Tag: Politics

Government

Are You Paying Attention?

I hate to say I told you so… but I did warn you. Let’s see, what’s that old saying? “It’s not a Conspiracy Theory if it comes true”. I’ve been babbling about social credit scores and government domestic spying for quite some time. Here’s yet another example of where we’re headed. It came out yesterday that the FBI has been encouraging banks and credit card companies to flag transactions with terms like MAGA or Trump. You also got flagged if you shopped at sporting goods stores or purchased religious materials. Uhm, yeah. This is not ok.

Germany had the Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers, or the SS as its intelligence service to spy on its citizens. East Germany in the Cold War had the Stasi. Russia had the KGB. And thanks to the Patriot Act, we now have the FBI.

In the name of security and terrorism, the FBI is now a full fledged state security agency tasked with spying on the citizens. Are you ok with that? I’m not. I don’t think the agency can be saved at this point. It needs to be disbanded. But that won’t happen and we all know it. So what do we do?

I’m not sure what can be done. A rogue agency like that exists because we no longer have a press interested in asking questions. There are a handful of members of congress that will attempt to hold a hearing here and there, but nothing will come of it. If it wasn’t for Elon Musk and twitter, you’d never even hear of the FBI’s misdeeds. How do you hold an agency accountable when the watchdogs either don’t care or actively support their actions?

When the FBI is flagging transactions because you fit the profile of an evil white nationalist on the basis that you support Trump and shop at Cabelas… it’s over. We’re rapidly sliding into Orwell’s 1984 territory. When you’re guilty of wrongspeak, you’re going to have trouble finding a job, getting credit, or renting a car or hotel room. Is it really all that crazy to think that’s where we’re rapidly headed?

The DOJ has an entire web page dedicated to their pursuit of J6 evil doers. They’ve arrested 1,265 people so far and the FBI continues to show up at peoples houses daily. Grandmas and people wandering around taking selfies. Antifa burned cities across the country for an entire summer… where’s their DOJ dedicated page and mass arrests? Crickets.

The people don’t have the power to resist or complain. Say or do something and your life will be ruined. You’ll spend your life savings in lawyer fees trying to defend yourself. This is not who we were supposed to be as a country. The founding fathers are rolling over in their graves.

The scariest part is that the only hope we have rests on one person. The President of the United States is the only one with the power to effect actual change. The odds of our electing someone with the courage to do something is very low. I’d go so far as to say impossible. The deep state will ensure someone with that level of commitment to do the right thing never gets close to the office.

Vivek Ramaswamy was the only candidate who at least voiced the right answers and seemed to have an actual plan to make changes. I guess all we can do at this point is hope he can whisper in Trumps ear enough to convince him to do something. That is assuming he can win, which is far from a guarantee at this point.

But even if he does win, Trump has already said he wants to build the FBI a magnificent, shiny, new building in D.C. (with his son-in-law Jared already bidding for the construction contract). Trump kept Comey and then gave us Wray, so I don’t have high hopes for a complete shift in thinking.

Parents, it’s time to educate your kids on how to stay safe and away from the watchful eye of the state security service. Just like in East Germany with the Stasi, be careful of what you say and who you talk to. Don’t post anything controversial. Be wary of that new friend who encourages you to go to a rally or join a protest group. Go along to get along. Like only pictures of puppy dogs and recipes on Facebook.

It’s the new normal.

“Surveillance breeds conformity”
– Glenn Greenwald

Government, Politics, Solving the wrong problem

Is It Omertà Or Something Else?

I know, I know, it’s a broken record. Millions of people a year streaming across our border. Tens of thousands a day. Politicians, governors, and mayors all shouting at each other and pointing fingers. Meanwhile, nothing changes. Texas finally got mad, put the national guard at a popular crossing spot and have prevented the border patrol from entering. Naturally the Biden admin and DHS have issued a cease and desist order and are threatening to take it to the DOJ. Among all the wailing and gnashing of teeth on both sides of the issue, what’s the one thing you never hear? Any criticism of Mexico.

Doesn’t that seem odd? An actual national emergency and crisis at the border and nobody seems to be mad or critical of the country where the problem originates. If Canada suddenly decided to start driving across the border to dump raw sewage and nuclear waste in our northern forests, I’m pretty sure someone would say something. I’d go so far as to say that we’d probably start threatening trade status if they didn’t knock it off. But a humanitarian and national security crisis on the southern border… crickets.

