Topic: 2016 Races...If Anybody Cares...

[Weisshaupt]

If you changed just a few words.....If Trump built a conservative squad......Used the Constitution as cover.....checking for democratic papers.....blaming them for the nations issues.....and anyone with a drop of democrat in them were sent to the concentration camps known as states who have dem leadership. I'm all in.

And lets say Trump DID all those things.....still a hell of a lot better than liberal "leadership".

Sure. Do you actually see Trump doing those things - for either side?
 I don't. He isn't a true believer in anything but his own awesomeness.
He will hold, by and large, the Status Quo.  Better than Liberal leadership  e will probably be. That may be the worst thing for us at this point. If the Statists outlast us,  they win.  In 30 years this country will be demographically theirs, with a population ready to disarm and accept their yokes...a population like that in Europe...  and like Europe is today - we would become ripe for a full on invasion from foreign powers outside the Statist elite's control.

[ToddF]

! No longer available

That's how you take on the trash of America.   

[Libertas]

The demographic/illegal thing is where you lose me Weisshaupt...Trump's centerpiece is border security and kicking the foreign undesirables out...if he gets in and does the Establishment bidding he won't have 8 years, he'd be lucky to finish 4 while trying to qwell chaos...we would be closer to not farther from rebellion. The alternative is let Hillary in to go Order 66 and kick off the rebellion, something that might be desirable to cut to the chase but the preliminary act of getting that scum in is something I could not actively take a part in.

[Weisshaupt]

The demographic/illegal thing is where you lose me Weisshaupt...Trump's centerpiece is border security and kicking the foreign undesirables out...if he gets in and does the Establishment bidding he won't have 8 years, he'd be lucky to finish 4 while trying to qwell chaos...we would be closer to not farther from rebellion. The alternative is let Hillary in to go Order 66 and kick off the rebellion, something that might be desirable to cut to the chase but the preliminary act of getting that scum in is something I could not actively take a part in.

Yeah, well,  think about DHS. Bush did that ...  If Trump creates or builds teams to bump the illegal immigrants out,  they will still be there to let in (if wanted) in 8 years.  And then there will be a whole new army of shock troops at the Statist's command, won't there be?  Trump himself may not abuse the power,  but the leftists would know JUST how to use troops trained in entering American suburbs, sweeping for and identifying individuals of interest and getting them on the right buses and cattle cars, wouldn't they? And of course any citizen verification system for employment would never be turned to bad purposes right?  Just like the no-fly lists would never be used to harass political enemies or be used to disarm people.
Trump could be a willing participant or just a gullible stooge while building this system. It wouldn't matter. After all, the American people are the ones demanding it....  The left always lets the right play National Defense. That way they can blame the bad stuff on them. It was Bush who started DHS. Its was Bush that got us involved in te Middle East.  It was Bush who allowed the Meta-Data collection. Its plausible deniability and its key to keeping the veneer of legitimacy.  The Left never builds the Deep state (or if they do, they do it with "bi-partisan" support)   - they activate it after its built and turn it to their purposes. The left that cried about the evils of the  Patriot act quietly let its renewal sail through the senate when they were in charge. Ultimately all such laws serve them, not We the People. And The longer they have to prepare and expand the police state apparatus - via thier own deeds or those of a willing Defense-minded stooge, , the more effective order 66 will be when finally given.

[Libertas]

The demographic/illegal thing is where you lose me Weisshaupt...Trump's centerpiece is border security and kicking the foreign undesirables out...if he gets in and does the Establishment bidding he won't have 8 years, he'd be lucky to finish 4 while trying to qwell chaos...we would be closer to not farther from rebellion. The alternative is let Hillary in to go Order 66 and kick off the rebellion, something that might be desirable to cut to the chase but the preliminary act of getting that scum in is something I could not actively take a part in.

