Category: Current Events

The Rising Tide Can Even Float the Boats of Congress Critters in the House

photog Current Events, OCF, On-Line Article Reviews, Reviews, Trump , ,

But, but, Blue Wave!?  Looks like even the worthless denizens of the House may benefit from Kavanaugh’s Carnival in the Senate.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/10/13/gop_gains_momentum_but_midterm_spending_trails_dems_138342.html

Of course, “Speaker” Ryan is more interested in fund-raising than winning but even that serial loser may be powerless to snatch one last loss out of the jaws of victory.   That’s one bright side to all this.  We’ll have anew leader in the House soon.

I’ve agreed to a marathon telecom over the election night returns.  I’ll also set up a post for the folks here to comment to as the night progresses.  Have to remember to buy some good food for the night.

My Post Kavanaugh High Has Me Low on Outrage

photog Current Events, OCF , ,

I just don’t feel the anger this week.  Sure there are all kinds of outrages to get outraged about but I’m just feeling outraged out.  I propose to talk about positive things.  So extending the previous post about deplatforming, I’d like to consider how to select what alternative platforms the Right should develop for itself.  Where to start?  Two selection principles come to mind.

1)            Criticality

2)            Likelihood of Success

Both of these criteria have their merits.  In fact I think that each is the best criterion for a different participant audience.  The critical platforms, like on-line financing or large corporate entities like a large social media network or retail commercial entity, are projects that require the cooperation of large groups for funding and support.  In this way resources and time is available to nurture a difficult project that is sorely needed but not easy to achieve.  So these are projects that should be supported by collective action.   On the other hand, personal goals should be the ones that have a high likelihood of succeeding.  And in addition to a high likelihood of success they should also be reasonably profitable in whatever connotation that can have.  So for instance a business venture that will earn a good income or a hobby that will provide a goodly amount of satisfaction those would qualify as profitable endeavors.  In this way it fits the resources and enthusiasm of the small time operator.  It will be seen as a positive endeavor and not a drain on the individual.

And this is how I address my place in the greater scheme of things.  If someone who has more resources and/or energy is endeavoring to build some ambitious platform or entity that will benefit the larger community, I support it with my small resources and by publicizing it.  For my own projects they are more modest.  I will build a website and try to provide an environment where like-minded individuals can communicate and socialize without the endless trolling and official censure of the Facebooks and Twitters.

I put up the link for a Directory Right Wing Businesses to encourage other folks to pass along info on people on our side trying to make a go of it.  So far that has been fairly inactive but time will tell if the readers get more enthusiastic as things move forward.

Of course, at some point much more will have to be done.  I think it is overly optimistic to think the federal government will be successful in forcing the social media companies to play fair.  I think it will be the profit motive that draws some fairly larger groups forward to provide the equivalent of Stripe, PayPal and the crowdfunding companies for those of us on the Right who are being threatened with deplatforming.  Whether that will happen in months or years depends on how the Left presses forward with their purge.  If they go too far it will definitely produce a market for alternatives.

So that’s my current thought on making our own stuff.  Agree, disagree, any comments?

Deplatforming Becomes More Pervasive

photog Current Events, On-Line Article Reviews, Reviews ,

Recently everyone saw the spectacle of Alex Jones being outlawed from YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Apple Apps, etc., etc., etc.  Vox Day posted that Indiegogo has reneged on his recent crowdfunding foray for one of his comic books.  Without a doubt our Tech Masters are intent on purging the sinners from their midst.  Now this isn’t a surprise especially to Vox who preaches the good word of building our own platforms.  But the hardest things to replace are financial institutions.  Things like PayPal, Stripe and the various crowdfunding companies are currently irreplaceable for net businesses and they know it.    The Trump Administration has made the first rumblings against the Techs for persecuting the Right on-line.  But it will probably be a long time before any legal relief is possible.  This makes it more important than ever for alternatives to be established.  But who has the wherewithal?  It’s one thing to open a store on Amazon (which is also a risk to right wing individuals and businesses) but it’s quite another to open a bank.  So right now, there’s no good answer for this.  Hopefully some of the bigger players on the right side of the aisle will see this as an opportunity and jump in to service an under-served market.  That’s right Peter Thiel I’m talking to you.

