US politics have now become a war for survival - for both sides

 

I've written several articles pointing out that we can't vote our way out of this mess.  When the November 2020 elections were stolen - literally, through electoral fraud - the conservative side of US politics was (rightly) furious;  but they're talking in terms of winning the next election, and undoing the damage.  That's not going to happen.  The electoral legislation that the Democratic Party is right now ramming through Congress is designed to ensure that it alone wins elections from now on.  Anyone else won't get a look-in unless the powers that be decide to throw the other side a bone or two, to satisfy those they consider dangerous or obsessive.

This has led several commenters to talk (in so many words) in terms of civil war, armed resistance, and the like.  I've said on more than one occasion that I've seen it happen too often in other parts of the world, and it doesn't solve the problem.  It merely compounds the misery for the survivors.  However, I fear greatly that it'll be inevitable sooner or later, because those who've seized power are adamant that they'll never give it up.

Perhaps the best summary of their perspective, and the almost religious way in which the progressive left sees its mission, has been penned by The Smallest Minority in his essay "Immanentize the Eschaton!"  If you haven't already read it, I highly recommend that you click over there and do so, not just once, but repeatedly.  It clarifies the stakes for both sides, and provides an immense amount of food for thought.  In fact, go read it before you continue with this article.  It's worth your time.

Conservatives may believe that the restoration of our constitutional republic is of overriding importance (and, from a political perspective, I agree with them):  but, in terms of that same constitution, the progressive Left has committed high treason.  They've subverted and undermined the US political process to steal power from the legitimately elected candidate.  They know that if they ever lose power, those who take the reins from them will want criminal investigation and prosecution of all those involved in that electoral fraud - and one of the penalties for high treason is death.  For the left to allow the right to win would be to commit at least political, if not a very physical suicide.  This they will never do voluntarily.

That's why I get very tired and cynical when I hear conservative and/or right-wing politicians talk about "taking back the House" or "taking back the Senate" or "taking back the Presidency".  The "deep State" that facilitated last November's electoral fraud is going to make sure that even if one or more of those institutions changes hands, it will be so emasculated and hamstrung and controlled that it will be effectively meaningless.  We've seen far too many RINO's - Republicans In Name Only - who've abandoned their allegedly conservative principles and voted in lockstep with the progressive left on important issues.  What makes you think there won't be even more of them in future?  There'll be "Trojan Horse" candidates whom the Republican Party lets into its ranks, only to find they're traitors when push comes to shove - and that's only one way in which our political process will be manipulated.

TINVOWOOT.  There Is No Voting Our Way Out Of This.

The first step is for us to hold individuals accountable for their deeds.  That means we have to watch like hawks, to identify the real "powers that be" behind the electoral facade.  We know that former President Obama and his "Organizing for America" are in this up to their necks.  The White House and the Presidential administration are staffed with Obama loyalists and their cronies.  However, Obama isn't the kingpin behind this.  He's just a figurehead himself.  We'll need to look much, much deeper than that.  We'll also have to identify every member of the executive branch, in any and every department, who either stood by and did nothing to stop the progressive left take-over, or who actively aided, encouraged and participated in it.  They've got to go, just as much as the politicians - and they're just as determined, if not more so, to protect themselves.

This will almost certainly "turn kinetic" in due course.  The progressive left knows what awaits them if they fail;  so they'll embrace violence, and subvert the justice system to serve their interests in order to jail or "disappear" their opponents, rather than allow that to happen.  The conservative right knows that'll be their tactic;  so they'll adopt a more robust defense of themselves and their positions, up to and including physical resistance to oppression.

I expect a lot of this to play out in the so-called "Red states", where state governments will seek to pass laws restricting federal agencies from unrestricted operations in their state.  The central government will, of course, retaliate, and will have the force of federal law on its side.  Irresistible force, meet immovable object.

However, much will come down to the individual level.  If local officials seek to enforce a progressive left-wing edict, they'll have to be resisted by locals who refuse to allow tyranny to rule over them.  Based on my experience in the Third World, I have little doubt that'll turn physical in short order.  When officials know that enforcing an unpopular law or dictatorial edict might get them shot or burned out of their homes, they'll be a lot more circumspect in doing so.  No matter how much I hate it, that's the reality of the matter.  I've seen it in several countries so far, and I see no reason why it won't come to our shores before long.

So, when you talk politics in the USA today, bear in mind that it's not just politics.  It's a conflict for survival.  If we all come to our senses and seek mutual accommodation, that can be mutual survival . . . but that's no longer likely.  The progressive left has gone all-in on seizing and maintaining control, at any cost.  They're maintaining a puppet President in power, a man mentally incompetent to and incapable of exercising that office, because they can manipulate him to achieve their ends.  They've shut off the capital city of our nation from its people, and are protecting themselves and their institutions behind barbed wire and military guards, to keep the people out and keep themselves in power.  Those realities alone should illustrate that they're not going to give up, and they're not going to go away.

There Is No Voting Our Way Out Of This.

Our Founding Fathers had an answer for that.  I fear we may have to follow their example.

As NC Renegade summarizes it:

It’s sad what we have allowed to happen to our country. There is only one way to defeat communism, and yes we are now a communist nation, heck I think the Russians have more freedom than us at this point, but we are going to have to fight. This is going to be an elimination event. They hate us and everything we stand for. They want us dead and wiped from history. Personally I hope we get to write the History Books when this is over. Right now it seems all we can do is prepare, but sooner or later someone, some group, somewhere is going to have nothing left to lose soon and then that tiny event, that catalyst, will set this whole thing off.

I fear greatly that he's right.  My personal experience persuades me that he probably is.

Peter

Is Trump's indictment in Georgia intended to "trump" the Electoral College in 2024?

 

I'm wary of conspiracy theories and those who disseminate them.  There's enough of them out there to wallpaper the world by now.  For a current example, just look at all the weird theories about the fires in Hawaii and who (or what) is behind them!

However, one poster on Gab had this to say about President Trump's indictment by a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia.  I've left out only a few words.

All of the charges against Trump, including Georgia's sealed indictments, are absolute BS. I am not a fan of Trump, but I know he is being railroaded. That said, here is the cold reality of the situation:

Blacks despise Trump with a hatred that is hard to explain. Fulton County is almost entirely black. They will convict Trump.

In Georgia, that will immediately disqualify Trump for running for office in that state (Felony convicts are prohibited from running for office in Georgia). That means Trump immediately loses the electoral college, even if every other state allowed him to run (many have similar prohibitions against felons). There is no path because AZ, PA, and MI are Democrat controlled states that will ensure Dem victories in 2024 - no matter who runs for office. The only path to victory is the following: keep all of the 2020 Trump states, flip Georgia back to red, and take the only potential swing state left - Virginia. That is the mathematical reality. That is threading a needle.

