2020: some of the things that astound me
They astound me, and yet they shouldn’t. Cognitively, I believe I know why and how these things are happening. Yet emotionally, I find them difficult to believe and astonishing to accept as occurring on such a scale in America.
The first is the speed of the Democrats’ capitulation to the leftists among them, and the completeness of it.
The second is the seamless voluntary morphing of the MSM into Pravda.
The third is the joining in – not just of the dot.coms, whose censorship activities are really no surprise at all – of the bulk of corporate America, including previously “all-American” sports.
The fourth is the vulnerability of so many Americans to the propaganda. It works so well because so many cultural, educational, business, and press organs agree on the message, and the voices on the right have been increasingly marginalized and demonized.
Just a few short years ago I would have thought that something like the Hunter Biden laptop revelations would sink any major party candidate. But I would have thought wrong. The left yells “Russian disinformation” (which is almost humorous, given what the left is and what it’s done with Russian disinformation) or fails to cover the story, Joe sits in his bunker, and many voters shrug and go about their business.
I think there is no limit to how far the left will go to suppress liberty and the right if given power in this country, or how corrupt they will become. And plenty of seemingly (or previously) reasonable and well-meaning people will give them the keys to it, thinking that by doing so they are doing good.
[ADDENDUM: See also this by Victor Davis Hanson.]
“Gradually, then suddenly”.
Maybe it’s the 80/20 rule: 20% of the collapse takes 80% of the time, then 80% of the collapse takes 20% of the time.
The Fourth Turning theory tells us that America will be … different afterwards. I think we have to accept that we’re not going back to the good parts of the current cycle, nor to a previous cycle. But we can all fight to make sure that the real new normal is on the side of freedom.
There’s a metaphor from the old Risk boardgame — in the endgame, if you made your move too soon or from an insecure base, you could nearly take over the world and win but then completely collapse and be eliminated. A version of “if you strike at the king, you must kill him”. There are a lot of factors that point to the left’s Risk move being built on a foundation of sand.
Indeed! No sane and rational person can truly grasp the swift unravelling of our republic through The Great Awokening. Should Senile Joe attain a hollow victory (for all the power will accrue to Lady Macbeth and all the other puppet-masters), there is little doubt that the current soft totalitarianism will become ever harder, with freedoms eroded, the tyranny of “woke capitalism” and “woke banking” fully synergized with the diktats of Big Tech, and much of the citizenry supine and stupefied by bread and circuses. Meanwhile, teachers in K-12 and the professoriate will continue to enforce the regnant ideology, with possibly dire consequences for dissenters.
I think that Trump will win. We still have to make every effort we can to add to his success.
I just saw a news item that Trump has many, many more small donors than Biden, but Biden has more big donors. The Democrats are now supported by rich people and by corporate donors, a complete reversal of their past and contrary to their rhetoric.
A house on my street has a sign in front – Make Orwell fiction again. Right next to it is a Biden-Harris sign. During the primary, it was Buttigieg.
As Scott Adams says, these people see a different movie than us. Trump’s complaints of Fake News are proof of his fascist leanings. His speeches, even when he denounces racism and white supremacy, are filled with “dog whistles” to his supporters proving his racist thoughts and actions.
His calls to use law and order to put down anarchy are calls for using the military to suppress peaceful protests.
Unfortunately, many are true believers is this as the sign house shows. Which is why Robert Reich can talk of commissions to investigate, why the Washington Post can write about keeping Trump quiet is not really suppressing Free Speech.
Both are only concerned with returning the country to “normality,” where only the voice of the Left, the correct voice (to them), can be heard, thought and acted upon.
I see only darkness and chaos in our future. I would have never believed that reality itself would be percieved in such a radically different way by the two sides of America.
It’s really a war of information, or the beginning of it anyway. Humans have always used information as a weapon, whether it be through outright lies, the suppression of information, or various false narratives. But it’s never been on this grand a scale and with such speed. I really feel this is something new and terrifying. It’s not a conventional war, it’s a war of perceptions.
