He's Just in the Way

 

I find the vitriolic hatred for President Trump absolutely amazing and worth discussing. Donald Trump came into public prominence during the 1970’s, as much for his flamboyant lifestyle as anything else. He was a creation of the media – until he was not. The national press fawned on his every move – celebrated his wins and losses, compounded an already bigger than life character into a media superstar.

Mr. Trump published several best-selling books. He was celebrated for his philanthropy and well respected both in NY business circles and NY “high society.” NY media was filled with photos of Donald Trump with Black politicians and celebrities. Over the years, he was publicly acknowledged for his philanthropy. Here is a partial list of the awards he has received over the years:

National Jewish Hospital's Humanitarian Award (1976)

Jewish National Fund's Tree of Life Award (1983)

Ellis Island Medal of Honor (1986)

Freedoms Foundation's President's Medal (1995)

Muhammad Ali Entrepreneur Award (2007)

Unicorn Children's Foundation's Shining Star Award (2008)

Palm Beach Police Foundation's Palm Tree Award (2010)

Lois Pope LIFE Foundation's Presidential Hero Award (2011)

The Algemeiner's Liberty Award (2015)

Marine Corps–Law Enforcement Foundation's Commandant's Leadership Award (2015)

The Friends of Zion Museum's Friends of Zion Award (2017)

20/20 Bipartisan Justice Center's Bipartisan Justice Award (2019)

Donald J. Trump – celebrity, media personality, business mogul, best-selling author, TV star, and philanthropist; well liked by the media and the American people, until the moment he announced that he was running for president as a populist, nationalist, conservative Republican with a promise to “drain the Swamp” and to “Make America Great Again”.

In that one moment, Donald Trump went from being a well-loved, popular American original to being a racist, Fascist “threat to Democracy.”

Any serious observer of American politics must ask, what was there in Mr. Trump’s announcement, and in his positions, which caused such an immediate and vicious reaction to Donald Trump running for president? What was it that he said that so enraged the mainstream media and the established Ruling Class? Was there really anything that he said that triggered the full-on onslaught? Or was it simply that he openly, and harshly criticized the “status quo,” that he dared to point out the obvious – that America was being choked to death by globalism, “progressive” liberalism, unfair trade deals, endless foreign wars, and out of control spending?

Or was there something deeper, some formless fear of something that they did not understand, but feared at the foundation of their beings? You see, I genuinely think that the Progressives, Democrats, and their shills in the mainstream media sensed right from the start that Donald Trump could connect with the American people in a way that no other politician since Reagan has been able to. For all of Mr. Trump’s wealth and “glamour,” he has a connection to the people. Mr. Trump intuitively understands us, respects, and appreciates us. From that first announce in Trump Tower, Mr. Trump has spoken directly to use, to quote from Don McLean’s “American Pie,” “in a voice that came from you and me.”

There is nothing radical in President Trump’s policies and agenda. He wants America to be safe, to be prosperous, to be treated fairly by the rest of the world, and to be respected. He understands that there are limits, some set by the Constitution, others set by practicality, to what the Federal government can, and should do. Mr. Trump understands that governments must reflect society rather than be trying to modify society.

President Trump has a much better understanding of economics than do most politicians. He knows that debt is harmful to the economy. He knows that lowering taxes – to a point – always generates new revenue. Mr. Trump is a master negotiator. He starts with sometimes ridiculous sounding positions and then negotiates to close to what he wanted to begin with. This approach has worked wonders with the tariffs and has resulted in better trade deals and a tremendous amount of new, foreign investment in manufacturing facilities in the United States. All of which will generate jobs and cash flow for American workers.

The Ruling Class can only exist as long as the American people remain unaware of their existence and their real intent. President Trump presents a real and present danger to the Ruling Class simply because he speaks to us – and for us. He understands the American people and is standing up for us. The Ruling Class must crush the threat the President presents if it is to survive.

The Ruling Class and their media allies are attacking President Trump because he is us and they hate and resent us. They cannot maintain their power and the wealth that they are pillaging from us if we have a spokesman and a “champion” fighting for us. They must destroy President Trump or lose the power that they have taken from us.

So, make no mistake, it is not Donald Trump that they hate and fear, it is us that they hate and fear – he is simply in their way.

 

 

 

 

House Cleaning Long Over Due

I am having way too much fun watching the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) shine the light on the corruption run amok in our federal government. Democrats are flooding the media with their hysterical tirades against DOGE and President Trump, showing that their support is for the corrupt bureaucrats and wasteful spending and not for the best interests of the American people.

