Posse Incitatus

Virginia Gun Rights Demonstration Totally Peaceful - Fake News Hardest Hit

The big story yesterday was the thing that didn't happen.

Gov. Klansman Blackface of Virginia, demanded extraordinary measures to contain the alleged white nationalists who were sure to descend on Richmond, bringing looting and violence.

You know, like leftist mobs do, only worse.

He even declared a pre-emptive state of emergency.

Alas, it was all for naught.  Around 20,000 citizens gathered peacefully, waved signs, posed for photos and then went home.

This of course reinforces the truth that law-abiding citizens pose zero threat to the public order.  Mountains of research prove this.  The notion that less guns = less crime has been refuted in every culture and every continent.  There is not a single example of gun control curtailing violence.

Why then do people push it?  The answer is partly that it's an emotional response, but increasingly it is yet another aspect of the authoritarian progressivism that deems to control the Democrat Party.

Their policies are increasing about punishing perceived enemies rather than improving the quality of life of the whole.

This is increasingly clear to normal Americans who are luke-warm at best on Donald Trump.  I suspect that will heavily influence voting come November.

Remembering M.L.K.

Today we honor the memory and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a flawed but important figure in world history. While some have put him on a pedestal and practically canonized him for sainthood, others have gone out of the way to emphasize his shortcomings and moral failings -- especially with regard to his sexual transgressions.

Humans are indeed highly complex creatures, and life is a motley tapestry of good and bad, the inspirational and the sordid, the kind and the vicious, the noble and the shameful. Although it's hard to do, sometimes we must ponder a person's entire body of work when evaluating his or her life.

MLK risked his own and his family's well being by having the courage to stand up for the dignity of black people when institutionalized racism was the status quo. In so doing, he inspired others -- black and white -- to join the cause. The civil rights and voting rights laws helped level the playing field, and today we have a large and prosperous black middle class, plus blacks in leadership positions at corporations, universities and in government.

But far too many blacks are still suffering from pathologies afflicting inner cities, including drugs, crime, wretched schools and broken families. We could argue 24/7 for days about the root causes and possible solutions, but it is disingenuous and in the worst tradition of demagoguery for the likes of race hustlers such a Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to continue stoking the flames of racial tension. The abysmal news media -- in particular the likes of CNN and MSNBC -- legitimizes the venom and rubbish spewing from the mouths of these despicable charlatans.

If MLK could see the United States today, I'm confident he would take pride in the millions of blacks who have achieved the American dream and are leading prosperous, productive lives. But I'm also fairly certain he would be saddened by self-inflicted damages harming blacks -- most particularly the 70 percent illegitimate birth rate. When millions of children are being raised in poverty, living in dangerous neighborhoods without the discipline, love, guidance and example of a strong and upstanding father, this is a prescription for chaos. It plays out daily in our godforsaken inner cities, and this is truly heartbreaking.

Never forget that Dr. King frequently admonished black audiences not to blame all of their problems on whites or racism. He fully acknowledged that there was a problem with anti-social behavior and crime in many black urban areas. Blacks needed to clean up their act in their families, neighborhoods and communities if they hoped to progress in the broader American society, he said repeatedly. 

There's a common expression used by youth counselors and inner city high school football/basketball coaches who are trying to steer at-risk youth in the right direction: "Get your mind right!"

This expression is good advice for all people, not just blacks. And "mind" ought to be interpreted broadly to mean your entire essence: Mind, soul, spirit and body. Employ self-discipline and set your priorities properly. Exercise self control and learn to live with deferred gratification. Do not be seduced by false images of glamour so prevalent in music, movies and the hedonistic entertainment culture shoved down our throats daily. Take care of yourself physically and spiritually. Mind and body are truly one. Garbage in, garbage out, as the computer programmers like to say.

We can honor Dr. King by making the most of the opportunities and avenues he opened up. It is my sincere hope that the millions of young black people in our nation will make the effort to learn about MLK, ponder the courage and persistence he exhibited in overcoming  daunting challenges, and resolve not to squander the opportunities set before them.

