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Random comment I've been wanting to make for years. Your Mark Steyn Show theme music is the best in the business, ever. Always brings a smile to my face and excitement for a great show in my heart. Tonight Show? Meh. Thanks For The Memories? Too wordy. Starts minor key, finishes with a hint of major. Simply the best. Thanks. I so wish the televised effort hadn't gotten hijacked as I am sure you do as well. Good times... .
Perhaps the next Tales of Our Time deserves to be Lord of the Flies. As I recall, Golding's point was that civilization is a fragile thing and that savagery lies in all of us, including British choir boys. When civil authority is absent, the result is not pretty.
In response to several here who seem to be deliberately missing the point, Officer Chauvin is, as are all defendants, innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof is on the prosecution, not the defendant. What will determine guilt or innocence is the evidence. All the evidence, not just the evidence from one (of five) video that shows Mr. Floyd on the pavement with several officers restraining him. So, to recap that evidence of five videos:
1. One shows two officers approach Mr. Floyd's car which has been parked across the street from the store where the counterfeit $20 was attempted to be used to buy cigarettes. Those officers had been told by the cashier in the store that Floyd did not seem to be in control of himself (he was intoxicated). The two officers talk to the occupants of the car for awhile.
2. A car parked behind Floyd's vehicle captures the moments when Floyd is taken out from behind the wheel. Both of these videos capture a man unsteady on his feet (further evidence of intoxication). So, Floyd is suspected of passing counterfeit money, public intoxication and DUI. All legitimate reasons to arrest him.
3. The security cam video shows two officers walking Floyd back across the street to a police vehicle parked outside the Cup Food store. When they get Floyd to that car and attempt to get him into it, on the passenger side, he collapses onto the ground.
4. Another video shot at this point by a passerby, shows one officer assisting Floyd into the back seat of the police vehicle, successfully. But then that officer closes the door and quickly runs around the back of the vehicle, because Floyd has impelled himself out of the door on the other side. Clearly, he has resisted arrest.
5. It is only then that the other officers subdue Floyd on the ground. But the only video being shown, over, and over and over on TV is this last one. And that is giving a mistaken impression of what took place, from which we have the week long carnage in several American cities. All in ignorance of the bulk of the evidence.
The defense will argue all this evidence shows the officers acting justifiably. And he will win, on this basis.
I see that I misstated something here: "When they get Floyd to that car and attempt to get him into it, on the passenger side, he collapses onto the ground."
It was on the driver's side, rear door, where Mr. Floyd was put into the police vehicle. He managed to exit on the passenger side. Which is how he ended up being restrained on the street, not the sidewalk.
Patrick, I agree with all you have said - when all the evidence is weighed, an acquittal may be an reasonable and appropriate verdict. My concern is that there is no chance that the court will be able to empanel an "untainted" jury - I don't think there is anyone in the world who doesn't already have an opinion on what happened.
Hamish, it would be difficult to empanel an unbiased jury in Minneapolis, so, if it goes to trial there will probably be a change of venue where such a jury can be found. But, I expect an objective judge would dismiss before it gets that far.
Patrick, how bad was the video you watched, quality wise? Must've been pretty bad as you obviously couldn't see the skin color of those involved. Once you see that, you'll know it's an open and shut case and you'll want to start looting and burning.
#Where'sFauci?
If all the protesters are really peaceful, they would go home for a few days and let the chaos from the riots die down. Chances of that happening?
You may notice that Bush had the approval of the Mayor & the Governor. The Media is just waiting, articles already written, for Trump to send in the troops so they can call him a dictator. Let the Governors explain to their people why they refused the president's help.
A similar incident that sticks out in my mind is Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, and the piece you wrote, Cigars, but Not Close. If I recall, you got some heat for that piece. However, I did agree with your thoughts and that, in general, the use of force can sometimes be out of proportion. Any change you would be able to re-post that column, and possibly provide a few comments on the similarities/differences you see between the Michael Brown situation and the George Floyd situation? Thanks.
Since I'm not the kind of guy too big to say I told you so, here is the latest from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office on the George Floyd death:
"Decedent experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while
being restrained by law enforcement officer(s)
"Other significant conditions: Arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease;
fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use "
I.e., he died of a heart attack. And, the earlier suggestion of intoxication is now confirmed.
Btw, have any of you commenters had time to watch all five videos available on You Tube yet?
The ME also called it a homicide.
So you are saying George Floyd was part of the opioid crisis and that the Chinese and Mexican Drug Cartels are responsible? How did his ChiCom-19 test come out?
I don't want to offend you but at this point, what difference does it make?
As a follow up, in November 2018 the American Heart Ass'n produced a study headlined as: Meth use producing younger, harder-to-treat heart failure patients. Which contained this:
"Widespread methamphetamine use is creating a unique form of severe heart failure, according to new research that shows these patients tend to be younger and have poor outcomes."
Specifically, these people are 17 years younger than the age of 67 (the average age of traditional heart failure patients). I.e., about George Floyd's age.
I'll also say that cops are pretty savvy about handling intoxicated suspects. I'm betting that when George Floyd burst out the passenger side door from the back seat of the police car they had put him into from the driver's side, they knew he was acting like a guy on drugs. Which is why they reacted to him in the way captured on one of the videos. Not because they were racists.
From sciencetimes.com:
"The employee from Cup Foods, calling the police after Mr. Floyd left the store and didn't want to put the cigarettes back after paying with a counterfeit $20 bill, said that the man seemed 'not in control of himself.' "
From statnews.com:
"Accidental overdoses aren't the only deadly risk from using powerful prescription painkillers — the drugs may also contribute to heart-related deaths and other fatalities, new research suggests."
Direct cut-and-paste from Hennepin County Medical Examiner
• Cause of death: Cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression
• Manner of death: Homicide
• How injury occurred: Decedent experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s)
• Other significant conditions: Arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use
Need to brush up on definitions... homicide just means death as outcome. What CAUSED the homicide is the major sticking point.
Bingo!
Excellent response Walt. Thank you.
"The ME also called it a homicide."
But that is not a fact, it is a conclusion. The prosecutor has to be able to prove it was a homicide. He won't be able to do that if all the evidence is considered.
"I don't want to offend you but at this point, what difference does it make?"
It makes all the difference legally. In a courtroom, it is evidence, not emotional indignation that rules. Or should.
An objective judge will toss these charges as not supported by the evidence.
Walt,
As awful as it is to sound like Hillary, you have a point. The police officer will make his defense and the court will determine his guilt or innocence. I wouldn't like to be in his shoes, but there are always two sides and we will just have to wait to see how all this comes out.
Regardless, and I beileve everyone commenting here agrees, nothing that happened to Mr. Floyd in any manner justifies the terrorism that has occurred in US cities since.
I was deliberately being Hillaryesque but seriously, the horse is out of the barn, the riots have started and we can see the riots have nothing to do with George Floyd. Officer Chauvin is collateral damage and I sincerely hope he can get a objective judge, but I am not optimistic about his chances of that. The charges were filed before the autopsy results were in to appease the howling mob. His case will continue to be handled in the same way. If justice prevails and a judge tosses the case, a new round of riots will ensue.
We are in pretty close agreement about the incident but I see little hope about him getting justice in the Minneapolis courts. This has happened before in Missouri, Baltimore and countless other places. Those rioters, looter and their families are important constituencies for the feminized, Communist local politicians that are currently in charge and they will sacrifice a cop in the name of preventing a riot any day of the week.
