Let it be known that on this day I triggered a leftist.
(IM conversation at work re: mask mandate being ruled illegal)Her: Trump-appointed judge in Florida. Meh.Me: U.S. Constitution. Separation of Powers. Meh yourself.
It's amazing how many people that trumpeted (heh) judges overruling President Trump are now losing their shit.
Not surprising, just... amazing.
I have not commented thus far on Mad Vlad Putins ill-considered, and ill-fated, invasion of Ukraine.
But this is too good not to share:
Militarily, Ukraine wins by not losing, but Putin loses by not winning. In fact, it's probably too late for Mad Vlad to do anything but try to save face. And even if he declares victory probably the best he can hope for is nice dacha someplace...
But this video (note the source: Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe!) definitely supports the contention that Ukraine is wining the propaganda war! Yes, the "Ghost of Kyiv" seems to be an exaggeration, and the whole thing with the Marines telling the Russian navy to pound sand seems to be that, at least, but the stories were wide spread, and nowhere in the propaganda manuals does it say "they have to be true."
But, Lord, do I want it to be true that Ukrainian Grandmothers are giving Russian soldiers sunflower seeds with instructions to keep them in their pockets, so the flowers will bloom in the Ukrainian soil they are going to die on...
DO I UNFAIRLY PAINT THE LEFT WITH A BROAD BRUSH?
...I’m talking about YOU. Regular people. Voters. The guy next door. The masses on the internet. Just average joes. Democrats. Libs. Whatever you call yourself. Anybody who identifies as being on the left.
When your leaders pick a narrative, you drink that Kool-Aid. Even if it’s shit flavored Kool-Aid, most of you smile and tell us it’s the best fucking Kool-Aid you’ve ever tasted. It’s milk from the teat of a magic cherry flavored Unicorn. Nope. It’s shit. You all know it’s shit. But you go along with the narrative anyway.
When the insane progs among you lie their asses off, I’m talking blatant, easily disproven, painfully ham-fisted, fucking LIES… Do you call them out? Do you say, “hang on guys, that’s a little nuts”. Because if you do, the rest of us sure as fuck don’t ever see it. Pick a topic, any topic. It’s always the same.
Read the whole thing. When I got to that part, though, I laughed out loud, woke Mrs. Drang up from her migraine-induced snooze, and further disturbed her by reading the entire thing out loud. She hasn't objected, so I guess she agrees. Either that. or she has Plans for tonight while I'm sleeping.
(Actually, i know she agrees because she started talking Seattle politics...)
Tal Bachman: We Have Met the Enemy
The strange figures known as Wokists currently destroying America aren't just reprises of earlier enemies. They represent something rather new. The political cult of Wokism combines the worst aspects of every political cult in history.
Whether they realize it or not, Wokists themselves combine the lunatic loyalty of the Manson family with the hollow pseudo-joy of Jonestown residents, the racism of National Socialists, the inhumanity of Mao Tse-Tung, the bratty tantrums of Veruca Salt, the nihilism of Bakunin-style anarchists, the totalitarianism of Stalin's Soviet Union, the child torture and sacrifice of the Mayans, the derangement of Heaven's Gate followers, the sadistic violence of the Jacobins, and the ruthless control-freakism of the current Chinese Communist Party.
Now add to that noxious syncretic blend the Wokist use of powerful communication technologies to shape narratives and meta-narratives, destroy opponents, and recruit new converts, and you've got yourself a thing.
This is all over MeWe and Gab already, but on the of chance you haven't sen it, Time Magazine just published what amounts to a SuperVillain Monologue that details how the presidential election of 2020 was rigged.
Oh, wait. How the Presidential Election of 2020 was fortified to ensure that Democracy was saved!
The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election
Interestingly, that's the way the title on the web page reads, but the tab calls it "The Secret Bipartisan Campaign..."
There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans. The pact was formalized in a terse, little-noticed joint statement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO published on Election Day. Both sides would come to see it as a sort of implicit bargain–inspired by the summer’s massive, sometimes destructive racial-justice protests–in which the forces of labor came together with the forces of capital to keep the peace and oppose Trump’s assault on democracy.
The handshake between business and labor was just one component of a vast, cross-partisan campaign to protect the election–an extraordinary shadow effort dedicated not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible and uncorrupted. For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition of operatives scrambled to shore up America’s institutions as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President. Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign and crossed ideological lines, with crucial contributions by nonpartisan and conservative actors. The scenario the shadow campaigners were desperate to stop was not a Trump victory. It was an election so calamitous that no result could be discerned at all, a failure of the central act of democratic self-governance that has been a hallmark of America since its founding.
Their work touched every aspect of the election. They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding. They fended off voter-suppression lawsuits, recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time. They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears. They executed national public-awareness campaigns that helped Americans understand how the vote count would unfold over days or weeks, preventing Trump’s conspiracy theories and false claims of victory from getting more traction. After Election Day, they monitored every pressure point to ensure that Trump could not overturn the result. “The untold story of the election is the thousands of people of both parties who accomplished the triumph of American democracy at its very foundation,” says Norm Eisen, a prominent lawyer and former Obama Administration official who recruited Republicans and Democrats to the board of the Voter Protection Program.
