I Still Love America, I Just Miss Her

America: Can You Stop Loving Her if She Changes? | National Review:

Jonah Goldberg is having a tiff with the editors of NR over "What is America" (Rich Lowrey is editor in chief). The editors declare they would still love America even if it had a completely different set of ideals -- and Jonah apparently doesn't realize that the area of N America where the nation of America used to exist DOES have a completely different set of ideals -- which is why I call it BOistan.

Rich started by saying that America is a nation, not an idea. He then went on to demonstrate the ways in which America is a nation (it’s got borders and a people and a culture and the like). That’s fine with me, I suppose. I concluded a while ago that the “Nation vs. Idea” argument is poorly framed. If all you have to do is cite borders, roads, and a post office to prove it’s not an idea, then what’s the point?

Every philisopher understands neccessary vs sufficent. Philosophers all breathe, sweat, defecate, etc -- which are neccessary conditions. NONE of those is SUFFICIENT to call yourself a philosopher. All nations have borders, people, culture, post offices, etc -- those are neccessary conditions, not sufficient to being called "America".

"Idea, ideals, values, principles" -- The TRUTHS that America held  to be self evident and endowed by GOD. To believe in America is to believe in divine founding -- else there are no transcendent truths, and America could not exist without transcendent truth. The founders certainly allowed people to live in the territory of America (the neccessary but not sufficient borders) without acknowledging God -- they were just to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and declare that the founding principles were self evident "just cuz" ... like created equal without any creator, rendering "equal" just another man made thought changeable by the only remaining moral authority when God dies -- power. "Might is right" with a ballot or a bullet.

Roe V Wade, Obergefell, BOcare, not impeaching Bill Clinton, 20 trillion in debt and a few hundred other things finally convinced me that "We weren't in Kansas (America) anymore".

The unwillingness of someone of Goldberg's stature to even recognize that we are fish swimming in a BOistani rather than American pond is traumatizing -- failure to recognize and accept reality is not a good sign for ability to remedy our situation. Jonah ends his column rather whimsically for such a serious matter.

Imagine one person tells you that his ideal form of government would be to get rid of the Constitution and make Kim Kardashian queen. You’d think that person is silly, probably even deranged. Now imagine that 270 million Americans believed that and, having the necessary supermajority to pull it off, voted away our Constitution. As the coronation of Queen Kim, First of Her Name, unfolded on every channel, would you not change your view of America, her culture, and her people? Might you not fall out of love with America as it is? 

My hunch is Rich et al. would still love America, but you know what America they would love? The America That Was. They might even join the resistance to the regime of Queen Kim (I’m fairly certain Charlie would) in an effort to restore self-government to America. And here’s the funny thing: They’d be fighting against the American nation in the name of that great and glorious cause, the American Idea. And that’s the crucial difference.

It would really be nice to have a discussion about what ideas/values/truths/etc that we seek to return to -- I think we need a much clearer picture of the America that we see receeding away from us ... sort of a philosophical version of this shot of Queen Kim ... only in this case a picture of  "The America That WAS" (TATW) receeding -- what would she look like in your mind?

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Prayers For Scalise

Rep. Scalise readmitted to intensive care unit | Power Line:



Steve Scalise is back in intensive care listed as "serious" with infection concerns. While the MSM has pretty much forgotten the politically motivated assassination attempt because it is not "their team" that got shot, it would be nice if there really was still something more important that politics in BOistan.



We all heard that he was shot in the "hip / pelvis / bullet went through him / etc". Depending on just where, there is a LOT of bone, nerves, blood system and unfortunately bowel to increase the infection concerns.



Heavenly Father, God of all, we humbly pray for healing for our brother Steve Scalise, wisdom for the doctors attending him, and peace for his family. Please heal Steve and help our nation to see that only in you can we hope to continue on. In Jesus holy name, amen.



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Ban Fireworks, Legalize Weed!

Gomberg: I don't care if you love them; it's time we ban fireworks | The Salt Lake Tribune:

Along with the belief that ANYTHING can be legislated by government -- from health, to wealth, to happiness, to peace; -- the faith that what I like ought to be mandatory, and what I don't like should be criminal, is deep in the liberal psyche.

Philando Castile, high on weed with a gun, a girlfriend and kid in the back of a car has a traffic stop that isn't as fun as the Cheech and Chong version in "Up In Smoke".

In the big liberal spinner of "who / what to blame, cuz we are never responsible for even our own actions", this time the spinner came up "racist cops". This one happened to be hispanic, which seems inconvienient, but never mind -- that was the story, and they have stuck to it.

