Category: Government

Government, Politics

Can The Door Be Closed?

The United States no longer has a border. Among the many gifts the Biden (shadow Obama) administration has given us, is a complete free for all at the southern lines on a map. I don’t care what party you identify with, you cannot deny it’s a disaster. The “adults in the room” are handling it even worse than the Afghanistan withdrawal, if that’s even possible. The truly incompetent part is that by denying they want an open border, they’re making everything worse. At least if they came out in the open and declared an end to border enforcement, they could put policies in place to manage the influx of “new citizens”. The current strategy is pitting states against sanctuary cities and the federal government. No one wins in that scenario. So the big question is, assuming we wanted to, could we even close the border at this point?

Let’s say a chest thumping Republican is elected this go-round and actually pursues shutting down the border. Would it be successful?

Sending 100,000 troops to the border would be the easy part. That of course would trigger daily lawsuits from crazed liberals crying and moaning about the lack of humanity. Talking heads on CNN would put their stern faces on and lecture us about the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, baring federal troops from participating in civil law enforcement. We could get past that however – the troops can build barriers, dig moats, provide surveillance support, and transport services, etc… Border Patrol can lead the actual detainment activities.

So it wouldn’t be hard to shut down the border. It’s the butterfly effect that would be hard to manage. Hundreds of thousands of people a month are streaming through South America into Mexico at the moment. We shut the border and Mexico now has a humanitarian crisis they have no way of dealing with. What will the public do when they see MSNBC gleefully televising squalid Mexican refugee camps of a million people within six months or a year? The UN would condemn the US so fast your head would spin. You think AOC’s fake crying at the border was performative art, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Of course we could put pressure on Mexico to enforce their own southern border and try and stop the influx. Forget for a moment that Mexico is controlled by the cartel, much of Latin America is still the Wild Wild West except with jungles. They have no ability to stop the influx even if they wanted to.

Perhaps the biggest issue is that Mexico is the United States second largest import trade partner. Mexico is now the new China for manufacturing cheap goods. If Mexico decides to retaliate against US border mandates by limiting importation of parts and tools… good luck with finding a new car, medical devices, or a whole array of consumer products. Are we willing to endure a trade war over border policies?

And then there’s the biggest elephant in the room – what do we do with the tens of millions of illegal aliens already here? That whole last and final amnesty thing certainly didn’t work out like Reagan hoped. Assuming we implemented some sort of deportation policy, what if the rest of the world doesn’t accept them back?

It’s a bit of a sticky wicket we find ourselves in. There are no good answers. We can give up and just open the floodgates and hope for the best. We can go all John Wayne and try and restore some order, but then spend the next decade fighting the wailing and teeth gnashing of the progressive left and media. We really managed to screw ourselves, haven’t we?

While it’s probably a lost cause, I think we should still try. Being the awful xenophobic, white nationalist (code-word Nazi), isolationist that I am – I’d like to see my country not become Europe. I’d like to hold on to the quaint idea that I can be a proud of my country and the American exceptionalism that built the modern post WWII economy. I’d like to think that I live in a country in which allowing a monthly influx of hundreds of thousands of fighting-age males to stream across the border from every place on the planet, would be viewed as a bad thing.

Alas, I don’t think it’s realistic. The political machine (the enterprise), the progressive left and the media are too powerful. And, they have a weapon that cannot be defeated. It’s a word. All these evil thoughts I have? it’s because…

I’m clearly a racist.

Game over, it’s the argument that cannot be defeated. Politicians, CEO’s, and public figures quiver at the mere thought someone might throw this word at them. It’s the thing that will send people to frantically bend the knee to social media in desperate attempts to keep their followers from abandoning them, when accused of that horrible word. Racist is the new Nazi.

We went from being lectured about having strong moral fiber and “sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me”, to careers being ruined and grown men crying tears of soy when faced with Tik Tok influencers whispering that you might be a racist.

Yep, the more I think about it – I don’t think we’re going to make it. We’re never going to close that door.

P.S. for all you who were dropped on your heads as babies, or liberals (which may be the same thing), I’m talking about ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ONLY. Legal immigration should be encouraged. And no, the current fake asylum tactic is not the same thing. See, fear of that word has me pre-emptively quantifying what I mean for fear that someone will accuse me of hating all immigrants. Sigh…

Government, Politics

It’s Chaos, Baby!

