Whatever the agenda is it must be cast before January 27. If it delays, it dies. After the next swearing in of Congress any progress not completed will probably be smothered in it’s afterbirth.
The usual suspects are screaming for blood, and don’t understand the way tariffs should work.
If you penalize products coming from my country to yours, I should do the same to your goods in order to keep a balance of trade. We are bit by tariffs, excise taxes, and down right bans on our exports, but are expected to forget that on their exports. Some actually make sense, like the ban on beef since we turn cattle into unwilling cannibals by reprocessing animal offal into cattle feed, some are just a protectionism by the other countries.
We need to either play reciprocally or refuse to play at all. Rumour has it mothballed cardboard plants in Maine are being looked into as a consequence of the tariffs with Canada.
European social practices have been indirectly supported by our bearing their defense burdens freeing up their Treasury for bribing the masses with healthcare, work breaks, and other bennies. Let them sort their own issues in their home since we are only uncultured upstarts according to them.
Asian economies get the same bribery, Japan was able to direct the monies that would have been used for defense into industries post WWII, and allowed them to specialize in electronics, Korea directly benefits by having our tripwire troops in place permitting them to focus on commerce instead of having to secure their borders. Post Kim rule in NK might collapse and actually allow for reunification of the two societies, but not under the one family rule it has had for 75 years.
If we did what the world is asking and tended to our own interest and business, because power hates a vacuum some entity would club to the top of the dung heap and declare themselves king of the pile.
It would be interesting to see as a thought experiment whether it would be an eastern invasion into the power vacuum, or another global jihad. Time may tell.
Tag: Milo Mindbender
Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 28MAR2025 – Logic of Empire
As noted regarding the internal collapse of the Roman empire, when taxes became burdensome, expansion was required to maintain population growth to support the original areas, farming and manual labor became scorned, and there was no longer a tradition of service either military or political by the upper echelons the rot had become total, and it was just waiting for a small disturbance to drop the whole structure.
We are doing the same glide path and have been for most of my life. Farming, self sufficient people, manual or blue collar labor are flat out despised, military service is considered an option for the lower classes, but not the elites, fly over or red state country is spoken of as if it was a forgiegn enemy, and if it doesn’t be legit the “elites” it isn’t worthy of any attention or effort. This will come to a bitter and difficult fruition eventually if we don’t step back from the edge. Defunding the people who hate us more than our actual enemies, put us below the invaders and economic migrate who drain our coffers and the self serving politicians who are only concerned with their own plunder is a good start, highlighting the hypocrisy in burning swasticars in protest of a movement you don’t support us putting it all out there for everyone to see.
Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 23MAR2025 – The Vote
I am of the belief that voting is one of only two times the government actually asks for your opinion, the other being jury duty. If you don’t vote you shouldn’t bitch about what the government does, since you chose not to express any of your ideas.
I also do not believe that the franchise should be free to all. If you are not a taxpayer, but are voting you are asking the public to cash checks you have no financial standing in. By limiting the franchise to tax payers you reduce the influence of those who do not contribute. I can hear the gnashing of dentures now “What about the retirees?”, they earned the franchise during their working years and should retain it in their “Golden Years”, maybe establish something similar to the 40 quarters to be eligible for SSI, require 3 years of being a net tax payer in order to establish the franchise right. Make everyone “Get some skin in the game” to quote a former President.
Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 15FEB2025 – Dirty Politics
Politics has always been an advance auction of the loots able to be transferred to the victor. Very few are willing to go through the process of getting selected/elected in order to actually serve the common good. More are driven by the actual greed and envy. This becomes more apparent election cycle after election cycle. We willingly as a nation abdicate our personal responsibility and authority to the same people to try and curry their favor. We can not afford them, or more honestly have been out of for them and their “services”. As a nation we need to be more cognizant of where our treasure is allocated, some aspects of government require a veil of secrecy, but for the most part let the disinfectant light of day shine. Our political overclass has demonstrated pure contempt for the very people it claims to represent. Mandating equal outcome regardless of personal input, blatant 2-tier justice for politically preferred actions, sponsorship of NGO actions that are if not outright illegal, just plain shady. Let the sun shine in, if we only save a fraction of what is wasted that is something. The very people who are outraged told us elections have consequences and we need to shut up and stay in our place.
Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 08JAN2025 – Africa Always Wins
It appears to repeat history to say ” Africa always wins” referring to the continent not the people. Historically the only time the Africans continent is productive is when under a native or forgien rule that quelshes any discontent this has been repeated ad nauseum in almost every portion of that continent. Having to deal with the dictator dujoir is a fact of life, and the cost of doing business. China might just have to discover this for themselves, European nations did from the early 19th through the late 20th centuries, no matter how hard you tried the tribal influence overrode progress every time.
Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 03JAN2025 – It’s Her Turn … Again
Even if the Dems run Kamala as a candidate, never underestimate the Republicans ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The best thing the Dems could do is continue to scold the Americans who disappointed them by not jumping on the EV Kamala bus, and voted against them. They have 4 years to bitch and moan about how they were robbed, and it’s all racist. That would make Vance have an easy run by building up a reservoir of resentment among the undecided. All Trump need to do is hold the stated course of deport, reinflate, and drill baby drill. This could swing the pendulum back to the right, the last election was indicative of a tidal shift against the left wing agenda.
Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 28SEP2024 – Hot Spots
Democrats policy is to screw things up and then point at the Republican co-conspirators and blame them for everything.
We have no business in the Ukraine, only by offering NATO statehood which under different presidents was not an option did we intentionally provoke a response from Russia. We almost went to war in ’62 over the weaponization of Cuba, and there is no land connection to the US. NATO statehood would allow for weaponization of a physically attached neighboring state, similar to allowing the arming up of Baja California, and expecting no response from the US.
The “wag the dog” scenario created by the MIC, and the state department to justify more expenditures on unneeded toys that have the newest “Gee, Wow” factor, and donors in your district co-opt many who enter the Swamp, there is no immunity to the corruption created in DC. It eats to the bone on almost everyone who succumbs to the lure of power.
Regarding the Israeli situation, I liked the simple elegance of arming the Hezbollah, Hamas supply chain with weaponized pagers. It was utterly ruthless, laser targeted, and minimally damaging collaterally. If you are forced into a defensive war you protect yourself from a 3 way attack, cut the heads off the snakes and let the bodies wither from neglect. Somebody did their job accurately, and correctly. Bravo Zulu from my viewfinder. I have no dog in the fight against Israel, and believe the Palestinians are a self inflicted injury upon themselves, they can not seek refugee status with any of their neighbors because they try to overthrow and disrupt anyplace they infest. They screwed up on Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria when they were still possibly able to claim aggrieved status, now it’s sorta expected that they always bite the hand that feeds them.
They voted to be administered by terrorists, deal with it.
Update:
War Pig commented:
Israel can handle Hamas and Hezbolla. If Iran sends their special forces that may escalate things. If Iran tosses a nuke Israel can obliterate them in return. And if Israel has to throw nukes, Iran won’t be the only target, so the other naughty actors in the region will tamp Iran’s desires that way. Israel seems to have pretty good infiltration or Iran’s military operations.
If the Iranians want to use their navy to make trouble in the gulf, they can look back to 1988 when our navy’s Praying Mantis operation sank half of their navy in one union shift. Imagine what our navy could do to theirs now?
Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 10AUG2024 – Sergeant Tim Walz
I have served in the Army, and understand what a conditional promotion is. You get the rank without the full set of qualifications, and promise to complete them within a specified time frame or lose the promotion.