Not to be irritatingly literal, Robert, but according to the ME: "CAUSE of death: Cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression." The ruling of "homicide" rules out death by misadventure, but it's up to the court to determine whether it was justifiable, manslaughter or whatever else the judicial spectrum might propose. Of course the officer(s) involved have already been virtually hung, drawn and quartered by the Moronic Sold-out Media - whose business plan has manifested as commercializing carnage. So (as Walt so poignantly quotes Hillary above) at this point, what difference does it make? If no one goes to jail, are people going to start rioting and looting or something?
Thank God the cops are there to save the day and ticket people for speeding or rolling stops when there is no other traffic.
Personally, I'd prefer if the cops were around to protect the persons and property of the innocent during violent protests, but I clearly have the wrong view of why we have policeman. It's clearly to annoy generally law abiding citizens and to allow them to joyride around town - turning on their emergency lights to get through red lights, and turning them off when they are through - demanding people respect their authority while simultaneously cowering in fear if they ever called on for actual help.
Police are being used by politicians to increase revenue rather than increase taxes. Who would argue against making our streets safe from reckless drivers. Minneapolis and St. Paul recently lowered the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 in Minneapolis and 20 in St. Paul all to take back the streets from evil automobiles. They haven't changed the signs, haven't adjusted the stop lights, and haven't changed the bus schedules to match the new speed limits. County owned roads are still 30 mph. That should not cause any confusion should it? In my neighborhood on some roads, if you drive 10 miles over the speed limit you can make all the lights if you drive the speed limit you stop at every light. Must be just a coincidence that it is the road most heavily patrolled. No quota system for handing out tickets, but in my opinion you won't move up if you don't bring in the money. Do the politicians get blamed or the police when a ticket is handed out.
Philando Castile was pulled over more than 45 times and fined about $7000, (yes seven thousand). It was racial profiling not revenue enhancement.
Has anyone made money on the stock market since the riots started? I am sure they wouldn't fund Antifa and short sell would they?
"Thank God the cops are there to save the day and ticket people for speeding or rolling stops when there is no other traffic."
And to enforce everything from preferred pronouns to mask wearing.
The scene of uniformed officers obeying the mob's cry, "NYPD - Take a Knee!", was truly pitiful. And a little bit ironic.
I had composed my reply to your comment earlier this morning, Kate, but was having technical issues. I had, what I thought for me anyway, a very erudite reply to what you said about take a knee. "Barf"!
Tucker devoted a segment to this on his show tonight to this whole theme of submission to the mob idea. One African American gal (Brown Girl in a clown World @ JhaveriVatsala) put up a tweet which I thought even a more perfect response to this whole knee-taking, hands-up position (and even prostration by a large group in West Hollywood). Her tweet: This is weird and uncomfortable and I'm 99% certain POC feel the same as me. Y'all are getting WEIRD. Like Jonestown weird."
I'll add one thing, while this young gal was thinking,
Jonestown, personally I couldn't stop thinking, Islam. Submission, kneeling, prostration, hands up, masks, a few words repeating mantras about apologizing for white privilege. And we shut down our economy to these lying SOBs?! In other words, we rolled out their carpets, another missing piece of their stage props. We're so effed-emenized now!
"I couldn't stop thinking, Islam. Submission..."
The exact same thing crossed my mind, Fran. And it is VERY weird.
PS. Yes! We're so effete we're effed.
After we watched that segment, Kate, we were talking after Tucker's show and my husband who almost never uses swear words, (maybe only if he burns his hand accidentally at the grill so when he does it's funny) says he has seen and read just about everything and he reads hundreds of books a year, said, "that's some scary $h:|t, alright"! (I'm going to buy him his own Mark Steyn Club membership for his big 7-0 (hoping that he'll be retired by then) just so he has a place to vent like me)).
I think the defining image of the vapid and moronic nature of these "protests" against "racism" is the vandalised monument dedicated to victims of the Armenian Genocide.
I am not prepared to dump on President Trump over recent events. I'm sure he thought at first that local and state authorities could and should be able to handle this. We were all shocked at the feckless incompetence of governors and mayors and law enforcement this brought to light. All icing on the coronavirus cake. Who would have thought it would expand to this level of violence? It became clear quite quickly that 99% of this mayhem was not really about George Floyd at all. The whole business went international. Can we be excused if maybe we thought it couldn't be any worse than Ferguson?
One of the great accomplishments of the Trump presidency is that he has revealed just how broad and deep the radicalization and organization of the Left really is across the country and the world. President Trump is doing a lot of things right. Look at the way he triggers the Left and has caused them to pull out all the stops. This has become total war for them, and they are not to be appeased. Now we know how many people there are who do not want free market capitalist prosperity, Constitutional order and freedom, national sovereignty, faith based culture, critical thought, and even love of one's own country. Who isn't astonished at this? We wouldn't have known how bad all of this really was had it not been for President Trump. He is standing against a vast array of dark and terrible forces. If he is not perfect every moment I can cut him plenty of slack because he needs all the support he can get. If the West manages to save itself President Trump is going to have to get an awful lot of the credit.
I watched some of the governors and mayors and concluded that their idea of leadership was to seek input from stakeholders.You don't call out the National Guard and then expect there will be no violence. The military is there to kill people and break things.
You are right about Trump's election blocking the smooth transformation of America to a socialist utopia that was promised by Obama. A lot of problems that have been swept under the rug are boiling over (mixed metaphor.)
You make an excellent point, Mark, about the leaked news of Trump being taken to the bunker. Unlike Nixon in 1968, I do worry continued violence will hurt Trump in 2020.
I do wonder if perhaps the RICO statute could be used against these ANTIFA members, particularly their leadership structure.
You do have to wonder about the optics of The White House in these times. You really shouldn't let protesters have The White House as a backdrop for their news coverage and building a secure fence is a bad optic too. Machine gunning a mob storming The White House would be a public relations disaster. Maybe we should let the Canadians burn the place down again and rebuild somewhere in Kansas.
That would defund Liberia on the Potomac.
While I'm thinking about:
Years ago Mark wrote eloquently about the use of deadly force in the US by local police vs other 1st world countries....maybe its time to bring those back out of the files.
The Right likes to think that buying into the so-called "thin blue line" mantra is the Right thing to do, when in fact, being constantly skeptical of local police's actions and training is the core Conservative value. The local police's authority to execute you without due process and decades of appeals needs to be constantly reviewed and pushed back on. That's not anti-police by the way, that's pro-accountability of the people in government.
The US police (I have just learned) have "qualified immunity" from the consequences of their illegal actions.
Agreed.
"That's not anti-police by the way, that's pro-accountability of the people in government."
Very well said.
The people on the left (and too many on the right) in our government want, as policy, to punish the responsible & law-abiding, and reward the irresponsible & lawless. This creates the environment to justify more centralized command and control: the Constant Crises State.
If Soros really is funding and perpetuating these riots while the flaccid local officials do nothing, then that "forces" Trump to do just that: crack down from the Federal government. Every Federal tactic Trump executes in the name of Law and Order will justify the left's opportunistic use of it in the future for any other reason.
Also, when you vote for a democrat presidential candidate, you're voting in a (generally) unified machine. LBJ, Clinton, & Obama weren't there to manage the executive branch or protect Constitutional capitalism, they were there to sell democrat party policies.
When you vote for a Republican candidate, you're voting in an individual, who has to fight the bureaucracy at every turn and can rarely count on other Republicans for help.
This is a big reason why, in my opinion, Constitutional Capitalism is remorselessly losing to Champagne Socialism.
I can't be certain that no one's mentioned it already, but attention must be paid to Biden's live-streamed cutting of the cheese in his own bunker. Mark alluded to it in his opening remarks, but I see no mention of it here (and I searched for fart, gas, wind, and, indeed, cheese). Most of the jokes are obvious (which won't stop certain Club members I'm thinking of), but perhaps a little sober reflection is in order.
