday we went to a high end restaurant for our 45th wedding anniversary.  On Monday I took my daughter out for her birthday to a Chipolte.  In both places we were greeted by thugs.

I don’t know if you have ever been to Flemings.  We went on Sunday because they have a special that weighs in at $55.  Usually the steak by itself costs that much.  Generally I find my throat closing up and a sense of impending doom when I go there.  The cost is ridiculous, but I am the only member of my family that feels that way.  So I shut up and go along.  We gathered in the parking lot and headed for the door.  Another couple was approaching at the same time.  They were in a different world that we were.  We were hugging, shaking hands and smiling.  They were walking bent over, casting furtive glances all around them and wearing masks.  They gave us a look that was half hostility and half fear.  It is the look you get from someone in the back seat of a police car as you walk by free and easy.

When we got inside we were greeted by either employees or Antifa trainees.  Since they did not attack I assumed employees.  Masks were everywhere.  We were given a room to ourselves.  The sense of fear was thicker than the steaks. 

At Chipolte we were not even sure if we could go in.  The lights were on.  There were people moving around inside but we were not sure it they were employees or rioters that had come in the back door.  The employees all wore black shirts and black masks.  When we went inside every table except one had a little sign telling you it was out of service.  Ordering was a chore because a properly worn mask makes it hard to speak clearly.  We managed to get our food and make it to the one free table. 

People.  We need to get over it.  We need to take the masks and set them aside for the next riot.  Either that or get ready to live the rest of your life not knowing if the person coming toward you is smiling or gnashing his teeth.  The China Virus Panic was a fraud perpetuated by a group of Progressives* who want to end America as we knew it.  Look at the numbers.  Do a little math.  Engage your memory.  Above all, think for yourself.

I would really like to know if the waitress is smiling or snarling.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, Antifa, etc)

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-131: Cornerstone Considerations: CUSA, Insurrection

Seven years ago I wrote and referred to the responsibility of the Federal government to the states.  Seven years.  How time flies.

Article IV, Section 4

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence.

There is another place that refers specifically to the role of the legislature.  I bring this up in regard to what we see happening in Minneapolis and in copy-cat fashion around the country,

Article I, Section 8

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.;

Notice it says to “suppress insurrections”.  What is happening in Minneapolis is not a protest.  It is insurrection.  It is blatant and organized opposition to the lawful government of the city.  You can pretty it up and dress it in a clown suit all you want but it is still rioting.  What happened when the armed citizens went to express their disagreement about how the governor was shutting down the state was a protest.  It was peaceful and clear in its purpose.  It was not their to start a revolution.  What is happening now is rioting and insurrection. 

As I read the Constitution it is the legislature that is supposed to be responding.  I am sure there is some reason why the baton has been passed to the president.  Either way, it is the responsibility of the United States government to suppress this civil unrest that neither the city nor the state seems to want to deal with.

Deal with it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-130: Headlines: Remember Rodney

As I sit on my hilltop in semi-rural Texas and watch the Democratic citadels burn I wonder if the savages are going to be coming for the rest of us.  It is strange how we never learn.

I remember the riots that erupted after the police who beat Rodney King were acquitted by a jury.  I watched in amazement as the police went for coffee and doughnuts and the violence spun out of control.  A simple strong response early in the rioting could have brought it to a halt without destroying a major part of the city.  I remember watching the fires move from liquor store to liquor store.  It was an obvious plan.  The entire city did not burn at first.  It was an organized group going for the expensive booze and setting fires to distract the authorities.  You could see the pattern.

I remember the concern that we felt twenty miles outside of town.  I won’t say fear because the communities the rioters would have needed to come through to get to us would have stopped them cold.  A real mob may be stupid but rioters tend to know what they are after:  The most they can get at the least risk.  A witness to that is the Roof Top Koreans.  The criminals in the street left them alone.  The guy waiting for the police to respond got burned out.