The reaction from the Democrats really does not make sense. But, silly me expecting the Ruling Class to make sense! They are not fighting to defend the spending. They are not explaining how the egregious spending is important to US interests. They are simply screaming bloody murder about the process! Their protests range from “no Constitutional authority” to Elon Musk is trying to steal our identities, to the DOGE folks lack “clearance”. It really seems like they are simply fighting President Trump just to be fighting him.

Or, more frightening, is that the Democrats are fighting the investigations because they are on the take and raking in big bucks from these absurd federal expenditures. When one looks at the published net worths of these elected officials, many of whom have had a real job, the idea of massive kickback schemes becomes a frightening possibility.

in fiscal year 2024 the US government will borrow $1.8 trillion to meet its committed spending. All told, Congress has incurred over $36 trillion in debt. As a nation, we owe 24% more than the value of all the goods and services produced in the US in a year. This is as unsustainable as it is absurd.

Several things are going on here that are enormously important. Primarily, there is the issue of “deficit spending.” The government does not have money of its own and can only spend money that it takes from citizens. Federal spending should not exceed taxation revenue. It is completely irresponsible to spend more than you have, and it is completely absurd to borrow money that must be repaid to “give” it away as “foreign aid”. While it is noble and honorable to help the less fortunate. Borrowing to do it is just plain stupid.

There also seems to be no accountability for how federal money is being spent once it is turned over to a department or agency. There seems to be a total breakdown between the House authorizing the spending and where the money ends up. Congress totally fails on its oversight responsibilities. This must change. But it cannot change until Congress fulfills its Constitutional obligation to pass an annual budget. That process also includes following up on how the money is spent – every dollar of it. And that, it seems, has not been happening for many years. It is critical that our government develop as a fool proof method of accounting as possible as quickly as possible.

There is no issue important now for than for President Trump and DOGE to root out all the fraud, waste, and corruption in government spending. This may be the most critical issue that our government has ever faced. The long-term survival of the nation may very well depend on whether the theft and corruption can be stopped.

 

 

 

 

How Did They Get It So Wrong?

 

Out here in “fly over” country, we joke about how weather forecasters and economists continue to be paid, even though they are wrong more often than they are right.  Most real Americans have to be, at least competent at what they are doing if they expect to be paid. We need to add pollsters to this elite group of folks who continue to be paid no matter how wrong they continue to be.

Once again, the political pollsters totally misread the intentions of the American voters. Right up until the vote counts started to be reported, the pollsters and pundits were telling us that the race was “too close to call”. Yet, for all their expertise, all their education, all their high-priced data, the election was not close.

As I write this on Thursday, President Trum holds a commanding 69 electoral vote lead over Harris and is ahead in the nation-wide popular vote by more that 5 million votes. This is an electoral land slide. How did the pollsters miss it?

Maybe a better question might be why did they miss it?

To be just, I think that I need to point out that many of Mr. Trump’s supporters are highly suspicious of governments and of the news media, including pollsters. There is a very real possibility that many Trump supporters might not have been honest with pollsters. Given this anti-authority tendency among Patriots, Conservatives, and Libertarians, it is possible that pollsters might never get a truly accurate picture as long as the news media remains so virulently “progressive”.

But our distrust in pollsters is not the only, nor the major cause for the dismal polling results. The fundaments of modern polling, coupled with deeply ingrained prejudices, and their sycophantic need for approval from the ruling elite has all but destroyed both their ability to take meaningful polls and their credibility.

The nature of their work almost necessitates that pollsters reside in the power centers of the country. They become neighbors with the Ruling Class and the peer pressure that comes with it. The pollsters want to fit in, they want to belong, and so they approach their polling with a preconceived bias to appease their neighbors.

This bias has its base in the fact that that pollsters are all college “educated”. Most of us know that colleges are no longer centers of higher education but are propaganda camps for the Ruling Class. Coming out of these propaganda camps, those people who go into polling begin with a pro-establishment, pro-Ruling Class bias. Their abilities to objectively gauge public opinion is skewed from the beginning.

It is also human nature to want to please “the boss”, to make sure that the guy footing the bill is pleased with the results. As every major news organization supports the Democratic Party and the Ruling Class, any poll conducted on behalf of any news organization is almost sure to be biased toward the Democrats.

If I, or anyone else with even a modicum of common sense, were commissioned to poll the residents of New Bethlehem on an issue, we would begin by finding out how many residents we would need to poll to get a representative sample and we’d speak with that many people at random. We would have an objective representation of what the people in New Bethlehem think of that issue.