My Annual Halloween Celebration

photog Book Reviews, Current Events, Movie Reviews, OCF, Reviews, Science Fiction / Fantasy, SF&F Book Reviews, SF&F Movie Reviews , , , , , , ,
Lichen on Monument
The Raven is a Wicked Bird

 

Halloween was always one of my favorite holidays as a kid and in my heart of hearts I haven’t really progressed far from that.  I guess I’m not a progressive.  So here is the advantage to being in business for more than a year.  The calendar allows you to recycle stuff you did last year.  I did movie reviews of the Universal Classic Monster Movies and a few other related films last year and I’ll recycle them around for the Halloween season.  And I’ll add some additional films to avoid the label of laziness.  I’ll also try to find some other Halloween content.  I guess Ray Bradbury’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes” is sort of the quintessential American story for this time of year.  But there are all kinds of other stuff out there from Poe to (yikes) Lovecraft to even that lefty doofus Stephen King.  So stay tuned and I’ll start cycling those in.

 

 

Sanity Check

photog Current Events, Trump , , , , ,

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve allowed my enthusiasm to become unbridled.  Everything is good, the sun is bright and shiny and I’m whistling a happy tune.  All’s right with the world in this best of all possible worlds where Donald Trump is King.  And that tells me that it’s time that I should be, in the inimitable words of Fagin “reviewing the situation.”  What could go wrong?

Let’s walk through it.  The Mid-Term Elections are upon us.  The whole Blue Wave scare is just that, a scare tactic meant to produce FUD.  So, far from retaking the Senate, odds are very good that the Republicans will add at least a couple of seats and very likely a few more.  But the House is a very different matter.  Redistricting in Pennsylvania and elsewhere and retiring Republican incumbents mean that there are plenty of races that could go to the Democrats.  So, while there may not be any groundswell of Democrat sentiment it’s entirely possible that the Democrats could take the House by a slim margin.

And although he has been quiet for the last couple of weeks, the Mueller investigation may very well be sitting on a bombshell either of a direct or indirect nature to the Russia investigation.  He may be waiting to try and do maximum damage to the House races and thereby allow a Democrat House to vote for impeachment against the President.

Finally, there’s the X factor.  Things have been going along swimmingly.  The economy is growing at a phenomenal rate and all of the President’s trade and foreign affairs initiatives have been amazingly successful.  What if something changes?  Basically, the X factor is anything big going south.  Let’s say the stock market crashes.

Now, anyone of these three events is a major problem.  Losing the House or fighting a Mueller or dealing with a Wall Street meltdown is a serious situation.  But let’s assume the worst.  Let’s assume that a Mueller bombshell causes a Blue Wave that scares the Stock Market into a crash.

Well, that’s not such a bright and shiny day anymore is it?  In fact, that’s almost a replay of 2008.  The only difference is that the 2020 election would still be two years away and the President would be Donald Trump instead of George W. Bush.  And while I don’t trivialize the severity of such an onslaught I still think that who is performing damage control is more important than the exact details of the crisis.

And one more thing is different.  I am no longer invested in trying to win over the other side.  If they already have the numerical advantage in the voting population then the sooner I know the better.  Donald Trump has given us a breather with his success.  There’s even a chance that he can put together a coalition of people who want the traditional American way of life to survive.  But it’s far from a certainty that he can pull it off.  But I’ve come to terms with this situation.  I no longer depend on us winning.  In fact, adapting to a permanent underground status would be almost easier.  At least it would solidify my survival tactics and start me moving in the direction needed to protect myself from the consequences of that sadder but less uncertain world.

So that’s the worst case.  And you know what.  I’m still good.  I can deal with that.  I’ll adapt and thrive.  I’ll help those I care about to adapt and thrive.  And that’s the worst case.  Anything lesser will be even easier.  I’ll be even better.  So as far as my sanity check, my enthusiasm is still unbridled.

Bring it.

Trump vs the Ozymandias Bias

photog Current Events, Humor, Trump , , , , ,

Dramatis Personae:    President Trump – (PT);  Vice President Pence – (VPP)

Scene 1 – White House West Wing,  Oval Office;  8 am,  Monday Morning;

(President Trump is seated at his desk and calls out through the open door)

PT – Mike … Mike …… Mike ………….  PEEEEEEEEENCE!!!!!!

(Vice President Pence enters through the door)

VPP – Right here as always Mr. President.

