Hannity, Solomon and Carter Preview the Penultimate Tick-Tock…
And POTUS tweeted to have folks check it out. Does he ever fool us about this stuff? I’m not on Twitter so I don’t know.
Category: Current Events
28NOV2018 – My Take on Things
Here’s a quick review of where everything stands. The President comes out of the mid-terms losing the possibility of getting things easily through the Congress because of the Democrat capture of the House. But he gains a reliable Senate majority for appointments to the Supreme Court Bench and the Cabinet. Having disposed of Jeff Sessions and seeing the Mueller investigation blind-sided by a Manafort defection on his plea bargain it looks like the President is maneuvering to a place where he can deal with Mueller. His temporary appointment of Matthew Whitaker as Attorney General is angering the Progressives so it must be a good move. The strong stand the President is taking at the southern border is the right move and I hope he holds firm on that front. It will win him support and help make clear that a wall at the border is a necessity. It might even force the Democrats in the House to support funding out of fear of losing re-election in 2020.
The economy continues to move forward and unless you have all your money in the stock market (which is finally seeing a long overdue correction) this will be a very Merry Christmas.
The bad publicity and federal investigations examining anti-conservative deplatforming in the social media and on-line circles hasn’t materially helped our side very much yet. But the comments by the President and other government leaders have had some effect on Silicon Valley and if there is more than just threat associated with this talk maybe we can see some pushback. It would be nice if paypal and the other fund transfer vendors are slapped down and forced to play nice.
And finally, the continuing awakening of Americans to the reality of the assault on their way of life and even their identity is moving apace and is having a powerful effect on attitudes and actions. Many people have gone from mindlessly following the proclamations of the left-wing media to seeing for themselves who is on their side and who is selling them out to the progressives. This doesn’t involve the Millenials unfortunately, they are pretty much hopelessly in thrall to the Narrative and will continue to be the most loyal proponents of the Progressive path. But I think it’s apparent that older folk will have to help steer the next generation (Gen Z?) into a better mode of thinking. That is something I have thinking about myself. Hopefully other are too.
All in all, we go into December in a better place than we were last year and with a clear path to improving things on all fronts. It still remains for President Trump to resolve the Mueller situation. But he seems much better suited than I to decide how that should be done. And he needs to get his Justice Department working on bringing relief to all of us suffering at the hands of Progressive tech barons and lower court judges who attack conservatives whenever they can. And I think he will. So, paint me optimistic and here we are at the quick sprint to Christmas and New Year. Ho, ho, ho.
The Last Shot of the 2018 Senate Battle
The Republicans staggered out of the 2018 Senate Mid-Terms with a final tally of 53 seats to the Democrats 47. They’ve netted two seats but lost Arizona and Nevada through poor decisions and poor messaging. The good news is that 53 seats means Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, those two northern RINO dames won’t have a veto over who gets into the Supreme Court and the President’s Cabinet. Hallelujah. The bad news is that 53 is the best they could do in the best Senate election the Republicans are likely to get in a long time.
But I’m a glass half-full kinda guy so let’s call this one a definite win. We can look forward to a potential one or two more Supreme Court appointments and just as importantly, a competent Attorney General and FBI Director. And that’s just in time. With Manafort reneging on his Mueller plea-bargain and details of Manafort’s apparent role in providing the Trump administration intel on Mueller, it looks like that pot is about to boil over. So this Senate gain is important but just one more step in the never-ending war. In the immortal words of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, “Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends.”
Is Twitter Getting the Jitters?
Jesse Kelly is a contributor to The Federalist. He has been very critical of the way social media sites have been silencing conservatives. So, it probably wasn’t shocking when Twitter permanently shut down his account. Apparently, something made them change their minds and reinstate him.
http://thefederalist.com/2018/11/27/without-explanation-twitter-reinstate-jesse-kelly/
The incoming freshman senator for Missouri has said he wants Twitter investigated for the way they single out conservatives for silencing without any explanation or recourse. And a senate committee is interested in doing just that. Could this be why Kelly was reinstated? Too soon to tell but if other conservatives also get reinstated it’ll be a trend that bears watching. Maybe President Trump is starting to worry Silicon Valley and that would suit me to a tee.
