The thing about people who like to obey Authority is that it doesn’t matter to them whether they like or dislike that Authority. All that matters to them is that they will Obey.

A group think like national healthcare, operates in similar lines.

Let me guess, that is a rhetorical question? Alas, Ann seems to be another one of ‘those’. She assumes but does not dirty her fingernails to scratch below the surface if her agenda is served. 97% on the left and many on the right fall into this mold.

Distracting the public is not the same as controlling the public by having a leash on their life. The very reason why they used bread and circuses is because they Did Not Control the Mob. It wasn’t sufficient.

Welfare is about control, and a lot of it.

Is there any evidence at all that the skill set that results in success at these superficial sound bite TV performances has any correlation with some collection of skills that might govern well?

I’m just saying…that in my life experience I have learned that the guy who talks fast and well often is not the one who can follow through successfully to manage people, or who can make wise choices over time to get something done.

The welfare system is the same thing as absolute monarchy or even aristocracy. The Prussian logistics may have developed the transport capabilities for it, but the concept itself was already present in medieval patronage systems. In the culture it self, this idea that every worker and serf owed their existence and daily bread to some patron.

Cruz was correct about NY values, and Trump’s response was to bullsh*t the audience with emotional blackmail:
“9/11 happened and lots of people died. Don’t you feel bad that you just made fun of NY, hater?”

None of which explains how de Blasio got elected.

NY is liberal, and maybe always has been. It will be liberal long after we’re dead, and EVERYBODY knows it.

&&&&&&&

New York was the LAST bastion of the British after the Revolutionary War.

It’s ALWAYS had the strongest economic ties to Britain — by way of its port.

And one could argue that New Yorkers are less classically liberal than they are classically royalist. ( elitist, etc. )

You see New York elitism — royalism — in its various governors over the years.

More than most would admit, the welfare state was invented in Prussia.

So you can see that the terms have been warped by the word smiths over the generations.

Big question: is the body politic about to get a big (overdue) lesson in the evils of socialism? That case hasn’t been made in so long that the Left is now brazenly championing the Marxist cause.

“The goal of socialism is Communism.” –Vladimir Lenin

They admit, several paragraphs down, that he DID NOT contradict what he’d said elsewhere. In fact, he said this:

During the question period, one of the donors told Cruz that gay marriage was one of the few issues on which the two disagreed. Then the donor asked: “So would you say it’s like a top-three priority for you – fighting gay marriage?”

“No,” Cruz replied. “I would say defending the Constitution is a top priority. And that cuts across the whole spectrum – whether it’s defending [the] First Amendment, defending religious liberty.”

Soothing the attendee without contradicting what he has said elsewhere, Cruz added: “People of New York may well resolve the marriage question differently than the people of Florida or Texas or Ohio. … That’s why we have 50 states – to allow a diversity of views. And so that is a core commitment.”

The donor was satisfied, ending his colloquy with Cruz with a friendly: “Thanks. Good luck.”

So why are you calling attention to it?