Trump talk
And by “Trump talk” I don’t mean the chatter of the president. I mean the verbiage of those who talk a great deal about him, and who clearly hate his guts.
I know quite a few such people, although I only experience it when they get together in groups. The phenomenon is something like this:
President Trump is depicted as a monstrous usurper who seeks to destroy American democracy and impose authoritarian rule. John McNeill of Georgetown University awards Trump “26 out of 44 Benitos” on his scale of fascist tendencies, and public figures from Cher to Abraham Foxman have labeled Trump “Hitler.” Leftist documentarian Michael Moore insists that Trump will never give up power peacefully because he believes that his election entitles him to a lifetime office, and so he must be forced out; and New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg says that Trump “certainly would really like to” round up people and murder them.
But, as the author of that article I linked and quoted points out, if Trump’s a tyrant he’s a tyrant of a very odd sort:
But if victorious dictators typically wage such campaigns to punish their foes, why is it that Trump’s associates—and not the president’s enemies—are the ones facing life in prison for tax fraud? The same president accused of undermining democracy, of incipient authoritarianism, and of conducting Stalinist purges because he removed a former official’s security clearance complains haplessly on Twitter that he can’t control his own staff, and makes sarcastic, Borscht Belt-style jokes about what a terrible lawyer he has. If, as his critics allege, Trump really aspires to be a ruthless dictator, he isn’t doing a very good job at it.
All too true. But it doesn’t matter to most Trump critics.
And in fact, it doesn’t seem completely unusual these days in liberal circles for people to casually and approvingly discuss assassinating Trump (speaking of tyranny), or at least of wishing him dead. Among people I know, it’s just idle talk—they’re not about to do anything—but the depth of blood rage is stunning, and a topic that should be verboten about any president seems quite acceptable in many groups.
And in fact, it doesn’t seem completely unusual these days in liberal circles for people to casually and approvingly discuss assassinating Trump (speaking of tyranny), or at least of wishing him dead.
Max Boot wants a military coup.
I discovered last night that a research psychologist of my acquaintance doesn’t understand what a process crime is, or understand what is problematic about using an agent provacateur and then charging someone with a process crime. The left is currently in the business of wrecking procedural principles, and replacing society’s referees with political partisans. They’re not going to like it when people stop rolling over for institutions because those institutions are frauds (as many judges and prosecutors are nowadays). Then they’ll have to deal with a real resistance, not a bunch of yo-yos in pussyhats, and they’re going to miss the surburban lives they now have.
The democrats are convinced Hillary was cheated out of the presidency and they are in a rage. The democrats were also convinced that Al Gore was cheated. The democrats are destined to win so when the democrat loses it’s because the republicans cheated.
As for the practicalities and chances of a military coup taking place here in the U.S., read this very interesting exploration of this idea by Glenn Reynolds at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2802308##
What is so troubling is that some of the major factors Reynolds cites as making it more likely that such a coup might be “thinkable,” possible, and take place here–things like an over worked and under appreciated military that is increasingly insulated from and divorced from our citizenry–this trend exacerbated by many military bases that are their own little worlds, “gated communities” you hardly need to leave, because they contain everything you need to live–schools, shops, medical care, recreational areas–a citizenry that is less and less involved in and understanding of that military because it does not participate in it, plus a citizenry, increasingly ignorant of our Constitution and how our government was intended to function, and does function today, which is also increasingly disenchanted with the government, the impositions of bureaucrats and the bureaucracy, politics and our political system, and politicians–are on the rise.
Not a good combination of trends and circumstances.
To add another important factor to those mentioned above, our volunteer military–people who are in the military because they want to be, and thus a much tighter bonded and motivated group of people than the prior draftees, who didn’t necessarily want to serve in the military–are also united by a warrior ethos–a highly structured way of living, that is far stronger, more disciplined, and different than the freewheeling chaos of our increasingly decadent civilian life.
“….the depth of blood rage is stunning.”
Not nearly so stunning as the blood rage that would ensue should Trump actually be assassinated. And it would NOT be directed to the Right. Depend upon it.
