Bayou Renaissance Man

Back in May 2023, and again in August of that year, I put up a selection of excerpts from Richard Wabrek's excellent collection of "Deplorable Wisdom" - quotations from all over about anything and everything that had caught his fancy over 30 years of collecting them.

I continue to enjoy the collection on a regular basis.  It's the kind of book where you dip into it during free moments whenever you feel like it, and you're sure to find something to amuse or interest you, or make you think.  It's a great collection, and I'm grateful to Mr. Wabrek for compiling it.

Here's another selection from the book.  Enjoy!

“A product demonstrator at the Las Vegas SHOT Show was speaking of a competitor’s product: ‘When their part was installed, the guns went civil service in under 1,000 rounds.’  After he used this term a few times, an audience member asked what he meant.  The instructor replied with a smile: ‘The gun went civil service. That means it won’t work, and you can’t fire it’.” — Anonymous

“Andersen’s (?) Law of Survival for Low-Level Managers: “Never be right too often.” — Anonymous

“Blair’s (?) Observation: The best-laid plans of mice and men are about equal.”

A variation on a verse by Robert Burns in his poem, To a Mouse: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft a-gley.”

“Those who have given themselves the most concern about the happiness of peoples have made their neighbors very miserable.” — Anatole France, Nobel-Prize-winning French author (1844–1924)

“The angels take no interest in the sports of man, save archery.” — Persian saying

“Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.” — Aldous Huxley, English writer and philosopher (1894–1963)

“If you are guided by opinion polls, you are not practicing leadership—you are practicing followship.” — Margaret Thatcher, prime minister of the United Kingdom, known as “The Iron Lady” (1925– 2013)

“Just be thankful we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for.” — Will Rogers, American vaudeville performer, actor, columnist, humorist, and social commentator (1879–1935)

“Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession.  I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.” — Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the US (1911–2004)

“When there is lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.” — Herbert Hoover, American politician and engineer, 31st president of the US during the Great Depression (1874–1964)

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” — Greek proverb

“When liberty becomes license, some form of one‑man power is not far distant.” — Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the US, author, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and pioneering conservationist (1858–1919)

“Give the vote to the people who have no property, and they will sell them to the rich, who will be able to buy them.” — Gouverneur Morris, the author of the Preamble to the US Constitution and Founding Father (1752–1816)

“Scientifically, a raven has seventeen primary wing feathers, the big ones at the end of the wing.  They are called pinion feathers.  A crow has sixteen.  So, the difference between a crow and a raven is only a matter of a pinion.” — Anonymous

“Whoever said you can’t buy happiness forgot about puppies.” — Gene Hill, American author and outdoors columnist (1928–1997)

“I’m all in favor of the democratic principle that ‘one idiot is as good as one genius,’ but I draw the line when someone takes the next step and concludes that ‘two idiots are better than one genius’.” — Leo Szilard, Hungarian-German-American physicist and inventor, holder of the patent on the nuclear fission reactor, collaborator with Albert Einstein (1898–1964)

Szilard was one of the five, Jewish-Hungarian scientists known as “The Martians.”  Someone once remarked that the only explanation for five geniuses originating from the same small part of Hungary at the same time was that they were all really Martians and chose Hungary because the language was about as intelligible as Martian.  I first read this anecdote in The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes et al.  Highly recommended.

“Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it.” — Charles Spurgeon

“Never argue with an idiot.  They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.” — Mark Twain, American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer (1835–1910)

“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is—try to please everybody.” — Herbert Bayard Swope, American editor and journalist (1882–1958)

“A recent traveler returning from Pakistan reports that there is no racial discrimination in that country—only a good deal of ethnic homicide.” — Jeff Cooper, Lt. Colonel of Marines and the father of modern practical shooting (1920–2006)

“Masculine republics give way to feminine democracies, and feminine democracies give way to tyranny.” — Aristotle, Greek philosopher and polymath (384–322 BC)

In a similar vein:  “Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.” — Aristotle

“A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.” — G. Gordon Liddy, American lawyer, FBI agent, talk show host, actor, and convicted felon (1930–2021)

Liddy was the chief operative in the Nixon administration Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Nixon.

“What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.” — Edward Langley, British mathematician and author (1851–1933)

“The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected.” — Will Rogers, American vaudeville performer, actor, columnist, humorist, and social commentator (1879–1935)

“Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.” — Baltasar Gracian

“There are more things on this planet with fangs, claws, poisons, and scales than there are things that are warm, fuzzy, and full of love.  It’s a simple fact.” — Master at Arms James Albert Keating

“The problem with ‘post-modern’ society is there are too many people with nothing meaningful to do, building careers around controlling the lives of others and generally making social nuisances of themselves. They justify their meddling by discovering ‘social problems’ and getting the media to magnify them out of all proportion.” — Graham Strachan, attorney and author

“If the automobile had followed the same development as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year killing everyone inside.” — Robert X. Cringley, the pen name of technology journalist, Mark Stephens

“I do benefits for all religions.  I would hate to blow the hereafter on a technicality.” — Bob Hope, British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer, dancer, and film star (1903–2003)

“I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.” — Stephen Hawking, English theoretical physicist and cosmologist (1942–2018)

“Under capitalism, man exploits man.  Under communism, it’s the opposite.” — J.K. Galbraith, Canadian-born, American economist, diplomat, and public official (1908–2006) 

“What is a communist?  One who hath yearnings
For equal division of unequal earnings,
Idler or bungler, or both, he is willing,
To fork out his copper and pocket your shilling.”
 — Ebenezer Elliott, English poet (1781–1849)

There you are - your compendium of thoughts for today, and the coming week.

Peter

I received an e-mail this morning from reader Chad B.  He and his family have just learned a very important lesson in preparedness.  He writes:

We recently moved into a new place back in May - about 20 acres, house has a water catchment system. I'm an electrician, self employed, no employees. I have invested in a portable backup generator / welder and the house comes with three 1000 gallon rain water catchment tanks for the two sides of the house, and one for the shop. We have a good stock of food, and animals on property. I mention these things just to say that we have the tools on hand should things go sideways.

But, running a business, and homeschooling 5 children all 6 and under, life gets away from you. You get into a mode of just getting by day to day when work gets busy, the animals get into breeding season, and you have to stock up everything for the winter. Especially when the house wasn't kept well by the previous people living in it, and you're having to make constant repairs.

On Tuesday the local water company, without any warning, shut off the water in the middle of our animal chores, citing that we had a massive leak of 588,600 gallons over the last 30 days. The kitchen was covered with dirty dishes, the stock tank 3/4 full, we weren't set up for using the catchment system regularly (but luckily one of the repairs was making sure it worked!), and all the floors in the house were a mess.

We quickly realized we had no real, workable plan for not contaminating our Berkey filter. We had no clean dishes for eating, no easy way to bath, no sanitation plans in place for dishes, no plan on how to teach little children how to act in this new situation.

