Posse Incitatus

Memorial Day amongst the ruins: 2021

One of the classic precursors to the collapse of democratic government is military defeat. 

 

This need not lead to dictatorship or civil war, simply a new constitutional order, as happened when the Fourth French Republic gave way to the Fifth.

 

That these are the thoughts that come to mind on Memorial Day is a telling indicator that something is deeply wrong with our country.  Congressional Democrats want to establish a permanent military garrison in our nation's capital.  This is not what a popular government with record-seeking vote totals normally does.

 

Readers may well point out that the United States hasn't been defeated in the way of Imperial Germany in 1918, but victory also can be a source of unrest, particularly if the costs seem to vastly outweigh the benefits.  Both Japan and Italy were on the winning side of World War I, and yet both experienced changes in government because of internal discontent.

 

All of these examples have as a core feature the population's loss in confidence in the ruling class.  As we pause to consider our honored dead, we cannot help but ask why their sacrifice was necessary.  If one reads through the archives pertaining to this date, there is an obvious trend: from grim determination to disillusionment and finally where we are today, bitterness.

 

The earliest years of this blog sought to defend George W. Bush's policies and his leadership from vicious (and often dishonest) attacks.  What's striking to me today is how all of his worst enemies - the very people screaming that he was a war criminal - are now his political buddies.

 

A full reversal has occurred on the right as well, and it's remarkable to see.  I imagine a dialog between the two sides much go something like this:

 

The Right:  You know what?  You were right.  Bush was a criminal.

 

The Left:  No, he's a respectable leader, not like Drumpf!

 

The Right:  Wait, what?!  You called him Literal Hitler for years!

 

The Left:  Yeah, but that's before he became useful to us.

 

The Right:  What about his crimes?!

 

The Left:  Oh, we were never serious about that.  It was all politics.

 

Watching the classic Orwellian rehabilitation of Dubya is an object lesson in the left's endless ability to betray its principles.

 

And yet our dead remain dead.  

 

Did they die in vain?  Were the wars worth the cost?

 

I think they could have been.  A punitive expedition to rout the Taliban and break up their networks was both worthwhile and feasible.  Unfortunately, that offered insufficient opportunity for graft, so we went another route.

 

Similarly, removing Saddam Hussein from power started out as a political masterstroke, cowing America's enemies and offering a new global order where state-funded terrorism would be traced back to its sources.  Alas, our rulers didn't see the profit in that venture, either.

 

Again, it's illustrative that Dick Cheney was reviled for years as a war profiteer through Haliburton and yet our current Secretary of Defense is an actual board member of a weapons manufacturer - and no one on the left has a problem with this.

 

For all that, there was a brief dawning of hope at the end of the Trump administration when the Arab-Israeli conflict finally achieved a resolution.  The Abraham Accords and the promise they hold were the kind of solution that made the deaths of soldiers like Capt. Sean Grimes worthwhile.

 

Naturally, that achievement was denigrated and the Biden Administration's top priority is to pour arms and dollars into Syria, Iran and Palestinian terrorist organizations. 

 

And the peace movement?  Nowhere to be seen.

 

Nothing lasts forever, and governments have an expiration date.  It is inevitable that in the distant future a people completely strange to us will walk amidst the tumbled stones of Arlington and ponder what it was and why it was built with the same curiosity we regard Stonehenge or Saxon burial mounds.

 

All we can do is offer prayer for the dead and solace for the ones they have left behind.

 

And maybe, for a little while, the wars of choice will pause.

 

 

 

 

Nineteen years later

I don't think anyone who remembers Sept. 11, 2001 would have imagined that nearly two decades later, we'd not only still have troops in Afghanistan, but it would be a Republican trying to extract them against fierce Democrat opposition.

Indeed, the last few weeks have demonstrated that the Military-Industrial complex has bought out the Democrats and now calls the shots.  The party that rode anti-war sentiment to victory in 2006 and 2008 is now all about creating new and exciting conflicts that will claim the lives of people who come from social classes the elite openly despise.

Terrorism was once an affront to America's security and pride, but then it became a problem that could be handled with optics and spin.

The official observance has been banned in New York, but block parties and demonstrations go on, demonstrating yet again that COVID is nothing more than a convenient way for Democrats to punish groups they don't like, such as Orthodox Jews and religious people.

Looking back at Edwardian English, Winston Churchill remarked that "the Old World in its sunset was fair to see."

So it was on a sunny morning in 2001.  Every year it becomes harder to imagine a world like it.

Media tries out the fakest story to date

The last couple of days have been fascinating to watch.

As someone who grew up around journalists, it's a surreal experience watching reporters and commentators all weigh in on a story with zero actual evidence.

I am of course referring to the allegation that Donald Trump disparaged America's World War I dead while in France more than two years ago.

Yes, breaking news from two years ago!

