Thoughts On Torture

We've spoken about torture many times in the past and we disagreed quite a bit. That's fine, of course, because all good faith opinions are welcome here. :D Anyways, the Senate has now issued its report on torture and depending on your views, it will either shock you or it will confirm what others already believed. Here are my thoughts.

(1) The most important fact arising out of the report is that the seven or eight times the CIA claimed that torture got them critical information they used to stop terrorist plots were apparently lies. The Senate now reports that it never got anything useful related to those moments.

This directly demonstrates the problem with the torture debate in the past. I have heard for a long time from experts that torture simply does not work. What happens is that the torture subject will say anything to stop the torture. Thus, they will give false confessions and wrongly confirm anything you tell them, whether it's true or not. Basically, they will tell you what you want to hear. This confirms that.

The pro-torture argument, however, typically went like this: "What if you can save a city by torturing one guy? Wouldn't you torture them?" Well, sure, except that as this report and prior experience have shown, torture doesn't get you the information you need to make this scenario even close to likely.

(2) Even if torture resulted in some benefits, it's clear that it is not worth the harm to our reputation to be seen doing this. Reagan described America as a shining city on a hill and others have called us a beacon of light. We as a people talk about truth, justice and the American way, and we love practical solutions that get results. Torture is inconsistent with all of this.

(3) This report confirms that the CIA is out of control. For example, the CIA hid the torture program from President Bush for four months. That's ridiculous. The CIA is an agency that responds directly to the President under the supervision of the Congress. Yet, here they admit that they kept Bush in the dark about a highly controversial and dangerous program and then they lied to Congress about what they were doing. We can't accept this from any agency, but especially not from an agency with the power of the CIA.

(4) Unfortunately, the PR damage from this gives the left aid and comfort in their fight against America, American freedom and American capitalism. As long as things like torture continue, we open the door for the left to paint us as tainted and bad, and for them to jumble in things like attacks on drones under the cover of a generic misbehavior.

Thoughts?

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Hillary Clinton 2016 Goes Country...

Oh, you've got to see this! I have no idea what demographic this was supposed to appeal to, but, WOW, this guy just single-handedly tanked his own budding singing career. This new country music-style video was just released by the Stand With Hillary 2016 Super PAC and...well, bless their hearts. [Translation: You are morons. Walk away from that guitar and we will never speak of this again]

***WARNING*** What you are about to view may cause nausea, vomiting, blindness, erectile dysfunction, multiple organ failure, seizures, cankles, and hair loss. Please consult your physician before viewing. Do not click "play" if you have just eaten or are not heavily medicated...



I am speechless. If this is the way they think they will win the white, working class vote, then they need a new plan. Needless to say, it hasn't gone over too well at all. But the good news for anyone running against Hillary, SWH2016 is planning similar versions that target the Hispanic and millenial demographics.

Sadly, Hillary has all the money in the world (estimates range in the $1billion range) to spend on her as-yet undeclared 2016 Presidential bid. You see, she has to wait as long as she can to officially declare that she is running because, once she does, she will no longer be able to charge $300K a pop for her campaign speeches and no more free hummus either. Oh, yeah, those fees are made payable directly to the non-profit/tax deductible Clinton Foundation famous for its charitable good works.

But then again, the above isn't nearly as bad as the video produced for her 2008 campaign:



Oh, and just for fun, this is from the rally version at a Texas rally in 2008...



Questions or comments?

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Democrat versus Democrat

As we near the end of a President’s reign, especially an unpopular one, the members of the President’s party start to go their own way. This can range from simply talking about new issues that had been de-prioritized by the current administration to actively attacking the lame duck President. The Democrats are in the middle of that at the moment, and it’s going to cause them serious problems. Observe...

Here are some big examples of recent attacks by Democrats on Obama:

(1) Sen. Chuck “Chuckles” Schumer came out and basically blasted the Democratic obsession with Obamacare. He noted that this was not what was concerning the public at the time and he suggested that putting their eggs in this basket made the Democrats seem out of touch. He also suggested other problems with the law and he blamed it for destroying the Democrats in the midterm elections. Chuck seems to be setting himself up as a “prominent critic” of Obamacare... the only possibly positive legacy Obama has.

(2) Sen. “Dingy” Harry Reid is apparently on the verge of cutting a deal with Republicans to put in place $400 billion (over 10 years) in tax breaks. The White House has had no input into this and actually rallied liberals to kill the bill... after a veto threat. Think about that: a veto threat aimed at something Harry Reid is trying to pass!

(3) Sen. Robert “Illegal Fundraiser” Menendez has been working with Republicans to shape a new sanctions bill against Iran, despite Obama trying to play the “carrot only” game with Iran... and despite Obama claiming that GOP fears about Iran are paranoia.

(4) Obama wants to enact trade deals with Europe and the Pacific Rim countries to lower trade barriers. The Democrats are freaking out about this and are attacking the proposals as bad for American workers.

(5) Harry Reid’s aide David Krone has publicly blamed Team Obama for their losses in November... and aides never speak publicly without permission.

(6) Mary Landrieu attacked Obama over the Keystone Pipeline and arranged a vote to try to pass it over his objections. She fell only one vote short in the Senate. After her 12 point loss last week, she and others blamed Obama for failing to support her.

(7) Several Democrats, especially talking heads, have been positively freaking out about Obama’s immigration order. Others on the left are angered that he didn’t go any further. No one is happy and no one is staying silent.

(8) Lots of leftists and black race baiters are attacking Obama for not doing/saying more about Ferguson... or New York.

All of this is typical and means the Democrats are engaged in at least a low grade civil war. That’s rarely good. What makes this even worse though, is that this was isn’t about ideas, it’s about finger pointing, i.e. they all want to blame someone else for the party’s recent failures. At least in ideological battles like the GOP just fought, you have the chance to fix the things that went wrong rather than just whine that it was everyone else’s fault. Here the goal is basically just to pass the blame.

That said, there is an ideological component brewing in this fight and it’s one that is potentially highly destructive....

I wrote about the decimation of their princelings recently and in that discussion I noted that the Democrats seem to be making a mistake embracing those people in the first place. Specifically, by elevating a bunch of women, blacks, Hispanics and gays to the leadership positions to replace the boring looking/sounding white males who currently are “the face of the party,” the Democrats appear to be sacrificing their ability to pretend that they still are the party of mostly-conservative white working class males. Right now, with soft-spoken old white guys like Harry Reid (who claims to be a devoutly religious farmer who loves hunting) as the face of the party, the Democrats are able to sell the idea that they are not as urban, not as ethnic, not as anti-traditional values as they really are. But by swapping urban blacks, women, gays and Hispanics for the likes of Harry Reid, they are losing the carefully staged images they need to push this lie. In my opinion, that will cost them in rural America.

Anyways, adding to this, I am now seeing lots of articles being written by leftists who are arguing that the Democrats can no longer claim to have any real support among “working class whites,” and that they should accept this and openly embrace an agenda that better fits their new core, i.e. feminists, race baiters, gays and minorities.