Rodents of Unusual Size and the De-Swampification of My Puddle
I inhabit an area that is adjacent to a wetland that can vary from a pond to a bog. In the last few days an unseasonably heavy pre-Thanksgiving snowfall was melted off by substantial rainfall. When this happened I could hear the stream that feeds the puddle flowing pretty heavily and I noticed the level of the puddle was rising pretty significantly. Well, what of it? Winter is coming and that will put a stop to most of the flow.
After that the puddle will solidify and stop being a concern until Spring. But Camera girl has the vision of a hawk or eagle or something. And she saw something interesting.
Now I wish I had bought that Sigma 600mm zoom. I assume soon my basement will be underwater and the beaver will be cohabiting with us and borrowing my stuff. There’s never an end to the indignities of living in New England. This undocumented migrant probably has all kinds of protected status, doesn’t pay taxes and for all I know is a trans-gender study major at the local state college all on my dime. I’ll keep everyone updated on the horror.
Enough Outrage for the Week
One of the news sites I look at each day is realclearpolitics.com. They often have dueling headlines on a topic from the Left and the Right. Today featured the New York Times article “My New Vagina Won’t Make Me Happy” by someone now called Andrea Long Chu, and an article by the American Conservative called “Andrea Long Chu’s Fake Vagina” by Rod Dreher. The New York Times article is liberally quoted in the Dreher article so if like me you don’t traffic on the New York Times, at least you’ll know what Dreher is referencing. I read Dreher’s article and honestly, I’m still shaking my head. The level of masochism and self-delusion necessary to allow anyone to get involved in the surgical and medical madness described in the article is stunning. I’ve felt that reporting on the unhealthy practices occurring on the Left is important to warn people (especially the young) of the dangers lurking nearby these troubled groups. And I still feel that way. The fact that there are physicians and social workers who advocate to allow these dangerous practices and medical procedures to be performed on young people is alarming and should be highlighted as further proof that our society is now a menace to our children and not to be trusted.
But it’s too much. I can’t stomach the nausea of even thinking about these things at this time of the year.
I’m off from work for a few days this week and I’ve been visiting with family during this holiday weekend. And even writing on this nightmarish article is too depressing to consider. So, adios Andrea Long Chu and all his pseudo-gynecological considerations. Unless there is an eruption on the Mueller front or the Mexican Caravan manages to reach southern New England, I propose to address the positive aspects of the news. And if there are absolutely no positive news items (which is quite possible) I’ll concentrate my time on cultural concerns that are of a positive nature. Probably this will entail music, book and movie reviews that I think will bring a pleasant moment to the readers. I have some macrophotography files I’ve been working on. I’d prefer to subject my readers to the terrors of magnified beetles and moths and thorny plants than dwell on these other horror stories for the next few days. I’ll regale you with my delusional theories for restoring pulp science fiction to its rightful primacy on book shelves (or at least the first page of the browser search results). I’ll tout my obscure non-commercial choices for country music. And when I run out of real subjects to bloviate on, I’ll fabricate a story involving my alt-reality President Trump and his equally fictitious minions as they face off against zombie civil servants, undead Clinton opponents and the truly nefarious forces of the main stream media. In other words, I’ll do all the things I usually do except with 30% less outrage.
Meeting with family, especially the grandsons was extremely enjoyable, almost inspirational. We played cards, talked about what they wanted for Christmas, ate grilled cheese sandwiches and burgers, watched some old movies together and talked about artificial intelligence. So, for the next few days, I’ll try to stay on the lighter side of things. Please bear with me. I promise to try and be extra specially outraged by Saturday.