A ray of hope? Gallup finds party affiliation R+1. Five-point swing from 2016 if true. (Via Instapundit.)
https://twitter.com/PollWatch2020/status/1318229633767141376
All very true, Neo. And Bryan. I think we’ve seen the 20% collapse already. We completed that…oh around 2015 or so (after Ferguson and when the “Great Awokening” really began to gain steam). We’re now in the midst of the 80%
If the 20% took about 50 years to happen, the 80% should only take 12-13 years. So, by 2027-28 or so. I think that’s about right.
I do think Trump is going to be re-elected, rather comfortably, in fact. But all this will do is offer a very shaky four year stop gap at the federal level. Massive unrest and violent protests are inevitable in 2021 (probably twice or thrice the scale and intensity of 2020). “Woke” censorship from corporate America (particularly big tech) will accelerate. Soros backed DAs will continue to look the other way as to BLM and Antifa, but will vigorously prosecute anyone who dare defend themselves against the same (i.e. the McCloskeys). Hollywood will even more overtly lecture, hector and mock the deplorables from flyover country.
All of this will meet with increasing resistance from middle America; economic, social and, at times, by force and violence. At some point, BLM/Antifa will spill their violence into a deep red area (there have been a few close calls already). The response will not be pleasant for them.
In sum, the future is not bright for our country. Granted, a Harris victory (I think we should be frank about who really is heading up the ticket) almost certainly means a full segue into soft authoritarianism, with the full force of the federal government pushing the same; whereas a Trump victory keeps this result at bay…for now. But 2024 will come soon enough, when (due to demographic change, the ‘tradition’ of switching partisan control of the White House every eight years, and a whole host of other factors), Democrats will be favored. It might be our last relatively free presidential election.
A lot to ponder there Neo.
I recently had occasion to look up some Goebbels quotes. Here are a couple to consider with respect to the current scene:
“Not every item of news should be published. Rather must those who control news policies endeavor to make every item of news serve a certain purpose”.
“A lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth”
” Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government (or Democratic Party) can play.”
Off topic: I had no idea that Trump would be in Newport, Ca last weekend. I don’t know if I have reported here that I have been impressed as I kayaked around Newport Bay by the number of Trump 2020 flags on bay side of mansions, or flying from the masts of yachts. Of course Newport is a bastion of “white privilege”. (Well there are the occasional elite POC, like the late Kobe Bryant; and the Hoi Polloi have public access) I have been unable to identify the mansion that the President visited from the stories, but I expect that I have seen it from time to time, and maybe cast a lure onto the deck of their yacht.
Kate, your information is encouraging.
In addition to hyping the polls, the media is now citing Biden’s huge war chest compared to Trump’s.
War chests are nice, but they don’t vote. I believe that campaign advertising can be a two edged sword that is potentially more valuable to media outlets and advertising consultants than to the candidate. First, I tune them out; then I get irritated. I suspect that I am far from alone.
Trump is playing “retail politics” with his rallies; and reported massive ground game in key states.
Biden is hiding.
Agree with Neo. I’m astounded every day with what is going on. ignoring Hunter’s laptop is really the last straw. These “news” people are so, so dishonest.
The response to COVID is the thread that runs through it all. Every single point you mentioned has driven the COVID response.
Griffin…how true! Just imagine where we would be if the virus hadn’t destroyed the economy.
I’ve been seeing numerous Trump signs and flags around my neck of the woods. I’m trying not to read too much into that. Back in 2106 most of rural Connecticut went for Trump but as usual, Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, New London, etc..carry the state, so it may be just a similar case. The proportion with the Harris/Biden signs is at least 50/50 with the Trump signs and flags being much bigger.
Survive to 2021, if you think 2020 is astounding, Neo…
Bryan Lovely,
Death and Rebirth of a nation, 2021-2022.
God wins.
Await the Advent Rising.
The Democrats are now supported by rich people and by corporate donors, a complete reversal of their past and contrary to their rhetoric.
Their past was being supported by slave masters, who had lots of property and economic/religious leverage.
Since the FBI Dem state started getting deeper after their success at getting rid of Nixon, the deep state has been getting fitfully worse, worse, a bit better, worse.
