Author: publius911

10/13/23

I have watched Hannity sparingly over the years. I find him to be too vitriolic for my taste but his politics lined up for the most part, with mine. I thought Tucker bordered on bombastic at times too but his content was better. I am interested in Vivek Ramaswamy’s candidacy and watched his “interview” with Hannity. It only served to show me that Hannity is a partisan hack who is doing the bidding of some amorphous political cabal that has a strangle hold on the Republican party. He’s in the DC bubble and does not want it burst.

Hannity in a “gotcha” pseudo interview, conflated Vivek’s statement in a Tucker interview on Azerbaijan, where he says powerful financial connections drive moral outrage, with the current Israel war.

https;//www,youtube.com/watch?v=30ECi1Ps5ea

https://www.thedailybeast.com/hannity-loses-it-at-ramaswamy-over-his-comments-on-israel

Instead of what should have been a reasoned conversation about Vivek’s policy positions, as it was in Tucker’s conversations with Vivek, Hannity was confrontational throughout the “interview”. He began the segment with a video of her criticism of Vivek. When “asked” to respond, he refused to allow Vivek to explain his position. Hannity’s “just answer this simple question” turned into a speech. Using the same tactics we decry in the leftist media, he used an excerpt of Vivek’s comments to incorrectly cast his position. When Vivek tried to correct Hannity, he refused to let Vivek complete his explanation. Hannity eventually cut off the interview when Vivek confronted Hannity about his parroting mass medias talking points and falsehoods.

For me, this is another example of why outsiders are critical to putting this country back on the right footing. Instead of debating the notion of monetized public service, or the differences between the conflicts in Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Israel, ad hominem slurs fill the “news” that is supposed to educate the public. Piercing the bubble of the elitists on both sides, is now apparent. They are too close to the sun to realize they are burning up.

8/29/23

Visiting your medical provider (who sees and actual MD anymore?) is preceded by a questionnaire on your state of being. “Have you felt feelings of isolation?” now goes along with “Where does it hurt?”  When I did get to see a doctor, (my fourth primary care physician in 3 years) I asked why these questions? She said they are required by the government. HUH?

Putting two and two together, I now get the recent Surgeon General statement on the state of loneliness in the US. It now appears that the state is getting ready to establish programs to address your innermost feelings because, who else is best to deal with them than the federal government?

Here is another state created disaster around which they will create a non-solution that exacerbates the problem resulting in yet another failed bureaucracy that runs on infinitum. Having caused immeasurable harm in isolating people during Covid, they are collecting data confirming their ill ways. This, not to humbly suggest the policies were wrong, but rather to foist upon us yet another massive intrusion into our ability to be free thinking beings.

Coming to you soon, the Ministry of Happiness!

8/14/23

Everyone has to come to their own decisions. You cannot coerce people into doing what they don’t want. It will work on the surface and might even get cooperation in the moment, but for those things that go against a person’s internal instincts, it will be fleeting. Such is the case with religion, politics and certainly, love; ask Bonnie Raitt.

So when you look at the state of political discourse today, you have to ask yourself why so much is left to coercion versus persuading? Is it that the success of negative campaigning and the vilifying of opponents has become so pervasive that reason and civil discourse have now been relegated to the dust bin? With the short attention spans of most consumers of information, the ability to get a cogent argument across on a complicated topic such as abortion, it is difficult and maybe even impossible to break through to consider an alternative position.

Still, the option of using physical force is an abhorrent for the time being. Most people of both persuasions do not want armed conflict to determine an outcome. Despite the rhetoric thrown by sides of the political divide, I don’t see real people coming with pitch forks for those with whom they disagree….for now. Should our esteemed leaders and the media continue to ratchet up that rhetoric, all bets are off as there are any number of people on both sides ready for a fight. Certainly the actions regarding Covid inoculation came dangerously close as people lost their jobs over a shot.

A recent piece in the Federalist about the Spanish Civil War was a stark reminder of how quickly things can spiral out of control. There thousands of religious were killed simply because they opposed the state’s policies. Rather than trying persuasion, the topics were too close to the dogmas of the religious to have any chance of compromise and therefore, why bother. Instead, they harassed, jailed and killed those who resisted. Can’t happen here? Hmmm. Current court cases show the lengths to which the state squelched opposing views on a number of policies they advocated. The force of the state is alleged to have been used in the case of social media companies and actual force in the case of American citizens. Armed law enforcement, far beyond the perceived threat, was used to apply  “legal” actions in several cases.

