“We are entering revolutionary times”
Victor Davis Hanson on how “the Left has so destroyed the old protocols of the opposition party that it will be hard to resurrect them when progressives return to power”
Victor Davis Hanson recently spoke at Cornell, but unfortunately I was out of town at the time. I would have loved to meet him, he’s one of the most insightful authors.
In my 9th Anniversary post on October 12, 2017, Legal Insurrection is 9 years old, and filled with dread, I wrote about the “rising tide of absolutism in ideas and enforcement of ideological uniformity that is palpable” on the left, and “what it will mean to live without institutions.”
In a column at National Review a week ago, Hanson elaborated his thoughts on a similar concern, in a way far more articulate than I did.
As always, read the whole thing, here’s an excerpt from Hanson’s Revolution and Worse to Come:
As the Resistance goes from one ploy to the next, it ignores its string of failed prior efforts, forgetting everything and learning nothing….
Anti- and Never-Trump op-ed writers have long ago run out of superlatives. Trump is the worst, most, biggest — fill in the blank — in the history of the presidency, in the history of the world, worse even than Mao, Mussolini, Stalin, or Hitler….
Everything from the NFL to late-night comedy shows have become Trump-hating venues….
Each cycle of hysteria demands another, as the race to the bottom has descended into which celebrity or politician can discover the most provocative — or crude — Trump expletive. “S***” and “f***” are now the ordinary vocabulary of angry Democratic politicos and officeholders. Are we reaching a point in the so-far-failed Resistance where little is left except abject violence in the manner of the Roman or French Revolution? The problem for Trump’s pop-culture foes is not whether to imagine or advocate killing the president. That’s a given. They just need to agree on the means of doing so: decapitation (Kathy Griffin), incineration (David Crosby), stabbing (the Shakespeare in the Park troupe), shooting (Snoop Dogg), explosives (Madonna), old-fashioned, Lincoln-style assassination (Johnny Depp), death by elevator (Kamala Harris), hanging (a CSU professor), or simple generic assassination (a Missouri state legislator)….
Insidiously and incrementally, we are in the process of normalizing violence against the elected president of the United States. If all this fails to delegitimize Trump, fails to destroy his health, or fails to lead to a 2018 midterm Democratic sweep and subsequent impeachment, expect even greater threats of violence. The Resistance and rabid anti-Trumpers have lost confidence in the constitutional framework of elections, and they’ve flouted the tradition by which the opposition allows the in-power party to present its case to the court of public opinion…..
The danger to the country this time around is that the Left has so destroyed the old protocols of the opposition party that it will be hard to resurrect them when progressives return to power.
We are entering revolutionary times. The law is no longer equally applied. The media are the ministry of truth. The Democratic party is a revolutionary force. And it is all getting scary.
Hanson apparently shares my dread.
We’ve lost the ability to reason with these people because they are so far gone. I wish it weren’t so, but we need to face reality.
[Featured Image: Inauguration Day Protests]
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This is so true. I liken this to the Chinese Cultural Revolution which took hold of China for a generation.
Get rid of the Four Olds was their battle cry. We’re going through that now. We have quite a few advantages that the Chinese populace did not.
Nonetheless it will be a bumpy road. Hopefully this too shall pass.
The Cultural Revolution played out in a relatively closed society in what was then a back water nation. There were a lot of people buried under those bumpy roads.
The US has no wiggle room when it comes to an internal struggle. This would send tidal waves of instability throughout the world and entice other nations to enter into “stabilizing” or “de-stabilizing” the country… even on the ground. It will not go well at all considering the “all or nothing” mindset set in motion in the 60’s.
The “fundamental transformation” of the country is a course with a utopian goal that requires dismantling the support structures of this land. Nothing about this promises to be successful.
How can there be constructive discourse when one side is not allowed at the table and the other side wants total domination?
I was given an opportunity to take my life in a new direction and chose Catholicism and southern Texas. I figure good places to be when the SHTF.
I became Catholic shortly after joining the Tea Party. It’s been a tremendous comfort.
I’m also a Catholic convert. Was confirmed 4 years ago.
Cradle Catholics can learn much from Catholic converts 🙂
I whole-heartedly agree. And while I love and cherish my Catholic faith, I do not want to alienate any other Christians or our Jewish brothers and sisters with this post (especially given that Jesus was first and foremost a Jew. If you’ve ever shared a Seder meal with a Jewish family, you will have recognized nearly every element of the Mass. We Christians are inextricably entwined with the Judaic origins of our faith, and love is the basis of our faith). I respect & pray for us all.
I very much second your thoughts. I would call myself conservative protestant, and I have close family members who are Catholic and have been to Catholic Mass quite a few times. I’ve also, as you said, shared a Seder meal with a close Jewish friend. I think we are all finding that those of us who find value in the thoughts and beliefs of those generations that came before are finding unity in opposing the rising wave of irrationality that seeks to tear down everything that came before, and replace it all with madness.n
It always amazes me that those who claim to have the goal of eliminating all religion, all faith, never comprehend that the worship of Man is the most destructive and ruinous religion of them all.