I get it – Mexico isn’t actually capable of stopping the influx. The government is too corrupt and the cartels are too powerful. But at least they could pretend they’re doing something. Put some troops on the borders. Throw out a few rows of razor wire. Place some warning signs. Something. Anything.

But they don’t even try. And we say nothing. Why is that? Why won’t a single politician, left or right, call out and/or threaten Mexico? The only politician I can think of to say something was Trump while campaigning. You remember – “I’m going to build that big, beautiful, wall and make Mexico pay for it”. The president of Mexico just laughed and said no. And Trump and congress did… nothing.

Well, that’s not true. Trump threatened sanctions against Mexican imports. He then suspended his threats and signed the new USMCA trade deal. Boy, we really showed them didn’t we?

What exactly is the hold Mexico has over us? Why are we afraid to say or do anything to the country that’s invading us by proxy? I don’t get it.

It’s almost like all the players in this drama know the real reasons behind this game, but won’t say.

Omerta.

Government, Politics

Does Iowa Even Matter?

I’m happy I don’t live in Iowa right now. I can’t imagine having 24×7 campaign crap going on for months. Non-stop door knockers, rallies, photo ops, and every commercial a political ad. No thanks. And the funny thing is… in the last twenty years, whomever Iowa chose as their candidate in the primary did not go on to become the actual GOP nominee. They chose Ted Cruz in ’16. Rick Santorum in ’12 and Mike Huckabee in ’08. Even the polling has been wrong. All polls indicated Trump would win the caucus nomination in ’16. So if Iowa is wrong every single time, why is such a big deal made of it?

I also live in a state that, for different reasons, does not matter in presidential elections. I suppose fortunately we barely exist politically, so we see a tiny fraction of the campaigning other states experience. We are a red state and will remain solidly so – at least for a while longer. The tide is turning and I can see us turning purple in the next ten years or so. Trump never bothered to visit in ’16 (actually I don’t think he’s ever been here). Ted Cruz visited and had a resounding primary win over Trump. Clearly it didn’t matter in the end.

So Iowa is wrong every time and the polling about Iowa is wrong every time. Meanwhile the press, as usual, has vehemently declared the ascendency and demise of every candidate in the running at some point. It’s all pretty silly.

Politics are in a weird place right now. Nothing seems normal.

Trump is the apparent favorite for the nomination, yet he doesn’t debate, answer questions, or interact with voters. He only holds mega rallies for fawning fans and spews one-liners for applause.

DeSantis was the favorite and then dropped off the press radar despite knocking on more doors and holding more events than any other candidate. Did he really fizzle with the population, or did only the press declare him dead?

Haley is the new media darling. She’s clearly the deep state choice. There’s even a big push for democrats to switch and vote for her in an apparent attempt to block Trump. She’s definitely Jeb! in high heels.

Vivek is hands down the most interesting candidate. The smartest, most articulate, and the only one with actual plans rather than campaign slogans. He also has zero chance. He is so dangerous to the establishment, there is no possibility they’d let him get anywhere near the nomination. They’d Bobby Kennedy him long before he got near the win.

And Biden… I don’t even know what to say about him. He campaigned in ’20 on Zoom from his basement. At this point they’re simply trying to keep him from falling off stairs or getting lost. I’m honestly shocked he’s still running. I was sure they’d have him drop out by now.

So conventional wisdom and polling says that Trump will be the eventual GOP nominee. Will that hold up? I think it’s a coin toss at this point. Reading the tea leaves, what the Enterprise/deep state is trying to engineer is a Haley v Biden or Newsom match up. They win no matter what in that scenario.

Anyhoo, Iowa will be the talk of the town – for about 72 more hours, before once again sliding into obscurity. Last day before ’24 voting officially starts… cards on the table, what’s your prediction as to how this all plays out on November 5th?

“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
– Abraham Lincoln

Government

Would You Say Something?

You see the images on TV every day. Border Patrol agents waving illegal immigrants through holes in the border fence, directing them to massive processing areas. Cutting razor wire put there by Texas state troopers and National Guard. Basically being as helpful as possible to the massive flood of immigrants coming across the border every day, day in and day out. This seems to fly in the face of their stated mission statement. From the Border Patrol web site: “…its primary mission remains unchanged: to detect and prevent the illegal entry of individuals into the United States“.

