The Capital tour scared the elite in a way it is hard for those of us outside the beltway to imagine.
They are used to controlled protests. They are not used to a guy in a buffalo hat walking into the capitol grounds and running around. That scared them. Never mind that civilians (non government people) are dealing with rising crime, violence, and becoming refuges inside the United States. That is something for other people to deal with. The Jan 6 stroll violated their illusion of safety.
I have family from DC who came to visit over the weekend. Wonderful people. They were very upset about Jan 6. I pointed to the lever action I now keep by my chair. See, BLM threatened to come to my little town and burn it to the ground. The cops? Well, they have made it clear that they are ham strung and can't do much. So if you get robbed, or mugged, they will fill a report for the insurance but will not investigate. Politically, they can't. Unless there is a major assault or murder, they can't go much about stealing and vandalizing without being accused of bad thoughts. So the cops, whom I generally like, have said we are on our own.
The family visiting looked at me in shock. They did not understand that even in my small sleepy little town, the taint of chaos has spread to, and they were freaking out about an unauthorized walk through the capitol.
When I told them that I personally did not care about Jan 6 one way or another, they were horrified. "How can you not care about a violation of the most sacred buildings in the country?" "Because my neighbors and I have set up watch cycles, armed watch cycles, to keep the mostly peaceful protestors from stealing us blind. Because we just got done with a year long lock down (which was milder here than in many places) for little good. An idiot dressed as a buffalo shaman is pretty minor to us here."
Part of it, anyway. I remember Pelosi saying "...the temple of our democracy..." after January 6, and thinking that Old Scratch used to be a lot better at COMSEC. Maybe he's concluded he doesn't need COMSEC any more.
Good point. I had pretty much forgotten the "civil religion" formula. I remember it now from a political philosophy course in college. I forget who advanced it, but in the same course we read Michels (_Political Parties_ and the Iron Law of Oligarchy), Wright Mills (The Power Elite), Friedman (Capitalism and Freedom), Hannah Arendt, and others.
I have to agree with Medusa when she says jan 6 is being made a bigger deal because it was on the politicians home turf. I have a customer who is a state trooper who was called in to help with the investigation a couple months ago and he was told that everyone would be arrested that they could arrest because they had made and example of the people.
The only real solution is a peaceful divorce, now. Otherwise the American Experiment ends in failure. Maybe it's the cycle of empires, sped up by modern technology and the ability to instantly share information? Either way, I'm confident that the Left are like a locust and will never let up. They'll spread and continue until they get a hot war or we cave.
Moving on, I think a start to fixing the Republic is abolishing the 17th Amendment and make senators actually represent the states. If the states could truly become little laboratories of liberty as our Founders intended. A real issue is this amendment started the push towards the death of sovereignty for the states. Lincoln really killed it, but the 17th was the death knell.
And the schadenfreude in me says we apply the Rules for Radicals against them. They've weaponized the individualism against us. But how do we beat them without becoming them? That is a tough call and I have no easy answers.
Applying Rules for Radicals might work if they believed in any rule other than "What advances the interests of the Party is what is moral." That's the problem with Leninists: too few people realize they're playing with an entirely different rulebook.
I agree with you on the peaceful divorce, if it can be achieved. Ordered Liberty is worth a lot more -- conceptually and practically -- than Manifest Destiny.
Therein lies our biggest problem, they only value power so they're nibble in their villainous ways. This is why we have no easy solutions, aside from reclaiming the localities and rebuilding the family. They win because they destroyed the bedrock... they killed the family with their welfraud schemes.
If you're telling me that the brain dead mummy Joe, who's about as coherent as a brick, got more votes in Chicago than the man from Chicago, O-bomber, when he was young and dynamic, well, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I want to sell to you.
That being said, Congress needs term limits.
POTUS has 8 years. That should be enough for anyone in House or Senate as well. 8 years max. Have them all in one chamber, or 4+4, or 2+6, doesn't matter. After 8 years in Congress, go find a real job and see how real life is. Would also need some safety regulations to prevent them from giving themselves cushy positions in private industry or academia. No golden parachutes.
I like Nick's RINO voice. Hope this character returns.
I am pretty sure that the Democratic plan is to turn the country into a Russian style kleptocracy. All the rhetoric is on seizing resources, but not from the oligarchs who support them. The Constitution is an impediment, but by subverting the courts and executive agencies they can just ignore it. We see so many cases where the plain text of law or regulation compel judges or Federal Agencies to a very specific action or outcome, but they write up a page of legal nonsense and just do what they want.
The Capital tour scared the elite in a way it is hard for those of us outside the beltway to imagine.
They are used to controlled protests. They are not used to a guy in a buffalo hat walking into the capitol grounds and running around. That scared them. Never mind that civilians (non government people) are dealing with rising crime, violence, and becoming refuges inside the United States. That is something for other people to deal with. The Jan 6 stroll violated their illusion of safety.