PT – Mike, good work on that Senate vote thing.  You kept your cool with all those blue-haired psycho broads screaming for your blood and got the thing done.  Although I think I would have thrown a couple of zingers up to the peanut gallery that would have been better than repeating, “will the sergeant at arms please restore order to the gallery” a hundred times.

VPP – Thank you Mr. President but I must admit that all the credit must go to you for showing such firmness in the face of an almost maniacal determination against you.

PT – I have to agree with you Mike.  It is all because of me and that’s why I called you.

VPP – (mumbling under his breath) Oh, no.

PT – Mike, we can’t let this great victory go uncelebrated.  We must provide a memorial to it.

VPP – Well sir, that hardly seems …

PT – I was considering adding my face to Mount Rushmore but honestly it doesn’t seem fair to me.  I mean, come on!  Sure, Washington and Lincoln won wars but Jefferson and Roosevelt?  All they did was write stuff, well except for that canal and we did give it away so big deal!

VPP – Oh sir, this is such a bad…

PT – Mike, you’re so right.  Mount Rushmore is such a bad location for a monument.  I mean who goes to North Dakota?

VPP – South Dakota.

PT – You see?  Nobody even knows where it is.

VPP – What I meant was…

PT – Exactly.  The American people deserve better.  As a tribute to the intelligence of the American people electing me president I am signing an executive order authorizing the collection of gold for the hair on my monument.

VPP – Gold?

PT – Yes, gold for the hair will make it more visible and also act as caulking to prevent erosion of the head.

VPP – How big is this going to be?

PT – None of this is written in stone yet.

VPP – Joke?

PT – Not funny.  Anyway, the way I envision this is the top thousand feet of Pike’s Peak can be reworked so that it’s shaped like a much larger version of the Washington Monument.  And on top of that will be my head with the hair made out of 24 carat gold.  Can you just see it?

VPP – I’m imagining some kind of gargantuan pez dispenser that can be seen across all of North America.  Your hair will blind jet airline pilots for a thousand miles in all directions.

PT – Well that’s what the Tac Visor is for isn’t it?

VPP – Mr. President, have you ever heard of Ozymandias?

PT – Never was a big fan of Heavy Metal.

VPP – Ah, well.  Mr. President, even though we are all very appreciative of what you did with the Kavanaugh appointment it may still be premature for you to self-declare the need for a memorial to yourself quite so gargantuan.

PT – Why?

VPP – Well, if for no other reason, because there hasn’t been enough gold mined on the whole planet to cover a monument that big.  Especially if it has to accurately scale up your own, ahhh, generous hair style.

PT – Ah hah!  That’s where you’re wrong.  I have consulted with Elon Musk.  And in exchange for calling off the SEC from hounding him, he will locate and transport a giant gold asteroid right to Pike’s Peak to be used conveniently for my hair.  So as you can see it’s all coming together.

VPP – You’re right.  What was I thinking?  How could this not be a good idea?  Anything else sir?

PT – Well, as I said earlier, I think you did a great job on the Senate vote thing and I was wondering if you wanted your head to be put somewhere too.

VPP – No, thank you sir.  My head is going to need to be examined pretty soon and I don’t think I could bear to have it staring back at me from a mountain any time soon.  Besides, I’m starting to think my head is stuck somewhere it won’t be seen.

PT – Suit yourself.

The Wind is Shifting

photog Current Events, OCF, Trump , , , , ,

Some pundits like to draw their examples from history.  They’ll point to Athens or Rome or England to lend support for some point being made.  Some draw from classic literature or drama, Homer or Shakespeare.  I’m a science fiction and fantasy geek.  So, even though I’ll quote Xenophon or Thucydides, Odysseus or Macbeth, I often find myself drawn to a scene by Tolkien.

In the Lord of the Rings there is a chapter called The Ride of the Rohirrim where King Theoden has asked for the help of the Wild Men of Druadan Forest to bypass an army of orcs and thereby reach Minas Tirith before the city falls.  Ghan-buri-Ghan, the chieftain of these stone-age primitives agrees to aid him.  As the tribesman prepares to leave them he sniffs the air like some wild creature and with a startled expression says “Wind is changing!” and bolts away.  This sentiment is repeated several more times by individuals from all sides of the battle ahead.  And the change in the wind is both a sign and also an actor in the drama.  Literally the direction of the wind changes the environment for the characters in the story from darkness and fear to light and courage.  It not only lets them see what they need to know but it gives them the courage to attempt it.