The curious thing is that no one will go on the record about it.  Not only are the allegations from "anonymous sources" so are the supposed confirmations.

Meanwhile, the documentary evidence says it never happened.  Even Trump's arch-enemy John Bolton called the allegation absurd.  He rightly notes that if it had happened, he'd have done a whole chapter about it in his tell-all book.

This is supposed to damage Trump's standing with veterans, but the actual effect is to further wreck the press' credibility.  Trump's veneration of the military and especially wounded veterans is beyond question.  Yet the press (and their handlers in the Biden campaign) seem to think this will crater that support.

This is of course nonsense because in order to make the case that Trump disrespects the military, the press must itself disrespect the military.

The pilots, aircrew, command elements - all of these people who can attest to the truth must necessarily be denounced as corrupt liars with no sense of honor in defense of sources who may not even exist.

I've seen some stupid moves, but this is a strong contender for Dumbest Line of Attack Ever.

Indeed, Biden is leading with his jaw on this, because Trump can rightly counterattack by asking where Slow Joe was as American troops were being slaughtered in Benghazi, or why did the Obama administration fix the VA?

Thousands of veterans died due to the Obama administration's ineptitude and their response was to simply cover it up.  Add into it the number of military members killed on Biden's watch without achieving a single strategic gain and you have an excellent issue for the Trump campaign.

Finally, if the press must go all-in on a coordinated lie, to do so this early - so that the outrage is fresh in the public mind well before October - is a colossal blunder.

I'm sure there will be more where this came from, though.  These people learn nothing.

Trump brings peace to the Middle East: Democrats hardest hit

Today's announcement that the United Arab Emirates will formally recognize Israel and begin full diplomatic and commercial relations would normally be and earth-shaking event.

The UAE are highly influential and already there are rumors that other Gulf Arab states will follow their lead.

Saudi Participation now becomes a question of "when" rather than "if."

This was unthinkable even a few short years ago - that is to say, before Trump became president.

It's fashionable for leftists to insist that Trump is a rampaging clown, breaking our alliances and trashing American influence on the world scene.

On the contrary, he is the most consequential president since Ronald Reagan and seems destined to eclipse him if given a second term.

Naturally, Obama's minions are beside themselves with rage.  How could such an ill-mannered klutz achieve such remarkable results?   The best minds from Berkeley and Cambridge had come up with Obama's policies, backed by the best think tanks at the most credentialed establishment diplomats.

Yet their finely-tuned "strategic patience" brought only renewed war, widespread chaos and diminished American influence.  It took eight painful years to undermine America's position in the world; how has Trump reversed the decline in little more than three?

It is a mystery that the Left cannot unravel, blinded as they are by Trump hatred.  The Quisling Never Trumpers are likewise convinced The Donald has some sorcery at work. 

The Cuckshed was all set to claim that Biden's wise statecraft is preferable to Trump's oafish behavior, but that phantom has been dispelled almost before it could take shape.

Articles about Trump diminishing America's stature have proved to have a shorter shelf life than Recovery Summer. 

Happy (belated) Birthday, America!

As all normal people should, I took a break from the flickering screen yesterday and enjoyed Family, Faith and Freedom.

After a refreshing session of recreational firepower, it was time to fire up the grill and then set off some fireworks as the evening closed in.  The neighbors complimented us on our display, which was nice.

Seasoned readers have no doubt noticed that I'm not posting as often as I used to, and part of this is that things are getting too stupid for words.

Even the trolls are transparent idiots, on the one hand maintaining Antifa doesn't exist, and on the other claiming that no black businesses have been harmed in widespread rioting.

Given the prevalence of damage (and black-owned enterprises in city cores), this is not only patently false, but insultingly so.

It's on part with a Monty Python sketch in its absurd denial of observable truth.  With such people, discussion is pointless.

This blog has lasted far longer than I thought it would, and it provides a written record of the left's utter degeneration from credible political philosphy to a nakedly illogical movement bent purely on the seizure of absolute political power.

Gun control is a great example of this.  Back in 2004, there was still a serious discussion over whether it was necessary or effective.  This was based on actual evidence, and a particularly telling piece of it was that more and more states allowed concealed pistol licenses and yet the crime rate continued to fall.  Clearly the more guns = more crime theory had been disproven.

Tellingly, this is was the signal to move away from any association with logic and to pure insult and social punishment.  Gun control - like so much of the leftist agenda - became couched in moral terms and those who opposed it were evil.

So it is with Black Lives Matter, whose policies have destroyed lives and livelihoods.  Crime is soaring across the country and it is the black community in particular that is suffering.

The "autonomous zone" in Seattle claimed the lives of two young black men, but no one knows or cares about them, because their deaths don't advance 'the cause.'

Another example:  Remember when George W. Bush was a warmonger?  Remember the peace movement?