I cannot tell you how much I hope they buy into this advice and change the image of their party. If they do, they will lose another 10% of the white vote, plus they will struggle with Hispanics and Asians (the fastest growing group of immigrants), who very much want the American dream... not the welfare dependency substitute.

It’s going to be fascinating to see how this plays out, particularly as all the old “moderate” Democrats fade away after being destroyed by Pelosi’s banzai charges and then Obamacare, and the face of the party becoming increasingly urban-ideological. If they also embrace a far-left urban agenda, they could well destroy themselves.

Thoughts?

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Chuck Schumer Must Be Running For Something...

You may have missed this during the hubbub of Thanksgiving, but New York Senator Charles "Chuck" Schumer (D/NY) dropped a little bomblet on his fellow Democrats.

In a post-Nov. 4 election drubbing, he made a speech at a National Press Club on Nov. 25, he had this to say...

"After passing the stimulus, Democrats should have continued to propose middle-class-oriented programs and built on the partial success of the stimulus, but unfortunately Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them," Schumer said. "We took their mandate and put all of our focus on the wrong problem—health care reform."

The third-ranking Senate Democrat noted that just about 5 percent of registered voters in the United States lacked health insurance before the implementation of the law, arguing that to focus on a problem affecting such "a small percentage of the electoral made no political sense."

The larger problem, affecting most Americans, he said, was a poor economy resulting from the recession. "When Democrats focused on health care, the average middle-class person thought, 'The Democrats aren't paying enough attention to me,' " Schumer said.

The health care law should have come later, Schumer argued, after Democrats had passed legislation to help the middle class weather the recession. Had Democrats pushed economic legislation, he said, "the middle class would have been more receptive to the idea that President Obama wanted to help them" and, in turn, they would have been more receptive to the health care law.

Schumer said he told fellow Democrats in the lead-up to the passage of the Affordable Care Act that it was the wrong time to pass the law.

"People thought—and I understand this—lots of people thought this was the only time to do this, it's very important to do. And we should have done it. We just shouldn't have done it first," he said. "We were in the middle of a recession. People were hurting and saying, 'What about me? I'm losing my job. It's not health care that bothers me. What about me?' … About 85 percent of all Americans were fine with their health care in 2009, mainly because it was paid for by either the government or their employer, private sector. So they weren't clamoring. The average middle-class voter, they weren't opposed to doing health care when it started out, but it wasn't at the top of the agenda."

-from National Journal 11/25/2014

Duh, ya' think, Chuck?? Oh, wait, but I thought it was going so well? But then again I can't say we didn't warn him...but...well, from his own words circa 2010, this is what he had to say...

"I am proud to support the historic Affordable Care Act – the 2010 health care reform bill that recently became law and will help over 30 million Americans, including almost 3 million uninsured New Yorkers to gain access to affordable health insurance.,."

Well, you can read the rest...LINK

Oh, he's just sad that his dream of replacing Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader has been dashed and yeah, he's up for re-election in 2016. So we can understand how desperate he may be to distance himself from his vast mistakes. By the way, Chuck has been Chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee since 2010, so he has been the key election strategist on the issues the Dems have been running on and responsible for the losing streak in the mid-term elections.

Any thoughts?

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Practical or Spectacular?

More of a question tonight than anything. As we talked about the Dubai Airport over at the film site, we kind of shook our heads at the crappy state of many of our airports. This raises a question: when we build infrastructure projects like bridges, airports, train stations, and the such, should we just build them as cheaply and as practically as possible? Or should we swing for the fences and try to make them into architectural wonders?

Personally, I think aesthetics matter. When people think of America, they think of things like the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the monuments in DC, the Miracle Mile and Loop in Chicago, the art-deco section of Miami, the San Francisco Victorian houses, and so on. We think of amazing projects like the Hoover Dam, the stadiums they are building today with incredible engineering which look like glass palaces and have retractable roofs, and of course Vegas. People think of these things because they are powerful images that speak to the character, style and dreams of the residents. They speak to a people who want to make a statement with their buildings.

Indeed, to me, what gives a city its character is its architecture. When you can drive through Columbus, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, St. Louis and not tell where you are, then something has gone wrong. Those cities may be large and prosperous, but they feel boring and lifeless. I want more. I want pride. I want an expression of risk taking, of a people who have one eye on the future. Yes, I do. As Americans, I think we should be showing off our skills. We should show the world what we can achieve and build infrastructure that truly represents the inventive dreamers who populate this country. Our cities should match the creativity and energy of our people, and they should leave our visitors in awe, just as they did in the 1930s and 1940s when the world looked with amazement at the marvels going up all over the country.

Yes, indeed. Yet, there seems to be a strain of thought in conservative circles that resists any discussion of aesthetics when it comes to city-building. I find that to be wrong short-sighted, and I don't see anything inconsistent with being conservative and yet considering the intangible aspects of infra-structure building. Or am I wrong about this? What do you think?

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Open Thread - Riot Edition

Happy Holiday Season everyone? Did you have a good one? I have been out of touch with what is going on for the last week, but what the heck is going on? (Bear with me as I am having trouble typing with my Thanksgiving carving knife injury which is nothing so dramatic as Andrew's problem but it hurts!) What I can gather from reading the local newspapers is that protests are occuring all over the country. With Al Sharpton is fanning the flames of unrest because...well...that is what he does and President Obama is not helping to quell the flames because...well, that is what he seems to excel at. You have to admit that Obama does excel at pitting groups against each other and then stepping in to do...well...more to fan the flames of discontent. I mean, he is a seasoned "community organizer" after all.

I realize that this will be his legacy and what he has used his time to do. Civil unrest is his goal. But, with Al Sharpton as his wingman, what is the end game here? Does he really get off on cities burning, protests and civil unrest?

My opinion is that we should give Obama and Sharpton what they want. Police forces in the country are being too aggressive and should be reined in. Who needs low crime anyway. It is obvious to me that street criminals are just victims of their circumstances and should be treated as victims. Thugs are just "misunderstood" and it is the police that are the problem. Give them what they want and all will be better. We should just hug it out, right?

On the otherhand, I am a firm believer that we have to learn how bad things can get to realize how wrong mob rule can be. As we all know, laws are just for people who will respect them anyway. Obviously, only chumps respect the law, right? Yeah, it's the police that are the real problem.

Of course one can compare the current "unrest" to how the white, privileged class reacted to O.J. Simpson being acquitted of brutally murdering two people. You remember how we took to the streets and rioted after the injustice of the verdict was rendered then. Oh, wait...that didn't happen.

Anyway, maybe we can talk it out. Let's discuss.

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Kit's Thoughts On Black Friday Ferguson Protests

by Kit

The decision of the Ferguson grand jury to not indict was announced and events unfolding in Ferguson as many expected they would. The only difference was on the extent of the damage. On Twitter I saw the Left also behave predictably to the events; Darren Wilson was a guilty racist scumbag and if you think the jury’s verdict was the right one based on the evidence at hand then you are not merely a racist but an evil and deplorable human being without even the slightest ounce of basic decency and not worth the slightest bit of respect. Away with thee! Away!

This and proclaiming #BlackLivesMatter while responding to the riots in Ferguson that destroyed 12 buildings (some black-owned businesses) and thoroughly trashed others (many also black-owned) in a town of 21,000 (over 60% black) with attitudes ranging from timid criticism to implied support to explicit praise.

