The Orange Balloon Deflates

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Trump could not replace – much less repeal – Obamacare. So, instead, he did what Republicans do best: Bomb foreigners, remotely.

Even the Chimp-esque, Oceania tis’ for thee verbiage is back. Remember “Saddam”? The first-name personalization of the Enemy of Freedom? Now it’s Assad. And, of course, Assad is the leader of a regime. The Assad Regime.

It sounds like an ‘80s hair band.

It is never the Trump Regime. Only regimes being targeted by the regime in Washington are regimes.

The Assad Regime?

God, my teeth ache.

I had hope – small, but some – that Trump understood or at least wanted to change the pattern of a fatwa’ing federal government – and not just with regard to EPA and DOT ululations about “safety” and such.

This business of lobbing bombs at foreigners – an act of war – without a declaration of war – is the most dangerous form of fatwa’ing.

The Constitution says no lobbing of bombs without one and that Congress must pass the declaration legalizing the lobbing of bombs. Of course, the Constitution is “just a goddamn piece of paper,” as The Chimp quite accurately described it.

We’ve grown accustomed to whomever inhabits the Oval Office lobbing bombs on his mere say-so, exactly like a first-name authoritarian despot. No one seems to notice this – or if they do, they don’t seem to mind it much. Nor wonder – ever – why anyone foreign could possibly hate us for something other than Our Freedoms.

Not-so-curious-George

It’s defeating to a thinking brain to contemplate not merely the lawlessness of lobbing bombs at foreigners on the say-so of a single man, who has no constitutional authority to do it, much less any moral right to do it, because the normalization of such lawlessness and moral cretinhood is exactly why we have fatwa-issuing “agencies” such as the EPA and DOT – which also lack any constitutional authority to pass laws and enforce them, yet do.

By changing the name to regulations.

By lobbing bombs at foreigners on his say-so alone and without any constitutional authority to do it, Trump has shown himself to be simpatico with the EPA ayatollahs and undermined any principled basis for objecting to their fatwas.

Which is why the fatwas will continue to ululate from within the Beltway, only with a different emphasis – just as a Sunni Ayatollah will have a different parsing of the Koran (who deserves beheading? Or do we just cane him?) than a Shi’ite Ayatollah.

Principles are lacking generally, these days.

Here’s another that’s down for the count:

The tribunal that sentenced the surviving leadership of the German Reich to hang by the neck until dead did so on the basis of, among other things, the leadership’s conspiring to and then actually launching an aggressive war against countries that had not attacked the Reich first. Lobbing bombs at Poland was decreed to be a war crime. And not merely the Reich lobbing them at Poland, but generally. In principle, aggressive war was decreed unlawful.

So much for that.

The Reichsmarschall wasn’t a hypocrite.

Syria – “Assad” – has not attacked the United States. He may have attacked some people within his country. Who knows?

You know, like the federal government did, as at Waco – if you’ll recall.

And by the way, gas was used there as well – and in that case it is a certain fact that it was the Regime – the American Einsatzgruppen who were sent on its behalf, to do its dirty work – who actually lobbed the gas. It is questionable whether “Assad” actually did gas his people. If he did, it makes little sense given the green light he had to know it would give the Orange One to lob bombs his way and perhaps more to come.

But it smells, regardless.

Not the gas.

The lobbing of the bombs constitutes not only a shitting all over the Constitution’s very sound investing of the power to declare war in a large deliberative body and requiring a majority vote of that body before the lobbing of bombs, so as to assure there is a very good reason for the lobbing and that if not, the people who lobbed will be called to account – but also constitutes a war crime when the bombs are lobbed at foreign countries that haven’t attacked the United States.

Like Iraq, for instance.

And now, this.

Did they hate us for Our Freedom, too?

Of course, no one will hang or even be handed a small fine. The Chimp paints. Trump has got people talking about something other than his failure to rid us of Obamacare. Lobbing bombs is an excellent tonic for a wilting presidency.

It is like Fuuuuhhhhhhttttttball.

Americans, in the main, love the lobbing of bombs just as they love a Hail Mary pass during the Big Game.

So long as the bombs are not lobbed at them.