Good grief…!!! What a Chicken Little litany of pearl-clutching! Hanson used to be much more anchored in reality.
A WHOLE lot of what he lists is pure nothingberger, with a side of doomsday special sauce.
In a way, yes. In a way, no.
It takes fairly few individuals to paralyze a free country. I shall not list the miscreants who have proven my point, but they are undeniably there, and growing. They’re not even foreign terrorist group sympathizers in serious ways, but regular, rotten, murderous thugs who want only to kill and destroy. The current media environment feeds these nuts with giant swaths of face time and endless news stories to trumpet their names, while the left holds them out as heroes and loudly proclaim their justification by the mythical sins of ‘The Man’ It is no wonder this kind of glory-hogging murderer is becoming common.
On the flip side, the Left has no end of violent kids who will shake their fists, howl in rage, and chant deadly slogans on cue, but cannot change a tire, make their own coffee, or figure out their own taxes. Cognitive dissonance to them is only a symbol of white hetro privileged manifesting in the existing system which needs to be smashed. They say the same thing about fluoridated toothpaste. Or parking tickets. Or getting fined for speeding.
So yes and no.
The Sixties were a LOT worse, and so was the Wilsonian era, when the ties that bind were very thready.
A lot of what Hanson is kvetching about is a direct result of the character we have in the White House. It’s only historical…and any threat…because of that.
Mr. Ragspierre: I will concede every observation you have to make about our current President. I will even concede the thoughts you have which you are too polite to mention. I will agree that for an act to be good, it must have a good intention, be intrinsically a good act, and have a good result. Thus getting a good outcome when the player is flawed and has flawed reasoning poisons the result. However, Mr. Trump did win the nomination, finding favor with the party primary participants. He did win the nomination. He won the election. He is getting results. Your railing about his flaws is tedious. Would you please, limit your comments to specifics? That is, something like “Mr. Trump failed in this, to do …., because of his lacking…… or his excess of ….”. That would be greatly appreciated.
“comments” should have been “comments about Trump”. I wouldn’t mean, in “all your comments”. My mistake. In general, I feel you bring a refreshing view on topics. I sense honor, integrity, and clarity in what what you usually share.
Well, I do try to be specific. You can freely ask…politely…for clarification, and I assure you it will be as forthcoming as time allows. I appreciate your response.
So progs are justified in going batshit-crazy because it’s Trump in the White House, and all the insanity is his fault.
Um, yeah… :-/
No. But a response is not odd in the circumstances of a provocation, and T-rump is provocative.
Isn’t that what a lot of people claim is his prime virtue? Doesn’t he work at that?
So, “Look what you made me do. I wouldn’t have to hit you if you’d just behave.”?
Were the Sixties or other periods really a worse than what we have now? In the Sixties and such there was all sorts of public unrest in the form of protests and riots, but we live in different times with different issues facing us.
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On the political front, things today are far far worse than any time previous except, perhaps, for the time leading up to the Civil War. Consider how never before have we had or known about (granted this may have occurred before without anyone’s knowledge) a successful effort thwart a fair election and throw a series of primary elections for one candidate. Never before have we seen such a resistance to duly elected Presidents in the fact that since Reagan every single Republican President has been the subject of an extensive special investigation. In Trump’s case, the special prosecutor assignment was based on no crime being committed and information that is now known to have been largely fabricated. Never before have so many been so vocal about their hatred of the President and never before has the media been so uniformly negative.
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Worse still, never before have we ever had so much evidence of widespread criminal activity in our government including extensive efforts at the highest levels to hide it. All the clearly questionable and likely illegal activity of the Clinton Foundation and such that strongly suggested a pay-to-play scheme as well as wide spread corruption/theft, the increasingly clear efforts by the FBI and DOJ to appear as though they conducted an investigation while, in reality, hiding any evidence of a crime, the wholesale destruction of evidence without hardly a care, and what appears to be the widespread efforts of the intelligence community to perform a coup to take out a duly elected President in unprecedented.
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Yes, we have had uncivil times as bad as they are now previously in our history. Yes, we have had protests about a sitting President even though those protests took on a different form due to technology differences. Yes, we have seen yellow journalism before as vile as it is today. But never before had we ever had such apparent illegal activity being fully justified by a political party, never before seen so much evidence that the DOJ, FBI and other law enforcement groups actively work to ignore and/or hide criminal activity due to political concerns, and never before had he ever seen any actual attempts at a coup as appears to be the case today.
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Taken together, America is at a crossroads never before seen from a political perspective. We are on the cusp of many discoveries of political malfeasance as well as criminal activity and extreme corruption in the highest levels of our government and, as the public is made aware of tall of this, could result in far more violent protests and such than ever before. Add to this the crippling economic events unfolding around us and any protests that do occur will become far worse.