In case you missed it, which would be difficult to do, the state of Colorado removed the bad orange man from their ballot. The CO state Supreme Court ruled that due to insurrection, mean tweets, something or other, he is ineligible because of the 14th amendment. Odds are that the federal Supreme Court will overturn it, but you never know. It doesn’t really matter, because the actual point is chaos. Now, I’m going to say some things that the Trump diehards don’t want to hear. Buckle up, buttercup.

So let’s imagine for a second that Trump has managed to somehow beat or delay the 92 felony counts pending against him. And he’s prevailed in his, now, three Supreme Court filings and whatever future lawsuits will be filed between now and GOP convention. Assume the current polling is actually accurate and he manages to secure the GOP nomination. Now what?

Are you really going to delude yourself into thinking that the bulk of the Haley/DeSantis voters will happily turn out and vote for him in the general election? The never-Trump wing of the Republican Party is substantial. The big money machine of the enterprise is not going to support Trump (they want Haley). So in an era in which we know the GOP needs to eclipse 80+ million votes to beat the DNC candidate… in an environment in which the GOP has done NOTHING to combat the mail-in/absentee/Zuckerbucks issues that plagued the last election – you’re going to tell me that an absolute crushing avalanche of republican voters in swing states are going to turn out on Election Day and vote Trump in? Hmmm, ok.

I guess it might happen. I’ve been wrong before. Let’s say the bad orange man actually does manage to win. What next? Trump is a walking ego-driven chaos factory. You thought the deep state/media machine conspired against him at every turn last go ’round? You ain’t seen nothing yet baby. He will be steamrolled and blocked at every possible turn. In all likelihood the GOP will have lost both the house and senate, so he’s not going to get anything done there.

All the things he’s currently saying he’ll get done during his ego stroking rallies today… he didn’t get them done last time. What makes you think he’d get them done this time when the deep state opposition will be 100x greater than it was his last term?

One of his greatest failings last time was poor personnel choices. The end result was that virtually all major players in the Trump White House either turned against him and/or are now mired in legal actions brought by the DOJ. What sane, competent person would agree to serve Trump this time – knowing that most likely they’ll be facing millions of dollars in legal fees before the term is over?

Trump absolutely gets credit for not screwing up an already accelerating economy and unemployment rate (yes, really). But at the same time he didn’t build the wall and didn’t make Mexico pay for anything (despite controlling the house and senate), he gave us Fauci, Birx, the untested vaccine, mandatory jabs, lockdowns, he didn’t clean out the FBI or the DOJ, and added $7.8 Trillion to the national debt. Oh, and a lot of mean tweets.

Outside of the Trump rallies, people remember these things. They remember the chaos. I don’t think the average GOP voter wants another four years of the bad orange man sucking all the oxygen out of the room 24×7, for little effect. But I could be wrong.

All that aside, here’s the key issue. I suspect the deep state/DNC is salivating at the idea of Trump losing either the GOP nomination or the presidency due to court actions (as opposed to simply losing early in the primaries to another candidate). Why? Because the Right will lose their collective minds. If Trump is blocked from wining the GOP nomination I think we’ll see actual violence. Trump is the symptom of a bigger problem. The Right feels that they’re losing the country. The far left, woke, open borders, DEI policies are crushing what’s left of the American identity. Trump being quashed by the machine is going to send some folks over the edge – even the never-Trumpers would be angry (relieved, but still furious at the injustice).

And THAT is what the deep state is waiting for. Any excuse to come down like a ton of bricks with enhanced security, monitoring, and control. Federal misinformation departments, a supercharged DOJ and FBI, unending FISA warrantless searches… they’ll have their rational. We can’t have an angry right-wing marching in the streets. Leaked DHS memos already show they consider nationalist/white supremacist domestic terror to be one of the top security concerns. J6 and arrests for posting memes will seem like child’s play. Speak out against anything in the government approved lexicon and you’re toast. And President Newsom, with Democratic control of the house and senate, will happily usher in this new era of the Orwellian/American empire.

Or maybe not. Maybe the DNC is stupid enough to keep Biden as the candidate. Maybe Haley will win and our only issue will be war with the greater Middle East and Russia.

Either way, 2024 is going to be interesting times.

Welcome to the Jungle, Guns ‘N Roses

Welcome to the jungle it gets worse here everyday
You learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play
If you got a hunger for what you see, you’ll take it eventually
You can have anything you want but you better not take it from me

In the jungle, welcome to the jungle
Watch it bring you to your kn-kn-knees, knees
I’m gonna watch you bleed

Government

Tea, Taxes, And An Anniversary

Today is December 16, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. A party in which a few folks decided they didn’t like being taxed without representation. What was the tax? An additional 10% levied on tea to cover British government revenue losses resulting from the 25% discount given to the East India Company to combat smuggling. Some brave colonists, fed up with the bullshit, got together and threw 92,000 pounds of tea into the harbor; worth $1.7 million dollars in today’s dollars.