Yeah, well,  think about DHS. Bush did that ...  If Trump creates or builds teams to bump the illegal immigrants out,  they will still be there to let in (if wanted) in 8 years.  And then there will be a whole new army of shock troops at the Statist's command, won't there be?  Trump himself may not abuse the power,  but the leftists would know JUST how to use troops trained in entering American suburbs, sweeping for and identifying individuals of interest and getting them on the right buses and cattle cars, wouldn't they? And of course any citizen verification system for employment would never be turned to bad purposes right?  Just like the no-fly lists would never be used to harass political enemies or be used to disarm people.
Trump could be a willing participant or just a gullible stooge while building this system. It wouldn't matter. After all, the American people are the ones demanding it....  The left always lets the right play National Defense. That way they can blame the bad stuff on them. It was Bush who started DHS. Its was Bush that got us involved in te Middle East.  It was Bush who allowed the Meta-Data collection. Its plausible deniability and its key to keeping the veneer of legitimacy.  The Left never builds the Deep state (or if they do, they do it with "bi-partisan" support)   - they activate it after its built and turn it to their purposes. The left that cried about the evils of the  Patriot act quietly let its renewal sail through the senate when they were in charge. Ultimately all such laws serve them, not We the People. And The longer they have to prepare and expand the police state apparatus - via thier own deeds or those of a willing Defense-minded stooge, , the more effective order 66 will be when finally given.

And here I thought my rants would be depressing people...thanks for letting me off the hook. 

Seriously though I think we are on the same page here...to think anybody, even the most perfect Liberty candidate getting in office and getting enough champions in Congress to get everything they wanted passed...even in that perfect scenario it would take probably 4 continuous terms of unimpeded action to roll back all of the rot and get to a point where one could have a reasonable amount of freedom restored.  Imagining that happening is really difficult seeing where we are now.  Perhaps if GHWB had't derailed the Reagan Revolution and Clinton and everybody that followed never happened there would have been a chance...

I think people know how impossible it is ever to get back what was lost, I don't think anybody beyond optimists on Prozac thinks it is even remotely possible.  Other people might not just give a damn out of despair or stupidity.  But we keep dancing around the time issue...some people want more time even if it means things break worse later than earlier, and I cannot discount their motivations (spouse/kids/not ready) but I think we have entered the period where everything is so stressed that the time compression is increasing...I am amazed and little bit freaked out by the amount of duress being absorbed, it cannot continue much longer no matter who is running the show.

[Weisshaupt]

Seriously though I think we are on the same page here...to think anybody, even the most perfect Liberty candidate getting in office and getting enough champions in Congress to get everything they wanted passed...even in that perfect scenario it would take probably 4 continuous terms of unimpeded action to roll back all of the rot and get to a point where one could have a reasonable amount of freedom restored.  Imagining that happening is really difficult seeing where we are now.  Perhaps if GHWB had't derailed the Reagan Revolution and Clinton and everybody that followed never happened there would have been a chance...

It will take at least two terms to just establish a new party if History is any guide.  The GOP is gone, and can't be used as a vehicle anymore. And once in office? I don't know if 4 terms is enough, but I think a good start could b made..

But its  not just the political class that is rotten - its the culture itself. We are getting the leaders we deserve.  The Socialist rot the Soviets infected our culture with in the 60s took hold in the  soil of the the New Deal.  You can't undo half a century or more of cultural rot in anything less than a generation and that generation needs to be motivated - not brain-dead-ipad-zombies.

And then how to you motivate people like us - who feel there is no viable political solution and fear a massive economic collapse will inevitably occur before a political solution can be presented ?  How did the S. Hoyt's of the world - who think there is a viable political solution - respond to me when I said I didn't think there was-  they called me BLOODTHIRSTY and STUPID. Yeah, that will convince me there is still hope..  How are people like that going to give people like us  motivated to push for and build this new party? I don't think they can, and that will hamper that third party even more.  I can spend my life blood on a political solution I don't think will work, or I can use it on prepping for the disaster I am pretty certain is coming.  You are going to need a better argument than "bloodthirsty" if you are going to get me to spend my time and money on a political solution instead of doing what I can to aid my families survival.