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So, are the times today worse than ever before? By some measures yes, but, by others, it is too premature to tell.
Two simple actions took the proverbial wind out of the sails of the Left in the ’60s: Johnson not running for re-election, as a relatively minor part of the solution, and Nixon’s strategy of turning the war over to the ARVN. It won’t be so simple this time around, there is no single issue around which the unrest turns. The volunteer military eliminated what was the huge issue in the ’60s. Race relations are somewhat hotter as an issue now that His Imperial Executiveness, Emperor Barak the Nonpareil, along with Holder, has worked his “uniter” magic.
The worst instances of the ’60s were war protests, racially charged riots (we’ve seen a bit of that recently) and the few anarchists of the Students for a Demonic Society and the Weather Underground spinoff (who have become heroes to some today). The latter haven’t been resurrected, and I’m not sure we will see today’s anarchists working on bombing campaigns (perhaps the Greenwich Village “oops”* was a lesson learned?).
* For those who don’t remember, are too young:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwich_Village_townhouse_explosion
In the 60’s there were a large number of individuals who opposed the US government. Now it’s the Democratic Party backed up by their army of fanatics.
When you consider the disaster that were the McCain and Romney presidential campaigns and the fact that they didn’t fight for the presidency. Add to that the craven behavior of McConnell, the Republic Senator Rinos and how they betrayed the country by helping pass Tyrant Obama the Liar’s “help Iran Get Nuclear-tipped ICBMs” agreement. We need politicians that will fight against the progressive fascists and for our liberty. Trump does that.
Remember the 2016 election when Hillary organized thugs to attack Republicans attending Trump rallies? In Democratic controlled areas the local police stood by while this happened as the local politicians instructed.
A nothingburger? Is that what you call riots after the election, obstruction of justice (or whatever you want to call the attempt to convince Federal Electors not to perform their legal duties), actual murderous attacks on Republican politicians, and a special prosecutor who has spent a year or more finding not one iota of actionable crime?
Ok, the claims of Russian collusion have turned out to be a nothingburger. Problem is that Mueller won’t call it a day.
The other problem is when they gain power again, and they will sooner or later. The wind will eventually turn. By that time they will have destroyed the tradition of a loyal opposition in this country. This is not a good thing.
Don’t get all wee-weed up, Casey. Take a historical view.
Things have been very bad before. Often worse. Reagan was shot and very nearly killed. American cities burned, and only the military restored order. Kids were shot on American college campii.
During the Civil War, parts of Nuevo Ork were burned down during riots that were quashed by cannon fire from the ships on the Hudson.
We aren’t anywhere near those events. What we have now is tasteless comedy and silly virtue-signalling.
I never knew Kent State had kids shot on multiple campuses. I thought the 13 seconds of OHARNG fire on the demonstrators took place in one location. OTOH, if you know of any other incidents of students being shot on campus be so kind as to provide at least a campus name, if not a link to a report.
Jesus, Rags, now you’re just repeating yourself. Your last comment was, in effect, that it was Trump’s fault. Now you’ve said it again.
What happened to personal responsibility? Your statement is exactly parallel to the whinges of progs who claim their latest meltdown wasn’t their fault because they were “triggered.”
I asked two questions:
1. isn’t T-rump provocative?
2. doesn’t he work at being provocative?
That never suggests that anyone is justified in stupid excesses. We are always responsible for our conduct. This, of course, includes Duh Donald. Do you see the potential for a disgusting cycle here?
Again with the Abuser’s Excuse. “Look what you made me do”.
Again with a stupid, false analogy. Are you “abused”, binkie? I guess you are if you want to be, like any snowflake.
If I see we’re in a dangerous time, it consists in the rank tribalism that Americans have descended into.
A LOT of T-rump supporters advertise his pugnacity as a virtue. “He fights!” But he’s often “fighting” when there’s no need, or indeed when fighting is detrimental. I believe in the observation that a “nationalist” NEEDS an enemy and they’ll create one as warranted. That isn’t good, AND you can see it working in this administration.
Are there dangerous nutters in the Collective? Yes. There have been for decades. One BIG difference today is the amplifier that is social media. Did some obscure CSU professor vomit a death fantasy regarding POTUS? Even a few years ago, you would not know about it, but now we all do. I’ve said before that this is toxic, and it just IS. Daily, we’re assaulted by crap from the most vile people on the edges of the bell-curve, and it takes an act of civic will not to react to it viscerally and see it as more than it is.
There are people who post here who are jonesing for a war. A real, live, kill people war in the U.S. There are a lot more who see everything in the light of the moral equivalent of war, which is a dangerous and fallacious means of looking at disagreements. It heightens everything to a false degree. Sometime other Americans with whom we disagree are not our “enemy”.
Another thing that heightens everything bad…every question…is just the size and power of the central government. Not in the hands of the Progressive Right OR Left is it good, and the prize makes EVERYTHING worth burning down to get to. And, sorry, I don’t see it being cut down by the Right Progressives in this administration. Changed, modified, dicked with, yes. But not chopped down.