Kudos to Another Courageous Liberal

I've always believed in giving credit where credit is due -- even when it's a liberal I am praising. And believe me, a liberal or progressive who has the audacity to criticize a fellow leftist is deserving of recognition. For we well know that liberals will turn on each other with a viciousness that often exceeds their ire toward conservatives and Republicans. (Have you noticed the #WarrenisaSnake, #NeverWarren and #CNNSucks Twitter hashtags? Hint: They come from the left, i.e., Bernie Sanders supporters.)

Today I would like to give credit to Washington Post writer Erik Wemple, who has actually been even-handed in his caustic criticisms of our abysmal cable news talking heads (aka the 24-hour shit-show).

Make no mistake, Wemple will trash the likes of Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson (not that they don't occasionally deserve to be raked over the coals); but he actually has gone after far-left kook Rachel Maddow of MSNBC and other left-leaning "journalists."

I haven't been able to read much of Wemple's commentary, because of the Post's paywall. But here's an excerpt of one of his takedowns of wild-eyed conspiracy theorist Maddow with regard to her breathless (and extremely sloppy) reporting on the now discredited dossier:

When small bits of news arose in favor of the dossier, the franchise MSNBC host pumped air into them. At least some of her many fans surely came away from her broadcasts thinking the dossier was a serious piece of investigative research, not the flimflam, quick-twitch game of telephone outlined in the Horowitz report. She seemed to be rooting for the document.

And when large bits of news arose against the dossier, Maddow found other topics more compelling.

She was there for the bunkings, absent for the debunkings — a pattern of misleading and dishonest asymmetry.

"Flim-flam" is a great adjective for Maddow's bullcrap. And what I really find annoying about her is the constant smug, smirking condescension with which she reports.

Rachel Maddow is, by and large, the incarnation of the ugliness of progressivism. She's a conservative's worst nightmare come true, and a taste of the hell awaiting us if the Democrats ever take control of the White House and Congress. Eliminating the Electoral College, stacking the Supreme Court with leftists, opening up the immigration floodgates, coddling illegal immigrants and eviscerating voting standards will be the steps that will send us quickly down the road to totalitarianism.

(I'm sure Mr. Wemple himself would take umbrage at my previous paragraph, and would probably be peeved to have his name appear within this context. But I'm just calling it as I see it!)

Wemple has also castigated CNN numerous times, including for its bogus "town hall" scripted circuses and various "EXCLUSIVE" and "BOMBSHELL" duds. It is truly refreshing to see some of these cretins get their comeuppance.

It's not true that all liberals are without a conscience, totally self-serving, lacking in self-awareness or self-respect. I submit to you that a fair number of them, albeit misguided about economics, history and human nature, actually have some integrity and will call out hypocrisy and absurdity when they see it, even if it comes from their side of the ideological spectrum. Maybe there's hope after all!

Would that a considerable number of the Post's rigidly leftist subscribers read Mr. Wemple's exposés and take them under serious consideration.

Sleazy Swamp Creatures Proliferate

When voters sent Donald Trump to Washington, D.C., to "drain the swamp," I believe Democrats and Establishment Republicans were the primary target. But within a few months of his taking office, it became apparent that the massive Deep State, with its entrenched tentacles stretching far and wide and its tendency to regularly shred the constitution, represents a far greater threat.

It's obvious that unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats, many of them power hungry, self-serving and opposed to conservative ideology, will look out for each other with as much vigor as they demonstrate in feathering their own nests. Their egos and sense of self importance are out of control.

This week, we've observed a most egregious example of utter gall and arrogance, this one coming from the infamous Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. For months, partisan Democrats demonized U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, who hammered away at the court's ineptitude and the abusive policies resulting from the court's trust in the dishonest FBI and Department of Justice. For too long, the FISA court served as a rubber stamp for law enforcement, buying into deceptive pitches made by the FBI and learning way too late how much it was being played.