Suetonius wrote that Emperor Claudius was "said to have thought of an edict allowing the privilege of breaking wind quietly or noisily at table, having learned of a man who ran some risk by restraining himself through modesty." Were Biden's windypops a dog whistle that he would issue such an executive order? Was he signaling sympathy with Imperial Rome and a dissolution of the Senate (in which case, he just may earn my vote)? Or was he using the methods of hostages forced by their captors to deliver prepared statements, using nonverbal means to subvert surface meaning? "I'm not up for this," his bellows bleat. "I'm in too deep. Get me out!" Laugh, but he's tried staring dumbly and blinking, he's tried incoherent blather, he's tried awkward and inappropriate behavior; nothing's worked. What's it going to take to get his old pal, Barack America, to lead him away, and appoint a candidate (a whole ticket) up for the rigors of running for President, let alone serving as one? I'd fart too, and so would you.
I've told anyone who's asked that Biden will not be the nominee. Running a senescent senior is not a credible alternative Donaldus Maximus. The next two largest vote-getters are Hillary and Bernie. Run either of them, or both. I see lawn signs promoting "Any Functioning Adult for President". That may be too much to ask, but somebody needs to tell Joe it ain't so. Before he delivers his next nonverbal message.
If the police do nothing to defend people will people begin to take out their guns and defend themselves? How long before lawlessness translates to both sides in this conflict?
If I defend my family and my property with an armed response it isn't lawlessness where I live.
Where possessing guns is legal, then using them in self-defence must also, presumably, be legal. Surely, that is the point of your Second Amendment? If a gun-owner is not permitted to use his gun against a criminal, then the criminal becomes the new owner of the gun.
Which state is that, Terry? If more Left coast liberals fill up my state, I may want to move.
Sounds reasonable, Kitty, but this is not a reasonable country. In a great many places, you would be charged and tried, possibly after sitting in jail for quite some time. You might not be convicted, but you would have to change your name and move and your life would be forever changed and not in good ways.
So you'd best be careful if you're attacked by, as Joe Biden said, an unarmed man with a knife.
We have our hands full with people from NY and NJ Fran but you're welcome anytime. It's hard to believe but not a single Democrat holds statewide office here. I'll send you a couple of our Republicans though... if I can find a way to FedEx Senator Graham.
"If the police do nothing to defend people"
Kitty,
Seriously, when have the police ever done anything to defend people (now, historically, and in any country in the world)? In the best of times, they may contain a riot or defend a government building. In a totalitarian state, they'll spy on the populace and keep everyone in fear with random arrests. But for ordinary people, the best the police can ever do is hunt down the bad guys after the fact and prevent them from doing it again to someone else. That is a service not to you, but to your neighbours.
Defending yourself, your home, and your family is always your responsibility. That applies not just in the USA, but in every country of the world, to every person, and in every age. I am sometimes confused by interpretations of the "right to bear arms" in the USA. It is meaningless unless the duty to defend yourself and your family is absolute and exclusively yours.
Good answer, You asked the other day, who do we shoot? The answer is that you won't have to decide, the decision will be thrust upon you. The criterion you have to abide by is that you are in imminent fear for your life. When you are forced to shoot, there is going to be big trouble and it is going to cost you a ton in legal fees, no matter what. If it a question of life or death, it will be money well spent.
That's true, but if private citizens are forced to take the law into their own hands to defend themselves then the society is a society without laws. It's a society without laws that it's willing to enforce in any event.
It depends on which state you live in. If you live in New Hampshire and you own a gun and a bad person breaks into your house you can shoot that person. If you live in Massachusetts you must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you feared for your life. In the present political atmosphere a white man who shoots a black intruder will probably do jail time.
So the rule to live by must be shoot, shovel and shut up?
Historically the presence of the police alone has been sufficient to keep bad people from hurting good people. It's only in the past four decades or so that the police have been more and more neutered by politics.
People in the town where I live would be hard pressed to defend themselves if there was no police presence here.
"People in the town where I live would be hard pressed to defend themselves if there was no police presence here.
Kitty,
So would most people be "hard pressed" to defend themselves, including those accessorized with guns. I'm interested in why the criminals have so many friends among the "hard pressed" population? The Japanese police and legal system is no less incompetent and corrupt than the American; the difference is a strong antipathy against crime and criminals among the (even more helpless ) general population. I'm suggesting that antipathy to crime among the general population is the critical factor and that it may be inversely proportional or unrelated to effective policing: less effective cops could even mean more anti-criminal citizens.
Japan is also a very homogeneous country. It's easier to get people to agree on the rules if they all belong to the same race and culture. The reason why the U.S. will only work if it's a melting pot is that otherwise people will be divided up by culture, race, religion and any other exploitable difference the left in this case can use to divide and topple our society.
"Japan is also a very homogeneous country. It's easier to get people to agree on the rules if they all belong to the same race and culture."
Kitty,
I'm not sure if cultural homogeneity is as important a factor as it seems. After World War II, the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) gained considerable political power in Japan and controlled entire cities (they controlled Hiroshima for 10 years or more after the war, if I remember right). Secondly, criminals tend to victimize people within their own ethnic or social group rather than those outside it. By increasing the effort required to overcome cultural barriers, ethnic diversity should actually reduce the incidence of crime, not increase it. I have never been able to find the statistics to prove it, but I strongly suspect that racist whites are much less likely to become victims of black crime than liberal whites.
So are you saying that the Japanese have an antipathy toward crime or not? It sounds like there was no antipathy toward crime after WWII if what you say is correct.
If the Japanese have a cultural antipathy toward crime than that is a culturally agreed trait in that society based on a common philosophy in that society. In communities that are largely inhabited by people who are descended from Scandinavians the crime rate is lower. In more ethnically diverse communities it's higher. That's simply factually the way it is. It's easier to commit crime against people you don't feel any kinship with.
"So are you saying that the Japanese have an antipathy toward crime or not?"
Kitty,
I agree that Japanese have a strong antipathy toward crime, and it was reinforced by negative events after WWII.
I agree that Scandinavians also have an strong antipathy toward crime, compared to say, Russians, and that the low crime rates are in Scandinavian countries relative to Russia should not be credited to Scandinavian police forces being more intimidating and effective than Russian police.
"It's easier to commit crime against people you don't feel any kinship with."
Assuming that this kinship is ethnic, this is where I disagree. "Stranger danger" is generally a deterrent to crime unless the stranger has been neutralized and made vulnerable and predictable (eg the liberal white is an easier mark than the armed "racist" white). If this were merely an issue of crime, my advice would be "stay safe by being racist".
My view is that the phenomenon is not related to crime and policing, but akin to civil war. If you were to state that the riots in American cities reflect a type of civil war fanned by political interests, I would agree with you. Ethnic diversity, crime, corrupt police, and corrupt governments are secondary factors that just do not add up to cause what is happening. Something much bigger is happening, it is political, and few people are talking about it. Even in the context of civil war, ethnic homogeneity is a minor factor: some of the bloodiest battles ever fought on European soil were between Denmark and Sweden in the 17th century, and Japan has a particularly bloody history of civil wars.
The abandoning and burning of the Third Precinct is symbolic to what the Democrats have done. They have abandoned their responsibilities to law and order. They have abandoned their responsibility to ensure the safety and security of all it's citizens and their properties. They have abandoned America itself. They never liked what America is and they have always plotted it's destruction. Our greatest enemy right now is in our own borders and if we don't win here against an internal threat, there is no chance we can win against an external threat like China.