But what was interesting was the Black Friday Boycott. Aside from a few references in the news, this was largely ignored outside of the greater St. Louis area, to which Ferguson belongs. But the boycott did garner attention, largely because it forced 3 St. Louis malls to close early. Now a question might cross a few people’s minds: Why Black Friday and why target shopping malls? Well, the answer will probably not surprise you but it is worth exploring simply because it reveals something about protesting in the modern era, the Left in the modern era, and a possible opening for the Right.

They know that despite the huge flare-up of riots in Ferguson and protests across the rest of the country that as soon as the fires in those 12 buildings went out and the National Guard restored order to the town that the country and the world would move on to other things. And right now there is no shortage of news with Obama’s immigration edict the continuing insanity in Iraq, a possible nuclear surrender agreement with Iran, (sort of) withdrawal from Afghanistan, Ebola still killing, etc. That means they have to keep attention on Ferguson and the death of Michael Brown. And in order to do that they must maintain the momentum of the protests.

Here is where they face their conundrum, even if they do not see it. In order to maintain momentum they must keep attention to the protests. But in order to keep attention on the protests they must keep it relevant. That means they must carry out protests that will garner attention through the news media; the protests must be newsworthy. So they use tactics that will garner attention, make their protests newsworthy and annoy everyone else.

Tactics such as calling for people to boycott Black Friday by tweeting “Don’t Shop. Join the Movement”, interrupting Black Friday shopping by lying on the ground and clapping, or marching through the corridors holding their hands up and shouting “Don’t Shoot!” in a place where the gun most likely to shoot them is a nerf gun. In Oakland this meant protestors chaining themselves to train cars in West Oakland and in San Francisco vandalizing a Bank of America and a news van. This means, of course, means arrests and, most importantly, dramatic footage for the nightly and 24-hour news shows.

To a person organizing protests this is good. It gets attention. However, it also annoys everyone else and unlike the Civil Rights boycotts and sit-ins where the tactics they used and targets they picked had a direct connection to the policies they were fighting these protestors have only made rather vague “symbolic” connections. The Montgomery Bus boycotters could argue that if the Montgomery transit company does not like the hit they can integrate and the boycott will end. Don’t like the nuisance of arresting people for engaging in sit-ins? Integrate.

Here? There is no such connection. It has the basic appearance of a desperate appeal for attention. The organizers and protestors themselves have admitted its purpose is to “raise awareness” for their cause. When someone says their goal is “raising awareness” it reminds me of Spielberg’s quote about the sad state of modern filmmaking, “People have forgotten how to tell a story. Stories don't have a middle or an end any more. They usually have a beginning that never stops beginning.”

Raising awareness is a beginning that never stops beginning. You can raise awareness until doomsday and never get one step closer to reaching your goal. This is because when you march under the banner of “raising awareness” it means you have no goal or plan other than grabbing attention for your cause. And soon, people will see that you have no plan and they will get tired of your constant grabs for attention. Eventually they will simply stop caring. That is if your pointless tactics and lack of any real accomplishment don’t start annoying the crap out of everyone else. This was the fate of the Occupy Movement when even liberal college students realized that their “revolution” consisted of noting more than slowing traffic to a crawl and defecating in public parks.

But don’t expect the far left to realize this for two main reasons. First, “Raising awareness” has one major benefit: You can feel good about yourself without actually accomplishing anything. You don’t even need to work hard on developing a plan. Just “raise awareness” and you are “doing something”. Second, the very pointlessness of the strategy also allows the Left and race-baiters to keep playing their divisive games that accomplish nothing except filling the coffers with donations.

A person deeply concerned about the issue of police militarization but wise might attempt to point out that a number of whites have been killed by possibly trigger-happy cops (such as the Tosh.0 producer), that an over-militarized police force may impact blacks disproportionately now but, if not stopped, will eventually spread like a cancer to the rest of America. He then may point to William F. Buckley’s favorite phrase “Government can't do anything for you except in proportion as it can do something to you” and the old axiom, “Power corrupts”. He might even point to the “crackdowns” on lemonade stands of a few years back and SWAT teams hitting homes of people late on their student loans. This is a libertarian argument heard even in conservative circles prior to the Ferguson verdict.

But this would run counter to the argument of the race-baiting Left who wants to present an argument based solely on victimhood and blacks as victims of an inherently racist system. To claim that over-militarization of the police might eventually effect white (and other non-black) Americans would mean admitting the system is not as racist as they claimed. It would mean admitting that the issue is not primarily race but the size and reach of government.

So they will continue to “raise awareness” with tactics that only tick off locals trying to go about their daily business. When said locals complain their reply will be a variance of “If you are not with us, you are against us” argument, perhaps accusing them of “valuing property over people” or, if they are black, of “internalizing racism”. And, ultimately, they will self-destruct. It will be slow but it will happen.

If Conservatives are smart this will open the door for them to address this issue in a reasonable and rational manner that balances the need of liberty from the state and the need of security from the criminal. Not only would it allow Republicans, as Rand Paul has pointed out, to score votes among some black voters (some) but allow Republicans to make an effective case for limited government by placing this issue within the larger context of big government by pointing to the dangers of police militarization in an era of over-criminalization.

Rand Paul should not be the only Republican politician talking about this.

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Medical Update - Warning: Graphic

Hey everyone! I thought you might like to know how close we came to a disaster on Friday. I guess I'm thankful to be alive. (This is graphic, so don't read this if you are squeamish.)

To help you understand the problem I've been having, I'm having tons of lymphatic fluid build up in my body and pool in my ankles in particular. This causes my legs to "weep" out this fluid because there's no other way to get rid of it. Over time, this has destroyed the tissue between my ankles and my knees, which is now torn, raw, bloated and severely damaged. It actually looks a lot like burn victim skin and it feels like my lower legs are covered in blisters. The pain from this can be overwhelming, which is why I need the pain pills, which keep me from writing, which is why I'm having a hard time getting articles done.

About a week ago, my doctor gave me a steroid cream he thought might help. I put this cream around the ankle, where it looks like someone yanked out chunks of flesh with a pair of pliers. At first, it seemed to help. Then it seemed to increase the pain and make things worse. I decided on Friday that I would stop using this stuff. Unfortunately, that was too late.

(Warning: Now it gets graphic!)

After a nice, but medicated Thanksgiving, I decided to just rest on Friday. So I sat in my favorite chair. I pulled up an ottoman, put a down blanket on the ottoman as a cushion, and then placed a bath towel on the blanket because my bandages are always wet -- the weeping makes them wet after about twenty minutes. I put my foot up on the towel. A few minutes later, I realized there were three drops of blood on my other leg. I asked my wife if she could see a source. I thought I might have cut the back of that knee, which feels sore. She didn't see blood there. Then she noticed something red under my left leg, on the towel. When I raised my leg, we saw that the towel and the blanket were drenched in blood... drenched to the point of dripping blood everywhere when you picked them up.