I think people know how impossible it is ever to get back what was lost, I don't think anybody beyond optimists on Prozac thinks it is even remotely possible.  Other people might not just give a damn out of despair or stupidity.  But we keep dancing around the time issue...some people want more time even if it means things break worse later than earlier, and I cannot discount their motivations (spouse/kids/not ready) but I think we have entered the period where everything is so stressed that the time compression is increasing...I am amazed and little bit freaked out by the amount of duress being absorbed, it cannot continue much longer no matter who is running the show.

I could use more time. But so could the Tyrants, and probably more effectively. The more time passes the more the State will have under its control - the better tech they will have  - more shock troops - an electorate ever more brainwashed and un-American. Taking back what was lost can only be done via resistance now - how much and when is still in question, but you can bet it will be the Finicum's of the world  and not the S Hoyt's in their armchairs who decide. And yes I FULLY understand that this will start with 4th Gen tactics and political assassinations,  but it could escalate quickly  in a number of ways into a full blown blood bath  ( try to draft daughters for a war in the middle east, come for the guns, race war,  freeshyt army  riots) and revolutions rarely end the way one would want them.  The American revolution was extraordinary in that respect, and I ma not sure God smiles upon us the way he did once. But what choice will he have? Submit? Live Free or Die. And Dying isn't plan A.

[Weisshaupt]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-16/will-trump-presidency-really-change-anything-better

If Trump does take such measures during his presidency, then he may be a president worth supporting, or even fighting for. If he pursues few or none of these measures, however, we can be relatively certain he is just another establishment puppet playing his part in the false left/right paradigm leading America toward oblivion.

Whatever Trump is, his popularity does indicate a rising tide of discontent within the U.S. The insane circus atmosphere of election 2016 is no coincidence; it is a perfect representation of the overflowing tensions that permeate our culture and are leading to potential earth shattering conflict. Keep in mind that America’s economic situation was already decided back in 2008 and will only become worse as we move into the election season. Whatever tensions we see now will only multiply as financial crisis becomes more apparent to the masses.

The idea that a Trump presidency will change much of anything is a rather farfetched one in my view. Trump’s popularity only suggests that people are seeking alternatives. The damage to America has for the most part already been done, and there will be no avoiding the consequences. That said, how we rebuild can still be determined. No political leader including Trump will ever be able to heal the American system or the American psyche, but the efforts of millions of independent and liberty minded Americans can. We have a long and terrible struggle ahead of us, but to look at it from an “optimistic” perspective, at least Americans are becoming sick of the status quo. That is a start.

[AmericanPatriot]

I don't know if any of you read Mark Alexander's Patriot Post newsletter.
If not, he is a true conservative in all ways that I found.

I saw this in today's email.

Reality may be painful, but the first step toward mitigation is to confront the source. If there is anything the current election season has demonstrated beyond a doubt, it is that Americans have irreconcilable differences. The political Left and Right are worlds apart, and it appears that nothing — not even an existential threat to our way of life, be it terror, unrestrained illegal immigration, economic catastrophe or cultural disintegration — will elicit anything resembling a broad-based coalition to address the problem. Thus the nation is at a crossroad during a time when our leaders appear fundamentally incapable of bridging the ideological divide. Yet none of them ask the essential question: Why is it even necessary to do so?

We begin with the source of the division. One sentence from Ronald Reagan's First Inaugural Address says it all: "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." No one is naive enough to advocate the complete elimination of government. Yet there is government and there is big government. The most infuriating government is the sprawling, incompetent, ever-expanding bureaucratic sinkhole that emanates from Washington, DC.

The reason for this condition is simple: Americans have countenanced the evolution of an all-consuming federal leviathan, so removed from the original constraints of the Constitution that it has become unrecognizable.

It wasn't always that way in America, yet it's no secret that a huge portion of the nation likes this pernicious evolution because, unlike Ronald Reagan, they do believe government is the solution to all of our problems. Moreover, they have become so determined to continue down this path that they now vilify and/or censor anyone who stands against it.

Any diminution of the federal government's power is utterly anathema to the American Left, because without the coercive effects of that top-down, one-size-fits-all federal bureaucracy, their power would be severely diminished.