At random. Therein lies the rub.

Pollsters no longer ask at random. Over the past 30 years identity politics has become the norm among the Ruling Class and the progressives. Every group of people must be broken down into a series of generally accepted demographic categories – male, female, white, black, college educated, etc. and so forth. The samples are not random, they are prescribed by the progressive idea that these arbitrary “identity groups” are monolithic voting blocs, that all college educated white men vote alike, all blue-collar workers vote alike, all women vote alike. We know that they do not, but this flawed concept has become one of the foundations of political polling. And we all know that if the foundation is flawed the end product will be flawed.

There is another, darker, more sinister reason the polling has been so dreadful over the past 20 years. It is possible that the pollsters, being part of the news media, may have moved from gauging public opinion to trying to influence public opinion. As wrong as all of the polls were this year, I am inclined to think that the pollsters were trying to discourage Trump voters and encourage Harris voters and because they were not accurately gauging sentiment in the country, they failed to influence voters.

Republican, Conservative, Libertarian, and Patriots must view polls and pollsters from here on with the skepticism that they treat mainstream news. They simply cannot be trusted any longer – for whatever reason. Like the news media, the pollsters have proven themselves not to be worthy of our trust or support. And like the tradition news media, it will take years of hard work for them to regain our trust.

 

 

 

 

 

Is Unity Truly Her Goal?

 

“Kamala the Chameleon’s” claim to being the candidate who can “unite” the American people might be the most ludicrous bit of nitwittery being bandied about in this election cycle. I really wonder what heinous protocols might await those among us who will refuse to “unite” with the “progressive” re-structuring of America. It is, after all, progressives who have called for “re-education” camps for Trump supporters.

Paula Collins, Democratic congressional candidate in NY Congressional District 21 has called for Trump supporters to be interred. Even party super-star HILLARY has called for “deprogramming” Trump “cultists”. Is this Harris’ plan for national unity, coerced agreement? This reminds me on Mao’s Cultural Revolution in Red China. Hard handed in my humble opinion.

We – Conservatives, Republicans, Libertarians, and Patriots – must bear in mind that the progressive leadership is well schooled in Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” and one of his rules is "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." After more than 40 years of demonizing, personalizing, and polarizing their opposition, their calls for “unity” seem hollow, empty, and phony as hell. It was creepy Joe Biden, just four short years ago who promised to unite us, and then just the other day called us “garbage”. So much for bringing us all together.

The Alinsky progressives have spent almost 50 years demonizing everyone who has not been in complete lockstep with their every position. And those positions have become so extreme in the past 16 years that the gulf between the Democrats and the rest of us might be too wide to bridge.

When we disagree on runaway government spending – you call us mean spirited.

When we disagree on parents’ rights in the schools – you call us domestic terrorists.

When we disagree on men participating in women’s sports – you call us haters.

When we disagree on placing some limitations on pre-natal murder – you call us misogynists.

When we disagree on illegal immigration – you call us racists.

When we disagree on crime in our cities – you lie to us and say that our cities are safe.

When we tell you that we want our America to be safe, strong, free, and prosperous – you call us fascists and racists.

When we object to your radical climate proposals and your mandates that we submit to unsafe, untested, and dangerous vaccines – you call us science deniers.

Democrats have made it clear that they do not respect our beliefs, our culture. Our values and our desires to walk as free men. We hear Democrats pay lip service to “uniting” Americans – but they ignore, trash, vilify, and persecute Americans who disagree with them. Words are cheap, and politicians use them just to con people into voting for them. It is much more important to watch what people do. Has Kamala Harris shown us any respect?  How often has she supported positions that respect American values? Has she done anything in her career to show that she has any concern for the typical American? Do not fall for the words – look to the deeds done and not done.

At this point in our nation’s journey, I do not believe that there can be any unifying the American people. After 2 generations of the Alinsky Radicals dominating politics, popular culture, news media, and the public education system the divide between the Conservatives, Republicans, Libertarians, and Patriots and the progressive Democrats is irreparable. The United States, as founded and constituted, cannot exist much longer. The seeds of its death were sown by Saul Alinsky and nurtured by 50 years of progressive, power hungry, totalitarian Democrats. Our nation is on the brink of civil war and there will be no stopping it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Rare and Decent Man

 I suffered through the Vice President “debate” just to try to see if I could learn something about the candidates. To be honest, I did learn somethings that I did not know, and had some things that I already knew, reinforced. First and foremost, none of these candidates EVER answers the actual question that they are asked. They use the question as a gateway to a campaign “talking point.” That annoys the hell out of me! If you are not willing to answer questions do not run for office! It is just that simple.