At that point, my wife pulled off the bandage to see what was leaking. As she did, a cartoon-like scene occurred as a stream of blood shot over her shoulder across the room. It didn't stop until she plugged it with the bandage again. Needless to say, I called 911. Fortunately, they arrived about a minute later and took over. They were great -- professional, calm and friendly. They were also very worried at first, until we got the bleeding stopped. The ER staff were not as great, but we did get it all sorted out and the bleeding stopped.

What had happened was that the steroid cream had thinned the already damaged skin and it just broke open right at an arterial point. (It actually broke on two places -- front and back).

I don't know how much blood I lost, but it was a lot. The bath towel and the down blanket were soaked and ruined. The carpet was drenched too and filled the steam cleaner three times before I got it all out. I would guess we are talking two pints for sure. And this was all in about 5 minutes. Worst of all, as there was no pain, it was pure luck that I even noticed. Had I fallen asleep, or had my wife been out shopping as was her intent, I would not be here today... I don't doubt that. And the thought of my wife and kids coming home to find that honestly makes me sick.

Anyway, I wanted to let you all know this so you know that I really am not just being lazy when I can't get articles done. The stuff I've been dealing with has been very serious, debilitating and at times rather scary. And I want to thank you all again for sticking with us as I sort my way through this. I do believe things are getting better, but sometimes there are setbacks like this.

Thanks.

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This is always a great time of year to thank God that you're not a pilgrim. Just kidding, pilgrims. But seriously, this is a great time of year to think about what you should be thankful for. We live in the greatest, most free, most productive country in the world. We are surrounded by genuinely good people who believe in community, charity, and fair play, and millions of people work tirelessly to make everything a little bit better every day. Who can beat that?

Besides that though, we should all be thankful for our friends and family and for the chance to make their lives better as they've made ours better. It's a great time to remind them that you love them, isn't it?

Personally, I'm thankful for my wonderful parents and my great sister, my incredible wife, and my amazing kids. I'm thankful to be alive. I'm thankful that I get to see and experience everything this world has to offer. I'm thankful for e-meeting all of you. And I'm thankful that we can experience things like joy and happiness and contentment.

So what are you thankful for?

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

The Pathetic "Men's Rights Movement"

by Kit

Within the past year there has been a great deal of controversy over a group of men who call themselves "Red-Pillers" and "Pick-up Artists", especially with the Elliot Rodgers shootings and again with the recent attention on Pick-up Artist Julien Blanc.

They have gained increasing fame against the back drop of, and possibly fueled by, a resurgent radical feminism that is sees every minor inconvenience a woman has in modern-day American society as symptomatic of a widespread and universal "War on Women". The manosphere portrays itself as a rebellion against this resurgence (though they claim it never died) and, as with all rebels, it gives them a certain aura. But, as I hope to show, they are not an answer to the problems of radical feminism. In fact, they are in many ways, a masculine alter ego of radical feminism —though with lower aims. They both promote a War of the Sexes where one must win through Total Victory or become a defeated Stepford Wife or Henpecked Husband.

Now, in discussing them I am not talking about the Men's Rights Movement as a whole nor am I excluding them since the lines between the MRAs and the Red-Pillers/PUAs are often quite blurry. As they have been a rather influential part of the MRAs. This also has absolutely nothing to do with the wonderful blog, Art of Manliness, a website with a philosophy contrary to that of the Red-Pillers. In fact, the major Red-Pill site Return of Kings criticized Art of Manliness for "poisoning the concept of masculinity with Disney Lifestyle Advice" by promoting a pro-family, pro-fatherhood, and pro-marriage view of the world.

Their Worldview

The philosophy of the Manosphere and the Red-pillers can be described by these 4 pillars that I am calling "Female Psychology", "Alpha-Beta Male Dichotomy", "Feminism's Effects", and "Game". The first two describe their "scientific" view of basic human psychology that applies to all men and women at all times and all places, the 3rd describes that state of gender relations in modern society, and the 4th is the rational solution for men in today's world.

(1) Female Psychology: Women, ruled by a “hindbrain”, are driven by a sense of hypergamy to find the most uber-sexy, domineering man, an Alpha, over wimpy Betas, most of the other men because, as Xpat puts it, “Men believe that love matters for the sake of it. Women love opportunistically.” This is a major part of their ideology, Rollo Tomassi (pen-name for the blogger at the Rational Male), makes it his 6th Iron Rule (he has 9), “Women are utterly incapable of loving a man in the way that a man expects to be loved.”

A translation: “Women are only capable of loving men conditionally, that is, if it benefits them.” Now, as with nearly all the best lies this one has a grain of truth to it. Hypergamy is a real thing, it is the desire of a (heterosexual) woman to select as a mate/spouse the highest quality man available with the man's quality hinging on a variety of traits. This can be proven by scientific studies and common sense.

The Pick-up Artists twists this, producing blog posts headlined "Hypergamy Doesn't Care", providing examples of the things Hypergamy doesn't care about:

—"Hypergamy doesn’t care how great a Father you are to your kids."

—"Hypergamy doesn’t care how great a guy you are for adopting the children she had with other men."

—"Hypergamy doesn’t care about how well you do your part of the household chores."

And so on.

The interesting thing is that, according to every bit of available knowledge of science's understanding of hypergamy... THESE ARE EXACTLY THE THINGS IT DOES CARE ABOUT YOU THICK-HEADED NUMBSKULL!!! They want a man who will be a great father, a great husband, who is caring, who is supportive, but tough enough to not be driven to a mess of tears by the smallest problems. Basically, they want a man. But, this is their world view. So what does "Hypergamy care about"? Well...

(2) Alpha/Beta Male Dichotomy: According to them, most men fall into one of two categories: Alphas and Betas. Alphas are the domineering aggressive men who make history while the Betas are the rest of them, the weak, docile, and pussy-whipped men who make up the vast majority of society. In this view, the quintessential Alphas are men like Genghis Khan and James Bond while a typical Beta would be Al Bundy and Ray Romano. It further states that women are attracted to Alphas.

Now, in theory this may seem ok. A bit black-and-white but with some truth to it. Most men may not aspire to be Genghis Khan but they don't want to be Al Bundy either so they seek the middle road. Surely there is a middle road, neither dominated nor domineering? Well, according to this worldview there isn't. One is either a domineering übermensch who is conquering women or weak and henpecked husband dominated by his wife. There is no middle road.

And Hypergamy, they say, guides women towards the Alphas. While they will "settle" for a Beta if there is no other alternative, they all pine for an Alpha and will cheat on their Beta husband if they find a willing Alpha —even if said Alpha is already taken, for "Women would rather share a high value Man than be saddled by a faithful loser." If you want to see proof of this bubbling up in other sites, the big Red-Pill site website Return of Kings even had an article giving men tips on how to have an affair.

Now, in older days this was ok because, in the pre-feminism era, Beta Males did not have to worry about their wives getting cheating on them with impunity. But then...

(3) Effects of Feminism: Feminism, they claim, by upsetting the natural order of man and wife, has resulted in women developing a sense of entitlement that leads them to abuse and mistreat men. If this sounds like a bit of a leap in logic look at the above pillar; “Women love opportunistically.” If women can only love opportunistically and thus cannot be trusted to be loyal then it is clear that feminism has given them powers and rights with which they cannot be trusted. Women now have the power to abuse and cheat on their boyfriends and husbands (and even fathers and sons) with impunity.