Today, we citizens have government representation on paper… but it sure doesn’t seem like it when you run the numbers. Here’s just some of the taxes we pay:

  • Federal tax
  • State tax
  • Property tax
  • Sales tax
  • Gasoline tax
  • Alcohol, tobacco, soda tax
  • Medicare tax
  • Social security tax
  • Capital gains taxes
  • Alternative Minimum tax
  • Gift taxes
  • Estate taxes
  • Vehicle registration fees
  • Drivers license fees
  • Fishing/hunting license fees
  • Fees to visit state federal parks
  • Fees to visit “public” museums and monuments
  • Toll and carpool fees
  • School bonds and levies
  • Levies for fire stations and EMS districts
  • Hotel room taxes
  • TV/Cable Satellite taxes
  • Telephone taxes
  • Water/Sewer district taxes
  • Bike licenses
  • Dog licenses
  • Sport stadium levies
  • Retirement 401k early withdrawal tax
  • Airline transportation tax
  • Building/Construction permit fee

There’s many, many more but I got tired of typing. Did you vote for most of these? I don’t remember doing so. Two hundred and fifty years ago, a bunch of patriots got pissed at the government screwing them over with a tea tax, and took action. Today we’re numb and willing to accept anything. The government is running a Tax Farm – and we’re the cattle.

The beauty of the enterprise is that the taxes and fees are mostly hidden. It’s deducted from your paycheck before you ever see it, or it’s worked into the price of goods. If the public was instead handed a bill at the end of the year for all the taxes and fees they owed, there would be an armed uprising and heads on pikes so fast politicians wouldn’t know what hit them. Social security and medicare are collected before you even get your paycheck for a reason. Meanwhile, you’re admonished for not “paying your fair share”.

Has the enterprise grown so large it can’t be defeated? Will patriots rise up and take back control of their republic, or will we continue to say “Thank you sir, may I have another?”

Don’t answer that, I already know the answer. Happy Boston Tea Party day!

Government, Politics

Do They Even Listen?

Public service. Representatives of the people. Elected officials. Doing the work of the American People.

How many times have you heard these pithy phrases in the last ten years? Whatever the number is, it’s a lot. Our elected politicians LOVE to campaign and talk about being champions for the people, to represent the good folks who sent them to government to be your voice. To fight the good fight. Maybe it’s just me, and call me crazy, but I’m getting the feeling that they don’t really care what you think.

When you’re out and about talking to regular people, they have concerns. Mundane worries about things like the cost of living, health care costs, taxes, and paying for their kids education. If you’re one of those far right, ultra MAGA extremists, you might even be worried about the border invasion or foreign wars. None of these things seem to be anything local or federal government cares about. Don’t get me wrong, they pay lip service to them in campaign speeches and on X/twitter. But in terms of actual legislation or executive orders… crickets.

It feels like an episode of that TV show Pawn Stars. CITIZEN: “I’m really worried about the cost of groceries and the flood of migrants crossing the border”. POLITICIAN: “Best I can do is spend cargo planes of cash for improved Amtrak service. Oh, and we’ll throw in another ten billion for Ukraine”.

Is it that they honestly don’t understand what the citizens want, or do they know and don’t care? Don’t answer that, it was rhetorical.

I know I tend to be on the skeptical side, but I’m getting the feeling that my elected officials don’t really care what the people think. Perhaps the mechanisms of government are simply too complex for us regular people to grasp. Maybe we’re just petulant children who need to be quiet while the adults talk. It just seems that nobody cares what we, the people, want.

We need to keep an eye on Argentina and its new president, Javier Milei. He followed through with his campaign promise and cut the number of ministries in half on day one. He killed the Ministry of Culture, along with the ministries of Health, Labor, Social Development, and Education. Will he be able to wrest some sort of financial stability and improvement, or will he be swallowed by the government blob, unwilling to ceed power to this madman? It will be interesting to watch.

If we had an actual politician here willing to do the same, would it work? Could the right personality actually start cutting back on the deep state and make a difference? Or is the government enterprise simply too powerful?