The behavior of the Border Patrol that I see with my own eyes clearly contradicts the mission statement. So what gives?

Now I get it, the Border Patrol doesn’t set policy. The agents are acting on the orders passed down from their superiors, which was passed down from the Secretary of Homeland Security, who gets his orders from the White House. So those poor schmucks on the front line are left simply enforcing whatever edict they were given. It’s not their fault. Or is it?

Because I’m a dork, I went and found the Border Patrol’s ’22-’26 Strategy document. My first thought is that it’s the most useless corporate propaganda I’ve read in a while. A waste of (virtual) trees. My second observation is that in the entire 26 page document (with dramatic pictures!), there is one, ONE, sentence related to the 10,000+ immigrants streaming across the border a day. (2021 migrant encounters hit a record at the time, so yes it was an issue when the doc was put together)

So the current administration, the decision makers, and senior management intentionally decide to ignore the actual purpose and mission of the Border Patrol. Here’s the thing though… every single one of those agents swore an oath to US constitution. Who’s standing up and saying, wait a minute this isn’t right? There wasn’t a single agent who previewed this document and pushed back on the total lack of focus on the actual crisis right in front of them? Obviously a bunch of sycophant agents all clapping like seals to please the chief.

I get it. You have a mortgage. A family. A baby on the way. A new truck payment. You’ve got your eye on that new boat. While you may not entirely agree with management, those decisions are above your pay grade.

I’m just doing my job.

And that, my friends, is how we got officials filling in skate parks with sand and arresting solo surfers on the beach. It’s Covid man, I’m just following orders. It’s how we have FBI agents conducting SWAT raids on J6 grandmothers. It’s how we got Ruby Ridge. It’s how we have police officers standing by and letting protestors take over highways. It’s how the holocaust happened. People just doing their job.

I have lost all respect for the agents of the Border Patrol. While the border is literally collapsing in front of them and they’ve turned into nothing more than a concierge and transportation agency for the customs and immigration service… there isn’t a single agent who’s willing to stand up and say this isn’t right?

To effect change, it’s going to take a revolt from the Border Patrol rank and file. Masses of them speaking out to the press. Ignoring orders and helping Texas officers put in more razor wire. Going to Washington and speaking out against their management and the decisions being made.

Think that will ever happen?

The answer is no. You gotta go along to get along. Would you risk your career to say something? Almost nobody would. It’s human nature. The rare individual who does say something will be ostracized immediately and working for Walmart by the end of the year. So the status quo remains.

Food for thought when society begins to break down. When President Newsom decides to implement some draconian rule in the name of safety and security, don’t expect those first line responders to push back. Do you really think law enforcement will be the good guys standing up for the rights of citizens? When the police and FBI arrive at your door because you’ve been posting subversive messaging and disinformation… it’s not those officers fault.

They were just doing their job.

Government, Motivation, woke

Who Controls the Narrative?

With every passing day I’m more in awe of how prescient George Orwell was with his novel 1984. It’s even more impressive when you realize it was first published in 1949. One could go on and on with analysis of how accurate it is today, but there’s one concept from the book that seems strikingly true now:

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

The current progressive, woke culture mob is doing everything possible to erase the past. Removing statues. Remaking films with appropriate ratios of all persons of color and identity. Changing past temperature history to match the global warming narrative. Everywhere you look past culture is being erased. This is on purpose. Kids growing up today will have zero sense of our history. The very fabric of what made this country great has been vilified. The youth of today will arrive at adulthood believing that everything about this nation was profoundly immoral and wicked, and a new set of values must be set forth.

The great reset is succeeding. Why? It’s not because it’s a great battle of ideas happened and the right one won. No, it’s because of violence. The quote that captures it best is:

“He who controls the violence, controls the narrative”

I wish I remember where I got that quote from, because it’s so true. The BLM/Antifa riots of 2020 had members of congress, the FBI, and police on their literal knees in solidarity. People were falling all over themselves to post their support of BLM on social media in fear that someone might mistakenly think they supported evil white men. Law enforcement did virtually nothing to stop the violence for fear it might provoke more destruction.