This is very reminiscent, interestingly, of the radical feminist ravings about patriarchy and how under it men are given free reign to abuse and mistreat women. How women are not able to trust men to be caring and loving. That is because both are rooted in a worldview of an identity culture bred by a sense of victimhood. Like the feminists who claim that all women are suffering brutal and daily abuse under an all-powerful patriarchy they claim that feminism has created a situation where all men suffer. Remember the "Hypergamy Doesn't Care" article I mentioned? Well, it is rife with this. I chose the nicer parts, but almost every thing he lists that "Hypergamy doesn't care about" is written in such a way to portray women as evil leeches who will abuse and mistreat men with about as much empathy as a sociopath. Even their view of a once-great and wonderful Eden of Male Superiority has a feminist parallel in the anthropological myth of long-lost "Matriarchal Societies" where life was free and happy.

And, like all victimhood-peddlers they have a solution...

(4) Game: The logical result, they claim, is that men can no longer expect a happy life through marriage and fatherhood and instead must seek a fulfilled life by having as much sex with as many women as they can. To accomplish this they peddle "Game". "Game" is the method of seduction they sell to young men. The strategies they teach vary from the deceptive to the abusive. The most infamous, Julien Blanc recommend that men put their right hand around the girl's neck and go "Shhhhh". He also recommends using tactics of domestic abuse to keep girlfriends, tweeting a photo of a domestic abuse wheel that shows the methods of domestic abuse with the words, "Might as well be a checklist. #HowToMakeHerStay".

He is the most extreme version but one can find hints of this in the statements of other advocates of Game such as the Rollo Tomassi, who pushes a view of relationships that is based entirely on the prism of who has the most power with sex as the sole reason for the relationship, said "Any woman who makes you wait for sex, or by her actions implies she is making you wait for sex; the sex is NEVER worth the wait."

It's a cynical, grab-what-you can ideology and it is the reason for it all. The Pick-Up Artists are trying to sell "Game" to young men. The reason for the previous 3 pillars is an attempt to provide "evidence" for the need for Game. Its a con. This is not too far from a man who claims that ancient alien souls sent into the bodies of cavemen by an evil alien overlord are the real causes of mental illness and joining his creepy religious cult is the only way one can "cure" oneself of mental health problems.

Conclusion

Yes, there are women who have cheated on their husbands and yet still soaked them in the divorce, just as there are men who have beaten their wives. Some people are simply narcissistic sociopaths. People who will mistreat others for no apparent reason, even when it would've been in their interest to be kind. But the history of human experience shows that these are the exception, not the rule.

In the ideologies of both Radical Feminists and Red-Pillers/PUAs we see them try to depict the world in stark black-and-white terms; casting the other sex as violent and depraved demons while painting their own sex as innocent and unknowing babes in the woods. They are cynical views of the world and with the Pick-up Artist community we see a cynical and nefarious solution with their pushing of "Game".

Yes, unlike feminism, perusing their websites reveals no real desire to change the world into a totalitarian masculine state, though many might like it. Their goals, as "Game" illustrates, are a bit lower. Simply have as much sex as you can. But that only means it is less ambitious. The bile, however, is still very present. They promote themselves as a cure to radical feminism in its modern-day form but they are not a cure. In truth, they are another strain of the same disease.

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Immigration Order Open Thread

Today is the day that Obama will have his revenge for the drubbing he got Nov. 4. Yes, folks this is our punishment for rejecting the Black man in the White House. [Their words, not mine].

Although I have another theory...

Friday, the Ferguson grand jury will make their decision on whether to indict Officer Darren Wilson and the impending riot that will insue either way. I know that it may be cynical of me, but maybe this is Obama's way of distracting the country. Or maybe he has chosen this exact moment ot distract from the whole Obamacare/Jonathan Gruber fiasco just as the open enrollment is being rolled out once again with the same problems as before. Like I said, I am cynical. Since we don't know exactly what he will do, we can discuss it as he makes his grand, imperial announcement. Maybe we'll be surprised.

Just remember these past words from the President when the Executive Order is announced...[I have added the highlights...]

Univision March 28, 2011:

With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order, that’s just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed — and I know that everybody here at Bell is studying hard so you know that we’ve got three branches of government. Congress passes the law. The executive branch’s job is to enforce and implement those laws. And then the judiciary has to interpret the laws.

There are enough laws on the books by Congress that are very clear in terms of how we have to enforce our immigration system that for me to simply through executive order ignore those congressional mandates would not conform with my appropriate role as president.

Univision on Jan. 30, 2013:

Maria Elena Salinas of Univision: Now I know that you have reduced, this is another concern on Twitter, the number of deportations of non-criminals. However, in 2012 more than 184,000 non-criminals were deported. In the spirit of your push for immigration reform, would you consider a moratorium on deportations of non-criminals? Remember, these are your words: “This is not about policy. It’s about people.”

Obama: Well, I think it is important to remind everybody that, as I said I think previously, and I’m not a king. I am the head of the executive branch of government. I’m required to follow the law. And that’s what we’ve done. But what I’ve also said is, let’s make sure that we’re applying the law in a way that takes into account people’s humanity. That’s the reason that we moved forward on deferred action. Within the confines of the law we said, we have some discretion in terms of how we apply this law. The same is true with respect to the kinds of the length of time that people have to spend outside of the country when their spouses are already here for example.

Google Hangout on Feb. 14, 2013:

Jacky Guerrero of California: Your administration has deported a record high number of 1.5 million undocumented immigrants, more than your predecessor. And I know your administration took some steps last year to protect unintended undocumented immigrants from being deported. However many people say that those efforts weren’t enough. What I’d like to know is what you’re going to do now until the time immigration reform is passed, to insure that more people aren’t being deported and families aren’t being broken apart.

Obama: Well, look Jacky, this is something that I’ve struggled with throughout my presidency. The problem is that, you know, I’m the president of the United States. I’m not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed, and Congress right now has not changed what I consider to be a broken immigration system.

And what that means is is that we have certain obligations to enforce the laws that are in place, even if we think that in many cases the results may be tragic. And what we have been able to do is to make sure that we’re focusing our enforcement resources on criminals, as opposed to somebody who’s here just trying to work and look after their families.

What we have tried to do is administratively reduce the burdens and hardships on families being separated. And what we’ve done is, obviously, pass the deferred action which made sure that the DREAMers, young people who were brought here and think of themselves as Americans, are American except for their papers, that they’re not deported.

Having said all that, we’ve kind of stretched our administrative flexibility as much as we can. And that’s why making sure we get comprehensive immigration reform done is so important.

September 17, 2013:

“My job in the executive branch is supposed to be to carry out the laws that are passed. Congress has said, here’s the law when it comes to those who are undocumented, and they allocate a whole bunch of money for enforcement. But if we start broadening that, then essentially I would be ignoring the law in a way that I think would be very difficult to defend legally,” Obama said. “So that’s not an option. I do get a little worried that advocates of immigration reform start losing heart and immediately thinking, well, somehow there’s an out here — if Congress doesn’t act, we will just have the president sign something and that will take care of it, and we won’t have to worry about it. What I have said is that there is a path to get this done and that is through Congress.”