Where did it go?  Donald Trump is trying to pull out US forces from pointless and unwinnable wars and yet the Democrats are now demanding that they continue!  It's fascinating to watch the same people who denounced General Petraeus as "General Betray-Us" now quoting him as a wise sage who wants unending death and destruction.

Also disappeared - wrenching stories of civilians killed by US bombs, or the struggles of wounded veterans.  BTW, do those black lives matter - the ones in uniform being wasted in sandpits across Asia?

This is why I've cycled down, because arguing with idiots gets old.  I have not yet closed the comments, but I have blocked trolls and recently deleted a comment that violated our long-standing policy against substituting links for commentary.

If you have something interesting to say, say it, don't spam my comments with your links.

 

A Masked Memorial Day: 2020

Apparently honoring the dead isn't an "essential function."

None of the usual solemnities are scheduled, nominally because of the State of Emergency (which has been extended into a fourth month) regards them as inherently dangerous.  Standing in the open air of the cemetery carries too much risk of infection.

It's far safer to buy a lottery ticket in a liquor store.

Such is our world.

As is customary, each year I dedicate this post to a friend who died too soon, Capt. Sean Grimes.  He was engaged to be married, and by now he might be watching his kids graduate high school.

I remain convinced that striking militarily against both Afghanistan and Iraq after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks was both justified and worthwhile, but had I known it would be managed with such strategic ineptitude, I would have opposed both.

This is a bipartisan condemnation, because neither the Bush administration nor the Obama one had any plan other than managing an eternal conflict.  The lives of our troops were just the cost of doing business.  It's clear that the Democrats used the peace movement as a convenient club, because they're otherwise fine with Wars of Choice (see also, Libya, Syria, etc.).

Our leaders are fine about these losses because they don't know people like Sean.  He doesn't exist in their world, at least not that they know of.  Maybe if they went to his civilian medical practice in later years they'd note in passing an honorable discharge on the office wall, but maybe not.

But we remember him, and all others who - like him - have made the supreme sacrifice for their nation.

Rest in Peace.

Obama and his lying liars will continue to lie about his crimes

The ongoing revelations about the depth and scope of criminality within the FBI, Dept. of Justice, intelligence services and the Obama White House has unleashed a predictable set of excuses based on outright lies.

Oddly, some people are bothered by this.  I assume they expect Obama's minions to hang their heads and mutter that they could have gotten away with it too, if was wasn't for those meddling kids.

In fact, the lies are all the left has left.  All their policies are based on lies, and they have to lie about their predictable failures as well.

Should any go to prison, they will be declared political prisoners, complete with candlelight vigils - even if they plead guilty.

Remember, these people have been screaming "Free Mumia!" for decades.  They have zero shame.

Of course, if a Howard Dean figure emerges (and doesn't commit suicide), things will get more difficult.

This is why Mexico's demand for information on Eric Holder's "Fast and Furious" criminal enterprise is so intriguing.  It will be a treat watching the Democrats pivot from praising Mexico to trashing it.  I don't expect much to come of it, but it would be interesting if it actually happens.

In the meantime, the real game will play out in the courts, and if we see indictments handed down, maybe something tangible will come of it.

The Wuhan Plague

We've gotten used to a level of safety and security that is without precedent.

Two generations have grown to mature middle age without lasting privation or the experience of widespread disaster.

Perhaps this is why there have been so imaginary panics over the intervening decades.  Humans are hard-wired to detect danger and when non materializes, they invent it.

But now there is something very real to fear.  Pestilence rides the land once again.

Naturally, the remnant main stream media is worse than useless.  Their pathetic partisan plays are self-refuting and whatever political capital they hoped to make for the Democrats from large-scale loss of life was destroyed by their premature gloating about it.

PRO-TIP:  You can pretend to mourn thousands of dead if you're openly talking about how you'll profit from their demise before they even die.

They've also decided to go all-in on parroting Chi-Com propaganda regarding the spread of the Wuhan virus, which is never a good look.

Given the current dilapidated state of the US administrative state, the Trump administration's actions have been timely and appropriate.  I will also give a nod to Michigan's Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whose decision to close schools statewide was also correct.

The only way to get ahead of this thing is to shut things down early.  A single infected individual in a school building could immediately generate hundreds of additional cases.

Our ancestors understood this.  When travel was difficult, diseases could be contained with less disruption.  Closing the city gates and patrolling the countryside would often stop the outbreak.

The advent of steamships and railroads rendered this approach inadequate, hence the massive public measures taken in 1918.  Put simply, we cannot test or isolate individual cases to stop this thing.

This is why the Democrat howling about cutting travel routes is not only stupid but dangerous.  The only sure way to stop infection is to stop infected people from moving about, and to hell with the economic consequences.