The only shot Trump has in Georgia is Governor Brian Kemp. After the trial, Kemp can pardon Trump in time to qualify him for the election. Gov Kemp has shown his outright hatred for Trump twice - 2020 and 2022. In addition, Kemp and DeSantis have a very good cross border working relationship. The attacks on both Kemp and DeSantis will hang over any decision to pardon Trump - at least in time for an election.

You don't have to like it. I am just stating facts.

I think that which is happening to Trump is simply wrong on every level. But his chances of winning the presidency ended this evening. It really does not matter what happens in other states regardless of the primary.

What you should take away from all of this is the following:

Voting never mattered. The federal government is NOT your answer ... You have no power in the current system. It is irrevocably broken and no one is coming to save you.

I make no comment concerning the legitimacy (or otherwise) of the Fulton County charges against President Trump.  They'll be decided by the court that tries his case.  However, I know enough about Fulton County, its demographics, and previous election problems there, to understand that there's a fair amount of meat on this bone.  Whether it's healthy or rotten meat will be revealed as events unfold.

Taken in tandem with the multiple charges brought against President Trump in multiple jurisdictions, one can't call this anything other than a deliberate abuse of the legal system to stop him running for another term as President, any way they can manage it.  I don't know how many felony charges he's facing right now, but they've got to number in the dozens, perhaps the scores.  If this goes on, he'll face over a hundred of them.  It's piling on "lawfare" to an absolutely ludicrous extent.  Justice authorities, both federal and state, give the appearance of having been subverted, co-opted and weaponized to overrule the "will of the people" and the constitution.  It's so blatant and in-your-face that there's no escaping it.

As I've said on several previous occasions:  TINVOWOOT.  There is no voting our way out of this.

So . . . if we can't vote our way out of this . . .what CAN we do?

Don't tell me here.  I don't want to stir up excessively inflammatory discussion in these pages, if only because it'll make anyone doing that a target - and those behind the lawfare against President Trump won't hesitate to use the same weapons against lesser targets.  (If you read the comments following that post on Gab, a lot of people are leaving themselves wide open to such retaliation.)  However, I do urge you to think very carefully about what you can, and are prepared to, do . . . because the day is not far distant when each and every one of us will have to answer that question, in word and in deed.  It won't matter if we're male or female, old or young, conservative or liberal - we're all threatened by this overreach, this abuse of power.  One side alone won't fix that.  It'll take all of us, all right-thinking Americans (with a small 'r').

The final sentence in the lesson left to us by our Founding Fathers should be firmly in our minds.  So should the admonition of Benjamin Franklin, one of their number.  Whether you like President Trump or not, apply that historical reality to what's being done to him right now, and let your eyes be opened.

Peter

The 2024 election campaign in a nutshell

Stephan Pastis, as usual, says it all.  Click the image to be taken to a larger view at the "Pearls Before Swine" Web page.

Yet again, let me point out that with all the manipulation, lying, cheating and deception going on - from both sides of the political aisle - we should not expect a free, fair election in November.  Shenanigans will be the order of the day.  Do not trust any professional politician (i.e. one who's done nothing else except work in politics since leaving high school or college).  If they've grown up in and through that system, they're as untrustworthy as that system.  By all means pick one's flavor of politician and vote for them, but don't expect that to change or improve our society.  I reckon we could count the moral, ethical, honest, upright politicians in the House or the Senate on the fingers of one hand, two at most.

Remember the acronym TINVOWOOT - There Is No Voting Our Way Out Of This - because you're going to be hearing it a lot between now and then.

Peter

Time for the FBI and the Justice Department to come clean

 

The more we examine the conduct of the FBI and the Justice Department over last year's electoral fraud, the end of the Trump administration and beginning of the Biden administration, and all sorts of other shenanigans (including the alleged mistreatment of detainees from the January 6th demonstrations), the more it all stinks to high heaven.  In particular, possible FBI complicity in the events of January 6th, in which the agency and/or its informants is/are alleged to have played the role of agent(s) provocateur, have profound implications for our democracy - what's left of it.

The thing is, it would be extraordinarily easy for the FBI and the Justice Department to disprove all of these allegations.  All they need to do is release the information they're presently concealing from the public (including thousands of hours of security video recordings), and allow free access to those detailed after the January 6th demonstrations, so that we, the public, can see and learn for ourselves the truth of what happened on and since that day.  That's all it would take - but they're refusing to do that.  They're actively making the situation worse for themselves.  What reason can there be for that if they have nothing to hide?

Tucker Carlson summed it up very well yesterday evening.  Here's a very short (3-minute) video segment in which he asks three pointed questions.

If the embedded video above is taken down by YouTube (which appears to do that suspiciously often, if the Big Tech censors there don't like what's being said), you'll find a copy of the above segment on Gab TV.  I highly recommend that you watch it before it vanishes down the censors' memory hole.

Tucker Carlson is right.

If the Justice Department and the FBI have nothing to hide, there should be no problem with them answering his questions.  If they refuse to do so, isn't that prima facie evidence that they are hiding something?

I think that question answers itself.  It's more and more clear that it won't be sufficient to prove electoral fraud in last year's election, or even to remove the Biden administration.  As we've said before, TINVOWOOT.  If we're to safeguard democracy in America and our republican (small-r), constitutional form of government, we're going to have to clean house in all the corrupted agencies, departments and bureaux of government.  That probably means requiring the resignation of (or firing) almost all their senior administrators (those in the Senior Executive Service and/or Executive Schedule), plus the majority of their upper-level General Schedule managers - say, everyone from GS-14 upward, and possibly lower than that in certain agencies.

Yes, that'll disrupt government operations for a while . . . but if we leave them in place, those individuals (and their puppet masters) will disrupt our democracy and constitution.  That's their job, after all.  It's why they were promoted or appointed to their present positions, many during the Obama administration.  The Biden administration is turning out to be, in so many words, Obama's third term, with all the corruption, bias and malice that implies.

That poison is still embedded deep within the Swamp that is Washington D.C.  President Trump made a valiant effort to drain it, but I don't think he realized how deep it runs.  It's like the Hydra - chop off one head, and two more grow.  Like Heracles, we're going to have to (figuratively speaking) not just remove the heads, but cauterize the stumps, to ensure they don't grow back.

Peter

A fair election tomorrow in California? Dream on...

 

There are more and more signs that "the fix is in" in California.  From a felon being found unconscious with hundreds of recall ballots in his possession, to massive propaganda campaigns from the mainstream media against the opposition recall candidates, it's becoming clear that if Governor Newsom is recalled, it will only be because a truly massive turnout managed to beat the "margin of cheat".

The latest news is that in a Republican stronghold, voters are being told that they've already voted - even when they haven't.

Some San Fernando Valley voters think they are being wrongly prevented from casting a ballot in the upcoming gubernatorial recall election.

At El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills, some voters say they were told the computers showed them as already having voted, even though they had not.

