Donald Trump is not a conservative—he’s a reality TV star thoroughly in tune with the passions and dynamics of mass publicity and social media. No matter how much he denounces them, he’s still a product of victim-based identity politics.
Category Archives: Politics
Obama’s DHS
Here’s the Obama administration DHS, whom you’re supposed to trust to keep Americans safe:
Filed under Foreign Policy, General Interest, Politics, Terrorism
The Class War in America
In numerous previous posts I’ve chronicled Donald Trump’s candidacy for President as a Republican ( here, here, here, here). In a post “He never means anything serious till he talks about justice and right”, there’s an analysis of the populist appeal of Trump. All that said, and with it being stated numerous times, that I will never support or vote for Donald Trump, let me explain that the people supporting Trump aren’t uneducated idiots, fools or white trash Walmart shoppers, as yesterday’s David Frum’s uppity commentary, “Donald Trump’s Walmart Candidacy”, at the Atlantic asserts:
“Which leaves the Republican race looking like American retailing: many specialized stores to serve the various wants and wishes of the well-heeled—and one vast Trump super-store dominating the down-market all by itself.”
Let’s talk about class in America. In our supposedly egalitarian republic, media elites, Hollywood elites, political elites and academic elites routinely dismiss Americans in the blue collar and below income bracket as trash, ignorant, as beneath notice. Finally, voters in the “Walmart class” as Frum labeled the less well-heeled, decided to take their business elsewhere and he can denigrate them with snide social snobbery, but frankly they’ve had enough.
The reason Donald Trump’s gained traction can be traced directly to decades of the GOP’s loyal conservative base being promised support for conservative issues, only to be repeatedly betrayed by the GOP political elite. Yesterday, after weeks of the House drama in late October over the speakership, where Ryan pretended to be a fiscal conservative to gain the support of the Freedom Caucus, he supported a $1.1 trillion dollar spending bill, that funded the Obama wish list. The GOP base betrayed again by its own party leadership and then GOP elites wonder why the GOP base is sick of the party elites and insiders??? Rush Limbaugh fumes;
“This was out-and-out, in-our-face lying, from the campaigns to individual statements made about the philosophical approach Republicans had to all this spending. There is no Republican Party! You know, we don’t even need a Republican Party if they’re gonna do this. You know, just elect Democrats, disband the Republican Party, and let the Democrats run it, because that’s what’s happening anyway. And these same Republican leaders doing this can’t, for the life of them, figure out why Donald Trump has all the support that he has? They really can’t figure this out?
Repeated stabs in the back like this — which have been going on for years — combined with Obama’s policy destruction of this country, is what has given rise to Donald Trump. If Donald Trump didn’t exist and if the Republican Party actually does want to win someday, they’d have to invent him. It’s just mind-boggling when you figure out everything that has been granted Obama. All the money, the tax increases, the Cadillac plans in Obamacare. All kinds of punitive things in Obamacare, delayed yet again so that people will not be made aware of the pain and suffering Obamacare’s gonna cause.”
Here’s a clue for the elitist snobs in America, who belittle, mock, denigrate and underestimate the millions of hard-working Americans, many of whom shop at Walmart – Americans, by the millions, are fed-up with Washington! While all of the GOP elites who chat amongst themselves at their fancy cocktail parties, but also hobnob amongst the Democrat elites in New York, LA, DC and the Hamptons, the base of the GOP has risen in revolt. These elites recoil in horror at the anger and disdain directed their way and wander around dazed and confused, while the Democratic Party elite celebrates, but beware, the Democratic Party is not immune from the same populist anger as the BLM and other economically disadvantaged in their party foretell. America has lost faith in its leadership. And for the media – America does not trust you to report the truth!
I got sick of the Boehners and McConnells and McCains of the party years ago, so I commend those who stuck it out longer. And to David Frum, former GWB speechwriter, well, we, the peons, although lacking your Harvard education, your keen intellectual insights, and being mere lowly, uneducated Walmart shoppers, still know that in America, WE are THE PEOPLE and WE get the last word to say, “YOU’RE FIRED!”