Let’s look at our options:

  • Biden (Obama) – the meat puppet is a pudding brained Alzheimer’s patient. He’s no longer an effective tool of the Obama machine and irrelevant.
  • Newsom – He’s the very definition of the deep state.
  • Haley – The female Jeb Bush/McCain, eager to be the next deep state representative.
  • Christy – The buffet is calling.
  • Trump – He had all three branches of government and… the deep state steamrolled him. It would be different this time, how?
  • DeSantis – Has the right governing instincts and executive skills, but lacks the charisma to fire up the people. Has run a piss-poor campaign which doesn’t bode well.
  • Ramaswamy – The most interesting of the bunch. Has the charisma. Has the right ideas. He’s a contrarian. The establishment won’t let him anywhere near the nomination.

So basically… we’re screwed. Nothing will change. The deep state, the enterprise, has grown so large and powerful I don’t think it’s possible to change. It’s like a black hole, slowly sucking all light and energy from the room, growing bigger every day. Eventually, like a massive star that triggers runaway nuclear fusion, it will go supernova and collapse.

Hopefully, like the decline of stars and the Roman Empire, that collapse will take some time. Regardless of who captures the throne, it feels like the next four years is an inflection point for the American experiment.

Will the people continue to go along to get along… or will they begin to turn on their masters?

Government

How Do You Stop A Riot?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or gender studies doctoral candidate to see that the 2024 election season has the potential to become… spicy. Let’s be real – the left likes to demonstrate and riot. There’s a certain level of irony in realizing that the vast majority of modern day violence comes from the left. For an ideology that professes peace, love, understanding, and granola, they sure do like to burn shit down. So knowing that this is already festering in MSNBC chat rooms, how do you stop a demonstration/riot?

The law and order side of me says that there should be a zero tolerance policy. Deploy the national guard, make liberal use of pepper balls, water cannons, and batons. Mass arrests, large fines and actual prison time. If you want to tear down statues, deface public property, or smash and burn, you’re going to pay a heavy price. Not going to allow it to happen in my town.

But is that the right approach? Is a heavy handed police action going to spark more outrage and protest? We’ve already seen it with Antifa. They thrive on creating clashes with the police and then using that as further propaganda. When things go south, it’s inevitable that some amped up police officer, tired of being spit on and pelted with bottles, is going to go too far. It’ll get caught on camera and you have an instant martyr. Cue the non-stop CNN coverage and riots that spread to other cities.

I also don’t want to live in an oppressive police state. I want to freely walk down the street and not have to navigate police checkpoints or be frisked if I want to enter the downtown area. I should be able to freely express my ideas. As the old saying goes, “I may hate what you have to say, but I defend your right to say it”. Even if your opinion is retarded. Cracking down on violent, subversive speech is all well and good – as long as it’s the other guys opinion. The next guy in charge may not like your speech.

So where do we draw the line? How do we let free speech happen, yet not fall victim to the tyranny of the mob?

Right now, the mob controls the narrative. The media and the establishment is afraid of the mob and its ability to label you as a far-right extremist. Just look at the pro-palestinian marches. It’s suddenly ok to call for wiping out Israel and to tear down posters of kidnaped kids. We’ve already seen multiple cities cancel their Hanukkah/menorah lighting ceremonies due to fears of an “incident” happening. Just yesterday CA governor Newsom canceled the public lighting of the state Christmas tree to avoid any potential conflict. The mob won.

How do you stop this madness when district attorneys won’t file charges even if we do arrest rioters? A police officers career is over if he gets caught on camera pepper spraying a poor innocent blue haired Antifa chick whose pronouns are ze/zir/zim. Florida governor DeSantis passed a number of anti-riot measures and was instantly tied up in legal actions. It feels like a losing battle.

The next year is shaping up to be contentious. As Israel continues to dismantle Hamas, the pro Palestinian/Islamist marches are going to get more violent. Regardless of who the GOP nominee is, expect significant demonstrations leading up to the election. And if by some miracle the bad orange man is actually the nominee… whoo boy, get ready.

Interesting times. While it scares me, I’m currently in favor of managing riots with a heavy hand. The mob currently knows they can operate with near impunity. Significant consequences are about the only thing that will make people think twice about their actions.

How about you? What do you want to see when the mob is marching down your street smashing windows and setting things on fire?

Government

The Madness Of Fences

It’s not a new concept. The idea of fences and walls has been around since the beginning of modern human history. They kept wild animals out, defined property, borders, and generally helped you defend what’s yours. As the poet Robert Frost wrote in 1914, “Good fences make good neighbors”. The sentiment of the time was expressed as, “…the need to have clear boundaries between properties, as well as the need for neighbours to respect these boundaries, if relations between neighbours are to remain amicable and ‘good’.”