Yet there is a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. That's because we are the United States of America — 50 separate constituencies where the locus of most power ought to reside. The states are where people live, work and play, and there is no good reason why people in a conservative state like Utah should be forced by the federal leviathan to live their lives exactly like the people in a leftist state like New York — or vice versa.

Why not return as much power as possible to the states? Certainly the Left would complain, but they have their fiefdoms where their power is virtually absolute. Imagine a nation where California could roll out the welcome mat to illegal aliens and Texas could shut down its border. Imagine abortion restrictions handled on a state-by-state basis. Imagine a 50 state experiment to determine a health care system that actually works, rather than everyone forced to live under the disaster of ObamaCare. Imagine a nation where one could far more clearly measure successes and failures of ideology without the federal government's thumb on the scale.

The mechanisms are already in place. "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," states the Ninth Amendment. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," states the Tenth Amendment.

This is by no means a perfect solution to everything that ails us. There are, by necessity, critical decisions that must be made at the federal level. Yet if more of the power resided in the states, national consensus would be easier to achieve for two reasons: The people's current sense of powerlessness would be mitigated, and ideas about what works and what doesn't would be far more obvious.

What would also be far more obvious are the genuine motivations of those who would categorically resist such a re-empowerment of the states and individual Americans. Their lust for unbridled power would be exposed when they make it clear they believe most Americans are incapable of handling Liberty without the coercive guidance that accrues far more perniciously at the federal level. And Americans themselves might re-discover an immutable reality: In the overwhelming majority of cases, effective government operates from the local level upward, not the federal level downward.

We will always be a divided nation. But there are levels of division that are toxic, and levels that are healthy. In a nation of 320 million people, comprised of every ethnic, religious and racial group imaginable, one-size-fits-all is a toxic enterprise. Americans need to seek out political candidates who genuinely champion the restoration of federalism and individual rights. In short, American Liberty.

And this quote from Ben Shapiro:

Ben Shapiro: "For years, conservatives have told themselves the pretty bedtime story that they represent a silent majority in America — that most Americans want smaller government, individual rights and personal responsibility. We've suggested that if only we nominated precisely the right guy who says the right words — some illegally grown Ronald Reagan clone, perhaps — we'd win. Donald Trump's impending nomination puts all of that to bed. ... In order to rebuild, conservatives must recognize that they think individually; leftists think institutionally. While the left took over the universities — now bastions of pantywaist fascism hell-bent on destroying free speech — the right slept. While the left took over the public education system wholesale, the right fled to private schools and homeschooling. While the left utilized popular culture as a weapon, conservatives supposedly withdrew and turned off their televisions. Withdrawal, it turns out, wasn't the best option. Fighting back on all fronts is. Republicans need to worry less about the next election and significantly more about building a movement of informed Americans who actually understand American values. That movement must start with outreach to parents, and it must extend to the takeover of local institutions or defunding of government institutions outright. The left has bred a generation of Americans who do not recognize the American ideals of the Founding Fathers. Pretending otherwise means flailing uselessly as demagogues like Trump become faux-conservative standard-bearers."

[Libertas]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-16/will-trump-presidency-really-change-anything-better

If Trump does take such measures during his presidency, then he may be a president worth supporting, or even fighting for. If he pursues few or none of these measures, however, we can be relatively certain he is just another establishment puppet playing his part in the false left/right paradigm leading America toward oblivion.

Whatever Trump is, his popularity does indicate a rising tide of discontent within the U.S. The insane circus atmosphere of election 2016 is no coincidence; it is a perfect representation of the overflowing tensions that permeate our culture and are leading to potential earth shattering conflict. Keep in mind that America’s economic situation was already decided back in 2008 and will only become worse as we move into the election season. Whatever tensions we see now will only multiply as financial crisis becomes more apparent to the masses.

The idea that a Trump presidency will change much of anything is a rather farfetched one in my view. Trump’s popularity only suggests that people are seeking alternatives. The damage to America has for the most part already been done, and there will be no avoiding the consequences. That said, how we rebuild can still be determined. No political leader including Trump will ever be able to heal the American system or the American psyche, but the efforts of millions of independent and liberty minded Americans can. We have a long and terrible struggle ahead of us, but to look at it from an “optimistic” perspective, at least Americans are becoming sick of the status quo. That is a start.