Now, far be it from me to compare Donald Trump to Gandalf the White or Mitch McConnell to King Theoden.  Although, I could be convinced that Bush Senior is a stand-in for Denethor.

But without a doubt I will say the wind is most definitely changing.  Here are my proofs:

  1. Those most notorious of weather vanes, the Republican Congress, are pointing in Trump’s direction. Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and the rest of the gutless, spineless hollow men in the Senate got up on their hind legs and gave an almost convincing impression of adult male Americans, in other words men.  Astonishing.
  2. A Republican appointee for the Supreme Court was allowed to defend himself against outrageous charges from shrieking harpies instead of being withdrawn post haste by a cowering Republican establishment.
  3. The #metoo media-political complex fired every single round they had in their guns at Justice Kavanaugh, the President and the Senate during this pitched battle and when the smoke cleared Kavanaugh was installed in the Supreme Court, Susan Collins called them out, Democrat Senator Joe Manchin signed onto the approval and President Trump’s approval rating broke 50% for the first time in many months.
  4. Just about every NeverTrumper who hadn’t already sold his soul to George Soros admitted that he was glad Donald Trump was president right now.
  5. And finally, even the most timid centrists are finally starting to understand that losing less quickly is not necessarily the best case scenario they can hope for.

Some of these signs are actually lagging indicators.  I think some of the NeverTrumpers are coming around because they lost most of their readers.  Their conversion is one of convenience due to how much the facts on the ground have already shifted against them.  The Congress has taken two years to decide which way the wind is blowing, the invertebrates.  But without a doubt, things are definitely building on existing momentum.

I expect setbacks, unexpected losses will occur and unreliable allies will bolt from time to time.  But I predict that this momentum is peaking at just the right time to sway the electorate for us.  And that will further depress the Left and its allies in the Press and Hollywood.  So this is the time for the Right to strike while the iron is hot.  If we manage to gain a few seats in the House it’s time to start building the wall and fixing the illegal immigration situation.  It’s time to start cleaning out the Justice Department and the other Executive Branch departments.  And it’s time for the Republicans to coordinate at the state and federal level to advance cases to the Supreme Court to challenge many of the unconstitutional precedents that need to be reversed.

I hate to sound so cheerful.  But honestly, things are going very well.  A lot of my friends are very fearful about a #metoo backlash and Mueller and blah, blah, blah.  Meh.  I say things are looking up.  The wind is shifting and that is the time to press ahead.

When Bret Stephens Admits He’s Glad Donald Trump is President You Know That The Democrats Are Doomed

photog Current Events, On-Line Article Reviews, Reviews, Trump

The NeverTrumpers have seen the light.  The blind can see.  The Millennium is upon us (again).  American Thinker has a nice review of the NeverTrumpers waking up to why President Trump is the antidote to Progressive poison.  How sweet it is when the dolts finally see the light of day.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/10/kavanaugh_boomerang_1_fanatical_dems_finally_have_unified_the_gop_behind_trump.html

My two favorite quotes in the piece was one from Erick Erickson:

“Congrats progressives. You so overplayed your hand that you

(A) fired up the Republican base;

(B) pissed off Susan Collins; and

(C) Radicalized the newest Justice on the United States Supreme Court.”

 

And one from Brett Stephens:

“For the first time since Donald Trump entered the political fray, I find myself grateful that he’s in it.  I’m reluctant to admit it and astonished to say it[.] …

 

I’m grateful because Trump has not backed down in the face of the slipperiness, hypocrisy and dangerous standard-setting deployed by opponents of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.  I’m grateful because ferocious and even crass obstinacy has its uses in life, and never more so than in the face of sly moral bullying.  I’m grateful because he’s a big fat hammer fending off a razor-sharp dagger.”

 

If I wasn’t sure they’d back track on this later in the week I’d welcome them back into the right-wing fold.  But I know they will so I’ll just take this as a gift from heaven and give them no credit.

But this is a wonderful moment.  And every Republican establishment type that pats himself on the back for being a part of it should know very clearly that without Donald Trump none of them would have had the backbone or the opportunity to be a part of this.

I’ll have another longer post on the Kavanaugh addition to the Supreme Court but let’s just savor the moment.

Thank you, President Trump.  Well done.