Of course fences haven’t always led to harmony. For example, the invention of barbed wire led to the range/fence cutting wars of the 1880’s. Wealthy cattle barons would fence off public land to protect water and grazing acreage from other ranchers. Fences were cut and disputes often turned violent. Generally speaking If someone wants what you have, it’s much easier to take if there isn’t a fence.

Fences aren’t just for property owners. Currently 65 countries have, or are building, border fences/walls. Why would they do that? In some cases it’s for physical security. Take Israel for example. Without its security walls the country would cease to exist. They’d be instantly overrun by crazed jihadists, bent on driving them into the sea. The Great Wall of China was built to keep out the mongol horde of Genghis Khan.

More common today, fences are in place to restrict immigration. The world has a migrant problem. Millions upon millions of people are fleeing failed, third world countries and looking for anyplace they can make a better life for themselves. You can’t blame them. The problem is that sort of mass migration will destroy the host country if it’s not kept in check.

Millions of people flooding into Europe and the US who don’t speak the language, have limited education and job skills, quickly become a drain of public resources. Resources that many countries/cities don’t have. And further, when those new migrants don’t share the same culture and aren’t interested in assimilating… it creates resentment and destroys the fabric that holds a society together. Never, in all of human history, has a mass migration been a net positive for the host country.

Which brings us to our southern border. This may come as a shock to you, but it’s open. The current administration has decided not to enforce border security. We’re now averaging 200,000 border crossings per month. 2.4 million migrants to date for just this year. This does not include the “got aways” which the border patrol didn’t detect.

200,000 people a month who need food, shelter, medical care, schooling, etc… Month in and month out, year after year, all coming to a city near you. It defies description that anyone could defend this policy as beneficial to the United States. It’s criminal. And it’s not going to stop. For reasons that I cannot fathom, the deep state wants this invasion to continue. For example, just a few days ago the Fifth Circuit Court ruled that Texas must take down the floating border barrier it had installed.

It’s hard to imagine that this is what it’s come to. A state tries to protect its border from a literal invasion by another country, and the US department of justice immediately takes them to court to remove the barrier. Why? Can someone explain this to me?

Last month representative Marjorie Taylor Green forced a vote to impeach the DHS secretary for failing to control the border. Every single democrat and eight republicans voted against it, with a further eleven republicans abstaining. It’s clear that the establishment wants the border open. Why?

What are citizens to do when their government fails to do the most basic thing the government is empowered to do as defined by the constitution? This should make you angry. This should be your litmus test for elected officials. If they’re not going to uphold the oath they swore, they don’t deserve to be in office. I’d go so far as to suggest bringing back tar and feathers, but that practice seems to be frowned upon.

If nothing else, at the very minimum send them some mean tweets. Ask them to build a damn fence.

Article IV Relationships Between the States
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

Government, Politics

The Rumors Are True

I know the rumor and gossip mill have been abuzz lately. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more public about this before, but certain preparations had to be in place first. Everything is now set – today is an exciting day! I’m proud to announce that that the rumors are true. I am declaring myself as a candidate for President of the United States. I will be running my campaign through the newly formed Contrarian Party.

I don’t take this responsibility lightly and I’m not doing this by choice. The feckless meat puppets who are currently running for office have left little choice. There is no single candidate who has both a vision for a future prosperous nation, AND the ability to win. Therefore I am willing to step in and fill the void.

Because I am not doing this by choice, and I am not a politician, I affirm that I will serve one term and one term only. The goal is to prime the pump and set the stage for future, more qualified leaders.

Four years is a very short time to make change on a national scale. I will not promise pithy feel-good platitudes that will never be achieved. My platform is very simple:

  1. The border is closed. Period. The United States will employ as many troops, walls, concertina wire, and surveillance methods as required to stop all illegal entry into the country. Force will be authorized, including deadly force, to arrest any individuals who manage to cross the border illegally. Individuals arrested will be immediately flow back to their country of origin.
  2. A five year moratorium on all work and student visas. The country needs time to figure out who’s here and what, if any, foreign skill sets are needed to enhance the American economy. Current, valid visas/green cards will be honored for the term of the visa.
  3. Current visa/green card holders who are caught demonstrating, protesting, or publishing anti-American statements will have their visas immediately canceled and will be deported. Immigrating to this country is a privilege, not a right. Citizens have the right to criticize their government, not guests.
  4. All cabinet agencies will reduce their budgets by 10% from a 2023 baseline in year one. Each successive year, an additional 5% reduction will be mandated, for a total reduction of 25% by the end of the term. The Department of Defense is excluded from this and will be reviewed individually.
  5. The federal student aid program will be canceled except for students attending local community colleges. The department of education’s budget will be further reduced by the equivalent amount. Individual States and Universities will have to fund student aid, if desired.
  6. The United States shall withhold all payments to the UN for the duration of my term.
  7. The United States will no longer be the largest funding source for NATO. The US contribution will be the average of all other contributors.
  8. All funding bills delivered to the Presidents desk will be vetoed unless they are single subject/item bills. The Executive branch will no longer support omnibus spending.
  9. A panel of primary non-commissioned military veterans will be formed to vet the current armed forces command structure and recommend changes in personnel and mission. Members of the panel must have served in a combat deployment. Former officers will be considered only with unanimous consent of the panel.
  10. The FBI Director, Deputy Director, and all department heads reporting to the Deputy or Associate Deputy directors will be terminated. All department heads below that level must re-interview for their jobs. A complete review of the departments mission will be conducted by an appropriate civilian panel, unaffiliated with the Justice Department.
  11. A panel of appropriate military, intelligence, and civilian experts will be formed to provide recommendations on disbanding the Department of Homeland Security. Those recommendations will be sent to congress.
  12. The Department of Energy will be tasked with creating a “moon-shot” program to implement nuclear energy facilities nationwide.
  13. Across all cabinet departments and agencies, any budgetary item associated with climate change or DEI will be canceled.
  14. In anticipation of future global disruption of trade routes, manufacturing, and supply, the Departments of Commerce, State, and Transportation shall submit a joint recommendation to protect and improve these areas to further strengthen our national economy and security.
  15. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in partnership with the US border patrol shall be tasked with implementing a plan to deport persons in the country illegally and those who crossed illegally under asylum assertions. Asylum claims must be made from the country nearest to the refugee’s country of origin. Asylum seekers will not be granted entry into the US unless their claim is approved. The former funding contribution to the UN will be used to provide deported/displaced persons aid and shelter in their countries of origin or asylum.

I have no illusions – this will be difficult. The deep state will fight this with every tool they can find. There is a very real possibility that these changes will spark further division and chaos in this country. It is an unfortunate fact that we need to face this chaos if we hope to see a resurgence of the post-WWII American exceptionalism that built the economy that got us here. If we fail… well, I don’t think you’ll like where we’re headed.

So that’s it – that’s my campaign pitch. I’ll be putting together a GiveSendGo account if you’d like to contribute to my campaign.

A vote for Troutdog is a vote for a more prosperous future! (ok, I admit I need a better campaign slogan)

Government, Motivation, Politics

My Dog Hates Squirrels

Well, hate may be a strong word. Let’s just say he has a passion for trying to catch them. And technically it’s chipmunks, not squirrels. Here’s the thing – the odds of him actually getting one are extraordinarily low… but not zero. There’s always a chance that one chipmunk might be a little hung over from a huge chipmunk party the night before and be a little slow in making his escape. It is possible the hound might get one given the perfect circumstances. But what then? I don’t think the hound really knows why he chases them and he certainly doesn’t know what he’d do with it if he caught it.

And that is my weird roundabout way of describing what the Trump presidency was. Trump was a First Gen Disrupter. He had great instincts for stirring the pot and calling out the swamp. But I don’t think he actually thought he’d win. And just like the hound… when he caught that chipmunk he had no idea what to actually do with it.

And the results were predictable. Horrible personnel and hiring. He failed to implement most of his campaign promises. And very quickly he descended into pointless fighting with the swamp, the media, his own staff, etc… He started his campaign with the right ideas and a vision to be a Disrupter, then devolved into three years of petty name calling and personal grievances at the slings and arrows launched his way. He wasn’t ready when he actually caught the squirrel.

But that’s the nature of First Gen Disrupters. The system will resist at all costs. The system wants equilibrium. It takes that first Disrupter to start making waves. To his credit, Trump did that in a way that probably nobody else could.

Next came Elon Musk and Twitter/X. He’s a true Disrupter who severely shook up the status quo. I don’t think people appreciate yet the magnitude of what he did for free speech. How he exposed the massive governmental and corporate attempts at censorship. He’s a Disrupter who was willing to risk his personal fortune to unmask the swamp.

You’re now starting to see more mini-Disrupters appear. Matt Gatez and his unseating of the Speaker of the House. Vivek Ramasawmy at last nights debate calling out the GOP Chairwomen, GOP party as a whole, and the corrupt media. Will it make a difference? Doubtful. But it was the first time seeing bold alternative thoughts being expressed on a national stage. We need more mini-Disrupters questioning the swamp.