I have family from DC who came to visit over the weekend. Wonderful people. They were very upset about Jan 6. I pointed to the lever action I now keep by my chair. See, BLM threatened to come to my little town and burn it to the ground. The cops? Well, they have made it clear that they are ham strung and can't do much. So if you get robbed, or mugged, they will fill a report for the insurance but will not investigate. Politically, they can't. Unless there is a major assault or murder, they can't go much about stealing and vandalizing without being accused of bad thoughts. So the cops, whom I generally like, have said we are on our own.
The family visiting looked at me in shock. They did not understand that even in my small sleepy little town, the taint of chaos has spread to, and they were freaking out about an unauthorized walk through the capitol.
When I told them that I personally did not care about Jan 6 one way or another, they were horrified. "How can you not care about a violation of the most sacred buildings in the country?" "Because my neighbors and I have set up watch cycles, armed watch cycles, to keep the mostly peaceful protestors from stealing us blind. Because we just got done with a year long lock down (which was milder here than in many places) for little good. An idiot dressed as a buffalo shaman is pretty minor to us here."
'"...the most sacred buildings in the country?"'
Sacred? I think I see the problem.
Part of it, anyway. I remember Pelosi saying "...the temple of our democracy..." after January 6, and thinking that Old Scratch used to be a lot better at COMSEC. Maybe he's concluded he doesn't need COMSEC any more.
A book I keep going back to is " The Anyomous god" about the American Civil religion. In that religion it is a sacred temple.
Which begs the question what is worshipped
Good point. I had pretty much forgotten the "civil religion" formula. I remember it now from a political philosophy course in college. I forget who advanced it, but in the same course we read Michels (_Political Parties_ and the Iron Law of Oligarchy), Wright Mills (The Power Elite), Friedman (Capitalism and Freedom), Hannah Arendt, and others.
Let's be real, outside of the 1/6 Shindig, DC is a crime ridden cesspool too. It was never some font of virtuous living.
The left has applied LawDog's gun rights cake analogy to its entire political approach. https://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2017/10/gun-rights-cake-analogy.html
It's not a compromise if one side gets what it wants and gives up nothing, and the other side gets nothing and gives up what it wants.
Exactly!
That is what the RNC wanted, spineless jellyfish that they are.
Self fulfilling prophecy should be the label they slap on the last few years.
Go on....
I have to agree with Medusa when she says jan 6 is being made a bigger deal because it was on the politicians home turf. I have a customer who is a state trooper who was called in to help with the investigation a couple months ago and he was told that everyone would be arrested that they could arrest because they had made and example of the people.
More proof that the justice system is hosed.
The only real solution is a peaceful divorce, now. Otherwise the American Experiment ends in failure. Maybe it's the cycle of empires, sped up by modern technology and the ability to instantly share information? Either way, I'm confident that the Left are like a locust and will never let up. They'll spread and continue until they get a hot war or we cave.
Moving on, I think a start to fixing the Republic is abolishing the 17th Amendment and make senators actually represent the states. If the states could truly become little laboratories of liberty as our Founders intended. A real issue is this amendment started the push towards the death of sovereignty for the states. Lincoln really killed it, but the 17th was the death knell.
And the schadenfreude in me says we apply the Rules for Radicals against them. They've weaponized the individualism against us. But how do we beat them without becoming them? That is a tough call and I have no easy answers.
Applying Rules for Radicals might work if they believed in any rule other than "What advances the interests of the Party is what is moral." That's the problem with Leninists: too few people realize they're playing with an entirely different rulebook.
I agree with you on the peaceful divorce, if it can be achieved. Ordered Liberty is worth a lot more -- conceptually and practically -- than Manifest Destiny.
Therein lies our biggest problem, they only value power so they're nibble in their villainous ways. This is why we have no easy solutions, aside from reclaiming the localities and rebuilding the family. They win because they destroyed the bedrock... they killed the family with their welfraud schemes.
If you're telling me that the brain dead mummy Joe, who's about as coherent as a brick, got more votes in Chicago than the man from Chicago, O-bomber, when he was young and dynamic, well, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I want to sell to you.
That being said, Congress needs term limits.
POTUS has 8 years. That should be enough for anyone in House or Senate as well. 8 years max. Have them all in one chamber, or 4+4, or 2+6, doesn't matter. After 8 years in Congress, go find a real job and see how real life is. Would also need some safety regulations to prevent them from giving themselves cushy positions in private industry or academia. No golden parachutes.
I like Nick's RINO voice. Hope this character returns.
I am pretty sure that the Democratic plan is to turn the country into a Russian style kleptocracy. All the rhetoric is on seizing resources, but not from the oligarchs who support them. The Constitution is an impediment, but by subverting the courts and executive agencies they can just ignore it. We see so many cases where the plain text of law or regulation compel judges or Federal Agencies to a very specific action or outcome, but they write up a page of legal nonsense and just do what they want.