We probably spent 3/4 of a day and 50 gallons of water just prepping for actually living in this new environment, with me having to take off work, and having to jump back and forth between a world that is not in "disaster mode" and our own issues. We could have done with less, but luckily we have that abundance in the tanks and had a bunch of rain to top them off. Thank goodness we still have electricity and God's timing of rain!

Now it's Friday, and we have some of the day to day worked out, but it's still hit and miss. Because we still have to go to work, deal with children, animals breaking out of fencing, and all the other life issues; it doesn't let us focus on really buckling down as much as I'd like. The wife and I discussed that we definitely need to set up times to do "grid down" exercises, and I really, really suggest it to all your readers. It surprised me how a simple thing like cleanliness can trip you up so much.

When my wife and I sat down to talk, we found the lesson is this:

If your house isn't clean and ready for a disaster right now, you're already three steps behind when you need to be two steps ahead.

In a second e-mail, he added:

Oh, I forgot to mention in the first email that, in order to keep the house running, on her way back home from a Dr appointment the morning that they shut off the water, my wife had to stop at the store for paper plates, bottled water, plastic utensils, and sandwich stuff so that the family could keep going without skipping a beat - and that we've had to keep using that stuff to keep pace with modern society. If not for the store, we wouldn't be able to function right now. Basically, all our prepping, and all we've been able to do is wash dishes, flush toilets, and keep sanitation - no ability to cook, and maintain regular house functions. 

NO GOOD!

Sadly, he and his family learned their lesson the hard way;  but we all have to keep it in mind.  Disasters, or even the less troublesome difficulties in life, mostly don't bother to give us advance warning that they're about to arrive.  One minute things are going smoothly, the next we hit a gigantic bump in the road.  If we're ready for it, all well and good.  If not . . . bad things can happen, and very quickly.  Furthermore, one bad thing happening can cause a chain reaction of more bad things happening, to our extreme discomfort and annoyance.

A last thought.  Arthur Sido notes:

Now we are actively dropping bombs in a sovereign nation that we are not at war with, hitting “proxies” for a different foreign nation. All of this in a country, Syria, with a large Russian military presence.

As I have stated repeatedly, I am not a military strategist, but it seems to me that if you keep dropping bombs near Russian soldiers, the odds of “accidentally” killing some goes way up and the more troops and assets you have in a region experiencing a hot war, the better the chances some of our troops will get killed.

. . .

It certainly seems like the pieces are in place ... to finally go after the neocon’s favorite wet dream of a war with Iran, perhaps Russia and China for the fun of it as well.

Things are pretty quiet right now on the homefront but if we get into a shooting war, as seems likely, watch for store shelves to empty out in a hurry. You should be sitting pretty already but if you aren’t, time is a wastin’ to get ready.

Again, more at the link.

The war in Israel has already drastically affected price and availability of ammunition in this country, as we noted recently.  In its latest newsletter, SGAmmo observed:

We have seen surging demand over the past 19 days at levels not seen since the outbreak of Covid19 in March of 2020, and demand continues to remain elevated at extremely high levels even after over 2 full weeks have passed. Expect shipping delays in the 5 to 10 day range ... Fear driven stockpiling can be extremely intense causing ammo to sell in mass volumes, and can overwhelm the supply chain quickly and lead to shortages, spotty availability and higher prices. We have now recently seen a major shock affect the market with the horror of the Israel / Hamas war, and now a major mass shooting as an aftershock. These conditions back to back have driven demand to new levels, and will continue to pressure the supply chain, as the masses of customers all move to stock up on the same products at the same time. Should another shocking event happen, the market could spiral out of control similar to it did in 2020 and 2021. What you do is your business, but I could easily see additional price increases, and a simple lack of availability on popular calibers to come in the months ahead.

Take heed.  You should already have most of what you need.  Buy what you lack now, before the supply dries up, because if a war hits us, it's going to become literally impossible to buy any - all the ammo factories will be switched over to war production.

Furthermore, if a shooting war breaks out, expect oil supplies from the Middle East to be restricted almost at once;  and don't forget that although we produce much of the oil we need, our allies who will be cut off from their normal suppliers will turn to us for help, reducing fuel available to the consumer market.  If so, fuel will almost certainly be in short supply for an unknown period of time.  If you run a generator, get more fuel for it;  and if you operate a vehicle, I very strongly suggest storing enough fuel to fill its tank at least twice.  If everything goes wrong and you have to leave for a safer place, use part of that fuel to fill your vehicle and take the rest with you, because if everybody else is also traveling, you're unlikely to find more at gas stations along the road.  Also, from now on, keep your vehicle's tank at least half-full on a permanent basis.  Some suggest two-thirds to three-quarters full.  That may not be practical, but it's something I'll try to achieve whenever possible.

A final thought.  We're never going to have everything right, and be prepared for every possible eventuality.  We may think we've covered all the bases, but when things go pear-shaped, we'll almost certainly find holes in our plans and preparations.  That's OK.  It's inevitable.  If we try to cover as much of the essential elements as we can, that will get us through the worst;  and when we find gaps and shortages, we'll cover them as best we can (including by trading preps of which we have a lot with those who need them, and have what we need).  Flexibility and versatility are good things in an emergency.  Never despair - just shrug your shoulders, resolve to do better next time, and get on with it.  As the late President Theodore Roosevelt used to say, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are".  If you can't do it, or don't have it, or it isn't practicable where you are, don't sit there and fret over it.  Do something else!

Peter

Yesterday's "Good Question" article attracted many responses.  Here's another along the same lines, from Francis Porretto.

They Want You To Notice

Just now, the normal people of America are being barraged with studied insults. They’re being issued by the Usurpers who’ve captured our political system and their enablers in the domesticated “opposition.” And they want us to notice.

The question good-hearted people of every kind have been asking since January 20, 2021 is simple and plaintive: “How could they not have known this would happen?” The stolen elections of November 2020 were followed by one incredibly “stupid” policy after another. Surely the Gentle Readers of Liberty’s Torch remember the high points:

• Strangling the supply of oil and gas.
• Opening wide the southern border.
• Massive inflation of the currency.
• Pansification of the military.
• Involvement in Russia-Ukraine War.
• Massive financial gifts to Iran.
• Abandonment of $80 billion in weaponry to the Taliban.
• Use of the DOJ and FBI as political tools.
• De facto legalization of rioting, vandalism, vagrancy, and theft.
• Sam Brinton, Karine Jean-Pierre, and “Rachel” Levine.

I could go on, of course. Every single thing in the list above was done deliberately, with full foreknowledge of its consequences. They were strokes intentionally delivered to achieve two effects:

• To weaken the United States, whether politically, militarily, or economically;
• To insult decent Americans so blatantly that there could be no doubt about it.