Dem domination of hiring professors in colleges has been the key, because almost all elite “thinkers” go thru Dem college indoctrination, and are heavily exposed to the PC / Theory (CRT) ways of thinking and evaluating reality.
These elite wannabees are the actual worker bees in all the cultural power organizations. They believe they are good. Strongly. Vehemently. They believe it so strongly, they become certain that anybody who disagrees is evil. And there are no rules in good fighting evil.
The true believers are seldom even the majority of the orgs they influence, but their loudness gets the quiet boot-licking administrators to go along.
Take away Fed money from colleges that discriminate against hiring Reps. That is necessary, perhaps not sufficient. Trump plus a Rep Congress can do that.
That’s what I’m now praying for.
I think one thing that grates the Left in the US and drives them apoplectic is the fact that US is unique among the Judeo-Christian nations in that it has a party that is definitely right of centre. In all other countries the right has given up the ghost. When this is combined with the fact that all this is happening when they have firm control over numerous institutions, the frustration and rage is understandable with a good example being Pelosi ripping up the State of the Union Address.
The election of somebody like Trump just rubs salt into the wounds.
Just have to remember that where there’s tremendous challenges, there’s also tremendous opportunity.
Just have to remember that where there’s tremendous challenges, there’s also tremendous opportunity.
Just have to remember that where there’s tremendous challenges, there’s also tremendous opportunity….
physicsguy,
The attacks on Scott Atlas topped off by twitter blocking him this weekend combined with Michael Levitt being cancelled from a conference on a field he helped found all because they dared go against the left’s stance on masks and lockdowns is like the final stake in science as an evidence based discipline.
Now being a Nobel Prize winner and professor at Stanford is not enough if you engage in wrongthink.
neo,
“The first is the speed of the Democrats’ capitulation to the leftists among them, and the completeness of it.”
Been a long time coming. The tipping point has arrived and dems are desperately threatened that Trump might somehow take their deserved victory away from them.
“The second is the seamless voluntary morphing of the MSM into Pravda.”
This too has been a long time coming and media is now dominated by the radicals. See Keith Olbermann’s rant; https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2020/10/10/keith-olbermanns-unleashes-unhinged-rant-against-trump-while-demanding-barrett-be-removed-from-society-n1029029
“The third is the joining in – not just of the dot.coms, whose censorship activities are really no surprise at all – of the bulk of corporate America, including previously “all-American” sports.”
Churchill and crocodiles.
“The fourth is the vulnerability of so many Americans to the propaganda.”
24/7 indoctrination. Lies told a 1000 times become ‘truth’.
My eyes were opened to CNN’s” bien pensant” bias way back in the first days of the Gulf War when their correspondent in Bagdad refuse to help the US with any sort of on-the-spot knowledge because he was a Journalist, therefore a man of without allegiance to anything but his own truth.
Ackler,
“I do think Trump is going to be re-elected, rather comfortably, in fact.”
I agree, See: “How Trump’s ‘enthusiasm factor’ could lead to another surprise win on Election Day” https://nypost.com/2020/10/10/how-trumps-enthusiasm-factor-could-lead-to-another-surprise-win/ Also, there’s the unreported support for Trump with black and Hispanic voters.
“Massive unrest and violent protests are inevitable in 2021 (probably twice or thrice the scale and intensity of 2020).”
When Trump wins, absolutely. Which will legitimize Trump invoking the Insurrection Act. When dem mayors and governors refuse to quell the rioting, Trump can charge them with enabling Insurrection. If needed, Trump can nationalize the National Guard. And there’s always a declaration of Martial Law.
““Woke” censorship from corporate America (particularly big tech) will accelerate. Soros backed DAs will continue to look the other way as to BLM and Antifa, but will vigorously prosecute anyone who dare defend themselves against the same (i.e. the McCloskeys). Hollywood will even more overtly lecture, hector and mock the deplorables from flyover country.”
See above. BTW, the Insurrection Act also applies to D.A.’s…
Trump has the legitimate power to end this and if Congress tries to block him, they too are engaged in Insurrection. Trump either smashes them or they will smash him once he’s out of office. More importantly, Trump either gelds the beast or civil war will be inescapable.