West Hills resident Estelle Bender, 88, said she was far from the only person who was being told incorrectly that they had already voted.

In addition to friends of hers who experienced the issue and two other women outside the polling place, Bender said that inside, “the man next to me was arguing the same thing.”

Bender said she filled out a provisional ballot and “left really angry.”

Bender added that, to her knowledge, many of those affected by this issue are self-identified Republicans, and she’s suspicious.

“I’d still like to know how I voted,” Bender said.

There's more at the link.

The problem is, if those affected don't shout and scream and make a fuss, and keep on doing so until they get answers, this will go on happening.  Those in power in California know they can get away with it, because nobody will be held accountable.  That's why they keep doing it.  How many of those who aren't trying to vote early will find out on election day - probably too late to complain or fix it - that they've already voted, whether they knew it or not?

Understand, too, that the Democratic Party dare not lose the governorship of California.  Larry Elder, leading in the polls to replace Newsom, has already announced that if a vacancy occurs in the US Senate, he'll appoint a Republican to fill it - which would destroy the Democrats' fragile single-casting-ballot advantage in that body, and derail their legislative agenda.  Whatever happens, they absolutely cannot afford that.  With stakes that high, I expect they'll do anything at all - legal or illegal - to eliminate that risk.

I said some weeks ago:

If, after all that legislative and electoral jiggery-pokery, Gov. Newsom doesn't win the recall election, it can only be because he and the Democratic Party don't want to win it.  Their preparations for cheating are so in-your-face as to be laughable . . . and they don't care that we know it and can see it.

I've seen nothing to make me change that opinion.

I'm still astonished that so many people expect to reverse the stolen November 2020 elections in November 2022.  Don't you believe it.  The electoral fraud and manipulation last November was so vast, so immense, that it swamped an electoral tidal wave for President Trump.  All the mechanisms that worked so well then are still in place;  and, if the so-called "For The People Act" becomes law, they'll become entrenched forever.  The Act is a recipe for ongoing electoral fraud of such magnitude that free and fair elections will be a thing of the past in the USA.  Note, too, that the White House has just extended for another year the "National Emergency to Avoid Foreign Interference in Our Elections" - the same bureaucratic authorization that was used to help steal the last election.  Even if the "For The People Act" does not become law, all the steps are in place on a national level to repeat November 2020's shenanigans all over again.

Given the ongoing and very steady public opinion polls in California showing him trailing badly, if Governor Newsom wins the recall election, I think it'll be the clearest possible sign that the November 2022 elections will be equally fraudulent.  (Frankly, I expect this.  That's why I've been saying for months in these pages, "TINVOWOOT" - There Is No Voting Our Way Out Of This.  I truly hope and pray that I'm wrong.  I guess we'll find out this week.)

A Newsom win will effectively eliminate the ballot box as one of the "Four Boxes of Liberty" concept.  Given that the soap box (free speech) is effectively dead (at least as far as our censorious mainstream news and social media organs are concerned), and the jury box (our legal system) is severely restricted and impaired (thanks to activist District Attorneys and a biased, partisan Justice Department), that leaves only one box available.

I'm hoping and praying it doesn't come to that, because once that box is opened, events will take on a life of their own, and there'll be no turning back.  I've seen that too often in other countries, and learned it the hard way.  Once that box is unsealed - once the Gates of Janus are opened - all the other boxes are closed, and they'll stay that way until, when all the shouting and tumult is done, someone closes the ammo box again.  That very seldom happens without bloodshed.

Peter

Why there's no voting our way out of this

 

Last week I published an article titled simply "TINVOWOOT", an acronym meaning "There Is No Voting Our Way Out Of This".  Ongoing developments are proving that to be true on a daily basis.

Wirepoints, an organization that's done yeoman work in highlighting the fiscal insanity with which the state of Illinois governs itself, points out that the state's politicians are, at root, completely untrustworthy, because they don't care what the people of Illinois think or want.  They're functioning at their own whim, not answering to anyone - even those who nominally elect them.  Bold, underlined text is my emphasis.

Three stories told those who believe Illinois is on the wrong track that the state’s political establishment cannot care less about their concerns. Disdain and even hatred about those concerns prevail.

First was Gov. JB Pritzker’s State of the State and Budget Address. It’s not just that it was more of the same refusal to undertake the major reforms needed to solve the fiscal crisis, which we are writing about separately. It was the extreme rhetoric Pritzker used to attack a political obstacle that doesn’t exist.

That political obstacle, Pritzker said, is Illinois Republicans. Their purposeful destructiveness has undermined the mission of putting Illinois on the right path, Pritzker would have us believe.  “In essence, they eliminated the fire department, burnt down the house, and poured gas on the flames — and now they’re asking why we’re not doing more to prevent fires,” he said. “In a normal year, I might have more patience for their hypocrisy. But this is not a normal year,” he added.

In truth, however, Republicans have been unable to pass or block a single thing of any consequence during the Pritzker Administration because Pritzker’s party has held a supermajority in the General Assembly for years. Nor do Republicans hold even one statewide office. He has faced no political obstacle from those he excoriated.

Second, Illinois finalized the Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards through a vote by a legislative committee. A firestorm of opposition preceded the vote, expressed by Illinoisans who saw what the standards were plainly designed to accomplish: political indoctrination of kindergarten through high school students, imposing radically divisive critical race theory on classrooms.

Countless parents across the state were livid, but they watched helplessly as the standards were sold to the public through distortion and outright dishonesty, which we wrote about here.

Third, a commission appointed by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to identify city statues that perhaps should be removed returned its list of what it called “problematic” statues. The list includes five of Abraham Lincoln and two of George Washington.

. . .

Most Illinoisans may think it preposterous that those statutes could be tagged for possible removal, but Lightfoot is taking her commission’s list seriously.  “This project is a powerful opportunity for us to come together as a city to assess the many monuments and memorials across our neighborhoods and communities — to face our history and what and how we memorialize that history,” Lightfoot said in a statement.

The common element in each of those stories is the extreme contempt that Illinois’ political leadership shows for the most fundamental values held by many Illinoisans. And they make no effort to hide it. They simply don’t care.

It is therefore understandable if despair is the sentiment growing most rapidly in Illinois.

There's more at the link.

That's only one state, of course:  but Illinois is emblematic of many other "blue states" in its disregard for the will of its people.  Take California, where a petition seeks to gather enough signatures to force a recall election for that state's Governor.  During the recent general election, standards for signature comparison on ballot documentation were relaxed.  Strict comparison was deemed unnecessary, and an unduly onerous burden on election staff.  That was, of course, because Democratic Party politicians were expected to - and did - obtain the majority of the votes cast.  Now, with a Democratic Party governor in danger of recall, does the same standard apply?  Of course not!  Suddenly strict signature comparison and verification are the order of the day - because if enough of the signatures on the recall petition can be called into question, there will be no recall election.