Many good-hearted people simply can’t believe that the Usurpers really meant to offend us so blatantly…that those were studied insults. But in fact they’d been planned since Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in November 2016. Those barbs were intended to be blunt and brutal: We can do what we like to you, and there’s not one damn thing you can do about it.

I’m a fair hand with such things, and I tell you plainly: I could not have contrived more blatant, humiliating insults if I were given a decade to do it.

. . .

I predict that just about any day now, it will become an admitted fact – admitted by those who are perpetrating the outrages against us. They will tire of concealing their glee at making us suffer. They will want to celebrate our subjection openly, perhaps with a public fete and the declaration of a federal holiday.

What will we do on that day?

There's more at the link.

I have to agree with Mr. Porretto.  This is deliberate, in-your-face intimidation and triumphalism.  "We got rid of Trump and his ilk, and now we're in charge, and there's nothing you can do about it!"  That's the message.  That's also why I, and many others, believe the 2024 elections will be a sham, and a fake, and a public lie.  Having gone this far, the powers that be dare not see their handiwork overturned by another Trumpian revolution.  They have to protect it, and themselves for having fostered and accomplished it:  and that means we've probably seen the last free and fair elections in America for some time to come, until people get fed up enough to do something about the corruption and dishonesty that have come to rule the "old ways" of government.

Mr. Porretto asks, "What will we do on that day?"  My question is, "When will that day come?"  Either way, it's not a comfortable thought.  I've lived in disintegrating societies and nations in the Third World, and seen at first hand how many become casualties of the process - militarily, economically, socially, politically, culturally and in every other way imaginable.  I think most of us will learn more about that in the not too distant future, because when the rot has set into a society as deeply as it has into ours, there's a certain inevitability about the process.  What's more, unless the decent majority "screws their courage to the sticking place", the end result is unlikely to be happy.  The intimidation currently on display is designed to stop them doing that.  Will it succeed?  Or will it provoke them to say, "So far and no further!"?

J. R. R. Tolkien put it well through the mouth of his character, Gandalf, in The Lord Of The Rings.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

Word.

Peter

Freedom of speech?  In Israel, apparently, not so much.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi is promoting regulations that would allow him to direct police to arrest civilians, remove them from their homes, or seize their property if he believes they have spread information that could harm national morale or served as the basis for enemy propaganda.

According to draft emergency regulations titled "Limiting Aid to the Enemy through Communication" drafted by the communications minister after consultation with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the jurisdiction to impose limitations on publications will be sweeping.

It will apply to both the general public and the media, as well as both local and foreign media (in contrast to the stated objective to limit Al Jazeera). It will also apply to the publication of factually correct statements, at the minister's discretion.

There's more at the link.

It's not unexpected, of course.  Authoritarians, autocrats and statists all try to use any excuse to increase their control of the people at the expense of individual rights and freedoms.  Looks like Mr. Karhi is no exception.

His proposals are not (yet) law in Israel, of course:  yet they show clearly the authoritarian instinct of the present government there.  They try to dictate solutions, to impose them on the people, rather than persuade them that they're necessary and implement them in a way that minimizes damage to rights and freedoms (and is preferably only temporary, until the crisis passes).

Beware a power grab in a time of crisis.  We saw it in our own country during the COVID-19 crisis.  Even today, some states persist in using that crisis as an excuse to perpetuate their crackdown on civil rights and liberties.  They'll do it again in a heartbeat if the opportunity arises.

Benjamin Franklin warned us:

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Now more than ever, we need to heed his words and be alert to the danger of those who want to force us to give up "essential Liberty", using current events as an excuse, a fig-leaf, for their assault on our rights.

Peter

In the past I've posted some thoughts from a friend who styles himself (for publication) "Our friend in the mountains".  He sent me a couple more e-mails in recent days, and I thought they were worth sharing.

Standing Guard

We've gotten used to the "Designated Driver" - the person in any family or group outing that agrees to not consume alcohol so he or she can do the driving.

It's now time to add the "Designated Watch Stander" - the person who stands watch for the family or group when they are out and about. The Designated Watch Stander has no other duties than standing watch - they don''t provide child care, assist with Grandma, do the cooking or food prep, or play with their phone. They stand watch. The first time they are caught paying attention to their phone instead of Watch Duties they are forever banned, not from watch standing, but banned from the group.

The Designated Watch Stander should be armed - and skilled with that arm -  but there is no reason for them to be the only person armed or skilled in use of arms.

Standing watch is Real Work - properly standing watch consumes a lot of mental energy, which is why in the military one stands watch in 2-hour or 4-hour increments. And when the watch changes the handover of responsibility must be clear and unequivocal - "I am relieving you, I take the watch;" "I stand relieved, you have the watch."

There should also be an "Alert Word;" this is easier with families, but important for groups as well. One word, or simple two-word phrase that is unique and very difficult to misunderstand or mishear, and the response from everyone in the group must be uniform: upon hearing the Alert Word all talking stops, all activity stops, everyone pays attention to instructions from the Watch Stander. No one does the "huh, what?" stupidity dance. It is quie reasonable to take two minutes to develop a response plan, what the group, and its members do, in the event an active threat develops.

All of this requires an understanding that threats exist, from terrorists on paragliders to snatch-and-grab thieves stealing from cars, and everything in between, and that Things Are Serious. Some people will refuse to accept that; those are not people with whom you want to spend time, they are mentally locked into what psychologists call Normalcy Bias, and that can be hazardous to your health and safety.

"Personal status reporting"

Family members can be, and usually are, in very different places during the course of a day, often, in several different places - school, grocery store, work, athletic practice, etc. When "something happens" each will be concerned about the  whereabouts, and status, of each other.

Pick a trusted friend or relative to perform as an Information Clearing House, preferably one some distance away to avoid being involved in the same event; if you live in Miami picking Aunt Sally in Ft Lauderdale is the wrong answer, she will be involved in the same hurricane you are. 

Uncle Ralph in Des Moines is a much better choice, unless Uncle Ralph is a chatterbox who can't keep the calls short, and who needs his reading glasses and a pencil to make notes but can never find either, etc.

The calls need to be short and concise: "Uncle Ralph, this is Suzy, there's been an incident at school that happened when I was in 3rd period Algebra. I'm not sure about all the details, but I'm fine, and my algebra class has been evacuated to the Pine Grove church at 4th and Main St. I'll call with more info as I have it."

"Hi Ralph, this is Fred, I'm at work, everything's fine here, I heard something about an event at a school here, has any family member called?" "Fred, Suzy called, she didn't have any specific details, she's fine, her class was evacuated to the Pine Grove church at 4th and Main St., I haven't heard from Marge or Junior."

"OK, thanks, Ralph, I'll call back at the top of the next hour. My cell is on and with me."