Weed causing a problem? Uh, like was I speeding man? ... You are parked! ... Wow, heavy man!

Back in the '70s, college kids liked to get stoned and listen to "Firesign Theatre" ... lots of speaker to speaker, foggy background stuff, odd interruptions -- just the stuff to make people stoned out of their gourd (and I use that term with apologies to gourds) giggle and laugh uncontrollably.

Without the "benefit" of mind altering substances, it seems a little well ... "odd", however the fact that is HILLARIOUS to stoners, might give some insight to the thought that driving while stoned and carrying might not be the safest way to go.

My suspicion is that the liberal brain is pretty much like Firesign Theatre 24x7  -- here is the "important part" of the fireworks ban column ...

I get that this might be annoying because this land is your land ('Merica!), but this land is also my land; it was made for you AND me (and our pets and veterans, and the people who want to go bed before you're done celebrating). So, regardless of how much we might love fireworks, I think it's time we find new ways of celebrating the Fourth and 24th of July.

There we have it ... fireworks scare dogs and veterans, so we need to ban them nationally and find "new ways" to celebrate the "4th and the 24th of July" -- hey, one day is pretty much the same as the next when you are stoned. Perhaps we could all go out, drive around with our guns while stoned and yell out "I've got a gun!!" to scare the cops if we are stopped.

Weed is safe, guns and fireworks are dangerous. Guns and fireworks give people weird ideas and cause them to do bad things. Weed has no such complications.

Everything you know is wrong.

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These Are Not the Tweets You Are Looking For

Here's How To Deal With Trump's Tweets: Stop Caring About Them - Kurt Schlichter:

Ah, Washington DC, never will we find a more wretched hive of scum and villany.

I've come to believe that Trump's Tweets are the way that he beats the media at it's own game -- it allows him to keep them constantly chasing squirrels. However, if anyone actually is REALLY bothered by them, then quit being weak minded -- IGNORE THEM!

In this fake world we live in however, honesty, even with ourselves is rare in the extreme. "The Party" (TP-D), the media, the Deep State, the RINOs, etc hate Trump independently of mere tweets. They hate him vicerally and spiritually -- we are not talking mere "policy" here, we are talking metaphysical hatred at an existetial level. It is their hatred that gives him the primary power over them -- they simply CAN'T ignore him or anything he does -- no matter how small and meaningless it might be.

He tasks them -- he sticks in their craw. They will stop at nothing to destroy him -- and there, is the only slight advantage that he has. Their hatred has made them blind -- they are certainly more powerful, but while hate has a lovely way of making one feel "wise, moral, justified, proud, etc", it has a strong tendency (as does love in the opposite direction) to drive otherwise rational people deep into the ditch of emotional reasoning.

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Kill SALT (State And Local Tax deduction) NOW!

Will Democrats Pound SALT? – WSJ:

If the Republicans can't get this done, they don't deserve to lead!

SALT is a $100 billion YEARLY tax break to high tax states and cities. Surprise surprise it goes to the blue state wealthy. A full half of the break goes to California, Illinois, New York, Maryland, Massachusets and New Jersey! What's more, the richest 20% of taxpayers get 14x the benefit!

This is nothing but encouragement for higher state and local taxes -- low tax red states get to subsidize high tax blue states. KILL IT!

Government is a WHOLE lot more voracious than a T-Rex crossed with a velocirpator! Keep throwing it the life blood of your "enemmies" (how "The Party" views red states), and it just gets HUNGRIER!

SHOOT HER!

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The Socialist Precariat

Why Socialism Is Back | RealClearPolitics:

Not a particularly good article, but I like it's introduction of the "precariat" -- part time conditional workers.

I grew up on a dairy farm where there were plenty of security concerns. My father tended to talk about the security of "union jobs" as the gold standard, however IBM in '78 was a place that seemed VERY secure to me and one didn't even have to put up with a union -- the idea of "seniority"  vs pay for performance was always one of the things I hated most about the unions.

The fact is that even our next breath is ALWAYS precarious and not in our control. While we are all masters of rationalization, ANY idea of "security" outside of God is and always has been a fools errand. For tens of thousands of years, it was understood that the family, the church,  and the immediate community were the closest thing possible to "security" in this life.

This of course does not fit well with state power and control. The state always seeks to become "god" -- either via a state religion, or by making the godless state to BE the religion as in BOistan. Today we have a criminal state over $20 trillion in debt with $130 trillion of unfunded liabilities on top of it that prints vast sums of money and tells us "there is no inflation". Sure, fake news and climate change are near gospel compared to that crock.