This is so true. Watching the news I've been wondering who is going to be willing to join the police force in the future. I wouldn't want my sons to. As white men they would be held accountable disproportionately for anything that went wrong long before the facts were known. Protecting your community has been a pretty thankless job for most of my lifetime. Now it's beyond thankless. It appears to have no redeeming aspects at all.
As well, who will be willing to defend America if America is this hateful racist country all the demented lefties are saying it is. The public schools do their best to demoralize young white men. This is not going to end well.
This is a civil war. The radicals have hijacked a protest and the push to Year Zero to start the new utopia is on full display. I wish the military was deployed but then I realized that if the military would use deadly force, they would paint Trump as a mass murderer. The extremists have made their move, what's our next move?
Sounds like the military will be deployed if the governors of the states involved with the rioting can't stop the mayhem within their borders. That's what I gathered from President Trump's speech yesterday. At this point, I don't think the President can be concerned about how he is painted, Brian. A President has to do what he has to do and what happens, happens. It's on the mayhem makers if they get killed. They've done more than enough damage if you ask me to be worried about what could happen to them. I know it sounds harsh but well, they have been out there looking for big trouble and they better be careful what they wished for.
Brian,
You are right about civil war, It seems to me to maybe be the beginning of a real war. Antifa has been using low intensity, but real, violence against the law abiding for some time without any pushback from big city pols or police. In your area and the Pacific Northwest the Democrat leaders are actively on Antifa's side. Where this goes from here is unpredictable, at least to me..
Our next move is to leave it up to the states. Everyone, including the rioters, knows what needs to be done but blue state governors are too chicken to do it. Trump should not take the bait. The voters made their beds and now they should be forced to lie in it, even if it burning. Choices should have consequences. The Left's new mantra is "rebellion leads to progress," well, that cuts both ways. Maybe people need to suffer from the logical consequences of Left Wing policies.
Good analysis and I agree. And no bailout for public employee retirement funds.
Trump could point out this will continue until politicians like the Minneapolis Mayor and City Council President are forced to resign. The failure of the Mayor and City Council to remove unqualified police officers is inexcusable. I am tired politicians saying they are working as hard as they can but don't fix the problem. If you can't fix it resign and find someone who can. The problem won't be solved until politicians pay the price instead of "never letting a crisis go to waste".
The President needs to point out it was under the Trump administration Criminal-Justice reform was passed.
Under the Trump administration jobs were returning.
Under the Trump administration efforts are being made to stop cheap illegal immigration labor from driving down wages for working class Americans.
Trump should ask how much the lives of people in California 43rd congressional district have improved compared to how much Maxine Waters life has improved since she was first elected to congress. And lastly he should ask if everyone in California eats the same ice cream as Nancy Pelosi?
My only wish is that the people who lost their businesses because of this would tell the states to go to hell and leave them. A message needs to be sent that if you think you're winning people over in your community by allowing people, even outsiders, to destroy your property and you're too concerned over your quest for justice to even notice or to even care, that you will find out that sympathy for your cause has gone down to zero.
When it comes to libs, they care more about being liked and loved than actually fixing problems. Like the other two police shootings under Obama. We got the same rhetoric about how "We've had enough" and what not and what has happened? Baltimore and Ferguson's crime went up when they decided not to be as strict on crime. But even then they now don't believe in their police, enough to even destroy their own cities in which the police there had nothing to do with it. The Democrats as well as their base only care about what's in front of them and the collateral damage that happens is of no concern to them. Take their response to the Wu Flu. They see the destruction of jobs as a small price to pay. And now with the riots. The only regret is that they burnt down minority businesses. Clearly, if they knew which ones were minority owned and that the destruction was targeting white business owners, then it would become clear at least to us "Only Black Lives Matter". But don't tell that to illegals and followers of Islam.
No argument there, Brian. What concerns me, something that just occurred in our recent local primary races, is this trend that I'm seeing where money from the Leftist out-of-state billionaires flows in to our state to support the Republican candidate least likely to succeed in the November contest against the Democrat, usually a far Leftist. We can wish all we want but until the Republicans can match the money pouring in for the best candidate for the job, the game seems rigged.
I would say that the local government in DC was able to protect the park and church but chose not to. While the U.S. Government may be "Rome on the Potomac", the city population wise is "Liberia on the Potomac". This is now affirmative action writ large. So dark blue that the sheen is black to match. They consider themselves as equals of states. Trump is a huge thorn in their progressive side. Is it any wonder Mann chose DC for his lawsuit against Mark? DC and surrounds embody all that America has been. All the Left wishes to erase. Wouldn't surprise me if there are plans for replacement of all vestiges of non-progressive America. Who needs an old church building when utopia is on the horizon?
Been enjoying these abbreviated shows several times a week
President Trump again claimed to be the President of Law and Order. Perhaps he listens to your podcasts Mark.
The Republican Governor of California requested federal help and GHW Bush provided it. I don't believe that any of the current Democratic Governor's have made such a request. It's extremely rare that a President intervenes in state matters unless requested by the state's governing officials. GW Bush took the blame for the Louisiana Katrina mess because the Dem governor waited until less than 24 before landfall to ask for help. The Federal government isn't authorized to act until requested by the state.
Bush lost to Clinton because H Ross Perot took enough votes (19% nationally) from Bush that Clinton won the plurality (but rarely the majority) in enough states to win the electoral college. It wasn't just Bush vs Clinton. I am acutely aware of this because I made the mistake of voting for Perot. If Perot hadn't run I think Bush would probably have been re-elected.
That's actually the exactly correct Constitutional answer.
"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."
Here the Legislature and the Executive refer to the State legislature and governor.
The Federal government isn't authorized to act until requested by the state -> in a state of emergency.
This is insurrection.
Isn't it enough that China and now ANTIFA have assaulted America in this short new year? If Joe Biden wins the White House we are toast. I'd move, but where the Hell would I go?
Yes, for sure, Janet, we're toast, but you can start by moving to a state that is Second Amendment friendly. Move to So. New Mexico. We need more conservatives here to balance out the liberals moving here from California. Once they've wrecked their state they move here to try to wreck ours. I'm completely serious. We can meet at the Village Inn. Free pie on Wednesdays!
Fran,
I love New Mexico, especially the northern half and Santa Fe and Taos. It is my second favorite state. No offense to the southern half, just too dry and hot without the relief of the mountains.
But, as you point out, many (majority?) of the residents are hard left and difficult to take. They vote Democrat and have for sometime. I am not sure that your state will be a good destination for someone trying to run rather than fight.
Actually, I live in MO, a solidly red state and thankful for that. Our governor is a Republican and therefore runs his state with common sense, best shown by his handling of the Chinese virus and our comeback. The mayor of KC, Lucas, is a Democrat and kept things closed until mid-May. He seems to be handling the "protesters" by getting out among them and lining up enough police. Still didn't stop some 150 from arrest though. We'll see how the week goes. I live outside the city in the suburbs and life has for the most part returned to normal, but I take my mask with me. We don't feel threatened by the thugs here and hope that doesn't change for the worse. I feel a lot of anxiety when I watch the news and wonder just how far this will go, but no, Charles, we are not going anywhere. It is frightening to see a preview of what could come if more cities elect Liberals, let alone a mentally impaired president who will turn it over to the progressive movement.