Yeah, saw that post this morning, and it is largely correct.

And this -

If Trump is a legitimate anti-establishment candidate, then here are some of the actions he would have to pursue in order to prove it.

1) The complete reversal of every unconstitutional Obama Administration and Bush Administration executive order.
 
2) The pursuit of removal of the indefinite detention provisions and secret tribunals contained in the NDAA.
 
3) The removal of FISA, and the end of the invasion of privacy and other violations of the 4th Amendment by the NSA against American citizens.
 
4) The end of secretive executive powers of assassination, including the assassination of American citizens without trial.
 
5) The dismantling of the Department of Homeland Security in light of abuses of constitutional limits.
 
6) The complete reversal of Obamacare.
 
7) The immediate end to all refugee relocation programs related to the Middle East and Syria.
 
8) The true enforcement of illegal immigration laws and border controls.
 
9) The encouragement of states to assert their right to protect their borders based on the 10th Amendment.
 
10) An immediate call for an independent investigation into the immigration policies of the Obama Administration.
 
11) An immediate independent investigation into the Benghazi attacks.
 
12) An immediate independent investigation into the ATF’s “Fast and Furious” gun running program.
 
13) An immediate independent investigation into the involvement of covert intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense in the funding and training of ISIS.
 
14) An immediate call for an independent investigation of corruption within the election process itself, as well as the influence of international banks and corporations in the election process.
 
15) The removal of unfair restrictions that prevent third party and independent candidates from participation in public debates.
 
16) An immediate call for an investigative audit of the Federal Reserve as well as the pursuit of dismantling the fed and transitioning America back into constitutional sound money creation.
 
17) An investigation into U.S. relations with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and the Bank of International Settlements with the intention of ending all ties to said organizations if and when criminal conduct is discovered.
 
18) An end to the revolving door of banking elites cycling through various cabinet positions within the White House.
 
19) An immediate investigation into the influence of international financiers and globalist think tanks like the Council On Foreign Relations and their efforts to destroy the national sovereignty of the U.S.
 
20) The end of globalization of U.S. foreign policy and economic policy which has weakened America, and the return to a more independent and self reliant American economic and defense infrastructure.

Even if some of the things on this list are straight out of the paranoid minds of PaulBots, there is still merit to everything on the list, and even if we assume the list is complete (it is not)...any POTUS working through 1/4 of that would be wildly successful in latter-day terms.

But what would it really accomplish if not carried through into multiple terms?

And, what if not one bit of it is realized?

[Libertas]

I don't know if any of you read Mark Alexander's Patriot Post newsletter.
If not, he is a true conservative in all ways that I found.

I saw this in today's email.

Reality may be painful, but the first step toward mitigation is to confront the source. If there is anything the current election season has demonstrated beyond a doubt, it is that Americans have irreconcilable differences. The political Left and Right are worlds apart, and it appears that nothing — not even an existential threat to our way of life, be it terror, unrestrained illegal immigration, economic catastrophe or cultural disintegration — will elicit anything resembling a broad-based coalition to address the problem. Thus the nation is at a crossroad during a time when our leaders appear fundamentally incapable of bridging the ideological divide. Yet none of them ask the essential question: Why is it even necessary to do so?

We begin with the source of the division. One sentence from Ronald Reagan's First Inaugural Address says it all: "Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." No one is naive enough to advocate the complete elimination of government. Yet there is government and there is big government. The most infuriating government is the sprawling, incompetent, ever-expanding bureaucratic sinkhole that emanates from Washington, DC.

The reason for this condition is simple: Americans have countenanced the evolution of an all-consuming federal leviathan, so removed from the original constraints of the Constitution that it has become unrecognizable.

It wasn't always that way in America, yet it's no secret that a huge portion of the nation likes this pernicious evolution because, unlike Ronald Reagan, they do believe government is the solution to all of our problems. Moreover, they have become so determined to continue down this path that they now vilify and/or censor anyone who stands against it.