These calls are not "to catch up on things," discuss who is going to what dance with whom, did you get that problem with the outboard motor fixed, exchange recipes, etc. Short and informative. The Info Clearing House person needs to be able to prod callers to get to the point, not let them ramble - it's "who, what, where, when, goodbye." That person should have a list handy with everyone's contact info - meaning "instantly accessible" not buried in a drawer with 6 months of old grocery lists. And, being able to receive texts is very useful - in any emergency telephone systems, both landline and cell, become overloaded and it may be difficult to get through with voice calls but texts are not only "store-and-forward"  - texts will be queued and sent when the system has the capacity to do so - and texts consume a lot less system capacity (bandwidth) than voice calls.

Useful ideas for those preparing to deal with emergencies.  Thanks, "Friend in the mountains"!

Peter

Tucker reacts to the terrorist attacks in Israel, and points out that the way forward requires sober judgment and an adult response.  Watch the whole thing.  It's worth your time.

Peter

A few months ago I put up selections from an anthology of sayings collected by Richard Wabrek.  I've been paging through the book since then, finding more and more useful nuggets.  It's the sort of book one can read for a year or more whenever one has a free moment, a page or two at a time.

I thought you'd enjoy a few more pages from the collection.

“The Republic was not established by cowards, and cowards will not preserve it.” — Elmer Davis, American journalist (1890–1958)

“The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.” — Walter Lippman, newspaper columnist (1889–1974)

Lippman was referred to as “the Father of Modern Journalism,” with all that implies about the manufacture of public opinion.

“Equality, in a social sense, may be divided into that of condition, and that of rights.  Equality of condition is incompatible with civilization, and is found only to exist in those communities that are but slightly removed from the savage state.  In practice, it can only mean a common misery.” — James Fenimore Cooper, author of The Last of the Mohicans (1789–1851)

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” — Goethe, German polymath (1749–1832)

“Why of course people don’t want war.  Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece?  Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor England, nor for that matter Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship.  Voice or no voice, the people can be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to damage.  It works the same in any country.” — Herman Goering, World War I fighter ace, the second most powerful man in NAZI Germany, convicted, WWII war criminal (1893–1946)

Goering is right.  Who would have thought that the American public would support a war conducted by the incompetents who so recently displayed their talent during the Afghanistan withdrawal?

“You can do anything in this world if you’re prepared to take the consequences.” — W. Somerset Maugham, English author and playwright, educated as a physician (1874–1965)

“It’s a sin to believe evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake.” — H.L. Mencken, American journalist and commentator (1880–1956)

“There is only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, And that is to have either a clear conscience, or none at all.” — Ogden Nash, American poet (1902–1971)

“Lex malla, lex nulla” or “An evil law, is no law.” — Thomas Aquinas, Italian saint and philosopher (1225–1274)

Four on the theme of stupidity:

“Evolution stops when stupidity is no longer fatal.” — Anonymous

“Evolution reverses when stupidity is rewarded.” — Anonymous

“There will always be a death penalty for stupidity.” — R. Wabrek

It just isn’t applied uniformly. All of us behave stupidly at times.  If we’re fortunate and do not persist in our stupidity, we may survive our lapses. Heinlein took a different view.

“Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation.  Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can’t help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.” — Robert A. Heinlein in his book, The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

“Self‑defense is not only our right, it is our duty.” — Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the US (1911–2004)

“We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God.” — Dwight Lyman Moody, American evangelist, founder of the Moody Bible Institute and Moody Publishers (1837–1899)

“We certainly can’t give students a quality degree, not with class size growing geometrically and our 30-to-1 [student-faculty] ratio, but at least we can encourage our students to have fun and root for our teams while they’re here... Football Saturdays are great here and so are winter basketball nights.  In our Admissions Office literature, we have stopped saying that we provide a good education; our lawyers warned us that we could get sued for misrepresentation, but we sure promote our sports teams.” — An anonymous administrator at a Sunbelt university quoted in Beer and Circus by Murray Sperber

I recommend Beer and Circus for an accurate depiction of higher education in the US around the new millennium. It might give you second thoughts about the value of higher education for all.  Murray Sperber was an English prof at Indiana U.  Shortly after the firing of IU Basketball Coach Bobby Knight for thuggish behavior, Sperber received death threats because earlier he had penned an editorial critical of the coach’s behavior.

“A .30–06 is sufficient to kill a lion.  It may not be sufficient to stop the lion killing you.” — JRB, The List

“I am always content with what happens; for I know that what God chooses is better than what I choose.” — Epictetus, Greek Stoic philosopher and former slave (50–135 AD)

“God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.” — St. Augustine of Hippo, Berber Christian theologian and philosopher (354–430)

“When you have nothing left but God...you become aware that God is enough.” — A. Maude Royden, lecturer, author, and suffragette (1876–1956)

“If everyone is thinking alike then somebody isn’t thinking.” — General George S. Patton, commander of the 7th US Army in World War II, and the 3rd US Army in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy (1885–1945)

“Back in the ‘20s, Will Rogers had an answer for those who believed that strength invited war. He said, ‘I’ve never seen anyone insult Jack Dempsey’ (world heavyweight champion at that time).” — Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the US (1911–2004)

“I wish they would remember that the charge to [Saint] Peter was ‘Feed my sheep’, not ‘Try experiments on my rats’, or even ‘Teach my performing dogs new tricks’.”  — C.S. Lewis, British writer and Christian apologist (1898–1963)

“Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservations.” — Elton Trueblood, American Quaker author and theologian (1900–1994)

“Death comes with a crawl
Or comes with a pounce,
And whether he’s slow or spry,
It’s not the fact that you’re dead that counts,
But only – How did you die?”
— Edmund Vance Cooke, Canadian poet (1866–1932)

“When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains,
And the women come out to cut up your remains,
Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier.”
— Rudyard Kipling, English author and poet (1865 –1936)

Kipling was born in India when it was under control of the Brits.  You may be familiar with his stories: The Man Who Would Be King, The Jungle Book, and Kim, all of which were rendered as films.