I learned that Governor Walz is not particularly bright. He did not seem to have a particularly deep understanding of economics or how tax rates affect tax revenue. (Reference the Laffer Curve.) Walz, like Harris, is a Marxist. Their fallback position is “class envy” and “class strife.” That is such a despicable ideology. How can we build a peaceful, united, society if our government is constantly pitting one group of citizens against another?

Our current tax system is unfair. Every adult citizen should pay the same percentage of their income as tax. Write – offs and exemption should be exceedingly rare and be offered to every taxpayer. No citizen should pay a higher percentage of their income as tax than any other taxpayer. And pigs might fly.

Mr. Walz also showed no understanding of foreign policy and the need for a strong, stable United States. The man is simply not ready for the role of Vice President. He touted all the remarkable success that Minnesota has had under his leadership, but studiously skirted his lack of leadership during the riots of 2020. “Buffoon” is the word that comes to mind.

I also learned that the lamestream media has been dreadfully unjust in their portrayal of Senator Vance. Ever since he emerged on the national scene as a candidate for Senate in Ohio, the media has painted Mr. Vance as a wild eyed, crazed radical, politically somewhere between Adolph Hitler and Attila the Hun. I was expecting to hear all kinds of white jingoist rhetoric; what I heard was an articulate, thoughtful, intelligent man with a depth of knowledge about the issues facing our nation.

Senator Vance presented himself as a steady, calm, unflappable man. He exuded confidence and leadership ability. He made his positions clear; he took no crap from the moderators, and he was gentile and gentlemanly throughout the discussion.

The senator also used two very subtle, totally devastating devices throughout the debate that were simply brilliant. Every time he referenced the current administration he said, “Kamala Harris” not “Joe Biden,” thereby assigning all blame for the current dumpster fire that is our world squarely on Harris. It was brilliant!

The other device was also devastating, but in a different manner. Throughout the entire debate, Senator Vance referred to Governor Walz by his first name, instead of by his title, thereby minimizing Walz’s political stature. These both show the senator’s strategic skill and thinking ability.

The most important moment of the debate came when Senator Vance spontaneously reacted to Walz saying that his 17-year-old son had witnesses a shooting. The senator’s response was incredible. 

He said, “"Tim, first of all, I didn't know that your 17-year-old witnessed a shooting, and I'm sorry about that and I hope he's doing OK," he said. "Christs have mercy, it is awful." This was not scripted, was not planned, was not practiced, or rehearsed. It was an honest, heartfelt reaction from a good and decent man. In an era bereft of decent people in positions of power, Senator J. D. Vance stands out as a decent, honorable gentleman.

I grew up in Appalachia, though not of Appalachian people. The people of Appalachia hold many of the characteristics that exemplified America at its best. J. D. Vance embodies the kindness, the decency, the rugged individualism, and the simple goodness of his mountain country heritage. Senator Vance, if elected, will be a strong influence for good on President Trump. 

J. D. Vance is one more good reason to vote for Donald Trump for president.

The Real Existential Threat to Democracy

 I often wonder what it must be like to be a Democrat. I mean, how do you parrot the idiotic things that your Party leaders say? How do you call fellow Americans Nazis just because hey disagree with you? How do you justify calling Republicans and Conservatives racists simply because they don’t agree with you that the white race is the cause of all the World’s problems? I wonder how you can look at the price of gas and groceries and claim things are great in America. How can you think about the disastrous, unconditional surrender of Afghanistan to the Taliban and a world being engulfed by war and think your guy is doing well? What is it like to know that your political party hid the president’s dementia from you for 5 years?

But I really wonder what it must be like to be a Democrat today knowing that your political party does not respect YOUR vote in the recent presidential primaries.

Millions of you turned out to vote in your state primaries and caucuses and voted for Biden. About 85% of registered Democrats voted for Biden in the primaries. Now, after the whole world saw his imcomptency, his obvious cognitive impairment, and raging dementia during the presidential debate and the NATO press conference – the elites in the Democratic party have dumped him. YOUR votes do not matter to them.

Your votes in the primaries don’t count. The will of the people doesn’t count. All that counts is winning – and it only counts because of the wealth that accrues to those in power. Your Party doesn’t care about you – all they care about is there power and the monet they can get from that power.