Finally, when Inspector General Michael Horowitz scored the FBI for its frequent abuses, most notably including the bogus dossier stemming from Russian disinformation funded by Democrat/Hillary Clinton operatives, the FISA court took umbrage. Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer issued a four-page rebuke of the FBI for its abuses, including misleading the court by providing “unsupported or contradicted” information and by withholding exculpatory details about former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.

All fine and good... Except for the preposterous step the FISA court took next: Appointing a former Obama Department of Justice lawyer, left-winger David Kris, as a special adviser to help oversee reforms in the FISA process. Talk about letting the fox guard the henhouse! This is beyond the pale.

This is more evidence of swamp creatures looking out for one another. But the FISA court hacks may find out soon enough that they're too smart by half. Come March, the Congress will decide whether to reauthorize the FISA Court. There is a growing desire to close it down, once and for all. That would be a step in the right direction, but sort of tantamount to slaying one alligator in a vast swamp full of loathsome creatures. It's really an uphill struggle, but far better to wage that struggle than to stand pat and have the swamp engulf everything and everyone.

Technology & Taxes

For decades now we've had tax software and online tax filing services. Uncle Sam as well as individual taxpayers have easy access to powerful analytics and auditing capabilities. Human error has been reduced considerably.

The question of how technology affects tax revenues, however, is going to be far more critical going forward. For approximately 20 years, states, the IRS and the U.S. Supreme Court have wrangled over the Internet sales tax, and this has had far more effect on state and local government than on Uncle Sam. For the most part, purchasers of goods online must pay a sales tax, so this issue is mostly resolved.

But as we move further into the 21st century, two technological developments are poised to have a dramatic impact on the federal government's tax revenues, fiscal health and budgets: crypto-currency / blockchain software and the combination of artificial intelligence / automation in manufacturing and service industries.

The IRS has issued guidance several times pertaining to virtual currency, and so far this type of currency is being treated as property rather than money. But rest assured, additional guidance and plenty of litigation will be forthcoming.

The question of machines / computers replacing humans for manufacturing and routine office work (invoices, payroll, accounts payable / receivable, processing work orders, etc.) could have a dramatic impact on tax revenues.

Think about the millions of jobs that formerly employed human workers who paid income taxes and payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare. Once they're replaced by machines, that puts a major dent in those tax revenues. 

Several years ago, Bill Gates suggested that we ought to consider a "robot tax" for machines that replace humans. While many thought he was nuts at the time, the concept is gaining acceptance and consideration, as this piece in Forbes magazine discusses.

We live in a dynamic world, with an ever-evolving economy and marketplace. By now it should be clear that solutions or improvements in the way we do business sometimes have undesired consequences. Rapid advances in technology continue to take us into uncharted waters and unprecedented dilemmas.

Iran at bay

All last week the Democrats and their media allies did everything short of opening fire on the White House in their desperation to see Iran succeed.

Indeed, it was fascinating to see the two Dem candidates with military experience openly blaming Trump for Iran's clumsy and inept air defense system. 

The double standard is amazing.  If a US anti-aircraft battery shot down one of our airliners by mistake, there would be no attempt by the left to blame anyone but the leadership, including the president.  But when Iran does it, it's still Trump's fault.

Trump has apparently set the record for most likes for a Farsi-language post declaring his support for the people of Iran against their corrupt and murderous leaders.  This of course puts the Dems in the positions of backing a theocracy, no doubt in the name of "stability."

Weird how they channel Realpolitik whenever our enemies benefit.

I've seen accounts that the Iranians have detained the British ambassador, which would be yet another act of war.  This is a regime that is lashing out in desperation.  Trump has ended the charade that we aren't at war with the Mullahs, leaving them forced to take overt actions - which in turn invite overt responses.

Once again Trump is acting as a massive disrupter, shattering the corrupt status quo.

House Leader Nancy Pelosi has said that impeachment will forever taint Trump's term in office.  I think she has it exactly backwards.

If Trump succeeds in toppling the mullahs, bringing troops home from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, it is the Democrats who will be excoriated in history.