I think with Hunter Biden’s clear proof of Biden corruption, Trump wins more easily.
And he will have big Rep Congress coattails. So that Reps, including many RINOs but also conservatives, will control all branches: House, Senate; Presidency; and even SCOTUS.
The “Trump is Hitler” will come out if Trump uses too much military, but I expect him to laugh at Dem mayors and governors, and insult them. Until they ask for help. Or not.
The Dems (NOT the “Left”, whom nobody votes for) will continue to try to blame Trump, who will have more evidence in his blaming of the Dems.
More of the Dems, after losing (again!!!), will be looking at how they lost – according to how Trump says they’re bad.
Trump-haters like Bari Weiss, who sees where Dems (/Liberals /Left – NOT on the ballots) failed, and lost, will start criticizing the losers. They’ll keep hating Trump … but he’ll be stronger than before and more innocent and the Dems more guilty.
… or is this just another fantasy?
A good example of how far gone some people are is the response to this tweet by Matt Taibbi:
“I think this matters a lot. Watch what happens when Trump loses and we have a fully politicized news media that openly acts as an arm of the party in power, and dismisses all dissent as Russian disinformation. You’re going to love it, I’m sure.”
https://twitter.com/mtaibbi?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Go look at how many people respond with “But what about Fox News?” as if Fox News is equivalent or greater than the combine reach and influence of…
NBC
ABC
CBS
CNN
MSNBC
New York Times
Washington Post
NPR
Etc.
Mike
Geoffrey,
I hope he does. I very much hope he does. And I hope a firmly conservative SCOTUS, with Justice Barrett, upholds all of his actions, wherever John Roberts lands. The Democrat House will impeach him for it, but they will (for certain) impeach him again for something (anything) if he’s re-elected regardless.
First, though, let’s get him re-elected along with (hope against hope) holding the Senate
Ackler,
If there are widespread riots, Trump will be compelled to invoke the Insurrection Act (in passing, he’s talked of it several times) and if mayors and governors fail to act, Trump can bring federal charges of facilitating insurrection against them. If in reaction, the House impeaches, he can legally charge them with facilitating insurrection and with obstruction of justice. Congress is not immune from criminal charges. This is what I mean by fighting fire with fire. Do it legally and do it mercilessly.
For they operate according to the dialectic of the left; “When I am the weaker, I ask you for mercy because that is your principle. But when I am the stronger, I show no mercy because that is my principle”
https://www.westernjournal.com/exclusive-gen-flynn-dont-act-2-people-control-98/
Pay closer attention to the players, than the dialectic of the left.
Service to self path is a dead end.
More importantly, Trump either gelds the beast or civil war will be inescapable.
Why are so many people talking like Ymar Circa 2007-2009?
It’s like they think the world is ending or that there’s this cooky conspiracy going on in their country that absolutely needs action Right Now…
I’d just add that this election radically narrows our focus on what is a much bigger process both geographically and in time. Ackler addresses the time portion nicely with a 50 year 80% and 12 year 20% pivoting on the year 2015. Geographically Brexit reminds us that the inflection point first unequivocally manifested itself outside the US and in the completely different guise of an otherwise boring referendum. My favorite bit of evidence that it has spread throughout Western Civilisation is the Swedish YouTube channel “Sanity for Sweden” done by an apparently simple farmer who has an uncanny ability to point out the elephant in the room. I just heard Michael Malice say on the Rubin Report that a lot of people with power and privilege don’t like the prospect of losing it. Indeed. So I expect them to fight losing control every way they can and to continue to do so for as long as they can. The image I get is of the Davoisie trying to surf rapidly emerging asynchronous waves of popular disillusionment popping up all over the West, not realising that they are the ones driving that ‘deplorable’ undertow.
“things that astound me”
Personal and anecdotal: H G Wells wrote The War Of The Worlds; a decade or so ago, Jeff Wayne launched an amazing musical of it in London. Lyric from one of the songs has been stuck in my head for two days.
The chances of anyone coming from Mars
Are a million to one
He said.
The chances of anyone coming from Mars
Are a million to one
But still
They come!
