Maduro declares win

The New Neo Posted on by

Of course he does.

As Erdogan said: “Democracy is like a tram. You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off.”

And the people of Venezuela are the losers:

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner of the country’s presidential election on Sunday after securing more than 50% of the vote, although the opposition contends that the results are not accurate.

The National Electoral Council said at around midnight that Maduro received 51% of the vote, while the main opposition candidate, Edmundo González, had 44% support, according to The Associated Press.

Elvis Amoroso, head of the National Electoral Council, said the results were based on 80% of voting stations and represented an irreversible trend.

Despite Maduro being declared the winner of a third term, the opposition claimed victory, setting up a showdown with the government over the results.

Sound familiar? The opposition in Venezuela declared victory “without evidence,” of course. Evidence is made impossible to obtain [emphasis mine]:

The electoral authority, controlled by Maduro loyalists, did not immediately publish the results from each of the 30,000 polling booths across the country, impeding the opposition’s ability to challenge the results after alleging it only had data for about 30% of the ballot boxes.

“The Venezuelans and the entire world know what happened,” González said.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado claimed González’s margin of victory was “overwhelming.” Machado said the opposition had voting results from about 40% of ballot boxes across the country and that more were expected overnight.

Officials and lawmakers in the U.S. and elsewhere expressed skepticism about the validity of Venezuela’s presidential election results after Maduro was declared the victor.

Speaking in Tokyo, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. has “serious concerns” about the announced outcome.

Blinken, election DENIER!

I guess it’s okay to say the left fixes elections in Venezuela. But not here.

You may have missed – as I did at the time – this previous brilliant foreign policy move from our illustrious co-presidents:

No one – not even Biden and Harris – is that stupid. One has to assume they either approved of the fraud, or didn’t care. And then there’s sort-of-president Harris’ tweet on Maduro’s win:

You can read that as a bland expression of the idea that Maduro won and that it’s the will of the Venezuelan people to give him another term. Or you can read it as implying that the people’s will was expressed and needs to be respected but perhaps is being thwarted. That latter interpretation is way too kind, I think, but Blinken’s statement certainly indicates that at least some people in the administration aren’t buying the Maduro win. But I wouldn’t sit on a hot stove till they re-impose sanctions.

I hate small Kleenex boxes

The New Neo Posted on by

Yes, yes I do.

By “small Kleenex boxes” I mean those ones that are taller than they are wide or long. They’re meant to take up less space, and I suppose they do, although the difference between those and the older variety isn’t all that great, nor is it worth it considering the drawbacks of the small boxes. And yet they seem quite popular; go figure.

Well, not with me. I try to avoid them, but I was recently staying in a fairly well-appointed airbnb that had lots of Kleenex boxes, but all of the small variety. It just about drove me crazy, because I was getting over an illness that required me to blow my nose quite a bit. What are my main beefs with those small boxes?:

(1) They lift up when you try to use them. They have no gravitas. And so you have to shake the Kleenex loose. Sometimes several come out at once.

(2) They contain very few Kleenex compared to the longer boxes – often only about sixty. When you have a cold, that’s nothing.

I finally purchased a traditional box and it was a great great relief to see it stay on the counter when I tried to extract a tissue, release only one at a time, and contain at least twice as many tissues per box as those small ostensibly cute boxes.

Republican efforts to challenge the voting rules changes and increase election integrity

The New Neo Posted on by

The topic was a favorite in 2020, and continues to be extremely important. There’s “rigging” – part of which is, of course, the MSM being a propaganda organ for the Democrats. But there’s also the use of lax rules about voting to either ballot harvest or commit outright fraud that almost certainly could not be traced if it occurs.

First, I’d like to link to some older posts of mine (and one article not by me) to refresh your memory on what the GOP tried in 2020 and the opposition they faced, for those who believe they didn’t try at all or certainly didn’t try very hard. There’s this, this, this, and this, as well as this.

I also wrote this in May of 2023:

I see a number of problems that won’t be solved [through legal action]. The first is that, because Democrats tend to control the big cities even in purple states (and some red states), and efforts such as ballot harvesting are easier in urban areas, Democrats have an advantage in that arena. The same is true for lawyers dedicated to election issues; they are far more numerous on the left. And the left has a potent weapon in accusations in court of “racism” and/or “voter suppression” against any efforts to secure the election process.