Filed under Culture Wars, General Interest, Politics
Some good reads
Sorry don’t have time for a thoughtful blog post, but I’ve read a few interesting pieces that I would like to throw up the links to share them.
Here are two excellent foreign policy analyses by G. Murphy Donovan:
John Derbyshire dissects PC culture:
Andrew McCarthy at National Review dismantled the Obama administration flimsy rationale for not looking at social media content of prospective immigrants:
Tashfeen Malik’s Jihadist Social-Media Posts Were Deliberately Ignored by the Feds
And last, an interesting piece Malcolm Pollack posted on his waka, waka, waka blog, which brought back memories of the Cold War era analyzing photos and broadcasts of Soviet leaders. This article looks at how Putin and several Russian leaders walk:
Filed under Culture Wars, General Interest, Islam, Military, Politics, Terrorism
Top secret information was on Hillary’s private email server
Before this story gets buried by the liberal media, today FOX News reported:
“EXCLUSIVE: An intelligence community review has re-affirmed that two classified emails were indeed “top secret” when they hit Hillary Clinton’s unsecured personal server despite a challenge to that designation by the State Department, according to two sources familiar with the review.
The sources described the dispute over whether the two emails were classified at the highest level as a “settled matter.”
The agencies that owned and originated that intelligence – the CIA and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency or NGA – reviewed the emails to determine how they should be properly stored, as the State Department took issue with their highly classified nature. The subject matter of the messages is widely reported to be the movement of North Korean missiles and a drone strike. A top secret designation requires the highest level of security, and can include the use of an approved safe.
The sources, who were not authorized to speak on the record, told Fox News that while the emails were indeed “top secret” when they hit Clinton’s server, one of them remains “top secret” to this day — and must be handled at the highest security level. The second email is still considered classified but at the lower “secret” level because more information is publicly available about the event.”
So, when the Clinton spinmeisters twist and turn, to deflect and confuse the issue – she did receive TOP SECRET information on her unsecured private email server in her home.
Filed under General Interest, Politics, The Media
My review of the GOP field
Time to gauge where I’m at with the GOP primary, other than wishing it was over and done with. Very tired of the manufactured drama, starring Donald Trump. As I’ve written many times, I will never vote for him and I do harbor suspicions that he is a dupe (not a plant) of the Clintons, because as I’ve watched Hillary Clinton go from the stiff, robotic candidate in the Spring, to the smiling hipster, cracking jokes and yukking it up on late night TV, it’s obvious dramatic changes took place within her campaign. I believe that unlike her 2008 campaign, where she kept one of America’s true political geniuses at bay, in the early months of this campaign, where it looked like she might not survive to the Fall, in desperation she turned to him. I strongly suspect that he set in motion the strategy that has worked miracles for him over the years. Yes, I see the Bill Clinton triangulation strategy playing out, with far-left kook Bernie on the left, Trump sounding more and more like a fascist on the right and there’s “love and kindness Hillary, appearing as moderate and centrist. I’ve mentioned my suspicions many times ( here, here, here).
In the GOP camp, Donald Trump creates drama, chaos and endless controversy. Assuredly, on the big issues he champions, he mouths many home truths that are inconvenient for the DC cocktail party crowd to hear and acts like gasoline tossed on the liberal press and pundits’ self-righteous, politically correct pieties. He’s reduced their arguments to a heaping pile of ashes and for that alone, we should all cheer. However, there are several “buts”, like, but he doesn’t have a clear grasp of The Constitution and his cures often come without clear plans and overstep constitutional bonds. Of course, those who believe in his great business acumen, don’t harbor the doubts that I do – they see the great American success story, while I see the yuge glowing red warning sign of toxic leadership.
I left my job at a retail store earlier this year, where I worked for a man, whom I believe was the most talented merchandiser I have ever seen. Along with that talent came a huge ego and the worst people skills I have ever seen in my life, that is, until I’ve watched Donald Trump brag, insult, bash and mock his GOP rivals. This man threw anyone under the bus to make himself look good and he bragged as much as Trump. He loved to fire people, very much like Trump. One tirade too many right on the sales floor and I decided to put in my two-week notice, after working there many years. He was my 8th store manager and I had never had a single problem with any of the others. YUGE relief is what I feel not having to deal with him anymore!