Any diminution of the federal government's power is utterly anathema to the American Left, because without the coercive effects of that top-down, one-size-fits-all federal bureaucracy, their power would be severely diminished.

Yet there is a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. That's because we are the United States of America — 50 separate constituencies where the locus of most power ought to reside. The states are where people live, work and play, and there is no good reason why people in a conservative state like Utah should be forced by the federal leviathan to live their lives exactly like the people in a leftist state like New York — or vice versa.

Why not return as much power as possible to the states? Certainly the Left would complain, but they have their fiefdoms where their power is virtually absolute. Imagine a nation where California could roll out the welcome mat to illegal aliens and Texas could shut down its border. Imagine abortion restrictions handled on a state-by-state basis. Imagine a 50 state experiment to determine a health care system that actually works, rather than everyone forced to live under the disaster of ObamaCare. Imagine a nation where one could far more clearly measure successes and failures of ideology without the federal government's thumb on the scale.

The mechanisms are already in place. "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people," states the Ninth Amendment. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," states the Tenth Amendment.

This is by no means a perfect solution to everything that ails us. There are, by necessity, critical decisions that must be made at the federal level. Yet if more of the power resided in the states, national consensus would be easier to achieve for two reasons: The people's current sense of powerlessness would be mitigated, and ideas about what works and what doesn't would be far more obvious.

What would also be far more obvious are the genuine motivations of those who would categorically resist such a re-empowerment of the states and individual Americans. Their lust for unbridled power would be exposed when they make it clear they believe most Americans are incapable of handling Liberty without the coercive guidance that accrues far more perniciously at the federal level. And Americans themselves might re-discover an immutable reality: In the overwhelming majority of cases, effective government operates from the local level upward, not the federal level downward.

We will always be a divided nation. But there are levels of division that are toxic, and levels that are healthy. In a nation of 320 million people, comprised of every ethnic, religious and racial group imaginable, one-size-fits-all is a toxic enterprise. Americans need to seek out political candidates who genuinely champion the restoration of federalism and individual rights. In short, American Liberty.

And this quote from Ben Shapiro:

Ben Shapiro: "For years, conservatives have told themselves the pretty bedtime story that they represent a silent majority in America — that most Americans want smaller government, individual rights and personal responsibility. We've suggested that if only we nominated precisely the right guy who says the right words — some illegally grown Ronald Reagan clone, perhaps — we'd win. Donald Trump's impending nomination puts all of that to bed. ... In order to rebuild, conservatives must recognize that they think individually; leftists think institutionally. While the left took over the universities — now bastions of pantywaist fascism hell-bent on destroying free speech — the right slept. While the left took over the public education system wholesale, the right fled to private schools and homeschooling. While the left utilized popular culture as a weapon, conservatives supposedly withdrew and turned off their televisions. Withdrawal, it turns out, wasn't the best option. Fighting back on all fronts is. Republicans need to worry less about the next election and significantly more about building a movement of informed Americans who actually understand American values. That movement must start with outreach to parents, and it must extend to the takeover of local institutions or defunding of government institutions outright. The left has bred a generation of Americans who do not recognize the American ideals of the Founding Fathers. Pretending otherwise means flailing uselessly as demagogues like Trump become faux-conservative standard-bearers."

Yeah well, Alexander might be a conservative but he is clearly in the polite/optimistic side of things that to my point of view is way too naive. 

To the items in bold -

He says the Left and Right are worlds apart...cannot agree on existential threats...says who?  Whose "right" is he talking about?  The GOP "Right" caves into the Left and barely sqwaks about it!  By their actions the GOP/Republican's are no different than the Dem's...maybe less obvious and less malicious intent...but they are doing the same things!

And generic "American's" didn't countenance jack sh*t!  Feckless useless Pubbies and their brain-dead lackey's who were given mandates to OPPOSE/FIGHT/REPEAL this sh*t countenanced this bloated government and rising tyranny, not any of us!