So, what’s gone on more recently? I haven’t done an exhaustive search, but here are some articles I found in a rather quick one. The first is this, which lists many states and the efforts that have gone on in each one. In summary, however, the article says “rather than filing lawsuits to block alternative voting methods, these suits take aim at what these groups consider dubious rules, such as relaxed instructions for verifying ballot signatures and outdoor ballot drop boxes.”

Another article is this:

According to the Voting Rights Lab, these laws – some expanding rights for voters and others making it more difficult to participate in the election process – are taking place in key battleground states across the U.S. that Democrats and Republicans are targeting in an effort to turn the tide in their favor.

Another list of states follows, summarizing what challenges have been mounted in each.

See also this list.

On the specific topic of poll watchers and observers – which you may recall was a big issue in 2020 – we have this:

The Republican National Committee announced in April that it, along with the Trump campaign, plans to deploy more than 100,000 volunteers and attorneys to serve as poll watchers across battleground states in the 2024 election.

“Every ballot. Every precinct. Every processing center. Every county. Every battleground state. We will be there,” the RNC declared.

Touted as the largest “election integrity program” in the nation’s history, the RNC claimed that poll watchers will ensure that “Democrat tricks from 2020 won’t work this time.”

Well, maybe.

Hezbollah rocket causes carnage at Druze soccer game in the Golan Heights

The New Neo Posted on by

I don’t know whether the soccer field was the intended target, but it’s the one that was hit:

Several Israeli civilians, including children, were reported killed on Saturday afternoon after a Hezbollah rocket hit a soccer field in northern Israel.

The rocket strike took place in Majdal Shams, a largely Druze town in Golan Height. “At least nine young Druze Israelis died an many more were in critical condition,” the Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported. This is the deadliest Hezbollah terror attack on Israel since October 7, Israeli media reports say.

When I say I don’t know whether it was the intended target, I don’t mean to imply that Hezbollah would hesitate to target children. Au contraire. However, the Druze wouldn’t necessarily be their first choice, although they probably wouldn’t mind them as targets, either. The Druze are Arabs although not Muslims, and they are also a minority group in Lebanon itself. Their religion is an interesting one:

The Druze faith originated in Isma’ilism (a branch of Shia Islam), and was influenced by Christianity, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Zoroastrianism, Gandharan Buddhism, Manichaeism Pythagoreanism, and other philosophies and beliefs, creating a distinct and secretive theology based on an esoteric interpretation of scripture, which emphasizes the role of the mind and truthfulness. Druze believe in theophany and reincarnation.

The Druze believe that at the end of the cycle of rebirth, which is achieved through successive reincarnations, the soul is united with the Cosmic Mind.

RIP.

Netanyahu is returning to Israel slightly early because of the attack.

Does getting older make you care less?

The New Neo Posted on by

[NOTE: I thought you might enjoy a reprise of this old post.]

By the time my mother reached her high 90s, she seemed to care less about everything. Part of this, I’m almost sure, is that she was experiencing a marked although mercifully slow cognitive decline. There were a few pluses, though, in addition to the negatives: she had always been a relatively anxious person, and now her general anxiety seemed almost gone.

I wondered about this, and I decided that in order to be anxious it probably helps to have a keen appreciation of time, because part of anxiety is anticipating the future. And my mother seemed to be less aware of time and the future.

She also had had so many losses of friends – after all, she had outlived nearly every single one of her contemporaries – that she became more and more philosophical or perhaps stoic on hearing of the death of some of the last ones. It’s not that it didn’t bother her, but seemingly not too much or for too long.

My mother had a thing about my hair, which is curly. She always thought it too messy, and for years and years and years every time I visited her she’d frown a little bit and ask if I could brush it and smooth it out. “No,” I’d say. “This is the way my hair is. If I brushed it more it would just get bushier.” It got to be our little dance, and as she got older and older and older it bothered me less. In the last few years it made me smile because it meant she still cared about stuff like that, which I considered a good sign.

I had often joked that I’d know things had really gotten bad if she stopped saying it. Well, a couple months before she died—during her last, more precipitous, decline—she stopped saying it. I knew what that meant, and it made me sad. What had become amusing to me was no joke at all any more.