Are we on the threshold of a revolution? Could be. I’m of the mind that says that it needn’t be violent. It COULD be a simple movement based on civil disobedience, and that has to be tried before we get out the guns. A well-supported refusal to pay income tax would do it.
If you ignore (don’t answer) Ragspierre, perhaps, like most trolls, he’ll just disappear. Other kids must have mocked him back in high school, that’s why he must call the president “T-rump”; he thinks it’s just soooo cute!
From third paragraph on, I strongly agree with Ragspierre’s post above. However, I do worry that the foundations of civic virtue, morality, and decency are less strong than they have been in past crises. I hope I’m wrong, but if my fears prove true, then the outcome of the current difficulties may not be so favorable.
Anybody remember the fears expressed by some people that the Clinton’s were going to declare martial law and continue that presidency indefinitely? I sure do.
Was Obama not provocative (“they bring a knife, we bring a gun”) and excusing the racial violence based in clear lies? Not to mention his blatant Lies (ObamaCare) and forieign policy (Russia has destroyed Syria’s chemical stockpiles and the Iran “deal”).
Yet the Democrats cheered him on in every case. Every case.
Trump, despite his personal failings (he hasn’t raped anyone like 42) and his marketing style (over-use of superlatives) has done a pretty damned good job where it counts.
So sayeth the John McCain of Legal Insurrection.
So sayeth the Michelle Wolf of LegalInsurrectoin.
Hanson used to be much more anchored in reality.
Look in a mirror.
Hansen lives in two worlds… the rotting portion of Cali east of the elite coastal corridor and the elite coastal corridor allowing him to see the radical (and tragic) transition into two Californias of the haves and their elitist mindset politics and the have much less.
He has a front row seat on what California has turned into. The cloistered elite have no idea of how the rest of California lives and has little understanding of reality outside their bubble. Raisins grow on trees and reservoirs magically fill with water.
The radical Left now has major funding (beyond Moscow in the old days), a cohesive network and numerous more fellow travelers than in the 60’s. They can also smell a final victory although deprived of it stunningly for now… which only makes the drive more furious to win.
You nailed it. The Left and some on the ostensible Right are seeking to finalize the ‘fundamental transformation’ (Marxist term, btw) that Obama promised and put into motion.
That will result first in America becoming an elected tyranny of the Left, achieved by packing the voter rolls with foreign nationals given the power to vote via amnesty or localized “laws” as is already happening.
CA is the beta test for this process. We now have an elected tyranny of Leftists and the votes of Republicans and other conservatives be they Independents, Democrats or Libertarians have been diluted and outright nullified by decades of unsustainable immigration legal and not-legal and the resulting population growth based on immigrants procreation rates.
Add big corrupt government, welfare to attract and hold leftist votes, PC politics, Gramscian ‘long march through the institutions’ and globalist money, etc. the freedom-killing recipe is complete.
Like Hanson, I’ve watched this once Golden State decline into the Sh*thole State. I’m fortunate living in a county and city that has well run conservative government that has managed rational growth as well as possible given the profoundly un-American state government they’ve had to deal with over the past couple of decades.
But the state is coming for us. They intend to take our water, the rights to which the county has had for over 100 years, and they intend to force massive growth of ‘multi-family’ housing to house the products of immigration.
Denan – all true. But what’s the end game for the left? Venezuela? One billionaire, who leaves a billion do his daughter and hands off at the end to another soon-to-be billionaire? That’s beyond madness. PS How much is Jerry Brown worth? Has he chosen a successor El Jefe?
If America wants to see the net result of the leftist loons’ agenda for this country, we need and look no further than the ruins of deep blue states CA, OR, WA, NY.
And they’re like locusts….royally screw up one area and move off to the next pretty area that’s red attempting to turn it blue!
HOW ABOUT WE BUILD WALLS AROUND EVERY BLUE STATE TO KEEP THEM IN!!!????
Ragspierre, what *exactly* does VDH say that are ‘nothingburgers’ and why do you assert such? Surely you must know why you are so dismissive of a person who is literally a world renowned expert on human civilization and related studies. Be specific, what exactly makes you so energetically convinced he’s being ‘unrealistic’?
Well, for starters, look up the history of the Civil War. Duh Donald has been subjected to nothing that Lincoln was not. All that is largely forgotten, but the fresh garbage is MUCH more accessible. Indeed, you can hardly manage to NOT have it thrust in your face.
This is one, of several, reasons I think it a mistake to keep publicizing some of the worst trash in America. We, at this point, know that such trash exists. Most of us could write their crap, we know it so well. It IS recited and made “LOOKY HERE” headlines partly for click-bait.
In that sense, it’s like publicizing the name of a mass murderer. It just doesn’t need to be done, and it inflicts actual damage on the body politic. It is a shame to do.