I blame Hillary. She has far surpassed Bill in her impact on the Democratic Party, and not in a good way. Will the Democrats ever recover? Unless there is a revolt within the party and deep losses in the electorate I don’t think so. And the ignorance and indoctrination of the young is dangerous. The only good news I can see is the split between countryside and the cities, which at least limits the infection in the short term.
AD….”The left is currently in the business of wrecking procedural principles, and replacing society’s referees with political partisans.”
There is a chillingly relevant passage in the memoirs of Sebastian Haffner, who grew up in Germany between the wars. In in 1933, he was a young lawyers (refendar) working in the Prussian Supreme Court. After the Nazi takeover of power:
“It was strange to sit in the Kammergericht again, the same courtroom, the same seats, acting as if nothing had happened. The same ushers stood at the doors and ensured, as ever, that the dignity of the court was not disturbed. Even the judges were for the most part the same people. Of course, the Jewish judge was no longer there. He had not even been dismissed. He was an old gentleman and had served under the Kaiser, so he had been moved to an administrative position at some Amtsgericht (lower court). His position on the senate was taken by an open-faced, blond young Amtsgerichtsrat, with glowing cheeks, who did not seem to belong among the grave Kammergerichtsrats…It was whispered that in private the newcomer was something high up in the SS.”
The new judge didn’t seem to know much about law, but asserted his points in a “fresh, confident voice.”
“We Refendars, who had just passed our exams, exchanged looks while he expounded. At last the president of the senate remarked with perfect politeness, ‘Colleague, could it be that you have overlooked paragraph 816 of the Civil Code?’ At which the new high court judge looked embarrassed…leafed through his copy of the code and then admitted lightly, ‘Oh, yes. Well, then it’s just the other way around.’ Those were the triumphs of the older law.
There were, however, other cases–cases in which the newcomer did not back down…stating that here the paragraph of the law must yield precedence; he would instruct his co-judges that the meaning was more important than the letter of the law…Then, with the gesture of a romantic stage hero, he would insist on some untenable decision. It was piteous to observe the faces of the older Kammergerichtsrats as this went on. They looked at their notes with an expression of indescribable dejection, while their fingers nervously twisted a paper-clip or a piece of blotting paper. They were used to failing candidates for the Assessor examination for spouting the kind of nonsense that was now being presented as the pinnacle of wisdom; but now this nonsense was backed by the full power of the state, by the threat of dismissal for lack of national reliability, loss of livelihood, the concentration camp…They begged for a little understanding for the Civil Code and tried to save what they could.”
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/42473.html
In 2004, a friend of mine at the time, a rock critic who wrote for Rolling Stone, author of a couple books, said to me on the phone, “You’re the only person I know who doesn’t think Bush is Hitler.”
That was the last time we spoke. I didn’t miss him, he’d become such a bore. He’d once been known for his sense of humor, back to his days at Yale, but he was no longer funny. It was all name-calling, all the time.
“by “Trump talk” I don’t mean the chatter of the president. I mean the verbiage of those who talk a great deal about him, and who clearly hate his guts.
I know quite a few such people… And in fact, it doesn’t seem completely unusual these days in liberal circles for people to casually and approvingly discuss assassinating Trump… Among people I know, it’s just idle talk—they’re not about to do anything—but the depth of blood rage is stunning”
There’s talkers and there’s doers. If Trump escapes removal and is reelected in 2020, there will be multiple assassination attempts upon his life and upon those close to him. It’s nearly impossible to stop a man or woman committed to dying to achieve their goal.
Should they succeed in murdering Trump, it will be a Pyrrhic victory. As if not immediately, in my judgement Trump’s assassination will lead directly to another civil war.
Should our ideological/cultural/political conflict devolve into armed conflict, every strategic, tactical and logistical factor is heavily weighted against the Left. That foretells almost certainly to end horribly for the Left.
>And in fact, it doesn’t seem completely unusual these days in liberal circles for people to casually and approvingly discuss assassinating Trump (speaking of tyranny), or at least of wishing him dead.