The duplicity is sickening . . . but it's no more than what we've come to expect from the progressive left as soon as they gain power.  They try to make sure, by fair means and/or foul, that they never relinquish it again.

We're seeing this now on our southern border.  The point of letting in a flood of illegal aliens is not compassion, or altruism, or anything of the sort.  It's to ensure that left-wing voters and potential voters outnumber those who might oppose progressive left-wing policies.  We all know this . . . but you'll never see it mentioned in the mainstream news media, because it's politically incorrect to mention it.  "Out of sight, out of mind" is their mantra.

We've just had another example out of that bastion of progressive buffoonery, New York City, where an educator has allegedly been forced out after refusing to take part in politically correct indoctrination.

Ames was grilled about her “ethnic background,” chastised by a colleague at a training session when she shared her grandparents’ experience during the Holocaust in Poland, and “admonished” when she declined requests at superintendents meetings to take part in the comic book movie-inspired “Wakanda Forever” salute to “black power,” she charges in the legal filing.

Again, more at the link.

Wakanda?  A fictional, non-existent nation that exists only in imagination, being used as an ideological indoctrination point?  What happened to reality???

Any right-thinking American with children in that school system should be absolutely outraged if the report is true . . . but you'll hear only crickets from most parents, because they've stopped caring.  They regard the public school system as a warehousing project for their children.  They don't actually care about what they're taught, just as long as the kids are kept busy while their parents are doing other things.  When they "graduate", their lack of knowledge and understanding won't matter, just so long as they're part of "the system", and know enough to fill in welfare forms.  Those parents who do care about their kids' education will, indeed, be outraged . . . but they're outnumbered and outvoted by the mass of those who don't.  Therefore, nothing will be done.

Increasingly, if we care for traditional American values and morality and standards, we're going to have to inculcate them in our children in spite of, rather than with the help of, the state.  That will, in turn, arouse the suspicion of a state whose political leaders want everybody indoctrinated to think as they see fit.

As I've said before, if you find yourself trapped in such a "blue state", or in a blue enclave within a "red state", it's long gone time you started looking for a way out of there.  You may lose money by moving, but you'll at least retain at least some degree of the freedom for which our founding fathers fought . . . not to mention your self-respect.  Freedom begins locally, with citizens and their local government controlling their own affairs.  From there, we can move upward and outward to take back levels of government that have been infiltrated by the progressive enemies of freedom - but it all starts locally.

Peter

The mainstream media propaganda machine is in full swing

 

I'm sure my readers have noticed how, as soon as Kamala Harris was "anointed" as the Democratic Party candidate for the Presidential election in November, the mainstream media (most of which could be more accurately labeled "the Democratic Party support machine") began boosting her at every opportunity, while downplaying former President Trump's chances against her.

One of the most egregious ways they're supporting Harris is to "whitewash" (you should pardon the expression) her political past.  How many remember that in 2019, she was ranked the most liberal Senator of all?  Suddenly that Govtrack rating is nowhere to be found on the Internet (except at the Internet Archive, to which we're indebted for keeping track of potentially embarrassing cover-ups like that).  Govtrack confirms that the page was deleted sometime in the past couple of weeks, despite the scoring method it used being discarded some years ago.  One does wonder about the timing . . .

There have also been many opinion polls suggesting that Harris has not only drawn level with Trump in popular ranking, but even exceeded his rating.  However, those opinion polls are themselves highly suspect, because the sampling is so often skewed heavily towards the Democratic Party.  For example:

In today's episode of why polls are generally bullshit - a new survey of voters from Harvard-Harris has Donald Trump beating Kamala Harris 48-45, despite yet another egregious oversampling of roughly 25% Democrats which was then 'weighted to the US general adult population' - that still resulted in a Democrat oversample.

Now imagine if the poll wasn't ridiculously skewed and oversampled to Democrats:

Republican respondents: 654

Democrat respondents: 883 https://t.co/eB4iV282EO pic.twitter.com/WMzfcll4H3

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 30, 2024

This, despite the fact that Gallup has national party identification at +6 Republicans/Republican leaning independents.

There's more at the link.

I've taken a look at half a dozen of the skewed-towards-Harris polls, and in every case where the sampling data was provided, they had oversampled Democrat-leaning respondents and undersampled Republican-leaning ones.  Gee - who'd of thunk it?

There are also blatant attempts to demonize factions of Trump supporters, painting them as unstable to the point of possibly representing a danger to this country.  For example:

As a scholar who studies American Christian nationalism and Christian extremism, I can say with confidence that right-wing Christianity is presently experiencing mass radicalization around Trump — driven, in large part, by prophecy. The very meaning of the term “evangelical” is itself quietly shifting, with new paradigms of theology and practices moving from what were once the fringes into the mainstream.

The fallout for American politics could be quite perilous: These are some of the same driving forces that sent a mob of Trump supporters to the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Again, more at the link.

The author is, of course, quite correct in viewing organized religious support for any candidate as potentially dangerous.  History is awash with claims of "God is with us!" on both sides of an issue, be it elections, wars or just plain existing . . . and there's never been a Divinely sanctioned outcome that I can identify.  Indeed, if I were the Almighty (and you should be very grateful that I'm not!), I'd have washed my hands of all those who claimed Divine sanction without a single shred of evidence to prove it.

I've said before that the current "powers that be" dare not lose this election, because it would lead to all their earlier shenanigans being uncovered, and much of the damage they have done to this country being put right.  They cannot allow that.  Therefore, I expect even more cheating and chicanery in November.  What's more, I won't be surprised if another assassination attempt against President Trump - or perhaps more than one - just "happens" to get through his security detail.  Pray God such attempts will be unsuccessful, because if one succeeds, I think we're facing a very real danger of civil war.

I have no idea who will be declared the winner in November's election - but I think the next hundred days or so (not to mention the aftermath of the election) will be very dangerous for our constitutional republic system of government.  The pressures on both sides to overturn the checks and balances in our system, and "go to the mattresses" instead, are going to be enormous.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  TINVOWOOT.  There Is No Voting Our Way Out Of This.  The powers that be are entrenched, and will not give up their position voluntarily no matter what the voters want.  I expect to see that play out between now and November.  For a start, watch the Democratic Party's National Convention in August;  then see whether the street violence of 2019/2020 comes back afterwards.  Frankly, I'm expecting it.

Peter

EDITED TO ADD:  See this montage of mainstream media parroting the Democratic National Committee line about the Republican vice-presidential candidate, J. D. Vance, being "weird".  It's both funny and deeply concerning, because it proves how much in lockstep the media are with left-wing and progressive talking points.

I'm afraid he's right

 

Let me say up front that I'm not particularly enamored at the thought of a second term for President Trump.  I think he's too old, and too opinionated, and too brash, loud-mouthed and egotistical to make a good President in future.  I will admit that his first term was a whole lot better than I expected, and he did a number of very good things - but he also did a number of very bad things, such as choose entirely the wrong people for his team who proceeded to undermine his authority, and his wholesale cock-up of the response to COVID-19, the effects of which are still with us.