Note that what I say above is NOT the same as Prof. Jacobson’s explication of his conflict with the USC professor at https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/04/usc-law-professor-michael-simkovics-absurd-attack-on-me-for-defending-campus-free-speech/
If Hilliary had won, they probably would have continued their gradual takeover of the government, and the GOP would have rolled over and let them win. Just a matter of time.
My biggest hope is that the way they have lost their minds over the results of the election, and their over-the-top efforts to remove Donald Trump as President will open the eyes of all the people who are normally apolitical, but still patriotic Americans, and we can win the war at the ballot box.
If not…this country’s future will be a violent one.
Poll: Reuters/IPSOS Survey Shows Millennial Support For Democrats Dropped 9 Percent Since 2016…
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/04/30/poll-reuters-ipsos-survey-shows-millennial-support-for-democrats-dropped-nine-percent-since-2016/
“Oh ye of little faith.”
The Left have destroyed themselves and their “old” structures – nothing more from here on out.
There have always been political disagreements in this country. In times past, we have seen violence used in political disputes. The problem which we face today is that, whereas, in the past, political violence was a local, or at most a regional, matter, now it is a national phenomenon; something which we have not seen since the American Civil War. This country is being Balkanized, not into slave-owning Southern states and non-slave-owning Northern states, but into liberal urban areas and more conservative rural areas. And, the liberal areas are becoming hotbeds of violence against anyone who is not one of the liberal tribe and are seceding from the rest of the nation. This may pass with only a minor disruption. Then again it may not. If violence continues or even increases and spills out into the areas of this nation outside urban centers, there will be a violent backlash. And, if it increases and remains concentrated in urban areas, it will simply destroy those areas. And, we have no way of predicting what will happen over the course of the next couple of years.
It’s between slave and free states. Where California, New York, Connecticut, Maryland and Massachusetts are slave states. Texas, Montana, Florida and Georgia are free states.
Florida is in flux. It was about 50/50% liberal v conservative in the last few Presidential elections. The large urban areas are all Democrat stronghold now and with ~300000 liberal Puerto Rican refugees moving into the state, this could change the political dynamic. Culturally, the urban areas are such a mish-mash that they seem to avoid much of the violence found in urban areas elsewhere in the country. Georgia is interesting in that while most of the state is rather conservative, the Atlanta area is a liberal urban mecca and has been for decades.
Florida is lost to the blue. We used to be a conservative state but now the best we can hope for is purple. The millions of Northeasterners and Canadians who have moved here for the low taxes now vote for the very same taxes and programs they fled. Having a conversation with one of the newly minted Floridians is a real eye-opener and frequently leaves me speechless.
I just had one of those conversations here in SWFL with a retiree from New Jersey. Truly depressing. We are all heartless bigots if we don’t feed, clothe, and house every “refugee”, especially those from “communities of color”, who comes to our border, plus give them free healthcare and free education for their kids, and, of course, Social Security and the right to vote. It’s only fair; we have so much and they have nothing. End of “discussion”.
If the Progressive Fascists succeed in their nefarious plan to remove Trump from office they will find that they have awakened an angry giant. We will see the true purpose of the 2nd amendment in action.
If the Left and the GOPe can overthrow or assassinate a duly elected sitting president, which of those old protocols will hold any meaning until the Left and the GOPe are forced to submit unconditionally? The protocols assume a rule of law with Constitutional limits on the power of the law and the government that no longer can be said to obtain.
Der Krieg ist eine bloße Fortsetzung der Politik mit anderen Mitteln.
My husband and I just had this conversation not more than 10 minutes ago. I don’t know how this country or civilization survives the next generation. It used to be funny that some were void of emotional regulation, now, half of a generation believes they know more than anyone and have been raised incapable of processing or respecting an opinion different from their own. What was funny is not frightening.
Hanson, as always, makes some valid points. Hanson does not say it, but Trump, plain and simple, is the biggest OUTSIDER in my lifetime. That is the appeal. Much like the stinkin’ hippies wanted to stick it to “the Man”, he is my F U to “the Man”. 😉
It’s just Rules for Radicals, kids.
Hansen puts too much weight on “normalizing”; this makes mere talk and childish vaudeville like paper-mache heads seem consequential. It’s not. None of it perverts the “national conversation”—what does that is our deference to the judiciary. Americans as a nation of 300 million plus didn’t suddenly decide that a word like “marriage” really means something it’s never meant in the entire history of the English language; a couple of people who go to work in silly robes made that decision and we act like we’re stuck with it.
Leftoid fantasies of how they’ll assassinate the President are harmless until they result in action, and there’s no reason to believe they will. Whiners aren’t revolutionaries. They can’t convince—they certainly tried with the Electoral College, but never came close to succeeding—so they’ll threaten and bluff. But they’ll never act.
Totally agree that the judiciary has become the more powerful entity, and that is not what it was meant to be. SCOTUS has become very politicized, and polarized. It was meant to be a check and balance against over-reaching politicians and now has ventured into being a legislative body through their rulings.