In what appears to be a concerted effort to “poke the bear into a response”, the state continues to provoke those who would take umbrage with their policies. Questions remain as to what, if any, government actors were involved in the actions of January 6^th. Undercover government agents have been regularly used to ferret out subversives but, in some cases, have crossed the line into entrapment. With the current suspicions held my so many, why would the state continue to utilize this nefarious means to identify threats? Litigation of political opponents has an ugly scent. More cases are being brought requiring those targeted to spend large amounts of money to defend themselves. The aggressors win even if they don’t prevail in court. Add the media’s piling on when it is someone with whom they disagree.

Politicians on both sides fail to see the powder keg on which they sit. They continue to castigate their opponents in evil terms and use legal terms like treason and insurrection when identifying them. Racist and white supremacist do not have jail or death sentences attached to them, but these do. How does that lend itself to reasoned discourse on an issue like gun control or abortion? Neither side wants to put down their rhetorical gun. Rather, they escalate it to a point where they become entrenched in their own argument and can’t dare to see a glimmer of the alternative. Worse, they apply a slur to those who simply have a different opinion. The old, “we agree to disagree” no longer holds water with these
“leaders” who now see their ability to remain in power tied to their raising enough cane to get clicks and interviews on a compliant media. Anger, like sex, sells in politics. As  result, we can expect to be yelled at instead of talked to for the foreseeable future. I’d like to be persuaded that’s not true.

 7/27/23

The sweetheart deal between prosecutors and defense lawyers for Hunter fell apart but you would think the only thing that happened yesterday was how AI is taking over drive-through restaurants. Checking the usual suspects in the coordinated effort to keep the public uninformed, on-line media giants including the Huffington Post, The Atlantic, Politico and The Hill among others, have no references at all to the court proceedings. NOTHING. The Huffington Post did have a buried story, “Ex Trump Crony Stephen Miller Has Laughable Idea for New Hunter Biden Plea Deal”, that labels him as a “fervent loyalist of the twice impeached and twice indicted former president”. As for the others, nada.

Representative Raskin, he of doo rag fame, continues to spew lies even after refuted by those he implicated. Nadler and the rest of the Democrats look to divert attention always back to Trump and his failings as if, “we’re not as bad as him” will hold the line on their power. Talk of impeachment only clouds the story in most Americans minds as we have become calloused to the process. Most don’t know what it would be about despite the mounting real evidence that the president was involved in a pay-to-play scheme on getting an Ukrainian inquiry into corruption killed. Indicating how big a hill it is to get people to see the light, this is the very same issue on which Trump was impeached. Without the major media reporting the real “news”, Congressional hearings are the only outlet and they are viewed like infomercials.

More is coming and the possibility of the truth finding its way out of the black hole of DC so insulated with its bevy of incestuous relationships between media, government and lobbyists, is still suspect. Do not underestimate the power of this cabal. After all they bragged in public how they undermined the election process to install their puppet president. Today’s non-reporting only goes to show their ability to bury stories. Do you need more proof? Are bodies next?

7/14/23

The audaciousness of this administration and the cabal that put them in place continues unabated. Beginning with the Russia hoax and right on up to “we can’t find out who stashed the cocaine”, they continue to laugh at those who would like to have some kind of accountability for wrong doings. It is apparent that the only “justice” served is on anyone who does not align with the Marxist movement overtaking our country. With impunity we see our government turned on its very citizens.

The list of questionable application of routine investigation and adjudication is long and growing.

The lack of curiosity by the fourth estate on anything concerning the progressive movement going back to Obama/Biden and is now totally in bed with the Biden administration. The Mueller report sullied because it didn’t lead to an indictment of Trump. The Durham report ignored because it found possible criminality in the investigation of Trump. The impeachment of Trump for a phone call that now appears to have been prescient about Biden family involvement in Ukraine corruption. The burying of the Hunter Bide laptop and the collusion of the federal government with social media outlets to suppress information. The ongoing questionable use of covid as a reason to turn over election rules and then the short shrift “investigation” of anomalies in that election. The recent shakedown of a Chinese businessman using the President as the cudgel. Can’t find the cocaine person or who leaked the Supreme Court decision but can find thousands who entered the Capital. No inquiry necessary.

If there are still people who don’t believe that there is a two pronged system of justice, you know which side of the “democracy dies” argument they are on. Solitary confinement for elderly people with nary a spot in their entire life who got caught up in a rally gone wrong. Hunter at a state dinner after avoiding jail time for at least one felony and the non-investigation of what is likely tax evasion and failing to register as a foreign agent. A whistleblower being denied promotion and suspended from the investigation he was heading into….Hunter Biden. But wait….there’s more! Joe Biden connection with the Penn State think tank established with Chinese money where classified information was found. Trump indicted, crickets on Biden’s similar actions.