ABC News on November 16, 2014 while at the G20 Conference in Australia:

Jim Avila: Following up on immigration — in 2010, when asked by immigration reform advocates to stop deportations and act alone on providing legal status for the undocumented, you said, “I’m President, I’m not king. I can’t do these things just by myself.” In 2013, you said, “I’m not the emperor of the United States. My job is to execute laws that are passed.” Mr. President, what has changed since then? And since you’ve now had a chance to talk since July with your legal advisors, what do you now believe are your limits so that you can continue to act as president and not as emperor or king?

Obama: Well, actually, my position hasn’t changed. When I was talking to the advocates, their interest was in me, through executive action, duplicating the legislation that was stalled in Congress. And getting a comprehensive deal of the sort that is in the Senate legislation, for example, does extend beyond my legal authorities. There are certain things I cannot do. There are certain limits to what falls within the realm of prosecutorial discretion in terms of how we apply existing immigration laws.

And this is just a fun montage:


Well, you get the gist. He was against executive fiat before he was for it. By the way does it bother anyone else that Obama was making statements about domestic issues while in Myanmar and Australia rather than making these statement before the American people while in the US? Please feel free to comment as Obama makes his announcement...

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Lost Generation of Democrats

There have been a lot of articles lately about the Democrats suffering long-term damage from the recent election. I find this interesting, though I don't think things are that simple. I also think this problem actually began back in 2008 because of Obama.

The Democrats expected to do a good deal better in the mid-term elections than they did. In particular, they were shocked to do so poorly in state races for things like governor and attorney general. Even more shocking, these losses occurred in reliably blue and purple states. Even worse, the Democrats saw the people who lost as their rising stars, i.e. their future leaders. These individuals included people like Michelle Nunn in Georgia, the daughter of the respected Sen. Sam Nunn, Alison Grimes in Kentucky, who would be seen as a giant-killer for unseating Mitch McConnell, Mike Michaud in Maine, who would have been the first openly gay governor, Anthony Brown in Maryland, the country's only black governor, etc. But a funny thing happened... each of these candidates lost, as did many more supposed future stars.

As a result of these losses, the Democrats are now fretting about having lost everyone they saw as their future leaders. And the loss of these people is making many Democrats think they are now handicapped in national elections for maybe as much as a decade. Others think these people can run again in 2016, win, and restore the farm-team. But even those people agree that this has hurt the party.

I find this interesting on several levels. First, I agree that this has hurt them. No matter how promising a candidate may be, having a big loss on the resume can be a killer. At the very least, this has delayed these people's careers for another election cycle. Secondly, I note that these people are all minorities -- women, blacks, gays. Up to now, the Democrats have remained competitive by running white males who then pretend to be more conservative than they really are, see e.g. Harry Reid. This group of candidates would represent a real shift in strategy, a shift which may send whites and males to the GOP in even greater numbers as it become harder for the Democrats to pretend to be conservative and to pretend not to be a party in the service of minorities.

Third, I think the real problem actually began with Obama's victory in 2008. It is often true that a president will harm their own party through things like protest votes registered at the mid-terms which wipe out candidates unexpectedly and by pulling strong candidates onto different career paths as federal agencies, where they effectively vanish into the federal black hole. But Obama has been worse. Obama's instincts seem to be to rid himself of potential competitors. Thus, he wiped out any possible challengers he could face by pulling them into the cabinet or ostracizing them. The result has been that the only Democrats who have appeared on the national stage since he took office have been either irrelevant to the future (e.g. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi), treated like outcasts (e.g. Hillary Clinton), or kept at a distance far away from relevance (e.g. Andrew Cuomo). The most obvious proof of this is the utter lack of alternatives to Hillary Clinton. Are they seriously talking about Joe Biden as a contender? Wow.

All in all, the Democrats definitely have a problem. They have no viable alternatives to Hillary Clinton, who is not very popular with their base or the public. They also have few heavy-hitters left who can anoint someone after Obama's "purges" and the debacle of Obamacare leading to mass retirements. And they have no viable set of princelings after the midterms who can step up and replace the likes of Reid, Pelosi and Obama. Moreover, they have lost so many governor's mansions and legislatures that they have no realistic way to show off their ideas to build their brand.

Interesting times.

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

We Landed On A Comet!

In the middle of all the stupid stuff going on, including the indignity of a certain woman with no discernable talent whatsoever parading naked all over the newspapers, we landed a spacecraft on a comet! Well, by "we" I mean, the European Space Agency not NASA. NASA doesn't do anything like this these days. Long gone are the days of grand Presidential challenges to explore the universe and reach for the stars. Nope, NASA has seen its shuttle fleet scuttled and has been reduced to hitchhiking to the International Space Station they built years ago. But that doesn't mean that we can't still marvel at others and their amazing feats of human ingenuity.

And an amazing feat it is. In 2004, the ESA shot a spacecraft called Rosetta and Philae, the lander decribed as "the size of a medium washing machine" into space to explore the surface of a comet 4 billion miles away. Think about that for a minute. Ten years ago, scientists, mathematicians, and engineers calculated with pinpoint accuracy, the trajectory of a piece of machinery blasted into space and managed to land it on the surface of a comet on November 12, 2014 - 10 years later and 4 billion miles away. It is astounding what humans can do when we put our minds to doing stuff that advances human knowledge.

One would think the world would be calling for a parade for these scientists, mathematicians and engineers, right? Well, not so fast. Watch this clip and at 1:40 you will see what happened that has feminists around the country shreaking and fainting in horror...



You thought you'd see a giant space bug or large-eyed alien peering into the camera? No, they were shreaking and fainting because of a shirt worn by Dr. Matt Taylor, one of leading mission scientist, during an interview as the lander was making its decent. The fabric of this offending shirt that made especially for Dr. Taylor by a female friend was a montage of large breasted, scantily=clad cartoon women. Nooooooo! Feminists far and wide took to Twitter decrying "Who cares what he has done. How dare he demean women this way!" and "That shirt has done more damage to little girls than anything ever and why they HATE science!"

So, instead of heralding another giant leap for mankind, it has devolved into a social media feminist rage-fest claiming "this is the sort of casual misogyny that stops women from entering certain scientific fields." Seriously. They so bullied this poor guy at the moment of his greatest achievement that he ended up having to give a tearful public apology days later. Not one of those fake "I am sorry you were offended" non-apologies that we have become so accustomed to these days, but a real honest and tearful mea culpa. And yet these same women who think he has set women back to the 1950's will swoon with delight at the bravery of a talentless imbecile as she objectifies women to down to their ample body parts - no brains needed. What a great example for little girls! This is exactly why I cannot and will never call myself a feminist.

Anything to add, subtract, multiply or divide?

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Obama Follows Lead of Dictators

So here is what Obama is planning vis-à-vis immigration, and it’s truly stunning. In fact, this is the first thing I’ve seen any modern President do that I would qualify as genuinely dictator-like. Indeed, the reason he claims he can grant amnesty to five million illegals is the precise kind of false legalism that only people like Hitler have tried, typically as they try to work their way out from under the restraint of law. Observe.