Funny how the conservatives want to look at the judiciary as the ones who insure that acts are constitutional. The left look at it as the means to push their agendas on everyone else using legal suits as the means to create new laws through redefining laws that exist.
“The danger to the country this time around is that the Left has so destroyed the old protocols of the opposition party that it will be hard to resurrect them when progressives return to power.”
For some reason the brilliant Hanson doesn’t seem to remember how the left acts when they win. They will retreat to the “Old way” of doing business until they need to go back to their violent and vulgar ways to get what they want. Pelosi will crow about how they will bring back respect for the House and if they win the Senate Schumer will never mention his back stabbing ways delaying EVERY single appointment Trump has made. Why, they will be the nicest pols ever until things go against them. Then, just like hillary, they will sink to the lowest depths to smear and destroy their opponents.
The bottom line is, the progressive left must never, ever return to power if America is to survive.
Thr biggest villian in all this is turning out to be Jeff Sessions.
He alone put the final nail in the coffin of the US Dept of Justice.
Obama and clinton owe him everything. May he choke on his payoff.
It seems to me that the key is to watch how far along the process of ‘othering’ has progressed. The left is far along in the process of othering conservatives. Name calling, denigrating their intelligence and integrity, blaming them for slavery, etc. These are all part of moving them outside the ‘norms’ of society – making them others who can be ‘dealt with’ as needed. Just as the NAZIs moved Jews outside of German society. The next step is suppression of rights. Free speech will be attacked so they can control the narrative and news. After that comes violence against conservatives by the gov’t. Probably resistance to gun confiscation as the trigger to use roundups, deadly force and warrantless arrests and detention – camps. I really hope I’m wrong, but the history of the left in Germany and communist countries shows that this is the path they take.
Winning a war is not about what you are willing to die for. It’s about what you are willing to kill for. Patton said (paraphrase): You don’t win the war by dying for your country. You win the war by making the other guy die for his country.
They are willing to die to win. Socialism, like Islam, attracts those who have nothing to live for except the cause. (Capitalism is too self centered to attract them.) Look how long Mao, the VC, etc fought hard wars for the ideals they held. Don’t expect anything different here if it comes to a physical conflict.
They are willing to die to win should be
They are willing to kill to win
They are already working on removal or reduction in rights. Look at the way the college kids protest and shut up any conservative speakers, like the protests done on a talk about Free Speech. The university leaders call their protests peaceful, and in line with allowing diverse voices to be heard, while they effectively shut down or limit other voices from being heard.
They make out that conservative ideas being conveyed is hate speech, so it has no place on the campuses of this country. The triggering events have grown to absurd levels.
Look at how that Councilwoman who harassed the young woman for wearing a Trump T-shirt. It was dismissed and excused as being free speech, which it is, yet the young lady gets painted as being in the wrong for her exercising the right of free speech by wearing that T-shirt.
So many examples of the left hiding behind free speech while expecting that there are zero consequences for doing so in large venues, regardless of how vile they become. Yet they believe their right to free speech is far more important that those they disagree with.
Dem Congressman Pens Op-Ed Calling for Govt. to Ban, Confiscate ‘Assault Weapons’
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.) wrote an op-ed for USA Today calling for the government to ban and confiscate assault weapons across the United States.
In the article published Thursday, Swalwell argues that a measure similar to the 1994 federal assault weapons ban is not enough to combat gun violence, because it would only prevent new sales of assault weapons. He suggests the government should institute a buy-back program, which would take existing assault weapons out of possession. The congressman also advocates the prosecution of any individual who decides to keep their firearm.
http://freebeacon.com/issues/dem-congressman-pens-op-ed-calling-ban-assault-weapons/
That didn’t take long.
the left shouldn’t push too far. although the vast majority on the right are peaceful, we have the overwhelming majority of arms.
Every time I read a comment like yours I’m left wondering who among you is going to fire the first shot. Will it be you?
Lincoln was very careful not to fire the first shot, in similar circumstance. Hence the siege of Ft. Sumter – but the other side ran out of patience, and couldn’t stand waiting.
Never fire the first shot. Just be sure to fire the second, third, fourth, and fifth.
The “first shot” was fired long ago. It has been replicated many times over, both literally and metaphorically. Congress critters shot, IRS weaponized, Trump’s personal attorney targetted, bakers sued out of their business, ranchers arrested, police assassinated . . . .
I was born in the ashes of WWII, lived through the Korean War, Kennedy assassination, Reagan attempt, tour of Vietnam, Watergate, Chicago convention riots, Goldwater and Daisy Girl, Carter and the embassy, Clinton impeachment.
I do not see any new level of violence or chaos.
What I see that is new is the concentration of ownership of the news media, and the rise of the opposition press on the internet.
All the noise will fade into something else.
If Trump leaves Korea and the middle east better than he found them, all he Resistance is vain.
Natural selection at work.