Rebuilding from the Ground Up – Part 1
When every church and social organization from the Roman Catholic Church to the Boy Scouts has been compromised you have to rebuild from the ground up. I know it has to be done but how do you start? Do you emphasize the religious aspect of the effort or do you concentrate on the family and cultural concerns? I guess eventually all of these facets come into play if you’re trying to reclaim your world but it is without a doubt a daunting task. Even the idea seems ridiculously ambitious. But from my point of view there doesn’t seem to be any other way forward. All the existing institutions and groups have surrendered completely. No other way forward exists except starting from scratch and creating something that hasn’t been deformed by the madness of the modern world. It’s going to involve selecting members one by one. Everyone will have to be vouched for ahead of time. Writing a charter will be important but what does it require? What does it forbid? It has to support activities that are important to families. It has to include activities that include different age groups. Children sports is a natural part. A women’s auxiliary would be an idea. But the leadership has to be adult men. Fathers and especially grandfathers have to step up and start contributing to keeping the culture alive. And eventually we’ll need a curriculum for after school teaching, sort of a Sunday School for traditionalists.
I’ll have to reread Rod Dreher’s “The Benedict Option” to see what practical information he includes for organizing a reclamation. I don’t know if anything will come of this or not but it feels like the only really important thing I can do to help this degraded culture we are embedded in. If anyone knows of information that would be useful pass it along. To be continued.
A Special Thanksgiving Quote of the Day
WHEREAS it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint Committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
George Washington
George Washington
Happy Thanksgiving to all the readers of Orion’s Cold Fire (yeah, even you Bernie Bros. too). God bless you all.
22NOV2018 – War Pig’s Posts – The Deterioration of the US Media
The only places you will find this on the Internet are a couple of Cold War casualty websites. The news is remarkably blank on the subject as they were caught doing bad reporting (no reporting at all, really). The news media at the time basically ran a story based on what they heard, not an investigation of the facts (sound familiar?).
I was stationed in (then) West Germany when this happened. There was some difference of opinion whether or not it was over a card game or a love triangle, but the rest of the facts were clear. A GI put a sabot round into his M60 tank’s gun and fired it into another M60 directly behind him at the rail head.
By the time the story got back to the USA and the American media coverage was repeated on Armed Forces Radio and Television, this story would not have been recognized by its own mother. It was variously portrayed as a terror attack, as communist infiltration within our ranks, in fact, almost everything but what it was.
I admit I trusted the US media when I was young. Walter Cronkite and the rest. That trust was shaken during Vietnam and finally destroyed in West Germany. The reporting in Vietnam was slanted, we all realized that, but the reporting from West Germany on this incident was so far off the mark I realized they were just making it up. And it as all of them back then. All three networks. I’ve never trusted the Fourth Estate since. I always insist on backup, then backup for the backup. Having the mainstream media decide what you should hear and how it should be spun is a bad idea. That’s why I like the Internet. It can, and has, held the media’s feet to the fire and caught them being wrong, lazy, and out & out lying and/or making stuff up. That is also why I am worried about the big Internet companies censoring people for political views which hold the liberal media up to scrutiny. We need freedom to challenge opinion, even (or especially) the media’s. I find it strange that the big Internet companies allow flat-earthers and anti-vaxxers free forums, yet censor conservative political views.
Here’s the real scoop from the Association of the 3rd Armored Division. I looked all morning for news reports on this but there are none I can find. Only other Cold War casualty websites:
1980
SP4 Gregory “Frank” Montoya & SP4 Patrick Romero, A Company 3rd Battalion 32 Armor. were killed on 4 November 1980 at the Hohenfels rail head when (name deleted) climbed into a tank during rail loading, loaded the M60A3 main gun with an armor piercing round (Sabot) & fired the main gun into the tank behind his. All tanks are rail loaded with the main gun in a travel lock position over the back deck. There was apparently a lot of confusion about the whole incident with reports of a lighting strike causing rounds to explode. The incident was finally solved when the tank main gun rounds were counted & inventoried. SGT Jeffrey Young & PVT David Park were also badly burned during this incident. *****The SOB convicted of this murder was sentenced to 20 yrs in Leavenworth but only served 8 years!!