The quickest way to get out of the limelight is to be “under investigation” apparently. Then nothing can come out about the nefarious undertakings with which you may have been involved. FBI Director Wray and Attorney General Garland use this ploy consistently to their advantage. While grand jury testimony and other evidentiary items casting aspersions on conservatives are regularly leaked, getting a clear answer to direct questions about why this and not that is thwarted. On and on, the platitudes of “we follow the law irrespective of who is involved” are invoked despite the incredulousness of a vast majority of Americans.

You want answers? Ha ha, you can’t make me! They laugh in our faces.

6/21/23

Listen to the gnashing of teeth as the issue of restricting what can be bought with money from the government is being proposed. How dare heartless politicians look to encourage healthier diets by listing certain food and drink as “not approved” when being bought with “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program” money (SNAP aka food stamps). Now I am not one to suggest that the government knows best. I scoffed at the attempts to limit the size of Slurpees and disallowing foie Gras to be sold. The state was not paying for my drinks or meals so butt out.

On the other hand, when you “receive” from the state, you find out you give too. When you accepted SNAP, they can and should tell you what you can and cannot buy. Stories of a run on lobster tails that never made it to the SNAP recipients table but did provide enough cash for drugs abound. Theft aside, with 53,200,000 people (https://www.fns.usda.gov/yearly-trends) each getting an average $127 per month, (https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/the-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap) taxpayers have the right to insist it be used properly especially when we’re also paying for their healthcare!

Therein lies the most credible rationale for insisting on only nutritionally beneficial foods be allowed for purchase through SNAP. If we have to see to your healthcare, we now have a right to make sure you are tending to it when using our money. The parameters of SNAP eligibility are nearly identical to those for “Obamacare” and that puts participants in the crosshairs of control by the state. Nothing comes from the government without strings.

State governments have learned that accepting federal “aid” is letting the camel’s nose in the tent. See Medicare expansion and any number of federal “handouts” that all come with requirements that can and do change over time. Once you accept the “benefit”, they own you and cries of “you’re not the boss of me” no longer apply. You’re beholden to the state.

6-17-23

Despite nearly every poll showing few want a rematch of the 2020 Presidential election, we are careening toward that calamitous choice. Should we end up having to choose between these two galvanizing persons, half of the country will be forlorn regardless of the outcome. Nearly everyone has already made up their mind on which of the two evils they will select based mostly on their contempt for the other. That’s a hell of a way to pick the leader of the free world. So, what to do?Option 1 – Trump could still find a way to disillusion more of his ardent supporters through any number of legal or other revelations. One of the many challengers could prove to be more exciting and take the mantle from Trump. Resulting matchups with Biden might offer moderate Democrats, who already look to jettison him, a republican as a viable alternative.Option 2 – Demand an alternate third party candidate. “No Labels” has registered to be on the ballot in most states (unverified) and suggests it can provide a conduit for an alternative candidate. While previous liberal and conservative third party candidates have failed, the appetite for such a run may be its highest ever.Option 3 – Have all voters in one party states switch parties for the primary and vote for a person they see as an alternative to the presumptive candidate. EX. Kennedy for the Republican/Democrats and any number of choices on the Democrat/Republican side. Having no influence over the final election (winner take all electors), at least these voters can have a say in who gets to be on the ballot.Option 4 – Do nothing. Many fed up with the choices are ready to sit it out and not vote. In many states, the outcome is a forgone conclusion anyway. Red states will have their electors for the Republican candidate and blue states for their Democrat person. Only a few states really determine the outcome and even then, certain districts. (77,000 votes cast another way would have turned the 2020 election hence the scrutiny over those results and the questions of integrity that still persist.)Right now, if I were in the Biden camp, I would probably have someone taste those oranges that Governor Newsom sent over to the Whitehouse. His handlers should consider bubble wrap anytime he decides to get out of his Barcalounger. Trump could fool us all and be magnanimous by pulling out and endorsing someone who would carry forward his policies. That would require a belief in Santa Claus for it to happen. There is plenty of time for both these combatants to change the trajectory of this crumbling Republic’s selection of its leader. Joe could die and President Harris could have us cackling through the 2024 campaign. Trump could say something while being carted off to prison that supporters interpret as, “storm the Bastille” and we go into full fledge civil “unrest”. Aliens could land somewhere and shock earthlings into coming together. Hell, the Blackhawks could win the Stanley Cup next year and then all would be good in the world.

5-10-23

Yesterday’s debt ceiling meeting of the “leaders” of the free world yielded….nothing. Speaker of the House McCarthy, the President and Senators McConnell and Schumer all sat around and did nothing. Instead, we got the same rhetoric from both sides. The impending doom being forecast is not enough to get the President to agree to even consider reductions in spending even though he and most everyone in his party, cast our fiscal situation as needing adjustment. What we got from him is, we’ll talk about that later.