But's was okay, because Trump did it first by saying mail-in ballots were insecure.
“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.”Frank Herbert, Dune
..it wasn't a coup.
Not even an attempted coup.
Mises Wire: The Capitol Riot Wasn’t a Coup. It Wasn't Even Close.
What Is a Coup?
A gang of disorganized, powerless mechanics, janitors, and insurance agents running through the Capitol isn’t a coup. And if it was a coup attempt, it was so far from anything that might hope to succeed as a coup that it should not be taken seriously as such.
So how do we know a coup when we see one?
In their article “Global Instances of Coups from 1950 to 2010: A New Dataset,” authors Jonathan M. Powell and Clayton L. Thyne provide a definition:
A coup attempt includes illegal and overt attempts by the military or other elites within the state apparatus to unseat the sitting executive.There are two key components of this definition. The first is that it is illegal. Powell and Thyne note that this “illegal” qualifier is important to include "because it differentiates coups from political pressure, which is common whenever people have freedom to organize."
In other words, protests, or threats of protest don’t count as coups. Neither do legal efforts such as a vote of no confidence or an impeachment.
But an even more critical aspect of Powell and Thyne’s definition is that it requires the involvement of elites.
So Twitter has initiated a purge against President Trump and anyone that doesn't want to see him die in fire.
Many of whom have jumped to the Twitter rival, Parler.
Which is hosted on Amazon Web Services.
Which is shutting it down until Parler starts censoring speech in accordance with the wishes of the technocratic oligarchs.
Who constitute a kakocracy.
So, fine, here we go to Gab. Which hosts it's own content.
...if they can do it to Trump, they'll do it to you without even a first thought, let alone a second.
Mozilla, developers of Firefox: 'We need more than deplatforming'
"We must never forget those who furthered the Trump agenda.
"We should welcome in our fellow Americans with whom we differ politically.
"But those who took a paycheck from the Trump Administration should not profit from their efforts to tear our democracy apart. The world should never forget those who, when faced with a decision, chose to put their money, their time, and their reputations behind separating children from their families, encouraging racism and anti-Semitism, and negligently causing the unnecessary loss of life and economic devastation from our country's failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Coming together starts with acknowledging the truth: These individuals have shattered laws and norms that hurt our democracy, including right now, as they use the levers of government — DOJ, GSA and state officials — to subvert the fundamental underlying tenet that makes America what it is: The peaceful transfer of power from the loser of an election to the winner."
Because nothing says "progressive agenda" like an enemies list leading to a good Marxist purge.
I am more offended by how ham fisted, clumsy, and audacious the fraud to elect him is than the idea of Joe Biden being president. I think Joe Biden is a corrupt idiot, however, I think America would survive him like we’ve survived previous idiot administrations. However, what is potentially fatal for America is half the populace believing that their elections are hopelessly rigged and they’re eternally fucked. And now, however this shakes out in court, that’s exactly what half the country is going to think.I am sure you never would have thought anyone would tell you a blog post discussing the process of auditing the books would be interesting, but if you think about it, if anyone could make it so, Larry Correia is The Man, and the application to election fraud is pretty clear.
Seen at Joe's Place.
1/2 I can't wait for this to be over:— Drang (@DWDrang) March 31, 2020
*We need to get people back to work. The longer the economy is on hold, the longer it will take to fix.
*I despise politicians that tell l Americans what they can and can't do.
It's doesn't help that my job is a critical one, and I still have to go to work. I can telework, but that means that means I simply do my regular duties with different furniture, including cats. Not a lot of sitting back and watching movies, reading, social media, binge-watching trashy shows on Netflix, day drinking...2/2 I can't wait for this to be over:— Drang (@DWDrang) March 31, 2020
*I despise Americans that dime out their neighbors for "unauthorized assembly's" and "conducting non-critical business."
*I need a haircut. I am not a hippie! Open the barber shops already!
USA – -(AmmoLand.com)- Under the Trump Administration's guidance, the Department of Homeland Security has declared firearms manufacturers and retailers “essential businesses,” possibly driving a spike through the heart of various state and local “emergency powers” declarations that had classified gun stores to be “non-essential” during the current Coronavirus panic, and had ordered them closed.
The reference to gun shops is found in a document released Saturday titled “Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce,” in the section dealing with “Law Enforcement, Public Safety, and Other First Responders.”
The document released by DHS simply says that “Workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges” are considered essential.
Great job!! Now, PLEASE SET UP SHELTER IN PLACE!!!! People aren’t staying home or practicing social distancing! This is at Rattlesnake Ledge today!! pic.twitter.com/S84ewSOPDn— Fledra Hamill (@fledra_hamill) March 21, 2020