Your Party doesn’t care about you. If they cared about you, gas would still be less than $2 a gallon, graceries would be 40% less than they are now, our borders would be closed, and the world would be at peace.

And if they cared about you they would not have hidden Biden’s dementia from you for 5 years and they wouldn’t be overturning your primary votes.

You Democrats can claim that President Trump is an “existential threat to Democracy” for questioning obvious problems with vote counting in the 2020 election. You can claim that until the cows come home, but from where I sit, it is the Democratic Party that has no regard for the will of the people.

 

The Post Turtle

 

 The Presidential debate on June 27 was the most disturbing and frightening thing that I have seen in more than a half century of observing Presidential politics. It was also perhaps the saddest public display of aged caused incompetence that I have ever witnessed.

I am no fan of Joe Biden. I had him pegged as a buffoon when he first appeared on the national scene in 1973. He was a cocky, arrogant braggart; the archetypical “empty suit” politician. Even 50 years ago, Joe Biden was well-known for his verbal gaffes. The man was stupid long before he became senile. And, he has always had a mean streak.

According to the UCal Santa Barbara “American Presidency Project Website”, "Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., fighting to salvage his Presidential campaign, today acknowledged 'a mistake' in his youth, when he plagiarized a law review article for a paper he wrote in his first year at law school.” Biden also lifted almost word for word a long portion of a speech given by British politician Neil Kinnock (https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/trump-campaign-press-release-copy-that-joe-bidens-long-record-plagiarism). Revelation of that fact caused Biden to drop out of the 1988 Democratic presidential primary. He also plagiarized from a speech by Robert F Kennedy (same source). The man has a well-known history of using the words of others without attribution.

Even as much as I dislike the man, the revelations of his corruption took me totally by surprise. I have always assumed that most politicians enrich themselves while in office, but this guy takes the cake, if even half of the allegations are true, this man might be the most corrupt man to ever occupy the White House.

Yet, even with my total disdain for the man, it was incredibly sad to watch him on TV last Thursday night. The man had no business being there. His bumbling, wandering, incomprehensible answers were devoid of substance and just made no sense. Watching him was like watching a fish out of water – flopping around, gasping for coherency like a fish gasping for water to breathe. 

I can’t get the image of the “post turtle” out of my head either.

For those of you unfamiliar with that term, let me explain it. When you're driving down a country road you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle'. You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn’t belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he is up there, and you just wonder what kind of an asshole put him up there to begin with.

The whole spectacle was tragically sad.

Aging is a normal part of life. As we age, our physical and mental abilities decline. We each age at differing chronological times and at differing rates. None of us have the same abilities at 70 that we did at 40, it is just a fact of life. Most of us acknowledge those limitations – though grudgingly sometimes – and adjust our lifestyles to accommodate the new realities that we face. At least the wise among us do.

Our mental and cognitive abilities tend to decline as we age, too. Regardless of how sharp we were in our prime, our abilities to remember, reason, and retain new knowledge decline as we age. Most of us do retain enough of our mental abilities to independently function and contribute well into our 70s and 80s. Some of us don’t. The wise, or at least the well adjusted among us accept (if not graciously) the limits and restrictions that age imposes. The wise, or at least well adjusted among us, do not continually try to exceed our limitations. And many of us who consider trying to exceed them have spouses and families to advise us not to – or to restrain our stupidity! His debate performance showed that Biden has neither the wisdom, nor the family support, to stop from making a pathetic spectacle of himself.

Putting aside all personal and political objections to the man, it was nothing short of tragic to see him on TV. He was in no way presidential. He was a caricature of a man; a fumbling, doddering, incompetent old man; incapable of expressing a coherent thought. No person should have to endure the humiliation of being seen in the condition Biden was in during the debate. It was terribly sad.

If Biden himself chose to be on TV that night he obviously is incapable of making good decisions. If his wife and advisors forced him to be there, the should be arrested and charged with elder abuse. He just should not have been there. It was cruel, humiliating, and just sad.

It was also frightening to see the most powerful man in world reduced to an incoherent, totally incompetent, senile being. It was frightening to see this husk of a man and to know that he holds incredible power over 340 million Americans. This doddering old man has the authority to launch nuclear weapons. But more frightening was the fact that all of America’s enemies also saw this pathetic spectacle and now know that America offers no danger to them. The once great and mighty United States has been reduced to a toothless, paper tiger – a caricature of what we once were – by Joe Biden – an empty, tragic caricature of a man.