Never the less, for youth that have never experienced even the 20% stagflation of the late '70s, or even heard much first hand description of the last depression, the government "seems secure"? Why not just have the government guarentee us "everything" ... food, shelter, clothing, medical care, education ... possibly even enough guaranteed income for a little entertainment. Then we will all be "set with no worries" -- simple.

Here is the introduction to the "precariat".

"The “Bernie Bros” who made Sanders such a sudden and unlikely political force in 2016 were disproportionately young white voters who swelled the ranks of the precariat -- part-time, conditional workers. The numbers of such people is destined to grow with the emerging “gig economy” and the digitization of retail, which could cost millions of working-class jobs. Even university lecturers in Britain, notes the Guardian, fear that their jobs will be “Uber-ised,” a phenomena also seen at American universities. 

For most Americans, the once promising “New Economy” has meant a descent, as one MIT economist recently put it, towards a precarious position usually associated with Third World countries. Even Silicon Valley has gone from one of the most egalitarian locales in the country to a highly unequal place where the working and middle class have, if anything, done worse (in terms of income) than before the tech boom."

The idea that the government can't fail is just one more of those wishful human dreams -- and so we are in a government bubble, and naturally, as in all bubbles, the biggest answer is MORE MORE MORE! (government in this case, however it could be stocks, tulip bulbs, houses, land, gold claims, etc ... bubbles are as much a part of human nature as the illusion we are "in control")

Government intervention has already drastically slowed the economy, raised the prices of everything  (especially medical car), reduced the value of work, and come close to destroying the family, the church and the community. So it makes perfect sense that until the bubble bursts, more government is the obvious answer to EVERY problem!

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Billy Moyers Left Hand Clapping

Sorry, But It’s Entirely the Right’s Fault:

The sort of sanctimony that Moyers exhudes is very special ... it reminds me of Garrison Keillor, or the most extreme of the sanctimonious in my far fundamental Baptist youth. Certainly the Scribes and the Pharisees had nothing on Billy M. It is **ALL** the fault of "the other side" ... in his view "the right". The following is a great summary paragraph of the view:

"This unenlightened, know-it-all mindset, completely impervious to conflicting facts and theories, is just not the stuff of rationality, progress and constitutional democracy. It is, rather, the stuff of superstition, cults and fascism. Fortunately, the brainwashed right constitute a minority — only 35 to 40 percent — of the American population. This is why Republicans have to cheat to win local, state and national elections. Because they can’t be honest about their self-serving, oligarchical motives, they have to resort instead to the most ruthless, unscrupulous, anti-democratic tactics: voter suppression (including voter purges), unconstitutional gerrymandering and dissemination of fake news."

Simmering just below his righteous angry surface is the horror that people believe in GOD! The genesis of "superstition, cults and fascism". "Only" 35 - 40% of our population has been "brainwashed" -- Moyers has to feel pretty good about THAT!

Billy obviously really hates Newt ... and Trump, and Reagan, and God, and well ... it's a long list. When one is completely rational, it rather strangely seems that hate and anger smoulder to the top. How strange.

No question that Moyers is WELL past his expiration date -- he used to be semi-known, but these days is more of your crank in the wilderness vs your crank on Public Television (ok, that is the widerness too, but he is deeper in the wilderness now). How the unhinged have fallen.

The level of smug "certainty" on the left is always trotted out so proudly -- and then, at the first hint of an actual discussion, they melt like the Wicked Witch into a steaming puddle of anger forced to be contained because their emotions have overcome them, they can not longer talk, and realize that any attempt at the violence seething out of them would only result in them getting their ass kicked.

I suppose it is some consolation that they can slink off to stew in their bile completely certain that it is "someone elses fault". There is always that. (see Hillary)

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The Left Notices the Farther Left

How the Left Lost Its Mind - The Atlantic:

When you are the dominant political strain, you tend to spend the bulk of your time focused on those evil unwashed masses that hail from "the right" ... that strange set of morons that believe in God, freedom, families, hard work, personal responsibility, and trash like that. As William Buckly used to say of NPR, they were even handed -- they tended to cover both the left and the far left views with great detail.

Given US propoganda since 1950, it continues to mystify our media, educational institutions, entertainment industry and the vast state and federal bureaucracy that there STILL exist people out there in Red State flyover country that are not "of the body", better known as "The Party", TP-D. Why, it is almost like there is actually a God, and that people somewhere live in a reality with actual work and some divine grace bringing forth crops and energy to keep the lefties alive!