The only team The Donald is on, is his own. He does not care about the GOP party or causes per se, they’re just the vehicle he is driving to become President, where he believes his dynamic business acumen will single-handedly “make America great again”. He’s right on many issues – even in his latest kerfuffle about Muslim immigration, on the main points he’s right – it doesn’t make sense to be bringing in Muslim immigrants from several countries that are hot beds of Islamist terror and where the collapse of government in many of these regions makes adequate vetting impossible. And he nailed the alarming truth that the Obama administration doesn’t know what the hell is going on with their own immigration policies. A pause makes perfect sense.
Time will tell if the Carville/Begala campaign modus operandi, that I strongly suspect is playing out in the Trump campaign, is true or just a nutty conspiracy theory. For me, it doesn’t take much imagination to envision Bill Clinton calling Trump when he caught wind that Trump was considering running. Trump and Bill Clinton golf together and have known each other for years. Trump was a yuge Clinton supporter. So, the phone call could have been as simple as this:
Bill Clinton calls Trump : Hi Donald, I hear you’re thinking of throwing your hat into the 2016 race?
Trump: Yes, I am.
Bill Clinton: Well, you know I believe Hillary is the best candidate for 2016, but I wish you good luck and you know, Donald, the one bit of advice I’ll give you is you’ll need great political advisers. A national race is really complicated.
Trump: Well thanks for that advice. I am still putting a campaign staff together.
Bill Clinton: No problem Donald, you know I am already taken (laugh, laugh), but the best political advisers are Carville and Begala. Those GOP political advisers don’t have the guts to run a tough race.
Trump: Thanks, you know me, I want the best political advisers. You know I’m going to fund my own campaign, if I jump in. Do you think Carville and Begala would work for a GOP candidate.
Bill Clinton: I can’t speak for them, but you know, business is business, so you’d have to talk to them yourself.
Set-up done. It could have been that easy for Bill Clinton to manipulate the downfall of the GOP primary. Carville and Begala easily could have advised Trump to keep the business relationship secret, because Republicans go into derangement mode about them. It’s obvious Bill Clinton threw his weight around and called in all sorts of favors within the Democratic party to bury this email server scandal and the Benghazi committee investigation to get her campaign on track.
The other GOP field, except for Rubio and Cruz, lies like dying fish washed up on shore, gasping their last breath. Fiorina seemed to have so much potential – smart, well-prepared, excellent public speaking skills, but then she turned into a scorned feminist, who played the victim card at every turn – whining her way to main debate stage. Her “well-prepared” quickly became boring repetitive, rehearsed diatribes and there didn’t seem a hairbreadth’s difference between her shrill, angry “I am woman, hear me roar” harangues than Hillary’s. The rest of the GOP field, many having crystal clear conservative principles and records, due to The Donald’s monopoly of the press and pundits attention, fell to the wayside. Dr. Carson, the other outsider, still seems like a very nice man, who wants to make a positive change. Unfortunately, his contemplative pauses, lack of foreign policy cred and string of odd remarks have doomed his chances.
I could happily vote for Ted Cruz, even though I doubt he can win in the general election. His pitfalls are he always appears as if what he’s saying now is a careful tactical move in some political grand strategy , which on an intellectual level, I admire, but on a more human level, it comes across as cold and calculating. His other main drawback centers on how he speaks with such overblown rhetoric that it feels as if he’s talking down to people. Rubio has boyish good looks and an engaging personality, but I feel he’s misguided on foreign policy and easily led by “military and think tanks experts”, unfortunately it sounds like all of his are neocons, whom I disagree with on most policy issues. I still like him, but it would take a lot of soul-searching for me to support him. Chris Christie comes across well in debates, but here again, as a conservative, I have a hard time with Republican-lite candidates
Filed under Culture Wars, Foreign Policy, General Interest, Politics, Terrorism, Uncategorized
What he should have said
Here’s what President Obama should have said on Sunday night. Sen. Ben Sasse from Nebraska articulates who we’re fighting and what we are fighting for. (H/T Truth Revolt.org)
Ralph Peters unloads
Ralph Peters, one of my favorite military analysts and one of America’s most creative military strategic thinkers, calls it like it is. Please be warned Peters used a little salty language, but here again sometimes that says it best. (Hat tip to PJ media, where I saw this video first)
Filed under Culture Wars, Foreign Policy, General Interest, Military, Politics, Terrorism
Diversity does not make us stronger
“Speaking from the Oval Office and surrounded by members of his national security team, Obama said the shooters perhaps had “mixed motives.”