But what we really need is a Next-Gen Disrupter. Someone who will overturn the tables and start attacking the swamp in earnest. But most importantly, we need someone with the political experience and smarts to do it right. Someone who can’t be cancelled. Someone who doesn’t give a fuck and is willing to go full honey badger despite the personal attacks that will come.

I don’t know who that is. I don’t see it in any of our current batch of politicians. There doesn’t appear to be anyone sitting in the wings who can be that Disrupter.

If we don’t find that person soon… I fear for our republic. The swamp is doing everything possible to get back to equilibrium. The military industrial complex is in full swing and does not want to be interrupted. We no longer have a middle class. The elite ruling class is doing everything possible to rig the game.

If we don’t disrupt soon, the empire will fall. The elites will ride out the crash just fine. It’s the middle that will suffer. No chance at buying a home. Wages won’t remotely keep up with inflation. Skyrocketing fuel and food prices. Unchecked crime. Zero cohesion as Americans – just islands of tribal allegiances, divided on race and ethnicity. Scarcity of goods. A failed empire made up of kings and peasants.

Disruption isn’t fun. It’s messy. But as the saying goes, you need to break a few eggs to make an omelette.

If anyone knows of a Benevolent Disrupter, now is the time to give ’em a call. We don’t have much time left.

Daily Life, Government

Be Prepared, A Motto

Does anyone remember the Boy Scouts? I know I’m dating myself, but I did the whole scouting thing. Eventually we moved to a different city so I never finished my Eagle Scout, but I was pretty involved as a kid. If you didn’t know, the scout motto is “Be Prepared”. When the scouting founder, Robert Baden-Powell, was asked “be prepared for what?” He replied, “Why, for any old thing”. This way of thinking was drilled into me even further when I was a member of a Search and Rescue team. I saw first hand what happened when people wandered into the woods without adequate preparation. (hint, it was never good)

A looooong time ago I lived in California, in the Bay Area. The possibility of the big earthquake was very real. Having a minor part in my cities emergency management system, I realized what a shit show things would be if the big quake really did hit. Trust me, your government is not ready. If a couple of overpasses came down, say goodbye to your food supply (grocery stores only have 2-3 days on hand at any given time). As a result, I had a fair amount of food and water stockpiled. I felt pretty good about my ability to ride out multiple weeks of no power, water, or food.

I no longer live in California (thank god). My little part of the world is reasonably immune from natural disaster. We have plenty of water sources, don’t suffer from droughts, don’t have earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, or hurricanes. We don’t have the civil unrest plaguing so many cities right now. While we’re starting to see some homeless and a bit of increased drug traffic… snowy winters tend to keep that somewhat in check. Basically our main threat is the Yellowstone super volcano blowing. If that happens, we’re all screwed so it’s not really worth worrying about.

So as you can probably guess, my “prepping” has gotten somewhat lax. I still stock quite a bit of food and things that go bang to defend the aforementioned food. Water is not an issue. So the question is, should I be preparing more?

It’s been a long time since I gave this question any thought. But lately… the political, social, and geopolitical situation has me more nervous. We’re closer to WWIII kicking off than we’ve ever been. An EMP strike is a very real possibility. Side note, read “One Second After” if you want a realistic picture of what that would look like. Complete South Africa-like social collapse is certainly in the realm of possibility. I’d like to think my part of the world is isolated enough to avoid much of it, but you never know. China is nearing a collapse. Inflation, fuel prices and fertilizer shortages are skyrocketing the price of food. The price of cattle futures has doubled. Supply chain interruptions and food scarcity generally lead to bad things. A terrorist attack on our power grid? Yeah, that would be bad. So far this year, 160 people on the terrorist watchlist have been stopped on the border. How many snuck through?

The point is, I think it’s time to starting thinking about worst case scenarios. I filter “prepping” down to the following:

  • Does my family have enough food, water, and the ability to cook it for several months? Can we function without electricity for that length of time? Do I have the ability to defend it from people trying to take it?

That’s it. No more, no less. Nobody’s bugging out or going on the long march. We’re not setting up radio communications or coordinating neighborhood assault/patrol teams. I’m not digging a fallout shelter. None of that’s realistic. If something really bad happened, could we hunker down for sixty days and survive? If it’s still really bad beyond that… well, it’s probably end of days and Mad Max time. Nobody but the gangs and most brutal will survive that. I’m not sure I’d want to be around at that point.

My personal weak points are cooking, heating, and light. The hard part is that the solutions to those problems are somewhat expensive. It’s hard to spend money on something you hope to never use. Depending on what happens in the world this next year – it may be time to pony up and prepare.