1) Minnesota governor - liberal old white Democrat - male
2) Minnesota attorney general - liberal, radical, anti-white black Muslim - male
3) Minnesota public safety commissioner - liberal black Democrat - male
4) Minneapolis mayor - liberal young white Democrat love child of Justin T. and someone's poodle. Would that make him a Trudeaul? - gender undetermined
5) Minneapolis city council member - liberal, radical, black (male) son of Minnesota attorney general
6) Minneapolis police chief - liberal black Democrat - male
7) Hennepin County district attorney - liberal old white democrat - male
8) Minneapolis policy department - teeming with veteran white racist officers whose past transgressions against minorities were swept under the lumpiest rug in America by liberal Democrat ex Hennepin County district attorney, ex-candidate for President and current United States Senator Amy Klobberchar - female, who declared "nothing to see here" the previous time the officer in question (allegedly) Dirty Harry'd some black man.
So, whom do we contact first to demand change? With so much diversity it's hard to decide, isn't it.
Ilhan Omar
Sorry, that was a flippant mean spirited reply. You could try city councilperson Alondra Cano or city council person Andrea Jenkins.
The American Kennel Club would classify the mayor as a Trudoodle but that is not a recognized breed.
I must defend the mayor of Minneapolis. I believe the mayor's gender has been determined and it is my opinion that it is hermaphrodite. As far as the mayor being the love child of Justine T and a poodle well their are some things even a poodle would not consent to.
I just happened to be looking at dog breeds today and I noticed there's one called Cockydoodle.
That a senior member of the Orthodox Church in Romania collaborated with the Ceausescu regime is not a great surprise. During what the Russians insist on calling "The Great Patriotic War," the Soviet regime was alert enough to realise that the populace could be persuaded to fight for the homeland, but much less so for the communist party, for all the propaganda photographs of Yak fighters and T34 tanks emblazoned with "za Stalina!" Consequently, after being banned for two decades, the Russian Orthodox Church was revived. There was, however, a definite quid pro quo. It functioned as a state mouthpiece, which would never have produced a Russian Karol Wojtyla. In addition, senior members of the hierarchy were widely assumed to be agents of the NKVD and its assorted subsequent iterations. That is pretty clearly confirmed by "The Mitrokhin Archive." Since the fall of the USSR, the Orthodox Church has maintained its links with Russian intelligence (now the FSB) and has greatly strengthened ties to the Russian state in general.
The Romanians probably missed a trick, when they decided to expose former Securitate agents, rather than go down the Spanish route. There is a middle way, described by Australian writer Anna Funder, in "Stasiland." You assemble all the voluminous piles of incriminating Stasi files and get a very small number of people together to examine them. Funder was told that to process all the documents would take three hundred and seventy-five years. Well, that was about twenty years ago, so only another three hundred and fifty-five to go.
Incidentally, I don't know why Donald Trump thinks it was the Canadians who burnt down Washington. The Royal Marines are pretty sure that they did it.
I don't want to distract from your point about the Orthodox Church in Romania but...
The Romanians were German allies in WWII and their collapse along with the Italians along the Stalingrad Front was a key part of that disaster. The Russians have conveniently forgotten that the Soviet air force received 18,200 aircraft of all types including even P-51's and the British sent thousands of Spitfires and Hurricane which amounted to over 30 percent of Soviet wartime fighter and bomber "production". 7,000 Lend-Lease tanks; Shermans and Stuarts, plus more than 5,000 British tanks were used by the Red Army, 8 percent of war-time production. (Evelyn Waugh wrote about this in the Sword of Honor trilogy.)
Of course, Canada did not burn down the White House because there was no Canada until 1867. The British (I am looking at you Owen) sailed from Nova Scotia. Thank God for Dolly Madison.
1) At least the Royal Marines didn't burn down churches
2) The exodus from DC after burning the capital was , in their own words, Providentially a nightmare
3) An officer in the Royal Marines reported that the Colonials were ill-prepared and a pushover... just before Bunker Hill. Oops.
Bunker Hill... Yeah, the British won that one, actually.
Don't forget that the US stole the Upper Canada (now Ontario) parliamentary mace in 1813 during the sacking of York (now Toronto). It's only fair that the White House should be burnt in retaliation. The mace was kept in the naval museum in Annapolis. but at least it was returned 121 years later, so no hard feelings, right?
I'm not quite sure what point you are trying to make, especially in the middle paragraph. I'm not disputing your facts. Your interpretation of the War of 1812 is, ermm, inventive.
Yes...but not the pushover the officer smugly stated.
If I may quote from Wickedpedia:" The British had taken the ground but at a great loss; they had suffered 1,054 casualties (226 dead and 828 wounded), with a disproportionate number of these officers. The casualty count was the highest suffered by the British in any single encounter during the entire war. General Clinton, echoing Pyrrhus of Epirus, remarked in his diary that "A few more such victories would have shortly put an end to British dominion in America." British dead and wounded included 100 commissioned officers, a significant portion of the British officer corps in North America. Much of General Howe's field staff was among the casualties. "
One thing to remember in both the Revolutionary War and War of 1812, Americans shot to kill. They also liked to pick off officers. We have lost the killer instinct as we have softened ... although the Japanese history books have several references otherwise...
A rare huge storm dropped in on the British.... many felt Providence had intervened.
In 812 just like today, the Washington DC establishment ran away when the enemy was at the gate. But in Louisiana we still remember the Battle of New Orleans. Three British Generals, many other high officers, and 2,000 Royal Marines left as corpses on the battlefield. Then the British Army ran away.
I must be out of the loop here. The White House was burned down by the British in the war of 1812. The Battle of Bunker Hill happened early on in the Revolutionary war. I don't think there was a White House during the Revolutionary War to be burned down.
Is something being lost on me in this conversation?
Whether or not the British won the Battle of Bunker Hill depends on what side of the pond you're on. Sure, the colonials retreated, but the British forces lost more than 1,000 men killed or wounded including 19 officers. The colonials lost only 450 killed or wounded. The British thought taking the hills on Charlestown Peninsula would give them control of the harbor, but General Gage withdrew his forces after a book seller named Henry Knox retrieved cannons and other artillery from Fort Ticonderoga on Lake George in New York and placed them on Dorchester heights.
Now the British are busy defeating themselves by allowing an invading army to be escorted to their southern shores by the French Navy. Good luck with that.
A battle fought when the war was already over. Better late than never, I suppose, unlike every war the United States has fought since 1945.
I grew up thinking it was the British who did the WH burning. Not sure how I learned it, American History was not taught in my elementary school. I think we learned about the big bad Brits from going to a lot of National Parks, Forts, soggy, moss overrun cemeteries and Monuments between DC and Trenton, and yes, museums. There must be some paintings showing the British lighting it on fire. The Canadians were never credited but the President has advisors and I don't.
When the other side runs away, that is generally accounted a "victory."
Cf Vietnam, passim.
Fran Lavery, it was meant as an innocent aside. Let's just forget it. Nobody took a blind bit of notice of my main point.
"I grew up thinking it was the British who did the WH burning. Not sure how I learned it, American History was not taught in my elementary school."
In 1814, what is now Canada was considered British, just as Americans were considered British during the Seven Years War (Washington was an British officer then). One of the "British" captures of Louisbourg was in fact mostly and American operation, while Americans were still British.
Upper Canada was sparsely settled back then and most of the combatants on the British side were regulars or natives, but there were a few cases where Canadian militia did see action. You should remember that a large percentage of the settlers in Upper Canada were former Americans who had remained loyal during the Revolution and whose property had been confiscated. There were hard feelings and atrocities across the border for many years.
The Canadian militia were mostly part of defensive actions, such as the Battle of the Chateauguay in Lower Canada (Quebec) , Crysler's Farm and the Battle of York. Canadian militia were also involved in the victory at the Battle of the River Raisin in Michigan.
The Washington DC punitive action, however, was a British army and navy operation mounted out of Halifax, so there was no Canadian militia involvement.