The left will push relentlessly, in a short of “Gresham’s Law” for politics, UNTIL they have destroyed all the decent Tea Party types and weak RINOs.
That natural selection will create a new, ruthless, deadly effective opposition,which being reality-based, will destroy the left.
The strong one who restore America will lead to prosperity and eventually to coddled children. And the cycle will repeat.
RESULT – reality always wins; the longer it takes, the higher the cost.
Why is Ragspierre permitted to make this place so unpleasant? He should be on time-out until he stops BS like “T-rump” and perhaps generally matures.
Conform or be cast out? How liberal. How progressive.
HH rote: Conform or be cast out? How liberal. How progressive.
Rags routinely exhibits behavior that wouldn’t be tolerated at a 4yr olds birthday party. Time out is hardly the same thing as ‘cast out’.
OTOH, there is a great irony in rags abusing Trump for being ‘provocative’.
Yes, because there is zero difference between a sitting US president and an anonymous commenter on an internet blog. Same thing, with the same expectations.
Rags’ achievement here ironically mimics one of Trump’s – turning his opposition into a bunch of whiny special snowflakes, so greatly offended by posts they don’t have to read, but choose to anyway. This is what snowflakes do. Can’t be offended otherwise.
See, good case-in-point.
Noting that Duh Donald is “provocative” is “abusing” him.
Simply asinine. The man works are being provocative, and will find something over which to provoke people out of thin air when leaving the nation with some still air would be a GREAT service.
If put to a vote as to whether or not Rags-P or any other commenter should be cast off the LI island, I would vote to keep him. Contrarians and Progressives need to be a part of the open discussions we have here on legal and political issues. Rather than kick someone out, shouldn’t we focus on stating our position more artfully? I don’t spend any time on blogs like Huffpo or Green Apples where dissent from the groupthink gets clubbed like a baby seal.
So yeah, I’ll defend someone’s right to be rude to the hosts here, or to fellow posters, though certainly not to the death. (Damn, that Voltaire dude was such an extremist!) kicking somebody out isn’t the answer, but formulating a better argument is.
ALERT! ADULT IN THE ROOM. Well, said.
RNL,
Wasn’t it HH who first used ‘cast out’ (CO)? I don’t see anyone but him talking about casting rags out. Are you equating a ‘time out’ (TO) with a CO? Aren’t they different? (temporary v permanent)
LI is a (benevolent) dictatorship. If you equate CO and TO, what tools does prof have to enforce his rules? Doesn’t he have the right to address behavior he considers inappropriate? Or does he need to meet your rules of fairness?
Man, lol…..Rags – and anyone who refuses to hate him – live rent free in your little snowflaky head. Cast out vs. time out? Are you proud of that, ahem, argument? Yikes, lol.
VaGent: My “Rules of Fairness” are simply my opinion. You are quite entitled to yours. If your sole criteria for TO or CO is “rudeness” or “annoyance”, then you are no better than old Charles at Green Apples. Yes, there should be a line established, and once it’s crossed, deserves a CO. Mr. Rags has come close several time to crossing the line I would have established in my head, but mostly he comes across as pushy or annoying. Sharpen your intellectual talents and challenge anyone who dares to have an opinion that may differ from yours.
Agree, but I doubt he will ever change. Somewhere in the past he developed an all-consuming hatred for President Trump which controls his every thought, word and action. Strange, because he considers himself a conservative and he is clearly not driven by a love for Hillary or Barack. I am sure the psychiatrists have a label for it.
Well, in this case, the term is, “Liar”.
My opinion of Duh Donald is rational, limited (not “all-consuming”), and based on objective facts.
As you know well, but chose to lie about, I have, do and will give T-rump credit where credit is due.
Unlike several here, I retain the American capacity to criticize him.
Quite frankly if a progressive left wing candidate similar or worse than Hillary manages to gain the Presidency, I expect violence to break out (with cause) within a year so all the other stuff won’t be relevant.
The right won’t be vying for opinions on any of the weekend shows as we won’t bother. I don’t understand why they do now.
Nothing rational anyone say from the right is treated with any respect or acknowledged as being within the realm of reason.
The left has created the stage set. Ready and waiting for the prospective cast to appear and begin speaking their dialog and acting their parts.
They will be surprised when the right no longer cooperates and begins to react in reality and with the goal of removing a long felt obstruction to peace and freedom from in front of the rights goals.
When I say right I’m talking about the normal people who aren’t really conservative and aren’t really frothing at the mouth liberal. But who are fed up at the disrespectful ways of the Democrats and the dithering fecklessness of GOP.
They’ll be taking the country back from the rabble now thank you.
And the left will be met with the reality of the common man who once decides on a course will hold to it and has no qualms at all about taking up arms to remove a dangerous group spreading hate and fear.
We’ve lost the ability to reason with these people because they are so far gone.