I’ve mentioned this before, but this is true for my sibling. As we walked near Trump Hotel & Tower in NYC he said aloud, midday, “F_ck Trump. I hope he f_cking dies, that someone kills him.” Weeks ago he said he wanted the Trump family publicly executed via beheading at a pub as we ate our dinner.
But apparently this country is crawling with bigoted conservatives who hate women, brown people, black people, non-Christians, and non-straights.
Funny, the time I spent in small town Midwest for uni, and a spell in suburban Alabama where it’s considered the “Deep South”, all the hate and bitterness came from those who see themselves as the better of the masses – in major urban cities celebrated for culture, (ethnic & racial) diversity, tolerance and inclusivity.
“all the hate and bitterness came from those who see themselves as the better of the masses – in major urban cities celebrated for culture, (ethnic & racial) diversity, tolerance and inclusivity.”
This attitude is likely more prevalent in the major cities, but is not unknown in smaller towns as well.
Today’s ‘progressivism’ is largely about the assertion of a status position. This has perhaps been a strength of today’s Democratic Party, as the defense of status can generate fierce energy…but is also a potential major weakness, because it inhibits coalition-building. Embracing the ‘Deplorables’ would not only require policy changes on their part, it would also require a major reduction in the put-downs directed at same. And, given the nature of status hierarchies, this would be very difficult for them to do.
Today’s ‘progressivism’ is largely about the assertion of a status position.
Yep. And, when it isn’t, it consists of kvetching about the other guy’s stuff.
Should our ideological/cultural/political conflict devolve into armed conflict, every strategic, tactical and logistical factor is heavily weighted against the Left. That foretells almost certainly to end horribly for the Left.
As I mentioned previously, people have grossly underestimated the power of the Leftist alliance and the Deep State. And this is not the first nor the last time either.
Your strategic analysis only applies if your assessment of their power reserves are correct: they are not.
State religions or religious monopolies tend to develop overtly on the pride attribute. That is why they should all fall, as spiritual communication with the Divine is not based on pride. Only humans need that sort of delusion.
Baptists vs Papists vs Mormons
Just look that up for those that haven’t seen the uglier side of christianity.
The Bible=US Constitution, anyone that doesn’t agree with a specific interpretation needs to leave the country and or earth.
Trum supporters instead of wasting their time in 2017 reacting to my use of “Trum” as some kind of perceived insult, should have been getting off their lazy no risk taking arses and helping out the US President. Because if Trum can’t save himself, do ya think your EIYUU king can save any of you?
Pathetic.
I just read a similar article in The Atlantic by an Eliot Cohen. All opinion and conclusions with some Shakespeare thrown in. No facts. Pathetic.
What happens to the lefties if the Republicans retain the House or worse yet, pick up seats? How insane will they become?
The progressives are working themselves into a lather so it justifies what they intend to do to the rest of us. All of it without a shred of supporting evidence. It’s the ultimate in narcissistic delusion.
I’ve seen several articles on this “breaking bombshell” today, but this is the most complete story I have found.
https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/despite-comey-assurances-vast-bulk-of-weiner-laptop-emails-were-never-examined/
Comey flat out lied to Congress.
And why aren’t any of these people in jail?
Most infuriating of it all:
“A final mystery remains: Where is the Weiner laptop today?
<b?The whistleblower agent in New York said that he was “instructed” by superiors to delete the image of the laptop hard drive he had copied onto his work station, and to “wipe” all of the Clinton-related emails clean from his computer.
But he said he believes the FBI “retained” possession of the actual machine, and that the evidence on the device was preserved.
The last reported whereabouts of the laptop was the Quantico lab. However, the unusually restrictive search warrant Strzok and his team drafted appeared to remand the laptop back into the custody of Abedin and Weiner upon the closing of the case.
“If the government determines that the subject laptop is no longer necessary to retrieve and preserve the data on the device,” the document states on its final page, “the government will return the subject laptop.”