They enjoy seeing them dropped from planes and fired from ships, the contrails brightening the room in which they are watching it all on TeeVee. Few ever bother asking themselves how they’d feel if a foreign country’s leader, incensed by some noxious action of our regime against its own people, decided to lob a few our way.

Least of all the Orange One.

The teeth begin to ache.

There was, for all of three months, some hope that perhaps this time it’d be different. That – for once – the federal government was headed by someone not perpetually priapic for wars, which are (cheers!) the health of the state, the mortification of liberty and sulfuric acid thrown in the face of human decency.

Many who perhaps did not like Trump voted for him nonetheless because they dreaded the bloody fanged alternative. They knew we’d be lobbing bombs at foreigners in that event. They hoped that maybe Trump would not.

So, they took a chance, rolled the dice – and pulled the lever for the Orange One.

And, as always, got the same result.

America is the land of Charlie Brown, eternally hoping Lucy won’t pull the football away at the last minute. But it’s worse than that, actually. Charlie Brown wants to kick the football and is disappointed when Lucy pulls it away at the last moment. Americans, in the main, seem to like lobbing bombs, or having it done on their behalf – as evidenced by their not objecting to it.

Note that even the Left has quieted down. And the Right is cheering. Yeah, Freedom!

Only Libertarians, the only sane Americans left, are appalled.

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604 COMMENTS

  1. What an amazing bunch of comments. Had not seen this before.

    Some of you have superhuman patience and tolerance when dealing with what can only be described as an insanely arrogant, disrespectful retard.

  2. How do you turn a businessman/con artist into a muderer? Elect him. The psychopathy is inherent to the job. Trump bombed Syria two times to get attaboys from the zio lobby – which is the entire Congress – in hopes he wouldnt get impeached and to look like a big tough guy by killing innocents. And grabbed Syrias oil and bragged about it while enforcing crushing sanctions to try to starve them into submission. This despite ever5ything he said before getting elected. And yes hired nothing but snakes starting with Nikki Haley who put the knife in his back over the fake election. Just like everyone else he hired.

    • Hey Mark3,

      Trump didn’t even need a knife put to his back- He appointed his own kind because they would do the jobs he wanted done. Any of his words to the contrary were just the usual song and dance to play to the audience which he was seeking to appease in the role he was playing on the political stage.

  3. So guys, I guess this would be as good a place to ask this as anywhere:

    As I’ve stated before, I came to Libertarian/anarchistic beliefs mostly on my own, and it’s only been quite recently that I’ve come to know that there are others who share my views, and that they have a name- so forgive me if this questions seems a little basic, but…

    What essentially is the difference between a Libertarian and an anarchist?

    From what I’ve seen, I think the label “anarchist” fits me perfectly- but how does a Libertarian differ? The only things I can imagine, would essentially make Libertarians minarchists, which many claim not to be.

    Or…is “Libertarian” just a general heading which can include anarchists and minarchists, etc.? (If the Libertarian Party were any indication, Libertarians would not only be minarchists, but maxarchists! -or monarchists!- That is something i observed long ago, and which had kept me from things Libertarian- as I thought that THAt is what Libertarianism was.)

    • Dear Nunzio,

      “What essentially is the difference between a Libertarian and an anarchist?”

      Here is my understanding of the distinction between the two terms. But it may not be shared by everyone.

      I consider “libertarian” a looser term than “anarcho-capitalist”, “free market anarchist”, or “voluntaryist”.

      The term “libertarian” includes advocates of minimal government in addition to advocates of no government. It includes minarchists in addition to anarchists.

      The term “anarchist” on the other hand, excludes “minarchists”. it includes only “anarcho-capitalists”, “free market anarchists”, and “voluntaryists”.

      As a side note, to me the term “anarchist” is applicable only to individualist anarchists, aka “anarcho-capitalists”, “free market anarchists”, and “voluntaryists”.

      It is not applicable to self-styled “anarcho-communists”, because the term “anarcho-communist” is an oxymoron. Anarcho-communists say that they would eliminate government. But they lie, both to others and themselves. Push an anarcho-communist hard enough, and he’ll say he wants some sort of “workers committees” to implement a communist society.

      To wit: Noam Chomsky.

      But Chomsky’s “workers committees” look like governments, walk like governments, and quack like governments. That’s because they are governments. Denying that they are governments, doesn’t make it so.