That said, I agree he has every right to run for a second term, and if he wins the popular vote, he should be allowed to serve as POTUS once again.  However, I also agree with The Good Citizen that he's very, very unlikely to be given that chance, because the process (and the US constitution, and our institutions of government) is/are being openly and maliciously manipulated to block him.  I don't believe we can have another honest election while the powers that be are in control.

Recent election interference from a weaponized Department of Justice intent on keeping Donald J. Trump from ever returning to the White House has horrified conservatives, independents, legal experts, and anyone with principles who cares about fairness, justice, and equality under the law.

They cannot fathom the banana republic transformation happening before their eyes, out in the open, and they weep for Lady Justice, who as I wrote after the shambolic New York indictment, “…hasn’t just been robbed of her blindfold, they’ve bent her over and invited every sick spook over for a gang bang.”

Watching conservatives’ confusion about recent election results and the political persecution of their favorite candidate is like watching the double-masked lockdowners waiting for Fauci to give them their next orders, except they’ll tune into the usual conservative commentariat who will never tell them the truth or risk losing their platforms that extract millions of dollars and billions of minutes of attention from these poor souls who just want their republic back.

. . .

What reality?

The reality that anyone with half a functioning brain could see coming since they orchestrated a domestic coup against Trump and spent four years undermining his Presidency.

The reality that conservative pundits failed for years to disclose to their loyal flock—Trump is not permitted to ever return to the White House. It doesn’t matter if he’s polling at 99% with all voters, he simply has two choices: Prison, or a plea deal that prevents his name from appearing on the ballot in 2024.

This isn’t just election interference, it’s weaponized lawfare by the state for ballot rigging against the favored candidate, and it will, not, stop.

. . .

Trump needs to keep running in order to score that plea deal that keeps him from doing time in a federal pokey and to continue the financial windfall from his supporters who instead of paying off their own credit card debt or shielding themselves from the coming collapse of the dollar by buying gold or silver will be suckered into micro-donations over the next 18 months to subsidize his legal bills for the next decade.

While most of last year the conservative punditry naively celebrated Trump’s latest MAGA rallies, and anticipated their savior’s return to power to rescue them from the open and brazen demolition of their republic-in-name-only, last summer I warned that all of this would happen:

At this point, all Americans should plan on them prosecuting Trump to keep him from running again, and/or rigging the 2024 election against whomever the opposition candidate is. Tyranny doesn’t decelerate on its own. If there are no consequences for traitors, seditionists, war criminals, and their federal government servants, there is absolutely no possibility for anything to change in the future. They will further weaponize federal agencies to make life hell for any people who even plan on resisting. This includes grandmothers touring the Capitol building, and former Trump administration officials, lawyers, followers, and supporters. Expect the political persecution to only increase in the year ahead as the next Presidential cycle nears.

They will bury him in legal proceedings even if every indictment increases his standing in the polls and improves his chances against Biden. They don’t care about any of that because they’re banking on prison or a plea deal that keeps Trump off the ballot. The regime is all-in on this play and cannot fold or run.

With either outcome, they win.

There's more at the link.

As I've said many times before in these pages, TINVOWOOT - There Is No Voting Our Way Out Of This.  The entrenched powers that be are playing for all the marbles.  They know that if "their" politicians lose control of government, they face impeachment, prosecution and imprisonment for their crimes against America - therefore they dare not allow "their" politicians to be defeated.  They control enough Republicans to be sure that even if that party wins control of Congress and the Senate, their puppets will still prevent any retaliation against them.  The one thing they can't control is a rogue President from outside the "Washington system" who won't obey their rules:  therefore, they'll do whatever is necessary (I believe, up to and including murder) to prevent such a President from being installed.

I'm personally convinced that they'll try to bring down the whole American house of cards if they have to, to prevent anyone else taking over.  They'd sooner take the Samson option - "pull down the temple and die with the Philistines" - rather than lose power.  That's the primary reason I've been hammering on the subject of emergency preparedness for so long - because I sincerely believe they're willing (and may well be able) to destroy the USA as we know it, if necessary, rather than lose control of the reins of power.  It's the Götterdämmerung approach, the Ragnarök solution.  Hitler is reported to have said, towards the end of World War II, that Germany did not deserve him, and therefore should be destroyed for its lack of faith in and support for him.  That's how these people think, too.  If America won't support and sustain their hold on power, then to hell with America.  Let it burn.

James Kunstler sees it too.

Surely Merrick Garland is not running the Department of Justice, but which gloopy pseudopod of the Blob is? My guess would be some Intel Community politburo made up mostly of people you’ve never heard of. The trouble is these geniuses confuse political ****ery with the operations of law.

. . .

Behind all these blobulations looms the specter of Mr. Trump’s attempted return to power. What would he do in the remote case that he escapes the Blob’s mendacious prosecutions? Chop the Blob into a million gelatinous fragments, expose it to enough heat to vaporize it all, and recalibrate a US government back to the task of operating the few things it might arguably be competent at. Such a program would obviate the Blob’s drive to destroy everything worth operating in the human project of remaining civilized.

Alas, Blobism has become the religion of the deranged intellectual / managerial class in America. The chief concern of this crypto-gnostic religion is summoning demons to harass those it regards as heretics to Blobism. Thus, it is well within the historic tradition of fanatical / hysterical paroxysms that shake ordinary human doings and end up needlessly and wrongfully killing a lot of people.

No doubt Blobism is a product of the Intel Community run by that mysterious politburo, with assists from partners in foreign lands such as the WEF, the WHO, the CCP, and a coterie of essentially stateless super-rich guys with axes to grind. It was designed to derange the people who do most of its on-the-ground dirty work. They already have a lot of blood on their hands with the Covid-19 trip laid on the world, the pointless war in Ukraine, which it started deliberately, and now the forced de-industrialization of the West with a crusade against farming on the side, to make sure that those who don’t die of vaccine-related immune system disorders just starve to death.

Again, more at the link.

I believe the rule of law has been sidelined, if not completely destroyed, in America's political sector.  The constitution and laws of the United States are conspicuous by their irrelevance to political operators.  They are disregarded, twisted, abused and manipulated for partisan political ends.  The rest of us are simply looking on from outside, powerless to use that constitution and those laws to restore the rule of law.  If we want to do that, it's going to have to be through other means.

Our future, as a nation and as individual Americans, is murky.  I believe we're facing very grave dangers, both internally and externally.  I think the most important thing we can do right now is to band together with other right-thinking people, to help each other to prepare for the uncertainties and dangers that lie ahead, and survive them as best we can.