That’s been my impression for about 10 years. Lefty friends of yore, good ones and reasonable mostly, began to clam up and refuse to discuss political subjects – ‘we just don’t agree’ was all you’d get. They couldn’t or wouldn’t defend positions. That preceded by a few years the University tactic of shutting up ‘wrong’ speakers.
Funny. I have had the opposite experience. Lefty friends, some going back 60+ years, now insist on having me express my views by sending me clips or stories from the NY Times, Mother Jones, Vox or similar “news” organizations, and then, after I express my views as politely as I can, respond with epithets or conclusory statements attacking my motives or intelligence. I have now stopped taking the bait.
Mr. Hansen has point. And then, Kanye West sends out some tweets …. and suddenly., a whole new segment of the American public, black conservatives, comes into view.
Whitey had a good run but it’s just about over.
I’ve written and commented endlessly for over two years about this entrenched violent Leftism. They don’t just attack Republicans and Conservatives. They have contempt for anything Liberal Dem to the far Right. My Liberal Republican friend continues to agree that Trump’s presidency is the most scandal free administration in decades and Trump is doing everything right.
.
By scandal free, I mean actual scandals. Every single “scandal” to date is media contrived and driven. Try to name one thing scandalous that Trump has done since being elected and you can’t.
Heh, that’s scandalous!
If you listen to the news media though, every single day is breathless charges of scandals and crimes that Trump is guilty of.
If they can’t twist something he said or did into a negative then they manufacture one out of thin air.
On July 5th, 1926 Silent Cal speaking on the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. These were among his words:
“If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress.”
Progressives are just renamed totalitarian types, what they pronounce themselves to be is just a cover to what they are. They are regressive in nature, while being hung up on sex.
I’d suggest that Professor Jacobson is correct and supported by this blog post from the American Thinker: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/05/what_the_united_states_can_learn_from_yugoslavias_breakup.html
As a country, we’re ethnically different and no longer have a unified belief system. Where we once believed in Judeo-Christian ethics that included fair play, equal justice under the law and sportsmanship, now, it’s just one of many world views.
What starts as a disagreement, moves to a point of contention and then to a reason to end relationships (starting on Facebook). Feelings are hurt, and people snub each other to the point of ex-communication. They no longer have anything to do with each other. Does this sound familiar?
The end of Civility started with the beginning of Political Correctness. You can be chided for your opinions, but NEVER ALLOWED TO DEFEND THEM. No civility = no discourse = no free speech = no right to your own opinion. Lincoln, repeating the words of Jesus, asked how could a house divided against itself stand. The US is divided and until all sides are allowed an opinion, we at a SERIOUS RISK FOR REVOLUTION.
Every four years we hear about that one of America’s greatest achievements is the ‘peaceful transition of power’ after an election.
That whole idea is taking a beating as people filled with rage seek to disrupt the Executive Branch ~
Uh oh, the intellectuals have finally copped on that the left is nuts and wants our blood. Well we can just remind them that conservative ideas are superior and that’ll show them. That or debate them to death. Electing Trump bought us a little time but if you think you’re going to see a conservative president in your lifetime you’re nuts. I lived through 60’s and things weren’t like this, mainly because there was still an extensive white middle class, only a few TV stations, and no internet. Internalize this and go about your haggling.
Flooding the Voter Rolls in US and Greece
by Maria Polizoidou • April 30, 2018 at 5:00 am
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12227/voter-rolls-greece
It is still possible that the current administration could improve voter laws to prevent our votes from being subject to fraud and dilution. If that happens, the revolution can still be avoided.
They HAVE TO HAVE the illegal immigrant votes and the homeless votes or they can’t win. That’s why they are risking angering their citizen voters by creating sanctuary cities and giving felons voting rights and not dealing with the homeless encampments. Without those votes, they know they can not win elections.
All of the power of the press, academia, entertainment and social media and they still don’t have the votes!
Think about that. Think about what that means.
They don’t have the votes. We are not as divided as they would have you believe.
Well this book by Bloom is still timeless: https://www.amazon.com/Closing-American-Mind-Education-Impoverished/dp/1451683200
I think VDH is wrong on one point. The left and never Trumpers haven’t “lost confidence in the constitutional framework of elections” they just don’t like the result of the last one. Well that’s life and being a grown up which they no longer are or in some cases ever were.
I have great respect for VDH, but I don’t get your comment. Which election are you referring to as “last one”? The 2016 POTUS election?
I disagree with the same assertion by VDH but for different reasons. I have not lost an iota of respect for anything about the Constitution or the framework of elections.
But I know, as does VDH, that unless the American People unite in their support of the Constitution and fundamental foundations of that document, it’s just a piece of paper.
The Left and sadly, many RINOs are not about America as the land of free, self-governing People, but about power, control and the money that such brings them.
Too much of our government is corrupt to the bone, because there is too much government.
America is not and has never been immune from history,I’m pretty sure that the country experienced serious division in the 19th Century in that sense out circumstance is not uncharted territory, how it will play out is uncertain, as it is said history doesn’t repeat itself but it rhymes