In Latin America US President Jimmy Carter had the nickname, “La mujer bionica, the bionic woman—because he had a lot of power and no balls.” — Anonymous, but probably from Gunsite Gossip

“When a legislature undertakes to proscribe the exercise of a citizen’s constitutional rights, it acts lawlessly and the citizen can take matters into his own hands and proceed on the basis that such a law is no law at all.” — William O. Douglas, associate justice of the US Supreme Court (1898–1980)

“I give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety’s sake.” — Sir Thomas Moore in the film, A Man for All Seasons (1966)

“When the man said ‘Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms’, I just naturally assumed he was making a delivery.” — Anonymous

“Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance.” — Confucius or perhaps a Celtic proverb

“The best toys are the ones that you can put an eye out with.” — Anonymous

“We may see the small value God has for riches by the people he gives them to.” — Alexander Pope, English poet and satirist (1688–1744)

Another. “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” — Alexander Pope, in An Essay On Criticism

“The right of revolution is an inherent one.  When people are oppressed by their government, it is a natural right they enjoy to relieve themselves of the oppression, if they are strong enough, whether by withdrawal from it, or by overthrowing it and substituting a government more acceptable.” — Ulysses S. Grant, most successful US Army general in the Civil War and 18th president of the US (1822–1885)

If that one doesn’t surprise you, how about this? “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.” — President Abraham Lincoln in his first inaugural address

“If you don’t have a metal detector, I don’t have a gun.” — Anonymous

“Character, not circumstances, makes the man.” — Booker T. Washington, American educator, author, orator, and advisor to several presidents of the United States (1856–1915)

“Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices of his friends.” — General Dwight D. Eisenhower, five-star general during WWII and subsequently the 34th president of the US (1890–1969)

The voice of experience.

“No indulgence of passion destroys the spiritual nature so much as respectable selfishness.” — George MacDonald, Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister (1824–1905)

“Never undertake anything for which you wouldn’t have the courage to ask the blessing of heaven.” — G.C. Lichtenberg, German physicist (1742–1799)

Another.

“It is almost impossible to bear the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody’s beard.” — Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Notebook G

“Man, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator ... This will of his maker is called the law of nature.” — Sir William Blackstone, in his Commentaries on the Laws of England, a legal classic in Britain and the USA (1723–1780)

“The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth, and to have it found out by accident.” — Charles Lamb, English essayist (1775–1834)

“I hate violence!  I hate it so much I am willing to kill anyone who tries to use it against me.” — Mike Waidelich, Bakersfield, CA Police Department Rangemaster (1942–2021)

I never had the pleasure of meeting Mike Waidelich; my loss.  He was responsible for training the BPD to such an exceptional level that Los Angeles officers were known to say: “Oh. You’re from BAKERSFIELD. Our bank robbers go there to get killed.” The hit-ratio statistic for Mike’s students was an unheard-of 85% in an era when the national figure was approximately 15%.  Mike’s quote appeared in a letter to the editor in The Bakersfield Californian, May 7, 2012.

“...there are two ways of fighting: by law or by force. The first is the way natural to men, and the second to beast. But as the first way often proves inadequate one must needs have recourse to the second.” — Niccoló Machiavelli, Italian diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian; best known for his political primer, The Prince, in the same (1469–1527)

“Fight back!  Whenever you are offered violence, fight back!  The aggressor does not fear the law, so he must be taught to fear you.  Whatever the risk; and at whatever the cost, fight back!” — Jeff Cooper, Lt. Colonel of Marines and the father of modern practical shooting (1920–2006)

“Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.” — Ecclesiastes 9:11, The Bible

Mr. Runyon offered the following modification to the Biblical observations.

“The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.” — Damon Runyon, American newspaperman and author (1880–1946)

“Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of the citizens to keep and bear arms...the right of the citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government and one more safeguard against a tyranny which now appears remote in America, but which historically has proved to be always possible.” — Vice President of the US Hubert Humphrey, “Know Your Law Makers”, Guns Magazine, Feb. 1960

The late Senator Humphrey was a pro-gun Democrat, an extinct species at this writing.

“A personal commitment to fighting one’s way through to the end is necessary for any successful warrior. Fighting, once initiated, is a job from which one cannot resign.” — Anonymous

“If you sit, just sit. If you walk, just walk. But, whatever you do, don’t wobble!” — Yunmen Wenyan, founder of a major sect of Chinese Zen (862–949)

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings.  The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.” — Winston Churchill, prime minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War, statesman, soldier, and writer (1874–1965)

“If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn’t plan your mission properly.” — David Hackworth, highly decorated US Army colonel (1930–2005)

“If you find yourself in a fair fight...your tactics suck!” — Anonymous

This is an updated (coarser) version of Col. Hackworth’s quote.  It has been attributed to so many that I cannot specify a source with any confidence.

“D.R.T. = Dead Right There” — a term of art from Randy Cain, firearms instructor

“I refused to attend his funeral.  But, I wrote a very nice letter explaining that I approved of it.” — usually attributed to Mark Twain, but more likely first stated with minor variation by E. R. Hoar, American politician, lawyer, jurist, and US attorney general (1816–1895)

There are thousands more in the book.  Excellent browsing material, and often highly informative and educational.  (If you missed my first set of excerpts from "Deplorable Wisdom", you'll find it here.)

Peter

This folk wisdom has been circulating on the Internet for years.  I was reminded about it via e-mail the other day, and enjoyed re-reading it:  so I thought some of my readers might feel likewise.

Advice from An Old Hillbilly:

• Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
• Keep skunks, bankers, and politicians at a distance.
• Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
• A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
• Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.
• The best sermons are lived, not preached.
• Forgive your enemies; its what GOD says to do.
• If you don't take the time to do it right, you'll find the time to do it twice.
• Don't corner something that is meaner than you.
• Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.
• It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
• You cannot unsay a cruel word.
• Every path has a few puddles.
• When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
• Don't be banging your shin on a stool that's not in the way.
• Borrowing trouble from the future doesn't deplete the supply.
• Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.
• Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
• Silence is sometimes the best answer.
• Don‘t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t botherin' you none.
• Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
• If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
• Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
• The biggest troublemaker you’ll ever have to deal with watches you from the mirror every mornin’.
• Always drink upstream from the herd.
• Good judgment comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgment.
• Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.
• If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.
• Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
• Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
• Most times, it just gets down to common sense.

Advice for the ages, and most of it good, IMHO.

Peter

Tucker Carlson asks that question in his latest video podcast.  You can watch it here on Twitter, or read the transcript below (courtesy of Zero Hedge, to whom my grateful thanks for making it available).  The transcript doesn't read smoothly - I suspect it's a computer-generated voice-to-text product that needs an editor's review - but it'll do to get the gist of what Mr. Carlson is saying.

Hey it's Tucker Carlson, you may have found yourself wondering recently as the world slides closer to nuclear Annihilation than any time in human history why exactly are we at war with Russia.

It seems like there's a pretty significant downside to this particular foreign policy decision, starting with economic collapse and ending potentially with Extinction so is there a good reason we're doing it so many innocent young people have been killed so many hundreds of billions of dollars have been wasted some of them from the U.S treasury so what's the point are we really doing this so the Biden family can repay its debts to the oligarchs who finance their beach house in Rehoboth.

We're doing it so our government can continue to lie about its illicit bio labs in Eastern Europe so that flabby losers like Toria Newland and Tony Blinken can feel like they're doing something important with their sad empty lives.

Really honestly there's got to be a better reason for waging this the most pointless war of all.

What is it.

Well thankfully we have an answer: the war against Russia ladies and gentlemen the war against Putin and for Ukraine is in fact a war for democracy.