You can see the difference in the perception about the War of 1812 by the number of battlefield parks and monuments on either side of the border. There are vastly more on the Canadian side and Canadians tend to view the war as one of survival against an opponent that outnumbered them 10 to 1 and who were determined on annexation.
I like your last paragraph and believe it has a large measure of truth, but it isn't the whole story. In all US wars, even the limited "police actions" of the last fifty years, the US citizens in the trenches doing the actual fighting and dying have shot to kill and been the superior soldiers of the world. Fighting for your life, not to mention home and family tends to cause actions beyond the call of duty in freemen.
What has softened, and not just softened but turned to rotting filth and excrement is the military and political leadership of the United States. Every man and woman of ability, no matter color, religion or creed, should be able to serve if they feel the warrior's calling, but only in appropriate places, times, and roles. Women shouldn't be Navy Seals or Army Rangers nor even front line soldiers, and affirmative action has no place on the battlefield.
In 2015 I attended a historical seminar in New Orleans about the War of 1812 and the Battle of New Orleans. The last lecturer of the day was a professor from London. The professor made the same point you made about Canadian attitudes. He began by saying the United States lost the War of 1812. The US didn't invade and conquer Canada and lost nearly every battle with the British military up to the Battle of New Orleans. He said the only reason the US "won" the war was that the UK was preoccupied by events in Europe surrounding Napoleon and just gave up.
He said in London no one has ever heard of the "War of 1812," and other than in New Orleans and Pittsburgh not that many remember in the US. But in Canada, the War of 1812 was "The War" that Canada won against its southern neighbor. He summarized this attitude as "Canada really kicked American a** in that one." Needless to say, the professor had to leave the seminar early for the airport with a cab waiting at the curb at the end of his talk.
Perhaps I misunderstood your connection between the Soviets, Ceausescu and the Orthodox Church. The Soviets installed Ceausescu as their puppet and we helped is my point. For a church to survive under Communism is going to require a lot of compromise.
With all the problems we face,China, ChiCom-19, riots and financial collapse, perhaps we should let bygones be bygones. But you started it! ;-)
There is a song for that.... just a little south of North to Alaska
As for the sacking of Washington.... the British next move was Baltimore. Didn't take the fort and US wound up with a good poem with an English drinking song to boot. Talk about a song of the week....
"But you started it! ;-)"
In fact, it was the US that declared war on Britain, not the other way around. The western US congress-critters thought it a wizard good time to grab some nearly free real estate by becoming an ally of Napoleon. New Englanders thought that the war was total folly and it hurt their business tremendously. Sadly for the US, things did not turn out as planned, but they did manage to kill Tecumseh at the Battle of the River Thames (that's the river that flows by London, Ontario), which in turn killed the chances of a native confederation that could have put a brake on westward US expansion. Tecumseh had already lost his great partner General Isaac Brock at the great British victory of Queenston Heights.
Although the US declared war on Britain (with rather feeble justification, as the points of irritation had already been largely resolved), British communication was superior and the first action of the war was the capture by the British of Fort Mackinac on the lovely Mackinac Island in Michigan. The British scaled the heights above the fort with a cannon, fired a single shot, demanded surrender, and acquired the fort with no casualties on either side. The US garrison troops did not even know that war had been declared.
"The US didn't invade and conquer Canada and lost nearly every battle with the British military up to the Battle of New Orleans."
This is mostly true (the US did invade several times, it's just that they were beaten back every time). On land, the British and their allies under Tecumseh won almost every battle. Some were spectacular, like the capture of Detroit and the River Raisin, but one was tragic, that is the loss of the brilliant General Isaac Brock at Queenston Heights. The only land battles of note that the Americans won were the River Thames, the Battle of York (Britain got revenge for that) and New Orleans, which did not matter as it occurred two weeks after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The last major battle that actually meant something was Lundy's Lane, which was a tactical draw, but a strategic British victory, as the invading American troops withdrew from Upper Canada yet again. The battle is famous for Canadians because of the legend of Laura Secord, who after divulging the American plans to the British, managed to lend her name, many years after her death, to a brand of chocolates.
At sea, however, the story was a bit different. Although the Royal Navy dominated and maintained a reasonably effective blockade in the Atlantic, individual US ships had some notable successes. On the Great Lakes, the US became dominant, especially in Lake Erie. I've often thought that the Perry's Victory monument on Put in Bay Ohio looks rather similar to the monument of the great British victory at Queenston Heights on the Niagara River.
Thanks for the mini coffee-break Revolutionary War history lesson, Chris. I guess I have some gaps to fill in from that period. Now that I focus more on it, I did teach my two daughters American History (8th grade) during homeschool back in '99 and '00, but three of the four battles you mentioned were not included in the chapters on that war, and while we did study the Battle of York, I'll double check the text book to see if the Canadian militia was included. Anyway, I appreciate that you took the time to write that comment and now I have another excuse to revisit Quebec and Michigan just to take in a few more historic battleground sites.
At least we got a National Anthem out of the deal and Westward expansion worked out well until we took a left turn on the coast.
I am a new member so please forgive me if I don't adhere to the rules.
I have an free idea for your store. It is a shirt that says, "At least Nero could fiddle. Minneapolis 2020".
D, I'm an old member in a couple senses, and I still don't follow the rules. I like your tee shirt idea. Shows pluck!
I think Trump telling governors that they're weak and need to "dominate" after going down to the bunker is not really going to work in his favor..
He later in the day walked over to St John's Church from the White House with Barr, his press secretary, and other cabinet members. In broad daylight, right past the graffiti in the park. It was an impressive display of bravery on a spring afternoon.
Who knows, ed, maybe President Trump went into the bunker to get into his Batman mentality. I liked what he had to say when he finally gave a short speech in the Rose Garden (I wish it had been a few days earlier) and I also liked that he walked from the White House through Lafayette Park where the rioters had just been to St. John's historic church and stood in front of that landmark church that was boarded up and said a few words holding up the Bible.
I was listening to an interview on local radio with an so-called citizen journalist and member of the minority community. He said it wasn't enough for whites to not be racists. He said whites have to be anti-racism and whites have to demand change to put a stop to police hostility towards minorities. For decades people like me have called for fiscal restraint by the government. Have we gotten fiscal restraint? People like me have called for an end to illegal immigration which, by the way, has harmed black America far more than any real or imagined public policy has. Have we gotten an end to illegal immigration? People like me have called for reform of the public education system so that we stop producing one generation after another of literary and cultural illiterates. Have we gotten education reform? We can't get done what we want done. Why do people who are dissatisfied with how the police operate think we can achieve what they want? In 2015, Trump figured out all the right buttons to push to propel him to victory in 2016. It was our version of rioting and burning. Instead of throwing bricks at police and burning buildings, we threw bricks at the corruption of the establishment on both the right and left and set fire to their system of graft. But even then we haven't received anything that was promised. We have more illegal immigration than we ever had with any of Trump's predecessors. We are engulfed in a disease pandemic that has claimed the lives of 100,000 of our fellow citizens and millions more around the world not to mention destroying the financial security and business environment for tens of millions of Americans. We are figuratively and literally burning our culture and nation to the ground. And the perpetrators of both are getting away with it. And the supposed victims want people like me to demand change to satisfy their wants? Okay. Tell me where to start. So far I'm batting .000 for the stuff I want. You may need to look elsewhere for someone to solve your troubles.
Just so.
Those of us who were relieved that Trump won in 2016 (if falling to one's knees with hands clasped in gratitude that That Woman lost is most accurately described as relief) may well ask ourselves how we can get tired of winning if the winning hasn't started yet. I'm still on board, well aware that such an undertaking as draining the swamp will take longer than a single term--especially a term kidnapped and held for ransom by the very swamp critters Trump seeks to eradicate. I'm not one for dynasties, but it may well take Don Jr. and even Baron to finish their father's business.