As I’ve gotten older myself I’ve noticed that long before the stage my mother reached there is often a diminution of the intensity of the feelings of youth. Some people are happy about it because no longer are they storm-tossed by every disappointment and fear they experience. For others it can segue into too much of a flatness and even a depression. Others don’t experience it at all.

I’m not sure where I stand on this. I know I used to be more shy in social situations than I am now. But I know I can still get pretty intense about a lot of things, and even more intense about some—for example, politics.

Ah, politics! You knew that would rear its ugly head, didn’t you?

Which brings us to the first sentence of this comment by “Tonawanda” earlier today [March of 2015]:

Fast approaching the undiscovered country (age-wise) it is for me less urgent what folks like BO do, however despicable.

“BO” is, of course, Barack Obama. “The undiscovered country (age-wise)” is a reference to Hamlet’s soliloquy “To be or not to be,” in which he refers to death as “The undiscover’d country from whose bourn/No traveller returns…” (“bourn” has an archaic meaning of destination, domain, or boundary).

I’ve seen and heard a lot of comments to that effect over the years in political discussions: “I’m old, so I hardly care anymore.” People sometimes say a variant of it, which is that their children can worry about it but they don’t all that much.

I understand the sentiment and I’m not condemning it, but I find that not only do I not share it, but that I seem to care more than ever. There’s something about what Obama is doing [today you could just say “what the Democrats are doing”] to trash the rule of law and the separation of powers, as well as specific actions of his such as the pact with Iran that is likely to give them permission to have nuclear arms, or his advocacy of terrible policies such as this one, that bother me intensely. There’s something about the idea of the possible death of the American republic that fills me with a personal, bitter, and sharp despair, whether I’d be around to see the event or not.

How about you?

Watching the making of the Kamala cult in real time

The New Neo Posted on by

Once it was decided that Kamala Harris almost certainly would become the Democrats’ nominee in 2024, it’s been sadly amusing to see the MSM and the Democrats themselves fall in line. It’s not an easy job, because Harris has a great deal of history, involving baggage that requires heavy lifting. But the left is up to it.

Reports were that President Obama was not onboard. The rumors were that he thought she was unlikely to win the election and that he preferred Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona as the nominee. Of course winning (otherwise known as beating Trump) is all the Democrats seem to care about in terms of who becomes their nominee this year. Well, now even Obama as well as his wife Michelle are on the Good Ship Kamala:

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid in a video released Friday.

“Michelle and I couldn’t be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office,” the former president told Harris on a phone call joined by his wife, according to the video.

Harris thanked the Obamas for their support and expressed gratitude for their decadeslong friendship.

“Oh my goodness. Michelle, Barack, this means so much to me. I’m looking forward to doing this with the two of you, Doug and I both. And getting out there, being on the road,” the vice president said.

Just a lovefest all around.

I have no idea how much influence those two have on voters these days. I assume that the people who care about the Obamas’ endorsement were already going to vote for Kamala anyway.

This also should put to rest two rumors: the first is that Kamala will somehow choose Obama as VP and that he would be allowed to run for that office even though barred from another run at the presidency. The second is that somehow Michelle Obama would be chosen either as VP or would take Kamala’s place as nominee. I have never thought either thing would happen; I think the Obamas prefer to wield power at this point in a hidden way, and they wield it fairly effectively – or they have until now. It may be that an even more leftist wing is now in charge, and that the Obamas have become figureheads.

Secret Service: We don’t need no steenking drones

The New Neo Posted on by

At the Butler PA rally, the Secret Service was offered drones to help with security but refused the offer:

No wonder conspiracy theories abound on the right. I don’t go as far as some, but I do believe there was a level of abysmal incompetence that smacks of purposeful neglect. And the neglect was not benign.