Watch and recall the motive the president has said many times "we're focused on what we can do to support Ukraine's effort to fight for their democracy".

"Democracy must prevail. The Ukrainian people are fighting the fight for their democracy and in doing so for ours as well."

"Assisting and helping Ukraine win this fight for democracy and freedom and of course Ukrainian president zielinski understand that what's at stake in Ukraine is bigger than just his Nation it is literally a battle for freedom and democracy themselves."

"They are showing the world what an existential fight for democracy looks like."

"President Zelenky and the Ukrainians have changed the course of history for the better and we unequivocally are with the Ukrainian people in their fight to remain a sovereign democracy."

Unequivocally with the Ukrainian people to remain in democracy it's a bipartisan view democracy must Prevail.

You just heard noted democracy expert Nancy Pelosi say the daughter of the mobbed up mayor of Baltimore as Pelosi puts it the Ukrainian people are fighting the fight for their democracy and for ours as well that's right for ours as well without Ukrainian democracy in other words we can have no democracy here if the ukrainians aren't free.

Neither are we we must make sure they can vote in Kiev so we can continue to vote in Kansas City.

It's really that simple and yet tonight we regret to tell you that we have a problem it looks like they're not going to be able to vote in Kiev anymore and no for once it's not Putin's fault.

Democracy in Ukraine seems to be suspended by the world's foremost democracy Advocate himself Field Marshal zielinski.

Watch:

"If we win" he says "we'll let people vote otherwise no you vote" and we feel like it because ultimately we're completely in charge and make all the rules.

Your job is to obey or be punished.

That's our version of self-government.

Self means me - I'm the government now.

That's not just any autocrat that's our chief Ally in the war for democracy.

This is the guy who just announced he's like did you cancel next year's elections.

So you've got to wonder what the Biden Administration thinks of this - we can't possibly continue to support zielinski, that guy, after he said that can we because in a clip less than 30 seconds long he just blew up our entire rationale for supporting his side in the war.

So we can't support him.

Oh of course we can and we will.

Here's Joe Biden from yesterday reaffirming America's unequivocal support for Ukraine no matter what happened in Russia "we the United States should continue to support Ukraine's defense and its sovereignty and its territorial integrity".

So to recap we are currently fighting a war for democracy on behalf of a leader who just casually announced he's happy to end democracy and our democracy and supporting leaders have no problem with that in fact they're strongly for it.

Shocked?

You shouldn't be.

Of course they're for it. You should have seen this coming.

Wars for democracy always cancel democracy in the process - that's why our leaders love them and they all do it - even The Virtuous leaders Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, the British government under Winston Churchill through an entire opposition party into prison and let them rot for the duration - in some cases with their families.

So in a war for democracy you can do anything.

Imagine what a man might do who has fewer principles.

If that man say ran Ukraine he might seize churches arrest priests ban all criticism of himself disappear his political opponents and that's happening.

Just last month zelinski threw a man called Gonzalo Lira into prison indefinitely for the crime of daring to write about the Ukrainian government in unflattering ways.

Now what's interesting what separates this from other such cases is that lira is an American citizen, so Joe Biden who was quite a bit of SWAT as they say in Ukraine could have freed Gonzalo Lira within hours, but he didn't. He didn't want to - he didn't say a word about it - he remains in prison tonight.

So that makes you wonder what's the real motive here when normal people see War they see death and destruction, sadness and suffering; but that's not what demagogues see - they understand it differently they know that War means power mostly for them.

During wartime everything they do can be justified - war is the gravest of all emergencies - imagine the coveted lockdowns times a thousand plus drones.

Once War breaks out politicians become Gods with the power of life and death. So in a peaceful democracy you have to debate your political opponents in public and that's tiresome but in a war for democracy you can just throw them in jail or have them executed. You can see that many in Washington are looking forward to that moment and that may be why they so fervently support Joe Biden - even many Republicans - against a potential opponent - the only opponent who opposes the war in Ukraine.

If you were to end the war their power would evaporate.

Last week a whistleblower produced WhatsApp messages from Hunter Biden proving that at the very least his father knew about his influence peddling businesses abroad and probably participated in them "I'm sitting here with my father" Hunter Biden wrote to his Chinese Partners demanding money as much as anything reported about the bidens over the last several years this was The Smoking Gun.

There it is right there in the message that would have been enough to a normal president it would have been more than enough to keep a normal president from running for office again but had virtually no effect on Joe Biden.

Most media Outlets ignored it completely or tried to spin Biden's relationship with his son as some kind of moral Victory "the real meaning of the hunter Biden Saga as I see it" wrote Nick Kristoff of the New York Times "isn't about presidential corruption but is about how widespread addiction is and about how a determined parent with unconditional love can sometimes reel a child back."

He actually wrote that and if you doubt it you should know that view was common.Here's the take from ABC "the hunter Biden story, the Scandal, the this, that, it's also the story of a Father's Love and Joe Biden has never and will never give up on his son Hunter and will never treat him lesser than and so he is a father first take it or leave it."

So whistleblower produces a text message showing that Joe Biden was in the room with his son when his son was selling influence to an enemy power the Chinese government and ABC's take on it Joe Biden is a father first take it or leave it.

What accounts for a response like that?

Well that's the way you talk when you've got nothing to fear from an upcoming presidential election - you don't even bother to think of an excuse for your candidate because you don't need to. Your country has electronic voting machines - Joe Biden got 81 million votes in 2020 and you're pretty sure he can do it again.

In fact you know he can you're not worried but actually they should be a little worried

The people who control Joe Biden - Susan Rice and the rest - know they can continue to run our government, writing the press releases, formulating the policies, and they can do it effectively forever, as long as Joe Biden gets dressed in the morning, and of course that's their strong preference.

These are fervent opponents of change but the one thing these people cannot control is aging.

Joe Biden is old he's 80 now he will be 85 at the end of the next term.

People imagine that old age is a long predictable progression from Acuity to permanent unconsciousness but often that's not at all how it actually works.

When old people start to slide they tend to Slide fast.

Joe Biden has begun that descent.

Here he was yesterday and here's what she wrote to me and I quote you can imagine my joy she called them right away and the next day they sent someone out to survey her yard as Beth wrote this is the best thing that's happened in Rural America since the rural electrification act for electricity to farms in the 30s and 40s end of quote."

End of quote you weren't supposed to hear that - Joe Biden read the stage directions out loud -  that's like eating the garnish that comes with your entree you're supposed to know not to do that.

Joe Biden no longer does in a year or two he will be gone completely and there will be no hiding it at that point the Democratic party will face a secession problem.

If Joe Biden is re-elected next year and then forced to leave office during his term due to disability or death that means Kamala Harris will become president of the United States and nobody wants that not even her husband.

In real life nobody likes Kamala Harris.