“Make Orwell Fiction Again” — I’ve said many times since 2016 but I’m not sure I’ve said it here, so I’ll say it again: the leftists who view Trump as inaugurating a 1984 regime have either not read the book or did not understand it.
The horror of that regime was not that it lied but that it had the power first to force you to say you believe the lies, and then to make you actually believe them. This fits the Democrats far more than Trump. No one hesitates to say Trump is lying or suffers for it. In fact I’ve been criticized for pointing out instances where he is lied about. No power on the right has the ability to punish you for denying reality comparable to the power of, for instance, the LGBT movement to punish you for denying that men can turn themselves into women simply by “identifying” as such.
MBunge:
In addition, there are indications that Fox is less partisan than the MSM you cite.
Fox’s Chris Wallace slammed for anti-Trump bias in first Trump-Biden debate. How often do MSM operatives get slammed for anti-Biden bias?
I do not know how to italicize quotes on this site, and wish a quoter would inform me.
But a belief in a Trump victory is just a belief.
The forces of evil have mustered and grown over the decades, and America is in its death throes.
It will soon be just another socialist country among many.
The Middle Class will continue to be eliminated.
Socialists require serfs.
Cicero: two ways. Assume that each () below is replaced by equivalent angle brackets which I can’t show you because HTML wipes them out – I will use them following each of the examples.
short quotes – put them between emphasis markers
(em)this is the quote(/em)
this is the quote
Long quotations, indented.
(blockquote) text goes here (/blockquote)
To bold an excerpt use these markers
(b) bold this part (/b) of the sentence
bold this part of the sentence
Cicero:
To italicize quotes, use the HTML code for them. In other words, right before the quote, put a bracket like this < and then the letter i (lower case) and then a bracket like this > . No spaces. Then, at the close of the quote, do the same, except in front of the i you put this mark / .
Putting a “Make Orwell fiction again” sign next to a Biden-Harris one is the essence of recursive Orwellianism.
Bumping a comment — read the article at Barry’s link.
It is a perfect example of the astounding bias that its purveyors don’t even know exists, like a fish doesn’t know it’s in the water.
https://www.thenewneo.com/2020/10/17/hatred-of-trump-leads-to-liberal-confusion-about-what-to-do-bari-weiss-gets-it-and-she-also-doesnt/#comment-2520502
PS to Cicero, what Neo said – it’s an alternate code for “em” — and you can even do embedded blockquotes!
From 1997, but it still does the job. I used it to learn HTML for commenting.Learn HTML in 20 Minutes!
I don’t see the Democrats surrendering to the Left as much as the Democrats have so little to offer that they think that they are using the Left as cover. They don’t seem to know that they are riding a tiger.
As far as the “Insurrection Act”, there is the Federalism gambit. The President has already offered help if it is “requested” by state or local authorities. I suspect that a Republican Governor or Mayor would not hesitate asking for help against an organized riot. A Democrat who has encouraged such an event would not dare ask for Federal help and could easily loose a city. Who cares? Cities are a burden and historical relics. The truck and rail depots are in the ‘burbs. The airfields and jobs are in the ‘burbs. The Interstate highways bypass the cities. Fuel and rest stops are out in the surround. A Biden Administration might bail the corrupt cities out. They are unlikely to ever vote “Red”. So if they burn, the businesses and tax base moves to peaceful locations. Tolerating riots would be urban suicide. I don’t think most people care about Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Saint Louis City, Oakland, etc. Compton has returned to a Hispanic Majority. New York City would make a nice theme park or a sort of a “reservation”. When the Black gangs and their families were evicted from Compton, California turned a blind eye to the escaping corruptocxrats. Illinois might do the same for the Chicago corruptocrats. With a GOP President, the IRS might not be so inactive. States with GOP Administrations might not let the corruptocrats escape so easily especially since they could look to Federal help during the round up.
That all might make for an interesting time. Plus the Black city communities might not be all that hospitable to visiting suburban rioters. Seattle and Portland might be toast due to their White Leftist populations, but most older cities might not play along with Honky riots. I susapect that most suburban communities would not be too hospitable to urban looters.
Such a situation might solve many political problems, but I’d hope that the wise and powerful could come up with something better.