This article is a bit different -- it takes notice of the fact that there is a leftward fever swamp, and has been for a very long time. MoveOn.org, Daily Kos, Huffpo, Slate, etc. How odd for them to be bringing this up post Dan Rather letting the Fake News cat completely put of the bag back in '04, and just in the last couple of weeks, CNN giving 3 "star journalists" the heave ho over shall we say "imaginative reporting" on Trump / Russia.

The HuffPo was nice enough to take down the following ...

Just this month, editors were forced to delete a contributor post that began, “Impeachment and removal from office are only the first steps; for America to be redeemed, Donald Trump must be prosecuted for treason and — if convicted in a court of law — executed.”

Come on folks, we have seen the severed head, we certainly know that the left has wanted those that think differently executed since the French Revolution! Are we to think this is "new"?

It is WAY too long, and WAY too much navel gazing ... I got a good chuckle out of this:

Before we go on, let me try to quiet the cries of “False equivalence!” before they begin: No, these personalities and publications do not yet wield the same influence in the Democratic Party that their counterparts do in the GOP. But ignoring them would be a mistake.

Yes, those Democrats are might selective on their news sources -- I know they never stooped to Dan Rather in the past or CNN more recently. The big left wing fiction is that the NY Times is anything "better"  that the left wing poltical believer version of "AM Coast to Coast!"

The tinfoil hat on a pink background WAS a very nice touch for the lead though -- gotta give them credit for that degree of self awareness!

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Christie Pics Show CNN Has Stopped Caring

Can it be any more obvious? This is the HEADLINE on the news today. Does ANYONE nationally, certainly not anyone that is not a hyperpartisn lefty really care if the Governor of New Jersy is overweight and wants to sit on a beach the weekend before the 4th? How many things are regularly closed down so the president can tavel or attend?  Happens all the time -- who cares. Even being governor has it's occasional perks, though obviously not enough to get any privacy.

Is it possible that the Fake News Network has lost it's sense of caring to such a degree that they fail to see the self reference here? I assume they realize that Cristie is not the only one beyond caring.

It is easy to find examples of beaches closing for BO ... But naturallly BO was a great guy, so no meme there!

The State Taketh Life, Liberty and Happiness

Charlie Gard Court-Ordered Killing Defies Parents’ Wishes | National Review:



The state can't give life, it can only take it away -- however, it KNOWS when it is best for you to die. The more power you give it, the more  of EVERYTHING it takes from you -- until there is no freedom,  no happiness, and no life save a state sancioned simulcrum of bureaucratically approved existence.



Orwell understood all of this in 1950.



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Ye Shall Judge Them By How They Vote

A Muslim Comes to Rural Minnesota | Power Line:



A good article of how a Muslim Dr comes to a small MN town with family and everyone is wonderful. Small town votes for Trump, Dr is outraged, everyone is still wonderful.` Dr and WaPo however know that  only racist bigoted idiots vote for Trump -- so clearly, the goodness before and after is all an act.



In an Islamic or National / Democratic Socialist state, we would not have this problem -- no need to vote. Allah be praised.,



"Morality" on the left is simple -- you vote for "The Party" (TP-D), you are moral. You don't vote for TP? You are as they say "deploreable".



Simple.



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The Mouse Theory Of Moose Hearing Aid Loss

Some of you are aware that a week ago this past Friday, I was CERTAIN that I had took my two hearing aids out before going to bed at our Iowa cabin, and put them on our counter having forgotten  my little case back in Rochester, but being unconcerned since it was only my wife and I at the cabin with no pets.

In the AM, they were BOTH gone! For those of you with hearing aids, you realize this was an over $4k loss, so the relatively easy to search cabin was TORN APART with no result. Naturally, my recollection of having put the devices on the counter was universally questioned by all including me. When did I REALLY have them on last? Do I sleepwalk? Was I drinking? Do I commonly misplace and misrecollect like this?

Even though I had 100% clear recollection of almost going to bed, realizing the hearing aids were still in my ears, and then putting them next to my charging cell phone on the counter, the fact of their abscence in the AM was MUCH more clear!

Within the first couple of hours, the "mouse theory" developed, but was discounted given the questions of BOTH of them? Seriously? I'm NOT a statistician, but I'm pretty sure you can't calculate the probability of a given mouse taking a given hearing aid -- it is a "unique event". I'm also pretty sure that if said mouse takes one hearing aid, the odds of them taking the second are VASTLY higher.