That's not an attack on her in fact it's possible to feel pity for someone who's so universally reviled. It is instead an observation of unchanging physical reality like gravity or photosynthesis nobody wants Kamala Harris to be president no one will benefit if she becomes president so logic suggests there's going to be a change.

It's going to have to be somebody else and whoever that person is is going to have to enter the race soon before the election after Biden drops out.

Who could that person be? We don't know obviously this is all just guessing but we do know whoever that is we'll have to have two essential criteria he'll have to be as shallow ruthless and transactional as Joe Biden is and he'll need to have flattery skills that are so polished and advanced they'd be considered Superior even in the Saudi Royal Court and there's only one man in modern America who fits that description Gavin Newsom the governor of California and perhaps not coincidentally Joe Biden's new closest friend.

"I am here Mr President" Newsom told Biden at an event that they did together last week. "I am here as a proud American as a proud Californian mesmerized by not just your faith and your Devotion to this country and the world we're trying to build but by your results by your action by your passion by Your Capacity to deliver."

I get mesmerized by you Joe Biden - imagine saying that as a compliment you couldn't do it.

Few human beings could do it but Gavin Newsom had no problem at all those words rolled right off his Fork tongue. He never stopped smiling so if you're looking for the leader of the coup there he is right there she's in Kennedy's motorcade.

'Nuff said . . .

Peter

From the fertile mind of Stephan Pastis.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version at the "Pearls Before Swine" Web page.

The man ass has a point...

Peter

I've said before in these pages that Tucker Carlson is a national treasure.  I'm not surprised the establishment is trying desperately to silence him;  he's one of the only national commentators who's willing to dig deep and uncover the truth.  Some say they'd love him to run for President, and I think he might make a good one - but he'd be even more dumped upon by the establishment than President Trump was during his term, so I'm not sure how much he'd be able to accomplish.  Nevertheless, I salute him.

In his latest video commentary on Twitter, he analyzes why and how the Deep State has been implacably opposed to President Trump since before his election, and why the current indictment is merely the latest in a long line of desperate measures to contain him.  You can watch the whole thing on Twitter, or read the transcript below, courtesy of Zero Hedge.

The Biden Administration arrested Donald Trump this afternoon. They had him arraigned and fingerprinted in a Miami Courthouse, like the accused felon he now technically is.

These were the first steps in a process that is designed to put Donald Trump behind bars for the rest of his life.

Cable news carried every moment of it live "it's unprecedented" they told us with what looked like shock. But they weren't shocked they knew this was coming. Everyone who's paid attention knew it was what just happened was always going to happen.

It's been inevitable since February 16 2016. that's the day Donald Trump made a blood enemy of the largest and most powerful organization in human history which would be the federal government.

Despite what you may remember it wasn't anything that Trump had said about immigration, or trade with China, or rapists from Mexico - those are the stories that dominated the headlines that year - "Trump's a racist they scream stop him."

But inside Washington that was just noise none of it really rated identity politics doesn't mean much to permanent Washington what matters - then and now - is foreign policy the invasions and occupations and proxy wars: the decisions that determine which global populations will thrive and which will die. The policies that come with trillion dollar price tags, the ones that over time have made the counties around DC the richest suburbs in the world.

In Washington that's what actually matters and it's obvious when you look carefully. When there's a debate about anything else for example the debt ceiling, both sides take their assigned positions and they start yelling. But when Congress decides to start a war - no matter how foolish or counterproductive or obviously disconnected from America's core interests that war may be - when that happens the leaders of both parties automatically jump behind it like circus clowns.

And then they stay there, sometimes for decades. They defend that war relentlessly against all evidence, until somebody finally Rings the all clear Bell and they can begin to admit that actually maybe it wasn't such a great idea. We meant well but it just didn't work out the good news is we've learned a lot of important lessons.

In the end they usually do say something like that, but only after emotions have cooled and the damning details have begun to fade from collective memory. It's an apology that's not actually an apology, much less repentance and it's years too late to matter in any case.

But until then that's all you're getting, until then no dissent is allowed - that's the first rule of Washington.

But somehow Trump didn't bother to follow it. He is from out of town so maybe he didn't know it was a rule or maybe he just didn't care. Either way, seven and a half years later we can point to the precise moment that permanent Washington decided to send Donald Trump to prison. here it is it's from the Republican candidates debate in Greenville South Carolina:

"We should have never been in Iraq; we have destabilized the Middle East. They lied, okay. They said there were weapons of mass destruction there were none and they knew there were none there were no weapons of mass destruction."

We should never have been in Iraq, Trump said. We destabilized the Middle East. Now by the time Trump said that a lot of Republican primary voters were starting to reach the same conclusion; how could they not. But it was the next line that doomed Trump to today's arrest. "They lied" he said, "there were no weapons of mass destruction" and they knew there were none.

Now when he said that a few in the crowd booed, most just sat there in silenced stunned. Can he say that? Well he said it anyway and by saying that he sealed his fate. That was the one thing you were not allowed to say because it implicated too many people on both sides, which on this topic is really just one side.

Hillary Clinton was guilty of it, but so was Paul Ryan. All of them were guilty; they all knew, they all lied, and to a person they hated Donald Trump for exposing them.

After that it was pretty clear that even if he did get elected president Trump was going to have a very hard time controlling the federal government he was supposed to be in charge of. Most of permanent Washington decided that thwarting Trump was the single most important mission in their lives. Everything depended on it, many of them said so publicly. But others didn't say so publicly; in fact the stealthier ones took another path - they ran toward Trump not away from him. They sucked up to him, they ingratiated themselves-  the man they intuitively understood was susceptible to flattery which Trump is, and they did this in order to subvert his new Administration from the inside.

There were a number of these and you could spot them immediately: they were flatterers. Invariably the ones who flattered Trump the most hated him the most and disagreed the most strongly with his views. You saw them in the hallways of the White House and at press conferences; they were there slobbering over their boss with elaborate self-abasement as if they were addressing a monarch or a God.

It was a scene from the ottoman Court - it was filthy and decadent and it was false.  Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo, Lindsey Graham in the Congress. They all called Trump a Visionary genius... up until the moment he lost power and then they unsheathed their real agenda - as always the neocon war agenda - and they piled on with maximum Force.

Here's Mike Pompeo for example on Fox news this morning:

"President Trump had classified documents where he shouldn't have had them. And then when given the opportunity to return them he chose not to do that for whatever reason... when somebody identifies that you got to turn them in. So that's just inconsistent with protecting America's soldiers sailors, airmen and marines... and if the allegations are true some of these were pretty serious important documents... so that's wrong."

May future historians hoping to unlock the mysteries of late empire Washington study that clip, because it will reveal everything. That very same Mike Pompeo - the one who's sneering at Donald Trump on TV this morning - that guy served Donald Trump as both CIA director and as Secretary of State. Those are the two most powerful jobs in the federal government and as he worked in those jobs, Pompeo promised - in fact he swore - to support the president's agenda.