Legacy succession of political office at any level is not what the Founding Fathers had in mind. There are probably what, 200 million, U.S. citizens eligible to be President of The United States. If voters think Chelsea or Hillary or Don Jr. or Baron or Jeb or Michelle would do a better job than anyone else, then we will end up with what we deserve. There are individuals that neither you nor I have ever heard of who would be tremendous candidates for President. But they aren't going to run because of the gauntlet they would have to run through. Look at what they did to Kavanaugh. Look at what Clarence Thomas went through 30 years ago. Look at what our current President has gone through. I like Trump. I'm glad he's President. Yes, he's been hamstrung. But when the Rodney King riots erupted in Los Angeles during HW Bush's reign, at least he sent in a heavy presence of federal law enforcement and military presence to quell those riots. And it worked. I don't know why we aren't doing that today. We're in bigger trouble than people know.
Looking elsewhere for others to solve their problems is what a lot of people do. Fifty-five years out since the enactment of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Act and something like 40% of African Americans remain in statistical - if not exactly material - poverty. Teachers, celebrities, all the purveyors of popular culture tell them that America's racist past and the institutional racism of the present are to blame. Most of the time, they don't have any evidence of that to go on - they don't lack for material stuff; they don't interact with many white people and seldom encounter any hostility when they do interact. But the white people they do have negative experiences with are often police officers. So this internal tension builds up - and when some really appalling, and at least on the surface totally unjustified act of violence inflicted on a black man by white police officers takes place, their frustration with their lives turns to rage. Also, since they measure happiness by material possessions, the chance to go out and steal stuff. And then they can say it's all the fault of white racism.
Your distinction between statistical and material poverty is an important one. Material poverty is when you know you are living in poverty. Statistical poverty is when someone waves a spreadsheet and tells you you are. Thanks to the Chinese virus and inept responses to it, there may soon be plenty of genuine poverty to go around. Those who have preached about "relative poverty" have just been grievance-mongering - and there are certain segments of society which never need to be asked twice, to feel aggrieved.
Couldn't agree more, Josh. President Trump is the thumb in the dike. After what's happened in the past five months I quake at the thought of topping off this "annus horribilis" with the election of Joe Biden. When you thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, it might.
Robert,
I don't know if you are a Rush Limbaugh listener, but today Rush did an eye-opening interview with a trio known as the "Breakfast Club" who are apparently quite influential in the black community. There was one fellow in the group who has the audacity to call himself Charlamagne (his misspelling). I won't even dignify him by writing the second half of his self applied moniker, but it also includes a misspelling. As an aside, one wonders if a man who can't spell Charlemagne has any idea of who the real article was or what the name means.
At any rate, this particular individual gave every listener with the wit to hear it a very clear statement of what he, and one would have to guess his audience, is advocating. In his words, what is required is a complete tearing down of the entire structure of white privilege/supremacy. He was coy when Rush asked him to specifically describe what he meant by the structure of white privilege/supremacy. Perhaps he couldn't, but it was clear to me that he was referring to the Constitutional Republic, whether he knew it or not.
So no Robert, you can't give them what they want unless you're up for relinquishing the Constitutional protections of your individual rights and having a de jure banana republic instead of a de facto one.
Your post of 15:54 on 1 June really resonated with me, too, R.
Of course, for practical purposes, it wouldn't be Biden getting elected. It would be either his VP choice, or his Valerie Jarrett clone consigliere.
(And I'm sorry, since I realise that that way of thinking only makes things even worse.)
Perhaps he intended The Great Charlatan rather than Charles the Great?
Mr. Fox, what you say is undeniably true. How do you explain why so many of our fellow Americans in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, Mid-West, and on the Pacific Coast vote for socialist Democrat psychopaths? I guess it is for the same reason my circle of friends and I vote for the vile corporate-socialist Republican psychopaths we fool ourselves in thinking are on our side. Unfortunately the country is nearing the point where the tree of liberty will demand to be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots. I always thought I would be dead before the second War of Northern Aggression began, but now I am not so sure.
Mr. Fox,
First, let me say that I don't think the Bush family has done anything good for the United States ever. In my opinion they are and were vile pretenders of the worst type and are backstabbing traitors (See David Souter and John Roberts). Getting that off my chest...
"Running for office is just not worth it" is a very, very tired and false cliche. Of course running for and winning political office is worth "it." Even the city council election in a town of 250 folks will have contested races. Getting elected to the level of state Legislature can make your legal practice very lucrative and much easier. Get elected Governor or higher and you can with little effort die very rich.
What I believe is true, and I suspect you understand this, is that the folks to whom it is "worth it" to run for office, any office, are not normal people. Kavanaugh and Thomas willingly endured it. So did Trump, Obama, Bush, etc. Politicians and aspiring politicians, Democrat and Republican, are in my experience nearly all extreme psychopaths. They have no real friends, only passing acquaintances who will wax and wane over their political career. The only people who will stay close over the long term are hangers-on and parasites who feed on them and upon whom the pols feed in turn. They seem to me to generally live unhappy, high-stress lives, and die lonely.
And yet we collectively grant or at least permit these almost always untrustworthy, often breathtakingly stupid (See Joe Biden and HW Bush), and sometimes very corrupt individuals great power over society and over the details of our individual lives. Trump seems to be an exception, as his first run for elective office was for the top job. I will vote for Trump this Fall as he is far and away the better choice, but every day I am less and less sure that he is not morphing into just another pol. We truly are in bigger trouble than people know.
To go from "annus horribilis" to anus horribilis in one year signified by the possible election of Joe Biden actually does mean we're toast, Janet, just like you mentioned earlier. I can see Ole Joe wandering around the hallways of White House on inauguration night talking to himself: "Damn the suppositories, full steam ahead!" And, "Corn Pops, do you smell gas? No matter where I go, it follows me. Must be a leak in here somewhere!"
Mark's observation regarding the bifurcation of America is currently on steroids. What all Americans can now either see, or refuse to see, is that there are only two possible group affiliations remaining - Pro-American and Anti-American. I recently heard Douglas Murray express his shock at the "hollowing out of America." His words haunt me. Literally everyday it seems that process may already be complete. I've spent my life secure in the knowledge of death, taxes, and the fact that looters get shot on sight. I believe losing that last part makes us not only too stupid to survive, but also too decadent, too infantile and too unexceptionable to give a damn. The Chicoms can relax. We're already ripe for the taking.
It even worse than that Michael - forget shooting looters, it's virtually impossible to even prosecute them today but even that's not the worst of it. We're not even allowed to criticize looters in the national media today, that is of course racist. In yesterday's front page story (not an editorial) in the AZ Republic newspaper, our largest and most influential news source, Gov. Ducey was excoriated for mentioning these three words 'rule of law' in a statement otherwise condemning the black man's death at the hands of the police. America is so far gone now nothing can surprise me any longer. I actually chuckle now when reading 'we're all in this together' or 'this too will pass' or funniest of all 'we'll emerge from this stronger than ever'. Conservatives have never understood what they were up against with this new left and for the ones who have awakened - sorry - it's much too late in the game.
Indeed RAC, up until the election of Obama (twice),I thought the Left was simply vile. But as his anti-American "transformation" gained steam, it became obvious that the Left was playing chess while we were playing tic-tac-toe. They have never rested, never appeased. Always pushing the envelope. I stand guilty of believing that the US still had a couple of decades before the roof really caved in. Well, that curve surely hasn't been flattened. We now live in a country with a diseased media and population unworthy of its own founding. Sure feels like checkmate to me too.