Economies exist to serve people, not vice-versa.  This short-sighted and callous fixation on the bottom line is what hollowed out American industry, destroyed its working families and left us crippled and unable to meet our own pharmaceutical and medical needs.

The Quisling Never Trumpers have much to answer for in this regard.  Is it a "blessing of liberty" that Communist China can hold us hostage by refusing to provide the vital medications our own scientists developed? 

What dystopian author of years gone by could imagine that people we be so feckless, so stupid to allow the crowning glory of science to be sold off to a hostile and ambitious foreign power for stacks of paper - no, not even paper - electronic money?

In a just society, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush would be driven from public life, forced into overseas exile while a People's Tribunal would even now by rounding up the Obama administration officials who allowed this weakening to take place.

A nation that can't even provide medical masks for its own doctors is not even an independent state, let alone a superpower.

 

Seattle shooting vs Richmond demonstration

Nowhere is media bias more insidious than in prioritization given to various stories.

As noted, the Richmond Second Amendment demonstration was entirely without violence.  On cue, liberal outlets scrambling to claim that but for super-diligent law enforcement there would have been violence, and so we should still treat it as the significant threat it actually wasn't.

You know, the threat that left no one even injured.

Meanwhile, seven people were shot in Seattle last week, with one death and yet the national media is silent.

That's because they only care about crimes that fit their narrative.

"White Nationalism" is the essential myth to keep black voters from supporting Trump.  They are the Nazis under the bed that everyone should fear.

Actual violent criminals with dozens of arrests who somehow remain outside of jail and are able to obtain more guns and kill people with them?

Not important.

Murder rates are spiking in liberal jurisdictions - again, those are actual dead people.

Not they hypothetical dead people we are supposed to be worried about in Virginia, but real human beings with loved ones who now have their lives wrecked.

The media doesn't care about them.

The politicians don't care about them, either.

In the early days of this blog, there was much serious debate about whether gun control was an effective way to reduce crime.

It is now irrefutably clear that it doesn't.  Germany - that paragon of gun control - just had six people shot last week.

Gun control has never worked, anywhere.

Interestingly, the people pushing it no longer care.  Crime rates don't interest them. 

This is because gun control is about political control, not public safety.  Anyone who pretends otherwise is lying, stupid or both.

China's leadership failue

For the last three decades or so, we've been bombarded with stories about how China's brilliant leadership is running rings around the United States.

Some of these books and articles have made valid points, but a number have struck me as just the latest incarnation of the Yellow Peril, the inscrutable Menace from the East.

In many ways, China has played the West for saps, but it's now clear that this was because the West allowed it to happen.

It wasn't that China is led by geniuses, the West was simply being run by incompetent sell-outs.  Donald Trump's policies are not revolutionary or particularly brilliant, but they are effective.

Indeed, Trump's desire of preserving American manufacturing was once so obvious as to be unremarkable.  Both parties understood that a nation incapable of making its own arms and goods would be a helpless target for foreign aggression.  It was only in the halcyon and feckless years after the Cold War that elites convinced themselves that war was impossible and selling out to foreigners was the smart play.

China now has three serious crises to contend with. 

The first is the lingering rebellion of Hong Kong.  China should have taken care of this long ago, and its persistence is proof of the regimes ineptitude.  It also serves as a harbinger of worse risings to come.

The trade war has also gone badly for China.  When Trump put tariffs on manufacturing goods, China's response of retaliating against imported food was idiotic in the extreme.  Of course it failed because people need to eat.

Now we see yet another failure as a deadly disease threatens to kill tens of thousands of people.  China's response has been dilatory, opaque and inept.  The ostentatious quarantines complete with physical road blocks and frenzied hospital construction are nothing more than photo ops to show the regime is in control.

But it isn't.

One thing I've learned over the years is that traditional Chinese culture is largely gone.  Much play is given to the works of Sun Tzu, but it's clear that the ChiComs don't read the old boy any more.

If they did, they would know never to make a trial of strength in a city.

They would know that open confrontation in trade only works if you already have the upper hand, which includes the ability to feed your own people.

Finally, the ChiComs are violating the central tenet of his teachings that one must know oneself and know the enemy.

The Chinese know neither.  They lie to themselves all the time and they lie just as much about their enemies.  The regime has placed a premium on lying, which is why nothing can be trusted.

This is the great weakness of all totalitarian societies.  The leaders only want to hear good news, so that's all they get.

Reality has a way of asserting itself.

For all the mockery of the left and their Never Trump Quisling allies, Trump is an actual practitioner of Sun Tzu's arts.  He sees into the very hearts of his enemies and knows himself completely.  He plays to his strengths in every instance and will shift ground abruptly if he loses the advantage.

It is hard to imagine China collapsing.  It appears so strong, so formidable, but then again, so did the USSR.

In many ways, the question is not whether it will fall, but instead how much longer can the regime hang on?