The title of this post is a reference to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre:

By the way, there are plenty of conspiracy theories on the left about the Trump assassination attempt. They feature a very different scenario, however: that Trump wasn’t really shot:

From the moment former President Donald Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania, there have been people, usually his political opponents, who have suggested that Trump was not actually shot. Of course, there were the usual conspiracy nuts who claimed it was all made up. But there were also more mainstream figures who suggested that Trump was not hit by a bullet from the would-be assassin’s gun but rather a bit of shrapnel that came from…somewhere. …

The first theory held that a bullet had actually shattered a glass teleprompter panel, and a shard of glass then hit Trump’s ear. That theory suffered from the fact that the teleprompter panels were not hit by bullets and appeared to be intact after the shooting. But that did not stop the theorists from starting with the glass and going on from there.

In somewhat related news, the social media site Gab has this to say:

The gunman who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump appears to have used the controversial alt-right favored social media platform Gab to spread messages “in support of President Biden,” according to the platform’s founder. …

The account @epicmicrowave — which the CEO stressed he has been “unable to confirm” was definitely Crooks’ — “posted on the site nine (9) times total,” Torba tweeted just 30 minutes after getting the law enforcement request.

Perhaps.

ADDENDUM: See also this; the FBI has made it clear Trump was hit by a bullet.

Biden’s speech last night: we had to destroy democracy to save it

The New Neo Posted on by

Or some such gobbledygook.

This quote is almost humorous:

America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division. We have to decide, do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy? In this moment, we can see those we disagree with not as enemies, but as fellow Americans. Can we do that? Does character in public life still matter?

Of course, Biden has spent his entire presidency labeling the opposition as not only enemies of his own party, but enemies of those very principles: “honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice, and democracy.” And it is Biden and his own party who are more of a threat to those very things than the Republicans are. As for character in public life – wow. Biden is one of the most corrupt presidents ever – perhaps the most corrupt. And his campaign from the very start was built on a lie: the Charlottesville hoax, which he keeps hammering home.

It is here that Biden supposedly gave his reason for quitting the race:

When you elected me to this office, I promised to always level with you, to tell you the truth. And the truth, the sacred cause of this country, is larger than any one of us, and those of us who cherish that cause cherish it so much, a cause of American democracy itself must unite to protect it.

You know, in recent weeks it’s become clear to me that I needed to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term, but nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy, and that includes personal ambition.

So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That’s the best way to unite our nation. I know there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life, but there’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices, and that time and place is now.

That first paragraph – Biden the liar’s paean to truth – is actually somewhat difficult to understand. This was not an extemporaneous speech, so someone (whether Biden or another person or persons) wrote those words. But what does it even mean to say that democracy itself must unite to protect truth? How can “democracy” unite, when people are at odds about whom they wish to elect? And what is this truth he’s talking about?

That second paragraph says that it’s the Democrats who must unite in the “critical endeavor” of protecting truth. Ah, so it’s not democracy that must unite, it’s the Democrats. Apparently “democracy” equals “Democrats.” As Erdogan of Turkey once said: “Democracy is like a tram. You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off.”

Biden goes on to say that he’s proud of his record and deserved a second term, but he can’t let that come in the way of “saving our democracy.” That makes no sense either, except as code – which is what it actually is. “Our democracy” is Democrats’ code phrase for Democrat victory. Why Democrat victory is the only path to “democracy” is never really explained; we are supposed to understand that it just is. Is it the threat of Russiagate he’s talking about, or the idea that TrumpHitler will put the left in prison camps if he’s elected, or that Republicans will ban birth control if they get power, or whatever zany lie the Democrats are telling about Trump and the GOP now?

At any rate, apparently Joe himself – despite his self-touted wonderful record as president – cannot protect and preserve Truth and Our Democracy. He must, according to that third paragraph, cede the task to the youthful vigor of a new generation – in other words, to Kamala Harris.

Did Joe just learn that he’s 81 years old, soon to be 82? Because strangely enough, until just a few days ago, he didn’t think he needed to pass the torch to the next generation at all. Now he sees the light – the light of that torch he’s passing. And somehow this will not just unite the Democratic Party but the nation itself. How passing the torch to Kamala Harris, or even her election as president or some other Democrat’s election as president, will unite the nation is anyone’s guess. But it’s just a speech and just words, a mindless blah-blah that is nevertheless intended to touch some mystic chord within his Democrat listeners and have them nodding yes, yes.

I don’t think it convinced anyone, although the MSM and the Democrats will pretend it did. What a guy! What a selfless patriot!