Mañana is a strategy employed by both parties. Even when they hold total power, as both have in the past decade, the issues of immigration, health care, homelessness etc. were never addressed let alone resolved. “We’ll look at that AFTER we get X done.” Let’s ask Senator Manchin how that worked for him.

Tomorrow seldom comes for talks about reducing spending when Democrats hold power. Rather, the duplicity of words casting reductions in the increase in spending as onerous, substitutes for real attention to our collapsing fiscal condition. The usual fearmongering is there for all to see and yet again, with the full power of the media, it works. Children will starve to death, veterans will die on the steps of the VA hospitals, seniors will be found decaying in their apartments from lack of heat/air conditioning etc. Yet, we keep putting up with this inattention to serious issues further abetting the crime.

Tomorrow never comes but when the reality of it does, we citizens will be left holding the bag while our esteemed “leaders” are ensconced in their hoity toity enclaves. Watch for the exodus of the elites to parts unknown when that happens. Real estate in the Cayman Islands is a good bet right now.

4/29/23

The falling confidence in our governmental and other institutions needs addressing. Should the public lose its faith in those entities on which we rely for our orderly lives, anarchy will result. Left to their own devices, politicians and other who rely on the public for their very livelihoods, know too well that controversy is their currency and key to power. Fearmongering gets them clicks and time in the klieg lights and translates well to attaining and retaining the power they crave. It’s unfortunate and ultimately disastrous but, saying the other guy is terrible and that institutions are illegitimate when they don’t do your bidding works.

Each Congressperson and Justice takes an oath to  …”support and defend the Constitution of the United States…”. Progressives/Marxists in our government today lied when they took this oath. Clearly, they flaunt the clear textual meaning of the document and abhor reference to what the words actually mean. The clear intent of changing language and forcing new definitions is to obfuscate and ultimately redefine the underpinnings of our Republic. Indeed, there have been multiple calls ignoring laws and a host of actions where the law is not being followed by government officials with no consequence.

The vehement attacks on those Supreme Court nominees who espouse a strict interpretation of the Constitution as written and intended by the framers, underscores the position of the Progressive/Marxist movement now controlling the Democrat party. What Constitution? The one the slave owning white guys wrote for a time that has long passed? No, the one that you took an oath to support and defend.

Failing to get legislation that will pass the smell test with the public, the Progressive/Marxist cabal uses their strangle hold on media and the bureaucracy to install their Marxist policies. With the Supreme Court as the final arbiter, you can see why they incessantly attack it when they rule on the one thing before them, constitutionality. Like mathematics, there can only be one answer when you interpret words as they were and are defined. Changing the definition of the words is akin to changing the way numbers get added. Both lead to outcomes that don’t “add up”.

With no bedrock on which to base its society, bedlam will reign. Left to their devices, the Progressive/Marxist contingent will have us waffling to collapse as history has proven for every previous Socialist totalitarian society. Our Constitution, and its strict interpretation, keeps us from the same fate.

4/27/23

The appalling closure of our schools will be a blight on this generation of students for years to come. Many will never recover the lost years of learning relegating them to a lower level of satisfaction in their lives. Less education means fewer economic opportunities which translates into lower income and quality of life. Thankyou CDC/teachers’ unions. How did it happen that we ignored the science and actual experience of many other educational systems that remained open without the deleterious effects touted by the advocates of closed schools? The answer is the strength of leader of the largest teachers’ union.

Randi Weingarten has consistently said that she works for the teachers. Under her leadership, they have increased both compensation and improved working conditions. The latter includes getting paid for staying home and not working. She has been extremely successful at her job. Despite all the rhetoric about the negative impacts her policies have had on our society, teachers have benefitted and it’s because of her. What’s not to like in a union leader?

If Randi was espousing policies that many normal people would accept, she would be a hero for using the tactics she employs. The issue is not with her but with the government with which she engaged. Nowhere should it be ok for a private citizen to surreptitiously have their single minded wishes become national policy. When CDC Director Walensky’s phone rang and Randi introduced herself, the phone call should have ended before it started. That’s on Walensky, not Weingarten. That we allow favored groups unfettered access to the halls of power while everyday citizens are harangued and even prosecuted for registering their disappointment in government actions is appalling. It undermines the very bedrock of our country; government by the people. Increasingly, its government by the entrenched.

The inverted way our federal government is directed is failing us. If I could get my Representative’s ear (very unlikely as they don’t even acknowledge my solicited feedback), I would give them my opinions too. Should I have the influence of millions of votes, there is not doubt I would make sure the Representative knew about it. She did her job and she succeeded. Yep, I would hire Randi Weingarten in a minute if I thought she would carry my water. We need someone like her to represent we little people. Citizens Union anyone?