I see the same thing happening in Minneapolis.  This whole thing could have been stopped after a few hours if the police had been serious about stopping it.  If the police in other Democratic strongholds don’t wise up we will see the party continue at other venues.  In Texas we have the right to defend our homes and families.  It is one of the reasons I moved here.  Because we have that right and the thugs know it they will probably hop on a plane and head for greener pastures.

The right to defend yourself usually means you don’t have to.  As someone said, “An armed society is a polite society.”

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-129: Franklin Delano Pelosi

As the lockdown continues and I am forced to do some serious reading I came to a book that has been on my shelf for 40 years.  I started it once but did not get far.  It is called The Roosevelt Myth and deals with the way in which FDR has been mythologized by history.  A similar thesis was put forth by Amity Shlaes in The Forgotten Man.  They have different approaches and lift out different examples but tell much the same tale. 

I keep coming across things that happened as Roosevelt came to power and I see that some things have not changed.  You may remember Nancy Pelosi telling congress they needed to pass the bill to find out what is in the bill.  We laughed and felt uncomfortable.  She could have quoted FDR as her precedent.  When elected Roosevelt had to face the bank crisis and immediately closed the banks.  Then they had to figure out how to open the banks with no money.  The answer they came up with is one we are very familiar with today:  Have the Federal Reserve print money.  We don’t think this is weird today.  Immoral and bad policy maybe, but not weird.  It was never heard of in those days.  So the team through something together and sent it to congress.

“The new Congress met at noon Thursday.  Roosevelt’s message was read and the bill introduced.  This was the bill that was represented by a newspaper, as there had yet been no time to make copies.  No one but the Congressional leaders had seen it and it was passed in an hour.  A few hours later the Senate passed it.”  page 30

Notice the phrase “represented by a newspaper”.  They did not even have a copy to bring to be voted on so they rolled up a newspaper and pretended it was the bill.  Too bad they didn’t have the phrase “Fake News” in those days.

Within a few hours both houses of the legislature passed a bill authorizing the printing of 20 billion dollars and they never even saw the bill.  Keep in mind these are depression era dollars we are talking about.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was truly one of the most influential presidents in our history.  The more I learn about him the more convinced I am that the influence was bad.

Flynn, John T.  The Roosevelt Myth.  Garden City, New York:  Garden City Books, 1948.

homo unius libri

Opus 2020-128: Some Things Never Change

I was looking at the headlines on The Bongino Report and a statement by Paul Krugman caught my eye.  Krugman is one of those economists who seems to know nothing about economics.  You know the type. 

The quote, from RedState, was

“Repeat after me: debt is money we owe to ourselves. It doesn't make the nation as a whole poorer.”

This is the kind of nonsense we have come to expect from Progressives*.  What hit me was the realization that this is not new thinking.  It is simply a repetition of the kind of thinking and government action that is a result of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration.  Yes, that FDR.  He brought in a bunch of bright eyed Harvard types who were not worried about how Roosevelt had been running up the deficit with his New Deal programs.  They wanted to borrow more.  Does this sound like Krugman to you,

“But to these new economic philosophers this was nothing to disturb the slumbers of the people.  Government debt is not like private debt, they said.  It does not have to be paid.  The government can keep it afloat indefinitely by redeeming old bonds with new bonds.  Moreover the interest on the government debt will not be a burden.  The debt is due by the people themselves.  The people owe the debt.  The people own the bonds which represent the debt.  The government taxes the people to pay the interest on the bonds.  It takes the taxes out of the pockets of the people and pays it back to them in the form of interest.  It is just taking it out of one pocket and putting it in the other.” page 160

Part of the Progressive* mind set is printing money and buying people off.  Congress just passed an unfunded “relief package”.  It wasn’t enough for the Democrats.  They want trillions more.  If they get it then they will want still more.

Some things never change.  That is why the people in congress need to be.

Flynn, John T.  The Roosevelt Myth.  Garden City, New York:  Garden City Books, 1948.

*(Liberals, educators, socialists, communists, elites, Rinos, Democrats, leftists, Never Trumpers, etc)

homo unius libri