And then he goes on to argue states rights when nobody GAFF about that sh*t anymore?  Certainly nobody in the effing GOP!  Obama openly pisses on the Constitution and all these f**kweasels have to say is "Sorry, first black Prez, we can't do sh*t!" and people are OK with that?  How many times does the GOP have to eff us over before people realize THEY ARE PART OF THE EFFING PROBLEM?!  Suddenly these nozzles are going to reassert states rights and not fold like pansies when the Progs beat them up about wanting to go back to the glory days of Pre-Civil War America?  Who the hell is going to champion this among the current crop of gutless wonders?

Same critique of Shapiro, just who the frack are these people fighting back?  Does he think using Roberts Rules of Order in a 4thGen battlefield is going to be effective?

Jeepers H Cripes!  People have to wake up from this fantasy and smell what's burning!

 

[Glock32]

The problem with the "silent majority" theory is that only the "silent" part of it has remained true.  The "majority" part was once true, but it was rendered meaningless by the "silent" part.  Today the "majority" part is no longer true in any case, silent or otherwise.

Reagan was able to correct the course of the GOP in the 80s, but it turns out those 8 years were an anomalous blip on the radar.  The GOPe was back in control with Bush the Elder in 1989, and they proceeded to put things back on the pre-Reagan trajectory.  An entire generation has elapsed since then.  It simply can't be salvaged at this point.  In a way the modern citizenry doesn't even speak the same language as that citizenry that found appeal in Reagan's message.

Some days I think the Left simply deserves to win.  They're loud, brash, and uncompromising -- even as they heap criticism on their opposition for supposedly being those things.  I also think that's a substantial component of Trump's appeal.  Those of us on the Right recognize the need to be loud and brash in our own right -- knowing that another stuffy, easily-caricatured Country Club candidate is going to produce nothing more than another well-delivered concession speech.

The Left obtained ownership of our institutions and culture through hundreds and thousands of incremental steps over the past century.  The Republican Party always found an equal number of reasons to flee the battlefield, i.e. the damnable "not the hill to die on" rationalizations.  Well now the Left owns all the hills, and as a result all the commanding heights of civilization.

I'm just so tired of being saddled with a bunch of Born Losers as "our" representatives in this fight.  That's partly why I have warmed to Trump and his populism.  I recognize that we are not, in fact, a "silent majority" after all and that maybe it's simply time to get comfortable with certain types of populist pandering if it might at least help change the cultural landscape in our favor.  I include in this things like pandering to union labor with protectionist rhetoric.  Hell, why not?

[AmericanPatriot]

You have some validity to your points, Libertas.

However, generic Americans DID countenance all this.
And they have been for the last 50 years or longer.

I have some issues with Shapiro from time to time but I think he makes valid points.
IF...
we have the time and will to take back the schools and the states and local governments.

He's right that we withdrew and didn't fight.

And Alexander.
I see him as an educator, thinker.
Until people are aware of the things he's saying, we descend into Trump.

[AmericanPatriot]

We should take lessons from the Left.
At least regarding action.

And the 60s.
I was watching PBS program on 60s rock n roll on the Ed Sullivan show with my 20 yo daughter and she was dissing the clothes and music, etc.

That was my generation and I realized that we changed the world.
Not saying it was for the better but we did change the world.

If we could possibly waken from our deep sleep, we could do it again.

[Libertas]

You have some validity to your points, Libertas.

However, generic Americans DID countenance all this.
And they have been for the last 50 years or longer.

I have some issues with Shapiro from time to time but I think he makes valid points.
IF...
we have the time and will to take back the schools and the states and local governments.

He's right that we withdrew and didn't fight.

And Alexander.
I see him as an educator, thinker.
Until people are aware of the things he's saying, we descend into Trump.

Generic, yes as in stupid, lazy, ignorant and appeasing Americans...and Progs obviously...certainly not us!

And I have no problem with teaching, but realizing we do not have that kind of time and acknowledging that and preparing for the future that is coming would be nice, but I understand certain people have difficulty with facts even when they tower above their head...

It'll all get sorted out one way or another...

[Libertas]

FWIW -

http://www.weaselzippers.us/262125-democrats-sound-alarm-against-trump/

Must just be obligatory takiyya.