Why? because that's the way a democracy works: you vote for a candidate in the belief that his appointees will carry out the policies that you voted for. It's not about the president, it's about you the voter.

But Pompeo didn't do that he didn't even try to do that. In fact he undermined Trump's often stated commitment to peace and non-intervention abroad at every turn; his every waking hour was devoted to fomenting war in some Far Away foreign country or other. Iran, Syria Russia, North Korea... the list goes on but rather than telling Trump that he disagree with his ideas as a man would, Pompeo toadied up to Trump - a man he despised - in the oiliest, most over-the-top way imaginable.

Ask anyone who worked in that white house at the time who is the appointee most likely to tell Donald Trump on a daily basis that he was handsome, virile, sleek and powerful. "Mike Pompeo" that will be the consensus answer. Those of us who saw firsthand Pompeo's relentless cow Towing will never forget it - it was indelibly repulsive. No one with self-respect could do something like that, but Mike Pompeo did it effortlessly with relish and Verve. Now this same person is telling Fox News viewers that he fears for the safety of our military, our soldiers "Sailors Airmen and Marines" in the approved phrase, because Donald Trump took some classified documents home and didn't immediately return them to the National Archives.

What a lie that is: Mike Pompeo knows that's a lie. He spent his entire life in Washington. Washington is a city where internal memos about Labor Day are classified because everything is classified. Your government has classified more than a billion Federal documents most of them boring and pointless and a danger to no one, and locked them away in secret. You can't see them because you may be an American citizen, but not really... and therefore you don't have the necessary clearances to know what's going on.

And by the way none of this is done in order to make America safer any more than Covid restrictions were designed to keep you healthy. No it's a caste system that's the point, and you're the Untouchable in this hierarchy.

Mike Pompeo knows that, everybody who works in Washington knows that.

How many secret documents do you think Dick Cheney took home with him while he was running the Iraq War? How many did his wife read? She never had a clearance. We'll never know the answer because there is no chance Dick Cheney will ever be investigated, or his staffers will be told to wear wires in his presence. He will never be indicted for this.

Of course not: Dick Cheney is a neocon Donald Trump is not. Dick Cheney supports war with Russia, Trump does not. That's the difference: the rest is just a distraction.

The prosecution of Donald Trump is transparently political. He's literally Joe Biden's main political opponent. He's polling over 60 percent among Republican voters right now. So Joe Biden is doing what no president has ever dared to do. He's using law enforcement to lock up his chief rival: that's happening right now, and anyone who denies it's happening is lying to you.

But actually it's worse than that Trump's prosecution isn't just political, it's ideological. Nobody with Trump's views is allowed to have power in this country. Criticize our Wars and you're disqualified, if you keep it up we'll send you to prison.

That's the message Washington is sending, not just the Democratic party is sending but both parties are sending.

Like so many Republicans, for example, the supposedly conservative governor of Texas Greg Abbott spent yesterday totally ignoring the destruction of the American justice system. Instead, he signed a highly important bill called the crown act which according to the celebratory tweet Abbott sent commemorating it will "prohibit discrimination based on Textures and hairstyles historically associated with race." In other words in Texas cornrows are now protected by law, having unapproved views about Ukraine is not.

That's fine with most elected Republicans: they find Trump tiresome and embarrassing, their donors hate him; they will not be sad if he dies in jail.

But what about voters: what are they learning from this spectacle? Well mostly they're learning that they have no power at all because nobody cares about them. 

But they already knew that. Unlike so many of our elected leaders, they have been to America recently. They know what it looks like. Have you seen it? If you've got a few days this summer find out take a road trip and see for yourself Drive 500 miles in any direction and then come home. How are things looking? Well they should look great - the federal government spent six and a half trillion dollars last year. That's more than any government has ever spent ever. So at the very least you would expect pristine public roads. Oh no that's not what you see when you drive around this country - there are potholes and Jersey barriers everywhere. Looks like Tegucigalpa before the Chinese decided to rebuild the infrastructure of Honduras. We don't have China buying our roads so they're falling apart.

You'd think the people you would pass on your road trip would look happy and prosperous; again this is a very rich country. But a lot of them don't. Quite a few appear to be strung out on drugs. You see them shuffling by shuttered storefronts in small towns. And you wonder as you see all of this where did all the money go, it's certainly not here?

Well, it's in Washington, it's in Fairfax, in Loudoun counties, and in leafy perfectly manicured Northwest D.C. And of course a huge chunk of it went to Ukraine to Zelenski and his friends. Not because you voted for that; you didn't vote to give it to them you never would, but because Joe Biden and his many allies from Chuck Schumer to Mitch McConnell to Paul Ryan and every single news anchor on all of Television all of them believe that Ukraine its borders its future its infrastructure are all more important than the town that you live in.

They sincerely think that, and it's obvious everyone in power thinks that... except for Donald Trump.

Whatever else you say about him, Trump is the one guy with an actual shot of becoming president who dissents from Washington's long-standing pointless War agenda. And for that that one fact they are trying to take Trump out before you can vote for him and that should upset you more than anything that's happened in American politics in your lifetime.

Even if you don't plan to vote for Donald Trump, even if you would die before voting for Donald Trump - which is your right and a lot of good people feel that way - even still, the destruction of our democracy which is the right of Voters to support any candidate they want, even candidates who don't want war with Russia, the destruction of that should keep you up at night.

Yes, Donald Trump was a flawed man but his sins are minor compared to those of his persecutors.

In this life we don't get to choose our Martyrs, we can only choose our principles... and America's are at stake.

Words of wisdom.  Please share them with your friends and colleagues.  America needs to hear them.  (Besides, you'll be giving a politically incorrect wedgie to the mainstream media and both political parties every time you do so.  What's not to like?)

Peter

From Moses Lambert on MeWe, an oldie but still a goodie.  Thanks, Moses, for reminding me of it.

A Marine General was about to start the morning briefing to his staff. While waiting for the coffee machine to finish brewing, the General decided to pose a question to all assembled.

He explained that his wife had been a bit frisky the night before, so he failed to get his usual amount of sound sleep.

He posed the question of just how much of sex was “work” and how much of it was “pleasure”?

A Major chimed in with 75%-25% in favor of work.

A Captain said it was 50%-50%.

A Lieutenant responded with 25%-75% in favor of pleasure, depending upon his state of inebriation at the time.

There being no consensus, the General turned to the Private First Class making the coffee, and asked for his opinion.

Without any hesitation, the young PFC responded, “Sir, it has to be 100% pleasure.”

The General was surprised and, as you might guess, asked why.

“Well, sir, if there was any work involved, the officers would have me doing it for them.”

The room fell silent.

God Bless the enlisted man.

No s***, Sherlock!

Peter