I do not believe our republic, as presently structured, can survive the mess we're in.  I truly and sincerely hope we'll emerge from this crisis by returning to what our Founding Fathers wanted . . . but I also have to admit that there's enough nihilism and fanaticism out there that such a vision may be impossible.  We may find ourselves in another Thirty Years' War situation, this time driven not by religious but by political and ideological differences.  That would be disastrous, but it's by no means impossible - and it's outside our control.

LtGen. Michael Flynn warns:

Our country right now, is not at the precipice looking over the edge of the cliff, we’re in the valley of the shadow of death. We have given in and given up the moral high ground to what I truly believe is a communist takeover, a Marxist left takeover of our country through the various institutions within our country including and up to the White House.

I agree with him.

Watch what happens to President Trump.  That will tell you which side is winning.  Don't be too optimistic.  If they defeat him, they'll be coming after all of us, and they won't stop, because fanatics and extremists never stop.  They always want more power, and they always want one thing more, day after day after day.  There's no letup in them unless they're stopped in their tracks - and that may become necessary, the way they're carrying on.  They can only see the world through the biased, warped perspective of the lenses they've made for their own eyes.  They can't see reality in any other way - and those of us who do are so clearly, obviously wrong (to them) that we must be brought into line the hard way if we won't do it the easy way.

That's what leads to genocide.  Think it can't happen here?  Think again.  Remember the frontier period slogan, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian"?  Replace "Indian" with "conservative", or "Trump supporter", or "deplorable", and you get the idea.

Peter

Once again, TINVOWOOT

 

I've said before that there is no voting our way out of the political mess left behind after the massively fraudulent November 2020 elections.  I honestly don't think we can resolve the situation through another election, because it'll be just as fraudulent as the last one.  It's going to take more than elections to dig our way out of the political and constitutional Augean stables in which we find ourselves.

I'm obliged to TwelveRound for putting the situation in a nutshell.

The sight of politicians, especially Republican politicians, bemoaning the state of affairs is more than a sane person can take, if that description still fits. The U.S. is in a full-blown Constitutional crisis, caused by the lack of integrity of the Republicans as the opposition party. The Democrats are communist and have been for a while, but only lately have we discovered why Republicans have for the longest time lacked spine. It’s not weakness, it’s corruption so deep that they can’t even do what is in their political best interest, much less the people’s.

The election fraud is so pervasive that it doesn’t speak to the level of fraud in our elections, it speaks to the level of corruption throughout the government. The DOJ refusing to look at the fraud in any state, but threatening to intervene where fraud is being discovered is only part of the story.

Where have the Republicans been? Where have their voices gone? Any of them who do not raise concerns about the 2020 election when 51% of the people across all ages, races and political affiliation believe that it was a crooked election, are complicit. The polls are enough for all of the Republicans to demand investigations, safeguard the audits and demand forensic audits in all of the states, but they’re like Bowe Bergdahl, leading patriots into oblivion.

Compromised voting machines did not just switch votes from Trump to Biden. How many of those election results were purchased by Republicans? Is all of the silence coming out of the GOP a sign that a good many of them retained their seats through backroom deals and crooked counts? Are they complicit in crimes being uncovered under Trump? There IS a reason, whatever it is, for their silence. It’s dirty and it’s allowing for the further degradation of the nation.

Does anyone really believe in the honor and integrity of anyone in politics? Really? One, maybe two of your favorites, perhaps. It’s not enough. This nation is in a tough spot, especially the Americans who make it run. There are no safe harbors, no honest advocates. How long do they expect them to accept this ruse? This blatant puppet show?

Everyone in power, whatever position that might be, from the Senate Minority Leader on down, want to keep that power and by ignoring the glaring lack of legal authority in the nation, they can hold onto power long enough to loot the treasury, draw their pension, or make their wage. But it’s dangerous and the lives of every American is in jeopardy.

Why does China now threaten Taiwan? Because the United States is weak, corrupt, distracted or all three. Those in political office do not take up the cause of the people, they seek power and do not honor their oaths, so that their power might be retained even under a different ruling power than the United State of America. What have they done to honor our elections? What have they done to support the Constitution? They don’t and they don’t even care if we know it, because they have very likely already taken the loot, most have.

. . .

… there are indications of treason that go beyond just the election, something evil; treason on a scale before unimaginable. I raise the alarm only to ask the question: What then? What happens when it is so evil as to be nearly impossible to believe? We cannot afford cognitive dissonance that so easily presents itself. What happens when the goal is no longer even preservation of the union, but simply to die with honor? In the absence of law, but replaced with raw, legalized brutality, what then? We saw it, it exposed itself during the trial run, the pandemic. Cops and now a dumbed-down, castrated military under the guidance of ignorant, complicit pukes like Mark Milley, will gain favors breaking our backs, if we allow it. That description may not be true of the military today, but anyone "in" right now understands that's the direction; to provide a weakened, distracted, woke-obsessed military so that when the bad guys do come, our military will be busy brushing each other's hair.

There's more at the link.  I highly recommend that you click over there and read the whole thing.

We are not going to vote our way out of this.  That's no longer possible.  I suspect the solution may have to be some form of division or partition of these formerly United States, where the statists can go their way while the constitutionalists can go another.  Of course, that begs the question whether either side will have the sense to let that happen, or will insist that they want all the marbles - complete surrender by the other side.  That's not going to happen.  We all know that.  That way lies civil war.

Meanwhile, our enemies abroad are making hay while the sun shines.  They know the USA is effectively leaderless, hamstrung by a mentally challenged geriatric in the White House who's being stage-managed by his handlers in what is blatant elder abuse, and torn by partisan division in Congress.  They know that our nation is now a house divided:  and, as Christ warned us, "if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand".  They're counting on that.  They foresee the fall of the United States as a superpower, and they're salivating at the prospect.

Friends, we face a very, very difficult time ahead.  Our problems - political, social, economic and cultural - are so vast as to be intractable.  I don't know whether there's any solution short of war that will deal with them;  and, even if there is, it'll take years to work itself out.

All I can advise, to each of us as individuals and as families, is to prepare as best we can, and look for like-minded folks with whom we can come together for mutual support.  We'll get precious little support from the powers that be.  Our own clans, tribes and communities are going to be critically important in the years to come.

Peter

TINVOWOOT

 

For those who don't already know it, the headline to this post is an acronym meaning "There Is No Voting Our Way Out Of This".  We're in an existential struggle for the life of the American constitutional republic, and facing enemies on all sides.  Unless and until we wake up to the fact that we're in a war, and going to have to react accordingly, we will lose every time.  What's more, so far, that war has been relatively peaceful - but there's no guarantee it'll remain that way.