[Libertas]

Excerpts from -

Death of America: Why This Presidential Election isn’t as Important as People Think
By Selwyn Duke

It’s easy to get wrapped up in men and moments. In the current election season, for instance, we may see a candidate appearing to embody all our hopes and dreams (or at least many) and come to assign him country-savior status. Even the great Thomas Sowell — a man for whom I have tremendous respect — has called the November choice “the last chance for America.” Yet even if we do choose the “right” president, it will only amount to a stay of execution.
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And even if the next president is an anomalous good result, he won’t even be a pause that refreshes, but will at best slow down the runaway train racing toward the precipice.
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Do you really want to save America? Okay, then completely transform the media, academia and entertainment so they’re not brainwashing citizens 24/7 with anti-American, anti-Christian, multiculturalist, socialist, feminist and a multitude of other lies. End legal immigration, which, via the importation of massive numbers of Third Worlders, is changing our country into a socialistic non-Western culture. Even more significantly, convince the 70-plus percent of Americans who are moral relativists to believe in Truth
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Many of us now believe, in essence, there are no rules governing man.
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With our agreeing on almost nothing, it’s not surprising most everything ends up in court, as we enrich lawyers and empower judges to become the Ultimate Arbiters of All Things. Meanwhile, not-so-huddled masses, Muslim jihadists and perhaps weapons of mass destruction pour across a border that’s still not porous enough for the miles-wide fifth column in our midst. And the same people tell us voter-ID is oppressive, as our government prints official documents in dozens of languages and we press one for English and hope the customer service representative we get to help us with our crummy Chinese-made product will have a decipherable accent.
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With people tending to make up their own rules, our “game” is breaking down. Why do you think we have candidates who scoff at enforcing immigration law and a president and judges who wipe their paws and claws on the Constitution? In a land where all is relative, laws are relative to the men; then you become a nation of men, not laws.

This is why none of our “solutions” will solve anything. We can talk about Ted Cruz and constitutionalism. But was John Adams a fool when warning in 1798, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other”? We are now the “other.”

We can echo Donald Trump echoing Ronald Reagan and say “Make America great again!” But as an apocryphal quotation oft repeated by Reagan goes, “America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

And we can bellow “Freedom!” Braveheart-style. But as British philosopher Edmund Burke noted, “It is written in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.”

Intemperate minds abound. Passions we’ve got. Fetters we’re getting. Of course, I’ll choose to, if possible, add a few more pages to the American republic’s story. But I know that, even now, her last chapter is being written.

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/03/death_of_america_why_this_presidential_election_isnt_as_important_as_people_think.html

Read the whole thing...it is worth the effort!

[AmericanPatriot]

Generic, yes as in stupid, lazy, ignorant and appeasing Americans...and Progs obviously...certainly not us!

Certainly not us.
There's like 8 of us here.

Stupid because the dumbing down from the educational system has worked pretty well.
Ignorant for the same reason.

Americans got fat and contented.

[Libertas]

Remember what the Establishment always told Conservatives who said this when they were fed up with Establishment losers getting the nomination?

http://www.weaselzippers.us/262599-lindsey-graham-better-for-gop-to-lose-election-than-heart-and-soul-with-trump/

I think we all do...little Lindsey must have forgot, eh?

[Weisshaupt]

Wherein I Comment On “Electoral Politics” – It’s Professional Wrestling Without the Wrestling

More Ann B. You are warned

[Glock32]

Remember what the Establishment always told Conservatives who said this when they were fed up with Establishment losers getting the nomination?

http://www.weaselzippers.us/262599-lindsey-graham-better-for-gop-to-lose-election-than-heart-and-soul-with-trump/

I think we all do...little Lindsey must have forgot, eh?

Oh yeah, when it was election after election of Establishment losers we were always expected to be loyal soldiers and hold our noses to pull the lever for their guy.  And we always did.

So when the shoe is on the other foot, it's all take-our-ball-and-go-home from the Establishment.  Regardless of what you think about any of these candidates, one thing that's clear is that you're witnessing the dissolution of a political party.  It's losing its legitimacy because it has forfeit its purpose for existing.  People want real choice, not illusory choice.  And for a long time now the GOP has offered little more than illusory choice.