RAC and Michael
I disagree. Not checkmate yet. Check, yes, but not checkmate. Who the Army sides with will determine checkmate when the "roof caves in" and the shooting starts. If the Army goes for freedom and liberty or just stays out, conservatives will win. Antifa and that ilk are primarily mean, emotionally disturbed young boys and girls playing Che Guevara dress-up and opposing big city cops who play Darth Vader dress-up then stand aside when the Antifa girl wants a whole cheesecake and a bottle of liquor from the local restaurant being looted (see Seattle, WA, Cheesecake Factory Looting, 6/1/2020).
It is easy to pilliage, rape, burn and loot unopposed. It won't be if the heavily armed cajuns and rednecks who live around me get so fed up they go to war. I like those cajuns and rednecks and for sure they have lots of bullets and can shoot straight.
"... the Left was playing chess while we were playing tic-tac-toe."
You've summed up this prong of Mark's thesis very well.
The whole thing is incredibly depressing. It may seem premature and naive to say so, but - in a month or so - Trump needs to resume the rallies, packed to the rafters with ordinary, law-abiding, hard-working, patriotic Americans.
Emotionally disturbed??!!! Are you serious Charles? When a sharp dude like Charles Elkins talks like this I know it's getting very late. Your rednecks aren't going to save us - they'll all end up in prison with the first counter-strike which is very unlikely anyway. When the left eventually seizes control with mail-in voting or worse internet-voting then it will be up to the military to save this country. We'll see - I don't think it's very far in the future Charles. I do appreciate your response - Michael and myself are a bit too pessimistic for some which I get.
So well put Michael - "and population unworthy of it's own founding". I've been pounding home this point ever since the election of Barack Hussein Obama. Only an apathetic easily led electorate would vote in an anti-American born and raised Muslim to the presidency a scant 7 years after 9/11. Full credit due though - he was upfront about transforming America. I'll give him that. These ongoing nation-wide riots and looting are so extreme there is the remote possibility it will finally wake up this country. Will it still be fresh in their minds on Nov 3rd? There is at least a ray of hope.
Agreed. I vividly recall the cold sweat I suffered when viewing my first Obama mass rally. It was an awful realization that far too many of my fellow citizens were incapable of critical thinking and only too happy to be caught up in an evil cult of personality. I will join you in hoping Trump can survive the election. The Dems still won't accept the results, but he's our last hope of even a short-term future.
Trudeau Blackface hypocrite again today deploring racism and sympathizing with the young people of colour in Canada who are discriminated against. Meanwhile the famed store Steve's Music had its windows broken and guitars looted in Montreal, among other stores. But English radio CJAD host Elias Makos thinks this is okay because it is just collateral damage against the long history of discrimination in Quebec. Maybe he will sing a different tune when CJAD studios are attacked.
Of course none of the sycophants working for Trudeau's state propaganda outfit the CBC will dare ask him how he can spout off mealy mouth woke nonsense about racism in the US and Canada while sucking up to a regime currently perpetrating multiple genocides (Remember when leftists cared about Tibet? Yeah, good times). I mean, committing genocide seems sorta racist no?
And speaking of China: in a Chinese history course in college years back my professor stressed that what was even more insidious about Mao's China having no free speech was no freedom of no speech. Not actively swearing your loyalty to Mao and the CCP was tbe same as opposing it and would get you sent to a reeducation/death camp. When I see demands that everyone has to "speak up" or else all I can think is that if these woke fanatics ever take power instead of just destroying people's careers they won't hesitate to follow the example of their fellow Marxist and taking the next logical step.
"When I see demands that everyone has to "speak up" or else all I can think is that if these woke fanatics ever take power instead of just destroying people's careers they won't hesitate to follow the example of their fellow Marxist and taking the next logical step."
Very true, Mike. Compelled speech - along with coerced self-censorship - is the essence of "cancel culture". We don't even realise how dangerously far we've gone with the normalisation of destroyed livelihoods: cancelling lives is the next logical step, as we've seen in China... not only with Mao, but in 2020 with Xi and Covid.
Thanks, Mark for the reality check. I was beginning to get depressed. This whole mob thing makes me rethink a patriot's response to a tyrannical government. The police and military cannot maintain order in the face of a mob but they can turn around and send 29 armed men with armored cars, boats and helicopters after a political opponent. I need to think about this some more. It can't be that bad, though, the stock market is up.
Isn't it amazing that we have an intelligence apparatus that can listen to every phone call, can enlist a Maltese professor to entrap George Papadopoulos, can enlist the leadership of the FBI to entrap Michael Flynn, and lies to Congress with immunity, but when it counts, it doesn't have a clue about Antifa or the mass migrations that routinely storm our southern border. The notion that "white supremacists" are behind the rioting is a glimpse into the pathologically corrupt underpinnings of the progressive movement. What can we expect of "social justice" if they can't see what is standing right in front of them with Molotov cocktails and burning police cars. You are correct in urging President Trump to step up to the plate and defend our country. But he will need to weed out a lot of malignant bureaucrats if his commands are to be put into action.
Right, Robert, and doesn't it make you wonder that when the authorities: police, mayor, governor and National Guard in Minneapolis were all slow to nip the rioting in the bud (molasses moves faster with a little heat applied it seems to me), the other cities where violence also sprung out were slow to nip things in the bud, as well, how much of this catastrophic nationwide rioting was planned, and if not planned (for that would be stretch), permitted to play out for a dramatic message that the authorities are not committed to keeping us safe after all the months of economic shutdowns, stay at home orders and the endless to-wear-a-mask-or-not-to-wear a-mask dilemma. How much of this is the Left's last ditch effort to take down President Trump? Just asking.
Robert,
As we are seeing, the FBI didn't have Michael Flynn until the wise and powerful Pence whined that "Flynn fibbed to him" and the Donald left the General to twist in the wind. The United States doesn't have an intelligence apparatus that can listen to every phone call. There are millions (billions?) of calls made every day, many billions per year. It isn't possible to intelligently listen and analyse such a mass of data. The NSA, FBI and other Internal State Security Agencies in the United States just want to make you and everyone else believe they have such a capacity. All they need is such belief to be widely held, then when they go to court to prosecute your or your widow they can just make up the evidence and gain conviction.
I appreciate what you do, Mark Steyn. Every day you bring us something we haven't heard before anywhere else, even in those strange times, and I'll wager most of your membership visit a lot of sites, listen to a variety of hosts and read a wide range of literature. I also appreciate the individuals on your team. They have, to the one, made my life plenty more enjoyable and enriched. The remark in Andrew Lawton's little promo about your site providing access to a global community of people just like me is what puts the cherry on top of the Mark Steyn Club.
Mega-dittos Fran - I wouldn't change a word.
I second your motion, Fran!
I can't be the only one to notice you've cut your sign-off in half. Doubtless due to belt-tightening. I'd like to butch-up and get all Patrick Henry on you with "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, I'd rather stay free than stay safe." But I sit at home, still forbidden to walk in the park (until Miraculous Miercoles when by decree they open again), while my neighbors downtown are safe under the watchful eye of the police as they help themselves to all the free loot they can carry. And any suggestion that their full face masks are for any purpose other than concern for their fellow man is unwelcome at this touchy time. Who knows, by Wednesday I may join them (regulations permitting).
Mark cutting his sign-off in half, the 2500 character limit and the new Load Comments button are all signs of a bandwidth shortage. Northern New Hampshire is on the precipice of civilization. Beyond there be dragons.
Have to run, there are some bargains on Craigslist for Louis Vuitton handbags!
Josh, thanks for pointing that out. That's one of my favorite parts of Mark's broadcasts and one of the best reminders.