My problem is Walz refers to himself as a retired command sergeant major E-9, but his actual retirement rank is master sergeant E-8. He did not hold the rank long enough or complete the requirements to keep it. He reenlisted for 4 years in 2003, promoted conditionally in 2004, rumour has it learned through the grapevine about an upcoming deployment, and jumped into retirement. This means he could state ” I was a command sergeant major, and I am a retired guardsman” both of those statements are factually correct. He is not a retired command sergeant major, but a retired master sergeant. In 24 years of service according to his Wikipedia page he has 1 army commendation medal, that seems kinda low, I served 4 years active duty, and got 2 ARCOMS, as a Spec-4, I now have 40 years of service total, and my highest personal award is a meritorious service medal, gotten for 26 years in the Air Force reserve, when I transferred to the Air Guard. I saw no overseas service or combat campaign awards, this looks suspicious, because that means he never carried anything in any war zone, because he was never there. This seems like a minor distinction, but it gripes me to hear someone self promote and then try to weasel their way out of an exaggeration by claiming to be a higher rank than their ID card shows.
Update:
TomD commented:
Walz’s military record, or lack of it, is entirely peripheral to me. The core issue, and this is indisputable, is that he has governed as a hard left radical, adopting and enforcing every leftist position right down the line.
He could have been the Commandant of the Marine Corp with 9 combat deployments and it wouldn’t make a whit. The fact of his deception is just carrying coal to Newcastle for me.
War Pig commented:
I agree. Sort of fishy. I do not mind him not having served in actual combat as relatively few service members realy do fire a weapon in anger or are in an area where they can be bombarded. But, look at the man and two women killed in the drone strike. Death can find you. I know of a couple of sergeants major who never fired a weapon other than on a range but were in the artillery and air cav, respectively. Both served I think it was 32 years active, but had several medals and badges. Then there are those who manage to serve 20 and not actually perform their MOS except in training. They go off into “temporary” duty as a special services NCO or one of a hundred other make work jobs. They found out how to work the system. I’m pretty sure you knew of various NCOs assigned to your unit you never saw except at quarterly recall formations. Could be he was one of those soldiers. Nothing dishonorable, just nothing special. He may have heard about a deployment and took the easy way out. Not illegal, just not someone I’d want to be one heartbeat away from the Oval Office and the Football.
War Pig commented:
This is true. He’s in Soros’ pocket and all his thinking is done by Obama. He joined in with the Defund the Police movement, which hurt minority citizens the most. Martha’s Vinyard is not effected by Defund the Police, but inner city families in blue cities sure are.
Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 01JUL2024 – Trump Unplugged
The funniest thing about the debate and all the fallout from it is listening to the talking skulls yammer on about how Trump is showing decline and is unfit, but Joe is capable to continue for “the good of the the country” while trying their best not to believe their lying eyes.
The debate looked like a cross between weekend at Bernie’s, Madame Tussauds’ Wax Museum, and Disney’s Hall of Presidents with a glitch in the soundtrack and this was after a week of preparation for the 1.5 hour farce. Trump was able to keep his mouth shut enough to avoid alienating or distracting the viewers from the spectacle of the emperor’s new clothes. The biggest service they did him was muting his microphone so he was only visual when not answering. This demonstrated the level of connection each candidate possessed to the reality around them. If Trump had been able to blurt out stream of conciseness thought he would have been off-putting to a large portion of the audience, but by keeping him quiet it exposed the depth to which Joe is out of touch with everything around him.
Guest Contributor – Milo Mindbender – 18MAY2024 – 1914 and Now
1914 could have been avoided, the use of chemical weapons by the Germans brought the English, and other western countries into what was just another small expansionist move by Germany. They had been going to war appx every 20 years for almost a century, without getting anyone else drug into it, as they slowly nibbled away at the eastern border of France in the purpose of taking the mineral and industrial rich eastern sections of France one bite at a time. These wars were fought mostly to move the border a small amount at a time, in response to past Napoleonic incursions into German territories, and until the use of gas were ignored for the most part by the rest of the world. We have no more right to the Ukrainian conflict than the German had to the French attacks. We have violated all of our promises of no membership to NATO, and no Eastward expansion which would allow us to garrison adjacent to the Russians border. We almost went to war in 62 over Soviet weapons in Cuba, and that was with a 90 mile ocean channel between their forces and ours, would we allow China to build a military base in Vancouver BC, Russia to build a base in Baja California, without protest?