      Therefore I submit that there is no such thing as “anarcho-communism”, and there are no such people as “anarcho-communists”. There is only communism and communists.

      • Ah, Thank you, Bevin!

        That is pretty much along the lines of what I had been surmising- that “Libertarian” was more of the general heading- just as, conversely “Authoritarian collectivist” is a general heading which could include anything from Communism to “Democracy”.

        And I agree with you completely; “anarcho-communism” is an oxymoron. If communism were practiced on a voluntary basis, it would last all of about 3 seconds, because as soon as anyone stopped receiving a benefit from it, they would cease practicing it. It is only by force that people will continue to pursue that which is contrary to their own interests.

        That reminds me of the part in Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, where it describes a manufacturing business which decides to voluntarily practice a communist model of operation…. 🙂 Needless to say, it did not work out very well.

        You did make me realize that I should be careful to call myself a “free-market anarchist”. I figured that “anarchist” alone was sufficient….but I didn’t know that anarcho-communism was a thing – so I guess it is prudent to distinguish myself from that absurdity.

        It’s hilarious how they would have a “worker’s committee”. Right away, it’s always about the workers with these commies; they could care less about the property owners. Communists are advocates of slavery, therefore they always make their appeal to the slaves who have nothing but the ability to perform menial labor.

        It’s like Simon Legree saying “Support my cause, and i will make sure you always have this cabin to live in and gruel to eat!”.

        • Dear Nunzio,

          Apparently there is a debate raging these days between people who call themselves “ancaps” and “ancoms”.

          I truly do not understand why.

          The so-called “ancoms” or “anarcho-communists” obviously don’t have a logical leg to stand on. The debate ought to have ended as quickly as Cassius Clay knocked out Sonny Liston.

          So why is a dabate raging?

          I can only chalk it up to Idiocracy.

          • LOL, Bevin, I would say that you are absolutely correct, because after all, one would have to be an idiot to support communism. I had always assumed that the only connection communists had to any form of anarchy, was to use it as a way to create chaos and disorder, and thus overthrow the existing systems which they were seeking to communize. (Of course, not that true anarchy would achieve that, but I think in the past, “anarchy” was used as a term for a form of terrorism which sought to create chaos by using small scale explosions, etc. Throughout the 20th century, before Islamic-style “terrorism” became the latest boogeyman, it seemed that most bombings were blamed on “anarchists”. I remember one such incident when lived in NYC in my late teens, c. 1978 or ’79 when a small bomb was set off in the Wall St. area. I seem to remember reading of similar incidents going back to the 1920s which also always seemed to be blamed on “anarchists”- thus I grew up equating “anarchy” with something bad- and perhaps those who bandy about the term in the mainstream media intend it that way- to give true and benevolent Ancap anarchy a bad name)

            But that would make more sense- that the communists would advocate the “other form of anarchy” [creating chaos] to destroy other political system, and then impose their own, under which, of course, there could be no “no government” anarchy, because the goal of the communists isn’t to destroy governments so that there should no longer be any governments…but rather, to destroy governments so they can replace them with their brand of government.

            Because, after all, how could they have a system which is based on no private property and the apportionment of resources and redistribution wealth, unless someone in their system has power over such things and to make the decisions as to who gets (or more commonly doesn’t get) what?

            • LOL! I saw this article today, about America’s Deadliest School Massacre- which was a school bombing which occurred in 1927- so I had to read it, just to see if there’d be a mention of “anarchists”.

              While it didn’t mention “anarchists”, it DID have to get the word “anarchy” in there- Speaking of the lone nut who committed the crime after his farm was foreclosed upon: “and that may have been the circumstance that started the clockwork of anarchy and madness in his brain,”.

              They ALWAYS have to get that word in there!!!!

              Article:
              http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1927-bombing-remains-americas-deadliest-school-massacre-180963355/

              • If you accept Wikipedia’s explanation via Emmanuel Kant you’ll see from his 4 types of society the republic the US was supposedly based on would be preferable to most others.

                Now, seeing what republic has become, true anarchy, law and freedom without force seems to be our last hope.