“It is possible that this was terrorist-related. But we don’t know. It’s also possible that this was work-related,” he said.”
‘Mixed Motives’ in California Shooting by Michele Gorman
President Obama lives in a leftist bubble, where he turns every situation into a college classroom debate forum on his ideological causes. He fixates on “narratives” and word choice over substance. Most of the rest of the world lives where reality smacks them in the face, where brute force decides life and death struggle and where stark truths about human nature can’t be edited out, as some politically inconvenient line. Most of us in America live in the real world too, where we look at a situation like the San Bernadino terrorist attack, quickly assess the facts and form our conclusions based on those facts.
With unerring bad timing, President Obama makes bold declarations about America’s enemies, where events unfold that quickly blow apart his carefully constructed “narratives. “ISIL is contained,” the day before the Paris attack or “No specific threat to US,” just a week ago.
In keeping with the Obama administration bad timing, Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, announced all combat positions will be open to women the day after the San Bernadino terrorist attack by Islamic radicals. Assuredly, Secretary Carter believes that “diversity” makes us stronger, which he stated, but here’s the truth – selecting the best qualified people for military positions and maintaining high standards makes our military stronger.
So, selectivity, not diversity makes our military stronger and that means assessing the qualifications that best meet the mission.
In grueling combat jobs, where even most men fail to meet the physical standards, common sense and endless research can pinpoint with reliable accuracy where the female anatomy falls short on meeting these standards. The Army made sure some females made it through Ranger school, where questions of different treatment to get them through the course have been raised, but be that as it may, in reality very few women will rush to get into the elite units and few (if any) have the physical ability to pursue a career in these jobs. Adding women to these jobs adds no advantage – absolutely NONE. It creates another PC myth that must be maintained, even if the lie costs lives on the battlefield. That’s the truth. The entire hoopla about opening these fields to women is really about female officer career advancement, not about making the military stronger.
In the real world, where America’s adversaries size up our force, they hear the claptrap from the Pentagon, but they watch closely what happens in reality, far away from the DC echo chamber. President Obama has slashed our forces, he has purged top generals and promoted sycophants, his military decisions lack any coherence or strategic sense. And then we come to this latest announcement – yes, while feminists cheer about the prospect of women in combat, America’s adversaries are laughing at us. The day after an Islamic terrorist attack on American soil, the President preened on about “mixed motives”. Then his attorney general publicly announced her greatest fear is not another terrorist attack or keeping Americans safe, nope her greatest concern is that Americans don’t use hate speech against Muslims. And finally the Pentagon announced women in combat jobs…
America sits a divided nation – where every public institution lumbers under the weight of highly-charged factionalized fighting. One can only wonder what event or chain reaction will set the final collapse in motion. If our Republic is going to survive, the last thing to believe is that “diversity makes us stronger”. What made America great was not “diversity”, it was diverse people UNITED by a belief in a set of common civic values. Having common civic values and a common belief in The Constitution would help gird up our once great nation’s crumbling pillars. I’ve written about this need to find common ground many times (here, here, here, here and here) and as I said more than a year ago:
Truth matters and therein the fate of America lies. We have hostile camps in America, left and right, black, white and every shade in-between, who find it easier to treat each other as enemies rather than talk and find common ground as fellow American citizens. We’ve got too much diversity training and not enough American citizen training:
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Filed under Culture Wars, Foreign Policy, General Interest, Military, Politics, Terrorism
libertybelle diaries 