Obama is claiming:

(1) The Executive Branch has prosecutorial discretion in terms of who it will deport. Essentially, the Executive gets to decide which cases it will pursue and which it won’t.

(2) Prior Executives have granted protection to particular groups from deportation.

(3) The Executive Branch has the authority to grant work permits to the groups it seeks to protect.

(4) Ergo, the White House intends to use its discretion to extend this protection and to refuse to prosecute half the illegals in the US and to issue work permits to them in the process.

WOW! Let me explain how unbelievably wrong this is. First, prosecutorial discretion is one of those things that shouldn’t exist in an ideal world, but it does because this world is not ideal. The idea is that on a case by case basis, prosecutors should have the discretion not to prosecute someone who has technically broken the law but prosecuting them would lead to an injustice. But this type of decision is made on an individual basis and usually is only invoked where a significant injustice would result from prosecution... it has never been used as a means to nullify a law, as Obama is proposing now. In fact, doing so would be completely unconstitutional as it would give the Executive the power to ignore the legislature at its whim. To even contemplate this is dictator thinking and shocking.

Next, while the Executive has extended protection to some immigrants in the past, there has always been a very strong justification. Typically, these cases involve the protection of fundamental human rights or the preservation of life to protect these groups, such as where they are refugees from a war, ethnic cleansing or natural disasters, or where they face some sort of institutional harassment that borders on murder, e.g. gays in Africa, women seeking to avoid forced abortion in China, etc. Basically, it is to avoid returning them to a situation where they might be harmed. It has never been used as a means to circumvent the law or without a strong justification. Obama would be doing this on an unprecedented massive scale with no justification whatsoever.

Finally, let’s just square the circle by pointing out that if Obama thinks he has this right and power and that it’s justified, why only apply it to half the illegals? How does that make sense? What he is basically saying is that these people need to be protected from some evil that will befall them... but he’s only willing to help half of them. That discredits all of this even more. It shows he has no justification for protecting these people or he wouldn't leave half to suffer. It also shows that he bizarrely thinks that by only doing half, he can somehow sneak this through... incredible. And it shows that he's not acting on principle, he's acting deceptively. Even more importantly, it shows that he does think like a dictator and that the Constitution and rule of law mean nothing to him. In fact, this idea is so rotten that a great many liberals are freaking out that he may actually do this.

What has liberals most freaked out about this is something Obama apparently hasn’t even considered. Specifically, any future administration can use this same outlandish argument to invalidate any law they choose... or to apply it only to individuals and groups they dislike, e.g. why not exempt ____ from tax laws?! This is crazy! See, what Obama is doing is turning the US into a Banana Republic, at best, or a nascent Nazi Germany at worst. Once rule of law is rendered meaningless, it could take generations or bloodshed to restore it. It took our country almost 150 years to truly become a nation governed by laws rather than a nation controlled by powerful politicians who manipulate a graft-riddled government. This would undo that.

Thoughts?

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Back Next Week...

Hi everybody! I wanted to apologize for not being around much the past couple weeks. Unfortunately, there was just no way I could write anything. Fortunately, however, I think I'm finally on the healing side of things, so I hope to be back full speed next week. Thanks for your patience and thanks a ton to Bev for all her help in stepping up as I've been out! :D

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Obamacare and those Stupid American Voters...

So what do the Democrats do when one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act admits that they pretty much had to lie to get the bill passed? No, they don't blame Bush...not this time. And what do the Democrats do when this same architect refers to them in terms of "the stupidity of the American voter"? Well, they blame the messenger Rich Weinstein. Who is this guy anyway?

Well, here's the story. Rich Weinstein, described as a "mildmannered investment adviser" from Philly, went on a mission to figure out why his insurance policy had been cancelled and his new improved ACA policy premiums had dramatically increased.

“When Obama said 'If you like your plan, you can keep your plan, period'—frankly, I believed him,” says Weinstein. “He very often speaks with qualifiers. When he said 'period,' there were no qualifiers. You can understand that when I lost my own plan, and the replacement cost twice as much, I wasn’t happy. So I’m watching the news, and at that time I was thinking: Hey, the administration was not telling people the truth, and the media was doing nothing!” - Bloomberg

Mr. Weinstein searched hours and hours of videos of "David Cutler, Zeke Emanuel, Jonathan Gruber and people like that" and listened to what they had to say. All he did was listen. Then he hit on this clip from ACA architect and MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber from a UPenn conference in September of 2013...



Did he just admit that the bill was purposely written is such a way that the CBO wouldn't be able score it as a tax? And did he just admit it was the lack of transparency that was the political key to getting the bill passed? Well, yes and they could do it because of the "stupidity of the American voter or whatever".

Needless to say, this video hit the Web-verse and has gone viral. Mr. Gruber realized he had been caught, so he went on Ronan Farrow's MSNBC show (the least watched show on TV) to explain that he spoke "off the cuff" and his remarks were "innappropriate". LINK

Mr. Weinstein says he has more video to refute the claim that Mr. Gruber's remarks were "off the cuff" gaffes. But Weinstein's over-arching issue was how did he, just a regular guy looking for information, manage to find all of this and not one journalist even tried? And I have to say he is right. With all the high-minded Woodward and Bernstein wannabe's out there looking for the gotcha moment, why didn't they track down these videos?

Though beside the point right now, the Supreme Court case that Farrow and Gruber are referring has been brought by several states that hinges on a small phrase that says "people qualify for tax credits to help pay insurance premiums when they buy a plan on an exchange “established by the state.” The dispute is whether the federal government can subsidize insurance when a state opts out of creating their own state run exchanges and whether that phrase were just a "typo" as Prof. Gruber describes them or a huge flaw that kills the federal exchanges and possibly the ACA.

And as an final point: When will it dawn on the Democrats and liberals that the stupid American voters of which Mr. Gruber is referring is them?

So here we are. Any comments or would you rather look at videos of animals doing cute things?

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

What Is Net Neutrality?

I am feeling "stupid" today. Maybe it's that new virus that scientists at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the University of Nebraska accidentally discovered or maybe I am just naturally stupid. But can someone explain "net neutrality" to me?

As our ever-pivoting President published today, he wants to focus his attention on "net neutrality" instead of...say...just about anything. Granted, my level of trust in this Administration has already gone into the negative numbers (as in -100%), but this just sounds like it is titled to do exactly the opposite of what he says it will do...

I apologize in advance that this message from whitehouse.gov makes your ears bleed, but it is blessedly short...



You are all bright people and probably have not yet been infected by the "stupid" virus, so someone please explain!

And for our brave "Band of Brothers and Sisters" -
This is Veterans Day, so as a tribute to honor you brave men and women who have worn the uniform of our military throughout the generations, here is the best speech about going to war ever written performed by a wonderful Shakespearan actor:

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

:-D

Life is good when your nine year old sends you a copy of this... unsolicited.

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

The Tingle Is Gone...