                Having said that, you would quickly see that anyone being hurt by someone else would quickly lead to force, just not organized or simply not legitimized by an sanctioned body as such.

                How could people in their right minds not prefer no force to what we now have? It’s the “Gail” mindset…..or rather, lack of who would like it. It’s always the crowd ready to sit on the sidelines and have someone else carry them through life. It’s the entire reason for “marriage” in present society.

            • Hi Nunzio, Bevin, 8 and Tor,

              We an-caps are the late-comers. The socialist/communist strain of anarchist thought predates what we believe to be anarchy. What we call anarcho-capitalism was influenced heavily by individualist anarchists like Benjamin Tucker, Lysander Spooner and Josiah Warren. However, these people were influenced by Proudhon (and others), who was both a pioneer of anarchist thought and firmly in the “socialist” camp.

              Proudhon is often dismissed by an-caps because they misunderstand what he means by property. He does not mean the legitimate possession of the product of one’s own labor, he means title to land. He believed, mostly correctly, that title to land was an unearned privilege created by the State, and was thus illegitimate. Rothbard agreed with him on this point. He argued that, in the absence of home-steaded title, the “land” legitimately belongs to the peasants working the land.

              As shown by Tor, modern an-coms have a far less nuanced understanding of property than Proudhon. Still, an anarcho-communist community is not inherently contradictory, just very unlikely. At a small enough scale, such a community is possible.

              An-coms believe that property and hierarchy are artificial creations of State power. In the case of property, if we restrict the meaning to land title, they are mostly correct. After all, legitimate title to land that one is not using (mixing labor with) is problematic even on an-cap grounds. Hierarchy is also complex. An-coms incorrectly believe that natural hierarchies would not exist in an anarchist society. However, artificial hierarchies are illegitimate and can only be maintained through State privilege. In this. at least, they are correct.

              Kind Regards,
              Jeremy

              • Dear Jeremy,

                Point taken. I have not spent much time on left anarchist history and theory, but I am familiar with their core beliefs.

                That is why I consider anacom theory utter nonsense.

                The fact is one has to own property in order to be free from the collective. Otherwise one is merely mired in democratic “majoritarian tyranny”, under an “anarcho-communist” label.

                The problems with land titles under “archism” can be solved, and must of course.

                But that is a long subject best left for another time.

                • Dear Bevin,

                  Yes, anyone who believes that anarchy and the “eradication of private property” are compatible is deluded. Likewise, the eradication of hierarchy is incompatible with anarchy. Still, many property claims that are accepted by some “libertarians” are illegitimate on anarchist grounds.

                  Cheers,
                  Jeremy

                  • Hello Jeremy & Bevin!

                    Ayn Rand said it well:

                    “Just as man can’t exist without his body, so no rights can exist without the right to translate one’s rights into reality, to think, to work and keep the results, which means: the right of property.”.

                    and…

                    “The right to life is the source of all rights—and the right to property is their only implementation. Without property rights, no other rights are possible. Since man has to sustain his life by his own effort, the man who has no right to the product of his effort has no means to sustain his life. The man who produces while others dispose of his product, is a slave.”

                    Those statements are equally true of both real and personal property.

                  • Anarcho-capitalism, rooted firmly in objective property rights, provides a stable foundation for social and economic cooperation.

                    Anarcho-communism, having defined private property out of existence, cuts the ground from under anyone attempting to survive as man qua man. it everyone into a Mad Max Thunderdome.

                    In short, I would argue that anarcho-communism, far from being more “compassionate” than anarcho-capitalism, is Social Darwinism at its worst.

                    “Anarcho-capitalism is order, anarcho-communism is chaos”.

                    • Well-said, my dear Bevin [Hetero…. 🙂 ]

                      It’s just like the liberals we see today, who claim to be “compassionate” by using their vote to extort money from the responsible and productive, to be given to the not-so-responsible and shiftless.

                      Where is their compassion for the people whom they are robbing? They only have compassion for one particular group; just as they only oppose slavery when it is imposed by private plantation owners upon blacks, but they are perfectly fine with it when it is imposed by their elected representatives” on everyone else.

                    • Well-said, my dear Bevin [Hetero…. ? ]

                      Dear Nunzio,

                      I’m old enough to be bona fide old school. First wave Baby Boomer.