Wherever its location, somewhere out there is a treasure trove of evidence involving potentially serious federal crimes — including espionage, foreign influence-peddling and obstruction of justice — that has never been properly or fully examined by law enforcement authorities.”
“If, as his critics allege, Trump really aspires to be a ruthless dictator, he isn’t doing a very good job at it.”
Indeed.
But evidence does not influence the Left (or anyone else) when they have a vested interest in a position.
Here’s a good poster for the Trumpsters (I kind of like it, even if it’s a little hagiographic / hyperbolic).
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ec56eef4b1f786962d921838b49570a86f51b8023c59dbaf6ca15cde851b7d45.jpg
“I am the Storm.”
https://www.breitbart.com/video/2018/08/27/dershowitz-biggest-crime-you-can-commit-in-america-today-is-to-have-been-associated-with-donald-trump/
https://pjmedia.com/andrewklavan/why-are-we-in-media-hell/
“A story breaks — a prominent person dies or there’s a mass shooting, for instance — and the exact same reactions appear on news media discussion panels and social media as the last time such a story occurred. Then these reactions fade away as we grow weary of hearing about the event. Then a similar event occurs and we all become embroiled in the exact same conversation. We never learn. We never change. We just do it again and again and again.
…
Why? What have we done to find ourselves condemned to this endless cycle of useless rage, like the guy in Dante doomed to gnaw on another man’s head forever? What is our sin?
I think the answer is simply this: we have not spoken honestly about the real issue.
The real issue is this: do we want to preserve American liberty and the constitutional machinery that maintains that liberty — or not?
Any two people who agreed that liberty is the central American good and worth preserving could argue productively. We could compromise on redistribution as long as we both acknowledged how essential private property is to freedom. We could make adjustments in gun control if we both understood that an armed populace is our last defense against tyranny. We could easily confirm Supreme Court justices if we acknowledged that their role was not to make law but to ensure laws are in keeping with the Constitution. We could debate anything as long as we both agreed to our right to speak.
But the moment I know I am talking to a socialist — who believes my work, my time, and thus my life belong to the state — the moment I know I am talking to a leftist — who will not concede my right to self-defense — the moment I know I am talking to a cheat willing to have our founding document rewritten from the bench — the moment I know I’m with a censor who thinks it’s fine to silence me whether on social media or in the news media or through the courts — I will not give one bloody inch. Because, in that case, each concession becomes another step to the eradication of the one political asset I hold most dear: my freedom.
That is where we find ourselves. To my mind, our news media, our academies, the corporate culture of Silicon Valley, and the Democrat Party have all lost the plot of American liberty. They believe in socialism. They believe in a disarmed populace. They believe in ruling through the judiciary. And they believe in censorship of ideas they don’t like.
Under that circumstance, they can catch Donald Trump paying hush money to the entire Rockettes chorus line. They can shed their crocodile tears over every shooting victim on earth. They can whine about . And they can curse me out and shut me down on every media vehicle they own. I will not surrender to them even a little.
Until we can agree on the One Great Thing — that Americans should be free — we can’t agree on anything. And we are doomed to repeat the same conversations again and again.
We are in Hell.”
According to a news story out today–as Texas Rep. Gohmert partially revealed in a July 12th 2018 House Judiciary Committee Hearing, when he said that, while Hillary was Secretary of State (2009-2013), copies of all of Hillary’s emails had been sent to “a foreign entity”–apparently a “courtesy copy” of each and every document and communication that passed through Hillary’s private server was sent to a state-owned Chinese company located in the Washington, D.C. area, via software inserted into Hillary’s totally inadequately protected server, that made and forwarded a “courtesy copy” to that company, which was, says the article, involved in collecting intelligence information for China.
According to the linked report, officials with the office of the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) discovered this situation back in 2015, and repeatedly informed the FBI and Peter Strzok–who was, after all, then the FBI’s Chief Counter-Intelligence Officer–of this fact.
But, apparently no action was really taken.
See https://dailycaller.com/2018/08/27/china-hacked-clinton-server/