The progressive leftists who fraudulently took control of our Administration are tireless in their efforts, and determined to make us obey their every whim.  Any and every act of resistance, or refusal to see things their way, will be treated as rebellion, domestic terrorism, extremism, racism, or any other -ism they can use against us.  As the anonymous blogger who writes at NC Renegade points out:

The United States of America is dead. It no longer exists. We are now ruled by Communist. You best get your mind wrapped around that. You only have the illusion of freedom as long as you do as you are told and be a good little peasant. If you are here reading this, you are an enemy of the state. Sooner or later they will come for you and decisions will have to be made. These Communist hate us, they hate everything we stand for. They aim to eradicate us. They don’t even hide their intentions anymore, they tell us on the mainstream media what they intend to do. Are you listening? If you think you can just be silent and obedient and they will leave you alone, you best think again. These people hate you and they are out to replace you. They want everything that we stand for GONE!

So what are we to do? I don’t know. Our side lacks organization, always has, and it seems we always will. Everyone on our side seems to always be the smartest person in the room and it’s always their way or no way. I don’t know how we get around that.

I understand everyone wants peace, but we are not going to take our Republic back by remaining pacifist. There can be no peace as long as our country remains in control of those who falsely gained control ... I don’t know what we Americans, we Patriots should do. I do know that you can’t remain silent. Our founders were willing to die for the rights espoused in the Declaration they crafted and signed at their own peril. Our founders were called traitors and radicals, no worse than what we are being called today. When it comes down to it, many Americans simply don’t have the spine or fortitude to stand up and fight, even with FREEDOM on the line.  Our children and grandchildren deserve better from us. What will you say when they ask what you did to take back our country from the Communist?

There's more at the link.

If you think NC Renegade is exaggerating, you haven't been paying attention.  How many of you noticed this report from New York City yesterday?

The principal of East Side Community School in New York sent white parents a manifesto that calls on them to become “white traitors” and advocate for full “white abolition.”

“This is the new language of public education,” tweeted Christopher F. Rufo along with an image showing “the 8 white identities,” which range from “white supremacist” to “white abolition.”

The accompanying text, which has been circulated before by left-wing extremists, defines the behavior white people must practice in order to put an end to “the regime of whiteness.”

The two final stages, “white traitor” and “white abolitionist,” demands that white people “subvert white authority,” “dismantle institutions,” dismantle whiteness and not allow whiteness to reassert itself.

. . .

Teaching of such self-hatred is now becoming commonplace in schools as kids are brainwashed that they’re inherently bad for being born white.

Again, more at the link.

To make matters worse, both political parties (Republican no less than Democrat) are determined to continue their rule as an effective "Uniparty", where they'll effectively support each other's policies and go on getting rich at our expense.  Mitch McConnell succeeded in destroying the Tea Party movement years ago, seeing it as a threat to his dominance of the Senate Republican caucus, and he's now trying to do exactly the same thing to MAGA supporters.

The Democrats are trying to achieve the same result by demonizing former President Trump.  They believe, if they can discredit him and knock him out of the political arena, they'll effectively derail his supporters and prevent them having any further populist influence in US politics.  They're wrong, of course;  but they haven't figured that out yet.  (They might have got a clue, if they were watching during yesterday's Presidents Day parade in Florida.)

Even if voting isn't a guaranteed way to fix our present problems, I'm more and more convinced that part of our solution to our national tragedy must be a genuine "third rail":  a new political party, drawing in centrist, populist Democrats and Republicans.  We've been betrayed by both progressives and conservatives, both liberals and traditionalists.  Let's abandon them all, and forge a new way forward.  I don't expect President Trump to lead it, but I'm sure he'll have a major part to play in putting momentum behind it and getting the effort off the ground - provided, that is, his political enemies don't engineer his assassination (something I fear they won't hesitate to do, if they think they can get away with it).

As for the rest of us . . . we need to be watchful.  Let's do our best to stamp on any extremist agenda in our local communities, and encourage our states to assert their constitutional rights and freedoms over a power-hungry federal state that no longer cares a fig for the constitution.  Let's also figure out which of our elected officials needs to be kicked out, and primary the heck out of them and their offices.  If we don't want to run for office ourselves, let's support others who do, and take back every elected position we can.  Every one we recapture helps to slow the march of Leviathan through our communities.  Take back enough of them, and who knows what might happen?  For a start, a properly functioning School Board could sort out the cretins who call upon white parents to abolish themselves!

However, remember the headline to this article.  "There Is No Voting Our Way Out Of This."  In the end, the ballot box almost certainly won't be enough, because the powers that be have already shown beyond a shadow of doubt that they're prepared to subvert, cheat and overturn elections to get their way.  That leaves us with few options, except direct action.  I still hope and pray we can avoid that;  but those now in power are grimly determined to hold on to it at any cost.  They're unlikely to give up without a fight.

That's a grim last step that nobody in his or her right mind wants to see.  However, in the end, it may be that resistance becomes the only option they leave open to us.  God forbid! - but start thinking about how it would affect you if it comes to that.  I don't think we're going to see a second Civil War along the lines of the first, with formal armies and marching and battles.  Instead, we're going to see urban unrest, fourth generation warfare, and constant internecine terrorism.  I'm here to tell you from long and bitter personal experience, that's no way to live . . . but I can see it happening here.  If you have the chance, even if it costs you money you can't afford, consider moving to a safer area, where your loved ones will be less exposed to that sort of thing.

Of course, the progressive left can see that coming, too.  That's why they're so determined to disarm the US populace.  A disarmed person is a serf, a slave, unable to protect himself or his family.  Expect legislation to outlaw so-called "assault rifles", high-capacity magazines and other paraphernalia.  Will Americans comply?  On the basis of past experience, I doubt it.  If possible, I suggest you move to a state that's likely to defend your right to keep and bear arms, even if the central government tries to abolish or restrict it.

Peter

"So what can I, personally, do about this mess?"

That's a question I'm being asked more and more, as the dismally partisan, sectarian and one-sided impeachment proceedings play out in Congress;  as crisis after crisis (our all-too-porous borders, homelessness, the economy, etc.) grabs the headlines;  as people feel more and more powerless to actually change the rot that they see all around them in our society.  "What can I, personally, do to change it?"

I think there are several things one can do:  but they all have to begin with accepting the situation as it is, and ourselves as we are.  It's no good saying, "Things should be this way" when they're not.  It's no good saying, "I won't stand for that!" when the cold, hard reality is that you have no choice but to stand for that, because it's out of your control.  It's all very well to talk wildly about shooting those who won't change/move/adapt/adjust/comply/whatever, but the reality is that they'll shoot back;  the legal system will come after you as the perpetrator of a crime;  and your facile, simplistic "solution" isn't worth the air you've just wasted on expressing it.

Reality, folks.  We've got to be rooted in and founded on reality if we're to make a difference . . . and far too many people today are not.

I submit the first step is for each of us to accept that I, as an individual, am flawed.  I don't have everything right;  I'm not the shining example I present myself as being;  I have feet of clay.  We can approach this in the light of an ethical or moral framework, or a religious one, or a philosophical perspective - whatever background we choose.  Whatever that may be, we have to come to the realization that the problem begins with me.  I have to get myself at least basically in order, before I can expect to help others do the same with the problem(s) confronting us.