Additional information provided by CPT Mark S. Atwood: The 1980 incident in 3/32, when the sabot round was fired into the turret of another tank during movement by rail, it is my understanding there was bad blood between the shooter and some/all members of the other crew over a card game. During rail movements the troops played cards, D and D, etc to pass the time. The shooter had been the big loser and I believe, thought he had been cheated. Here is additional information on this incident from Ken Armstrong: I served with 3/32 in 1979-1981 and was stationed in Freidburg at Ray Barracks. I also served with Greg Montoya and Pat Romero and was present when they were killed in November of 1980. Pat was a good friend and we drank many a beer together. Additional information on this event from Richard Zipse: I didn’t know Pat Romero but Frank was not only a great guy but getting very short. It was sad indeed that the filthy **** that killed him got out of Germany, much less Leavenworth, alive. As I remember it, he had been chasing a section 8 for months. I’m pretty sure Sgt. Young and I were on 14 together for a bit before he made rank and moved over to the third platoon; and, also that Park was very new to the unit and had just arrived as they needed crewmen. I’m thinking SSGT Able got him out of the smoked vehicle but not certain…also I’m thinking he was flown to Walter Reed Hospital due to the extent of his burns and later passed on….though this obviously may be incorrect.
The Legacy of the Alt-Right
Much digital ink has been spent burying the spectre of the Alt-Right. Probably most of this is butt-covering going on trying to assure the powers that be that the individual in question is NOT of the Alt-Right and therefore not deserving of de-platforming.
Along with this interment is the surprising fact that most people (including myself) are not entirely sure what the definition and origins of the Alt-Right precisely are. I know that depending on the exact capitalization and hyphenation of the name it can be the Richard Spencer coined term for the white identitarian group that he belongs to. Other versions of this and similar expressions like Dissident Right have different emphases and appeal to different points of view.
But whatever names and whatever divisions these groups make between each other (and they certainly do that), one thing is undeniable. These were the groups that identified the real problems afflicting the United States and they were the ones who backed Donald Trump before anyone else even thought he was serious. Whatever else they are wrong about they were right about those things. To deny that is to deny the truth.
And the other thing that needs to be said and that is the central point of this post is that they along with President Trump are responsible for moving the Overton Window to the point where even the normies like me have heard the details of what the Alt-Right knew and have incorporated it into our world view. No one bothers to even dispute the platitudes of the Establishment GOP when they’re mouthed. We might give a sarcastic snort and then close the link and go to some useful website where actual thinking is going on. The Alt-Right and Donald Trump truly revealed why the right always lost. It was because our supposed leaders didn’t want to win. They just wanted the job of losing.
Now, all of this is old hat. We all know all of this. But it was hammered home to me when I was perusing an article in American Greatness by Christopher Roach entitled “The Radicalism of Conservatism, Inc.” Now it’s a very good article and it delves into the history of how the establishment right became so wrong on how to win. But reading the description of how Trump deconstructed the “illegal immigration is an act of love,” and describing establishment conservatives by saying, “that they function chiefly as the palace guard for yesterday’s liberalism” could have come directly out of a ZMan post from a year ago. What that tells me is the knowledge that the Alt-Right pioneered has been successfully dispersed into the bloodstream of the conservative body politic (if I may mangle a metaphor that far).
Whatever agreements or disagreements we may have with either the tactics or the substance of what the Alt-Right believes we have to acknowledge that they have red-pilled a significant part of the normie right. And that is without a doubt an enormous achievement. Without them maybe Clinton beats Trump and with a solid liberal majority on the Supreme Court we might now be watching as the First and Second Amendments were being effectively chloroformed.