I don't know about you, but I am tired. But here are some other election wins of which you may not be aware. Not only did the Republicans take the majority in the US Senate, but they increased their majority in the House from 233 to 243. And for the first time in 141 years, all the US representatives from Bill Clinton's home state of Arkansas are Republican. And Hillary batted zero in the places where she campaigned on behalf of candidates including Arkansas. That may not bode well for her Presidential aspirations. And to add to the Dem drubbing, Gov. Scott Walker won handily in Wisconsin which means he won three decisive elections for the same position in less than 4 years and is the only Governor to ever survive a recall election.

But the good news doesn't end there. In the state elections, Republicans will now control 67 of the 99* state legislative bodies. That is a change from 59 to 67. But wait there's more. Republicans now will hold the governor’s mansion and both chambers of the state legislature in 24 states. Not only that, but they will hold a supermajority in 16 of those states. The Dems will hold the same in only 7 states. In the other 19 states, Republicans will hold at least one chamber or mansion. In New York and Washington where Republicans held a tenuous control on the state Senate, they now will have the decisive majority.

And to think that in 2008, James Carville declared that the Republican Party was dead. Let's not screw this up...

Oh, and just to rub it in a little, here is a montage of Mr. Tingle-Up-My-Leg's reaction last night during the MSNBC's election coverage last night...

Any questions?

*Nebraska has a non-partisan unicameral legislature, but is unofficially Republican.

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...

Some Thoughts On The Election

Last night felt good. It's always nice to see the Democrats go down the drain, and it's even nicer to see the public flip the bird to Obama... again. It's nice too to see the sedate/depressed looks on the faces of the MSM journalists as they spin a clear repudiation of Obama and his Democratic allies into a general anti-politics malaise. D-E-N-I-A-L. Anyways, here are some thoughts.

● Nothing Really Changed: Sadly, not much changed last night. There was no evidence of a political sea change in the country, meaning the public didn’t throw the Democrats out or embrace a new way. There certainly wasn’t a wave like we saw in 1980, 1994, 2008 or 2010 giving the outside party the chance to fundamentally change the direction of the country.

Even worse, this election, like most off-year elections, was about voter turnout. Blacks, the young and other Democrats didn’t turn out. The gender gap shrank last night. Generally apolitical people didn’t turn out either. So basically, this election involved hardcore partisans and those seeking to send a message to Obama. That won’t be true in 2016. If minorities and casual voters showed up last night, the GOP likely would have lost most of the races they won. That bodes poorly for our chances in 2016. In other words, this is not a victory so much as a chance to win the trust we need to win to earn a victory in 2016. That means, we need to be smart from hereon out.

● Democratic Response: Look for the Democrats to become insanely hostile. For one thing, they understand the demographic issue with their loses last night being the result of voter turnout, and they know that if they don’t change a thing, they are likely to win big in 2016. Hence, their primary goal will be to frustrate the GOP. Meanwhile, it will pay for them to have Obama push hard and fast to the left at the executive level now, which will let them reconnect with blacks, feminists and young voters while appearing to triangulate Obama for the middle class.

The one interesting question will be if they try a new approach to the “war on __” meme. Democrats need to reconnect with blacks, feminists and young voters and it is obvious that their attempts to smear the GOP on abortion and voting rights didn’t turn these people out. Basically, a full-court “war on __” press didn’t work, so they will need to try something new.

I think this means they let Obama do a lot of dirty work over the next year and a half as they comment carefully to avoid their positions being witnesses by the public at large. First up, immigration. Other examples include Executive Orders requiring equal pay for women, banning corporations from giving to politicians, imposing a severe carbon tax, tax hikes on the rich, gay marriage, backing racial gerrymandering, etc.

● The Obama Drag: CNN noted that Obama spent his time going to states where the Democrats were supposed to win, like Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Every one of those states except Pennsylvania either went Republican or was unexpectedly close. Interesting. But remember, 2016 will not be about Obama.

● The Agenda: I’ve been saying for some time that the GOP needs a real agenda. Many people will now demand that the GOP put just such an agenda into place (others will demand a harsher agenda). The problem is this, however: it will be impossible for the GOP to pass anything with Obama having the power to veto whatever he wants.

At this point, the smart move will be for the GOP to put together the happiest sounding, most popular parts of an agenda and send them up one by one for votes every couple weeks so that (1) the public will begin to associate an agenda with the GOP, (2) the public will see the Democrats standing in the way of an agenda they like, and (3) it will make Obama and the Democrats look like obstructionists.

Also, anyone who accuses the GOP of failing to implement anything needs to be savagely beaten about the hear and shoulders with a frozen penguin. And it will be impossible to shut down the government without the blame for that falling on the GOP. Hence, the key will be to market an agenda rather than trying to look macho.

● Blah Blah Blah: By the time you read this, talk radio will no doubt be spinning this election as follows: The RINOs told us that if we trusted them, they would win a landslide election. We trusted them and they barely won last night! Moreover, almost all the RINOs got destroyed. If it hadn’t been for good solid conservatives winning their elections by a landslide, this would have been a RINO disaster. So stop listening to them. We need to foam at the mouth and force our agenda through. We need to investigate Obama’s crimes and shut down the government.

Uh... no.

These people lost. They lost because you can’t win the public by pushing fringe ideas and by being angry about it. In losing, they did their best to wage a war against the GOP for the past 3-4 years. They tried very hard to destroy most of the candidates who won easy re-election. They said things that made it easy for the Democrats to turn out their voters. They spent money attacking the GOP, but never spent money helping the GOP – even after the primaries were over. They didn’t vote because they wanted to prove that the GOP could not win except with their candidates.

But the GOP fought back and crushed them. These fringers lost, and in the process made themselves irrelevant. It is stupid to listen to the people who did nothing by try to sabotage tonight’s victory on how we should proceed next.

And don’t let them create a false narrative either. Do not let them tell you that somehow the “RINOs” (read – anyone they dislike) blew this election. It was moderate, sane candidates who went out there and won the public’s trust. It was guys like Cory Gardner who defused the “war on women” attacks, not Ted Cruz, and who took down the best the Democrats had to offer. It was our silence on angry issues that denied the Democrats what they needed to take down the GOP.

Don’t let these losers, who have been wrong and disloyal every single step of the way, now tell you that we should embrace their ideas in victory. Forget it. Don’t let these losers tell you that the things that doomed us in 2012 and drove us to near extinction in 2013 should become our agenda.

● Hillary Is Finished: Finally, this election was a repudiation of Obama, but not the Democrats at a whole. That sets up nicely for Hillary to come along as a return to the good old days of Democratic rule. That makes her a winner tonight... a big winner.

Only, it doesn’t.

I suspect this result will radicalize the Democrats even more and that will make Hillary the odd-man-out. If I’m right, this means Hillary is toast. Every time she’s tried to act like a radical, it’s blown up on her... with the latest being her embarrassing dance of shame to backtrack on her “business doesn’t create jobs” comment. This election will likely push the Democrats into the arms of their won radicals and away from their establishment types like Hillary.

All told, I think the odds of Hillary winning the primary just fell in half and will get worse and worse with each executive order Obama issues and each snide roadblock Reid tries.

Thoughts?

[+] Read More...

[-] Collapse Post...