The second step is to accept that not all problems are within our power to solve.  Reinhold Niebuhr's so-called 'Serenity Prayer' reads, "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;  courage to change the things I can;  and wisdom to know the difference."  That's a good start.  Many of the problems our society faces cannot be solved by any one person, or even by a decent-sized group of people.  Many of them are caused and/or worsened by people with opposing ideologies, facing off over an issue and refusing to compromise.

The southern border is a good example.  Those who value law and order (including yours truly) protest their wholesale violation on the border.  Those who prioritize humanitarian considerations over law and order regard the law-and-order crowd as evil, hate-filled, unfeeling, uncaring.  That's not about to change, and no matter how much we may try to impose a solution from one perspective or the other, there will always be those who try to undermine our "solution" and/or replace it with their own version - which we'll do our best to undermine in our turn.  Homelessness, drug addiction, the right to keep and bear arms, whatever problem you like - the same dilemma arises.  The irresistible force meets the immovable object, and neither will give way.

So what do we do about such issues?  I submit there are four practical things any individual can do:

1. Educate oneself about the issues involved, and make sure one has an accurate and sufficiently detailed understanding of the reality of the situation.  "Going off half-cocked" doesn't only apply to firearms.
2. Ally oneself with those of like mind, and seek to be a leavening, uplifting influence in that alliance.  Look to raise everyone's understanding to the highest common factor, rather than let it degenerate to the lowest common denominator.  Individuals and groups should strive to be better balanced, better educated, better intentioned, and better qualified than their opposition.
3. Seek to educate, rather than intimidate or dominate.  Sure, there will be those on both sides who use histrionics, emotion and pressure to try to get their way;  but there will also be those who are open to persuasion.  Seek them out.  Look for opportunities to present the facts of the matter, rather than one's opinion, and let those facts speak for themselves.  (And, when they present the facts as they see them, don't dismiss them out of hand.  Who knows?  They might have at least some right on their side, too!)
4. Stand firm on the essential principles underlying the issue, but compromise in less important matters where necessary.  This means being flexible in areas where that can be done without violating those issues.  You want strict law and order enforced at the border?  OK - but what about helping genuine refugees?  They're out there.  What about temporary worker visas, to help farmers get in their crops, something they say they can't do without migrant labor?  To get what we want in one area, we'll have to compromise in others.  Why not do that?

I can already hear some of my readers complaining, "But, Peter, you're being utopian!  The real world isn't like that!  We've tried all that, and it hasn't worked - so it's time to get as hard-line as our opponents, and stop them in their tracks!"  To that I can only answer, "Are you sure you've tried that?"  I've seen plenty of intransigence, aggression, power plays and demagoguery from individuals and groups on both sides.  We're too prone to jump to absolutes.  "If you're not for us, you're against us!"  "If you won't take up arms to defend these absolutes, you're no friend of freedom!"

How many of you remember this famous statement?

"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

Who defines "extremism", "liberty", "vice",  "moderation", "justice" and "virtue"?  If we arrogate to ourselves the right to define such things, what if our opponents do the same?

Finally, let me say that my biggest fear is those who too quickly jump to conclusions, or are too ready to "go to the mattresses" and fight it out.  Friends, I've seen the result of that in at least seven nations.  I was there in the middle of it in three of them, and I saw the aftermath in four of them.  I daresay I've seen, with my own two eyes, literally thousands of dead bodies, maimed victims, physically and mentally injured and scarred survivors.  When extremes collide, there may be a 'victor', but both sides in an internal conflict are usually so deeply wounded by their clash that the nation as a whole never recovers, or takes generations to do so.  Examples:

• I said in 1994, when South Africa held its first truly democratic election, that it would take at least two generations for that country to work through the problems apartheid left behind, and heal from those wounds.  It's now just entered the second of those generations - and it's a mess.  I see no reason to change my forecast.
• In Rwanda, where hundreds of thousands of Tutsi tribespeople were slaughtered by Hutus (also in 1994), the country is still torn by the hatred and dissent engendered by the massacres.  Hundreds of thousands of its citizens still live in refugee camps in the Congo, rather than return home.
• Look at East and West Germany, now united, but with a distinct regional identity where the two former countries had been - and residual bitterness in the East about the way in which the more affluent West "took over".
• For that matter, look at those who perpetuate the "Lost Cause" myth about the American Civil War, and still try to insist that slavery was not the prime cause of that conflict.  There are so many facts and historical references that the truth is incontrovertible - but they still try to argue.  They won't give up their dream of what they think Southern society was like.

There are some things on which I will take a firmly principled stand.  For example, I will not submit to anyone seeking to take away my right to keep and bear arms.  That's not negotiable.  However, as the Supreme Court has pointed out more than once, regulation of such a right is entirely legal, so long as it doesn't become so draconian as to infringe on the right itself.  That's a gray area, and I'll do well to remember that, and not jump to absolutist conclusions (or actions) unless and until that's fully justified.  The same goes for all the rest of the Bill of Rights, and for the fundamental moral code I have chosen to follow.  I will not allow someone to force me to violate that, even if they pass a law to that effect;  and, yes, that's a position I will defend by any means necessary.  However, I have to accept that those who disagree with me also have the same right to their own positions.  I can't impose mine on them, and they can't impose theirs on me.  It's a two-way street.

During my active days as a pastor, I was often asked to counsel couples having difficulties in their marriage.  A frequent complaint from one or both parties was, "I'm not getting what I expected/needed/wanted out of my marriage."  My instant response was always, "Well, what are you putting into your marriage?"  The Biblical standards are tried and tested.  "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  "As you sow, so shall you reap."

One can't help but notice that most political discourse these days seems to ignore those basic human realities.  That's tragic in many ways . . . but we don't have to let the intransigence of others define our response.  We can, and should, try to be better than that.  If we behave no better than those whose behavior we despise, what does that say about us?  So, when it comes to political discourse, what are we putting into the debate?  If our remarks, attitudes and actions are as hard-line, inflammatory and extremist as the worst of our political foes, how can we claim the moral high ground?  We've made ourselves no better than they are.

Tragically, the pressures on our overcrowded, debt-ridden, pressurized society are leading to more and more rigidity and extremism on all sides.  The acronym TINVOWOOT is heard more and more often, and many have already made the decision to resist, rather than try to contribute to a democratic solution.  I fear the consequences of such radicalization, because I've seen them before:  and therefore I'll work as hard as I can to be a voice of reason, as long as that's possible.  I have little confidence that those of us trying to do that will succeed in changing anyone's mind . . . but that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile to try.

I'm sure I haven't satisfied many of my readers with this essay.  I'm sorry about that;  but I can only give you my perspective on life, the universe and everything, as conditioned by many years of (sometimes pretty brutal) experience, and my moral outlook.  I hope it gives you food for thought, if nothing else.

Peter