During the Trump years, the left happily got in the faces of innocent people at restaurants and chanted Black Lives Matter and anti-Trump slogans. Progressive members of congress encouraged people to get in the face of Trump supporters and tell them they weren’t welcome. Congress launched a nonstop barrage of investigations, accusations, and impeachment hearings the moment Trump was elected. There were riots in the street after the inauguration, with half of Hollywood threatening to leave the country. The left doesn’t hesitate to employ violent or disruptive tactics to drive their agenda.

Today the favorite tactic seems to be “swatting”. Call the police and say you’re at the address of a conservative person and claim some sort of shooting or assault. Naturally the police descend upon the address with guns drawn, not knowing that it’s a hoax. The hope, obviously, is that with emotions running high someone gets shot or at least arrested.

The other fun tactic today is the “protest” that shuts down streets and highways. Whether it’s about climate change, BLM, or pro Palestinian/Hamas – the goal is to disrupt normal people as much as possible. If they can provoke an outburst from a frustrated driver or the police, even better. It’ll be on camera and posted all over social media in a nanosecond. Police stand by, paralyzed with fear of lawsuits and negative social media.

What do all these actives have in common? Violence. City councils and police departments are loath to stand up to calls to remove a statue because they know it will start protests which costs money in police services and damage cleanup. It’s easier to just remove the statue than fight it. You better not dare to question the trans activist activities because you’ll instantly be labeled all sorts of racist, intolerant names. Your business and social media will be targeted. You’ll be arrested and removed from school board meetings. It’s much easier to go along to get along.

This has been true from the beginning of time. If you control the violence you get to dictate what the narrative is.

Good luck disparaging the past regimes of the Mongols, Vikings, the Catholic Church, Russia, North Korea, etc… Go against the status quo of those rulers and you’ll be disappeared, or historically, your head would simply be put on a pike.

What’s interesting today is the mob is the one controlling the violence. Government is afraid of the mob. The progressive horde is slowing taking over government. Orwells 1984 becomes more of a reality every day. He saw it coming. Maybe it’s just the natural progression of a society run by benevolent rulers?

What was once an unruly mob, is slowly becoming the status quo. The big question is – will there be a new mob that forms to fight against this current woke regime and its new direction? Human history is remarkably consistent. Unfortunately, what’s consistent is that change only happens one way.

He who controls the violence, controls the narrative.

I’m not sure the woke regime appreciates the volatility of the tinderbox they’ve created. Then again, I’m not sure the anti-woke forces have the spine to employ the same tactics the progressive crowd used to take over. It’s going to be an interesting battle.

Daily Life, Government, Solving the wrong problem

Should I Care?

Last night Mrs Troutdog and I watched a two hour discussion with Vivek Ramaswamy on the Shawn Ryan show. I HIGHLY recommend watching it, regardless of your political beliefs. The dude is scary smart and has seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of everything. Even if you disagree with his political views, you have to admit – there is no other candidate would could conduct this type of long-form discussion with his level of candor. None. (maybe JFK Jr) Why aren’t we, as a population, demanding this level of candidate to represent us? Never mind, don’t answer that.

So we’re watching this interview and I’m getting myself spun up about politics and the state of the country, and Mrs Troutdog shared some insightful wisdom. She said, “I don’t care. All I care about is that the market stays healthy, our money stays secure, and we can enjoy retirement”.

She’s right.

In the big picture, none of the nonsense these meat puppets running for office are babbling about is really going to affect me. Of course there could always be some sort of cataclysmic change and civil war or zombies in the street. But in the next twenty years… probably not. Could we suddenly become Venezuela and need wheelbarrows of cash to pay for our mocha lattes at Starbucks? Sure, but not likely.

Things will get a bit more expensive. Random silly rules will get passed. I might not be able to replace my gas stove. There will be more cricket meal inserted in the food. But that’s about it. We’ll still be able to travel and see the countries largest ball of string and the museum of socket wrenches. I’ll still be able to buy and read books. Pretty sure there won’t be any restrictions on hiking, mountain biking, skiing, or riding the motorcycle. Fly fishing will always be an option.

So as usual, she’s right. There’s no point to getting my panties all in a bunch over the latest political outrage. I was equally outraged at the last four or five elections and somehow we survived. I’m pretty sure the next four will be about the same.