I present the following evidence obtained from under the dishwasher at the cabin.

My contention is that moose senility may or may not be setting in, but this particular incident is not evidence for such a case.

For anyone else who has hearing aids or other small items show up "impossibly missing from where you put them", I would further submit that the mouse theory ought not be discounted out of hand! Especially among those of us "around 60", the loss of self confidence might even be worse than the loss of the money. I must say, I'm not nearly as worried about the other one turning up, nor if they can/will fix this one than I was of WHERE THE HELL DID I REALLY PUT THEM!

I certainly preach the value of humility -- can anyone be sure of anything in this world? I also now have a personal lesson in the terrible feeling of near total loss of confidence in oneself in at least one instance. Having some confidence in our recollections is definitely a blessing not to be squandered lightly!

** UPDATE ** 2nd hearing aid was discovered on TOP of dishwasher when it was finally pulled out.

A Worthy Ammo Grrrll, Voter Fraud

Thoughts from the ammo line | Power Line:

"Ammo Grrrl" is a weekly feature on Power Line ... this weeks is worth reading as she talks of a foolish college age foray into S Chicago as a "Poll Watcher"  ... it is informational and entertaining, just read it.

She mentions a study on 5.7 million illegals voting in 2008, here is the article on it if you are interested.

Very hard to even imagine "facts" on this topic -- it is like estimating how many rats you have around if you see one running. According to Pew Research, there are like 11 million illegals in the US as of 2015. Also according to Pew, 56% of eligible voters vote in the US. So illegals would be a little less likely to vote. I suppose that it would also mean that ACTUAL legal US voters are even less likely to vote, because like 5 or 6 million of those supposed "voters" are actually illegal votes.

It sounds like over 20 states have already indicated that they refuse to send data in for the federal investigation of voter fraud ... if one used the same logic used by the media every time Trump refuses to show some information; "if he doesn't want to share it, he must be guilty", then I guess that would be "proof" of some guilty states.

My view is that without picture voter ID, there is no way at all to even begin to imagine the level of fraud. The US is one of the few developed countries not requiring voter ID -- both Canada and Mexico do. This "Poltifact" is a rather funny demonstration of how left these "fact checkers" really are. If "Politifact" claims that BO is only "half right", it means that he is lying through his teeth as usual.

The fact that Democrats fight voter ID tells me all I need to know about voter fraud -- it is massive and VERY important to Democrats!

Southern Poverty Hate Center

Has a Civil Rights Stalwart Lost Its Way? - POLITICO Magazine:

For regular listeners of Public Radio, "The Souther Poverty Law Center" (SPLC) is a purveyor of holy writ on "hate groups". As the article covers, The Family Research Council, a prominent Christian non-profit has been labled a hate group since 2010 because they have failed to cheer for gay "marriage" and 57 fluid genders. There are a lot of prominent racists and nazis in this country according to the SPLC. For example:

The SPLC has included Senator Rand Paul and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson among the neo-Nazis and white supremacists on its extremists lists

The hate label is a powerful weapon used by the left, and the SPLC is pretty much supreme court of handing out the hate label. "Thou must be suitibly "progressive" or thou shall be branded with a scarlet H and cast into outer darkness".

Good column ... founded by a direct marketer, 250 staffers, big fancy building, $200 million endowment ... being "moral" pays well on the left. Naturally the group is a 501c3 and unabashedly attacks anything conservative. Well, I guess that is just one more thing they have in common with NPR.

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Fake Media Navel Gazing, CNN Firings

OPINION: Will the media learn from CNN's mistakes? Prepare to be disappointed | TheHill:

It isn't everyday that the Fake Media (FM) admits that they are fake. CNN pulled one of their especially fake stories under threat of being sued and fired 3 reporters to boot. Probably the most direct admission of fake news since Gunga Dan Rather got the axe for using fake documents to attempt to smear W before his SECOND election. Birther accusations of Kenyan BO may have been "bad", but at least they weren't being pushed by an anchor on a major network!

The funniest part of the birther allegations is that when BO first put out his "Dreams" book, where he proudly delcares his identiy as "Luao Tribesman", **HE** indicated he was born in Kenya and raised in Hawaii, since it made him seem more "exotic". Hey ... "truth"? I think we have figured out that is all a VERY relative concept at this point!

The general media is just another ham handed propaganda branch of "The Party" (TP-D) ... Russia did it ... REALLY, you can trust us!!


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