How about you? Could your family survive a couple months without power or government infrastructure? One month? A week? It’s worth thinking about.

Whether contemplating the societal breakdown scenarios, or going backpacking, fishing, or riding a motorcycle into the backcountry, there’s a saying I like:

“Expect to self-rescue. No one is coming.”

Keep that in mind when planning stuff and you’ll be better off than most of the population.

Government, woke

Coming To A Favela Near You

A favela is the term for a large slum, ghetto, or shanty town. The most famous favela is in Brazil surrounding the city of Rio de Janeiro. They’re full of horrible poverty, crime, and drugs. And they’re the future we’re looking at here in the US.

Don’t believe me? We already have one just outside of Houston Tx. It’s called Colony Ridge and is home to somewhere between 45,000 and 75,000 illegal immigrants. There’s little, if any, law enforcement. Dirt roads. Houses can be bought without social security numbers or traditional income verification. The area is controlled by the cartel and is rife with drugs.

Should you care about this? Well, so far during the Biden Administration 8+ million illegal aliens have crossed the border. They have no money, job skills, don’t speak the language, and are often still in servitude to the cartel they paid to bring them across. Where are they going to go?

We’re seeing in NYC, one of the most affluent cities in the country, what happens – there’s no housing for them or sufficient services. Thousands upon thousands of migrants are sleeping on the streets and in parks. The city is paying exorbitant amounts to take over hotels to house them. Winter is coming… now what? There’s not enough indoor housing for the masses of people. This is not a winning recipe. Ask yourself, could whatever little town you live in support an overnight influx of 10,000 people? That’s how many people a day are crossing the border. What do you think that would do to your cities budget? Think your taxes would go up to make up the shortfall?

As compassionate humans, we don’t want to see people dying in the streets so we raid our city budgets to provide food and temporary shelter. Our health care systems become overwhelmed with migrants using the emergency room for free primary care – the hospital eats the cost for that care since they don’t have insurance. Actually you, the average insured person, eats that cost. Why do you think an aspirin is $250 in the hospital?

These folks have limited to no job skills other than menial labor. You do what you need to do to survive – and that often means turning to crime, which puts a great burden on already overworked police departments.

I’m sure many of these people are lovely humans who simply want a chance at a better life. I get it. I’d want the same had I not been fortunate enough to be born where I was. But let’s be realistic. Doctors, lawyers, and nuclear engineers are not who are streaming across the border. Look at the daily images and tell me what you see. The overwhelming majority are fighting age males from every country on the planet. By and large the migrants coming across, are not basic family units.

Faced with the hurdles they have here, assimilation into the American way isn’t going to happen. They will self segregate into familiar communities, continuing to speak their language, and carry on whatever customs and way of life they know. And those communities will be preyed upon by cartels, limiting any chance of upward mobility.

In short, it’s a recipe for favelas being created in every major city in the US.

These areas will quickly become no-travel zones for the average person. Policing will be virtually non existent. Is that the future you want for your country?

If you believe in an open border, or support the current administration, I’d love to hear a reasonable explanation for how/why allowing the current border situation to continue is in our best interest? Please show me any country in the world where allowing unchecked migration has been a net positive. How does allowing 8 million migrants stream across the border in just a few years benefit our country? I’d really like to know. I’ll assume that if you’re in support of an open border, you’ve opened your home to help house several migrant families… right? see Martha’s Vineyard

I guess in the end, it doesn’t matter. It’s too late. Nobody’s going to deport millions upon millions of people. Mexico and the cartels aren’t going to stop. Congress will continue to issue random pithy statements and hold pointless hearings, while doing absolutely nothing about it. The liberal screaming class won. They’ll come down like a ton of bricks on any person or business stupid enough to not embrace unchecked migration. In short, we’ve thrown in the towel. The border is open.

I’m not sure what it means for the average citizen. I don’t see how this improves the quality of your city or town. I suppose the long term outlook is that the upper classes will retreat further to their gated and patrolled neighborhoods. Downtowns will continue to die as it becomes too dangerous to shop and eat out for the regular person. I suspect private security will become the hot new business venture to invest in – after all we have twenty years of disillusioned military vets looking for something to do.

Sorry for the negativity to end the weekend. It’s just hard to watch the images of what’s happening and wonder how we got here? Maybe I’m being too pessimistic and we will find a way to turn things around. Maybe American exceptionalism will find a way to turn lemons into lemonade. Maybe.

Meanwhile, stay strapped and keep your head on a swivel.