Don’t get me wrong, the country is heading in a bad direction. Fortunately for us, the car crash will happen long after we’re gone. Is that selfish? Yeah, a bit. But you know what? The younger generations have by and large voted for all this crap. So, you reap what you sow.

It makes me sad to see where we’re headed. Don’t worry, I’ll still be getting on my soapbox and ranting about whatever the latest outrage is like an old man shouting ‘get off my lawn’. But it’s all for show.

Behind the scenes, I love the beauty and adventure this country still offers and that’s where my head is at most of the time. You should do the same. Unless you’re young and just starting out. In that case… I’d be worried about what your future holds. You younger folks may want to really think about where we’re headed and decide if that’s really what you want.

But that’s not me. I’ll be sitting on the back porch, drinking a beer and looking out over the lake. Fondly remembering what used to be, and happy it’s not my war to fight.

Content, knowing that I’m well armed, and have plenty of food, water, and survival gear. I may be past the age of getting all worked up about politics…

But I’m not a complete idiot.

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, 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.

Government, Solving the wrong problem

Thinking About Borders

I woke up thinking about our southern border. I find it odd that our government basically has thrown in the towel and simply left the door open. Why would we do that? I do not buy into the vision that some evil WEF cabal is orchestrating the great replacement theory. Yes, the overall identity of the United States is being slowly replaced. I believe somewhere around 2030 whites will no longer be the majority in the country. This is already the case in California, with Texas not far behind. But I don’t think it’s intentional. The left certainly cheers this development, but I don’t think anyone in government is intentionally planning it.

I think we’re not addressing the border issues due to fear of the Mexican cartels. Drugs, guns, and human trafficking is a 10+ billion dollar a year business for the cartel. They will would not take kindly to that revenue stream being shut down. The Mexican government is fully controlled by the cartel and actively support the massive migrant flows north. Just the other day there was a record overnight surge of illegal migrants crossing the border. Video showed Mexican police escorting buses of migrants to the border. Don’t you find it odd our government says nothing about this?

The DEA assesses that Mexican cartels are operating in at least 1,286 US cities. One of the reasons you rarely hear about the notorious bloods and crips of LA is that the Sinaloa cartel came in and killed many of them and took over. I think it’s fair to say the cartels own the border and many of the US border towns.

The cartels have already infiltrated the border patrol. As far back as 2010 there were congressional hearings into corruption in the border patrol. In 2020 a report came out that said the CBP internal affairs believed that as many as 10% of border patrol officers were involved in corruption. That’s Mexico levels of corruption.

So why won’t our government do something about it? I think it’s fear of the all out war on the border that would ensue. If we actually tried to stop the cartels it would quickly escalate to a hot conflict with huge civilian casualties. I think you’d start seeing the level of violence you see in Mexico on US soil – bombings, beheadings, bodies left in the street, and public officials being assassinated.

Our public officials don’t have the stomach to put troops on the border. Of course there’s also the weird legal wrangling that would occur due to the posse comitatus act that prohibits our military from acting as law enforcement on US soil. If a president actually tried it, we’d end up dithering for years as the Supreme Court decides if it was a law enforcement action or defending our border from foreign invaders.

So where does that leave us? No politician has the gumption to start a hot war on the border and have to explain civilian casualties. We have effectively ceded the border to the cartels. They are free to operate with near impunity and continue the invasion of US cities. Gee, I wonder why the fentanyl issue is escalating? I’d be curious how many local politicians in the US are actually being bribed by the cartel? I’d bet it’s way higher than anyone thinks.

So what happens next? Nothing good. California has essentially stopped policing. Been watching all the looting and smash and grab videos lately? Just wait until the cartel gets bolder. No California mayor is going to do anything about it. Texas and Arizona are helpless. Their border towns have been completely overrun. Our government will prevent any citizen groups from banding together for protection. It’s not a pretty scenario.

Politicians calling for “building a wall” are just juvenile. It won’t happen and we won’t enforce it. The left is busy reframing the discussion as a refugee issue. Any talk about closing the border is instantly countered with racist and white nationalist accusations. Want to see the future? Spend some time looking into what South Africa has become.

This is how you lose a country.