                      Back when I was growing up, young people were taught that educated people addressed each other as

                      “Dear so and so”

                      They did so purely as a matter of form. It was what educated people with good manners did.

                      The term had nothing to whatsoever with spouses addressing each other as “dear”.

                      Apples and oranges.

                      Today, almost nobody still adheres to traditional notions of good manners.

                      Widespread ignorance combined with utterly irrelevant homophobia, has frightened most people away from using the proper form of address.

                      Idiocracy was a documentary.

                    • Dude!

                      I mean: Dear Bevin, 😉

                      Ah, I know…I know. I too lament the demise of manners and the respect of polite formality.

                      It told me a lot about the quality of your character just seeing youraddressing of everyone with such a greeting.

                      In the midst of a society which has devolved to the point where greetings are often no more than mere grunts or ebonics, it is all too easy to dispense with the niceties which few appreciate anymore.

                      But your example certainly serves to show how important it is to maintian one’s standards even the more so in the midst of a clod-dom.

                      Of course, at this point, my reminders of heteroism are merely for comedic effect. (Hence the emoticon after the reference in the former post).

                    • Morning, Nunzio!

                      Like the good Dr. Lector, I find discourtesy unspeakable. Unfortunately, it abounds. I often go to a local coffee shop to work and also to get out of the house. Often, there will be loud, obnoxious people who for whatever reason feel their conversation is so important everyone must hear it. The worst offenders are the ones who gabble loudly on dey sail fawns in a public place. I have to fight the urge to stuff them in the trunk, take them home and eat their livers with some fava beans and a nice chianti!

                    • Dear Nunzio,

                      I really don’t fault anyone else for not doing what I do. I do it in part out of sheer orneriness.

                      I know that all the “regulars” here are good people, and I would never presume to impose my views on them.

                      But the subject came up, and it seemed appropriate to respond and explain where I was coming from.

                      Let no one feel pressured by me to change anything he does.

                      If libertarianism is about anything, it’s about individual decision making.

                    • ‘Morning Eric & Bevin!

                      You know, it seems that we have a very polite and considerate bunch here. But then, why shouldn’t we? I mean, since Libertarians tend to be concerned with the most basic rights and freedoms of everyone, it naturally follows that would extend courtesy and consideration to others.

                      Oftentimes, you can predict a person’s political and philosophical views just based on their manners and regard for how their actions affect others.

                      Statists tend to be in the middle. They’re the “As long as I enjoy a level of freedom which I feel comfortable with, and the system works for me, screw the next guy!”. So, their conduct is often predicated more on how they want to be perceived by others, than by their concern for others.

                      The nastiest, rudest, shove-it-down-your-throat crowd tend to be the leftists. Whether they be edumacated academians or ghetto-dwelling members of the free-stuff army, they are the “Just giver me mine and to Hell with you!” [Theirs = yours] or the “I’m so superior I will dictate how you live, but of course it’s for your own good”- and such philosophies naturally manifest themselves in their interpersonal communications- be it in public; amongst their own families, or even on internet forums.

                      Fava beans, Eric? Are you sure you’re not Italian? My mother often refers to them; I don’t think I’ve ever actually seem them though. Cook ’em up with some broccoli, olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes, and they’ll taste even better than if you ate them with sheeple corpses! 🙂

                      Speaking of manners and courtesy…. I’ll be going to town today to run errends and go shopping- which means enduring the 350 lb. monsters with their screaming brats. I swear, one day I’m going to go berserk, and you’ll hear about me on the news. For now, maybe I can just content myself to ripping a few good farts in their presence.

              • Hi Jeremy,

                I strongly disagree with this idea that land ownership is somehow morally dubious. If, of course, the basis of ownership is purchase (not under duress) from the prior owner.

                I own some land; 16 acres.I paid for it with money I earned, by working my ass off. If I do not own this land, who does? My back field isn’t being used for much other than to give me privacy, but if I wished to rent it out to someone who had some cows he wanted to graze, would I be in the wrong to expect to be paid rent? Is another person entitled to graze his cows on my land, just because it’s available and I am not using it for anything (other than to maintain my privacy) at the moment?

                I understand – and agree – that land title bestowed by government fatwa is another thing and morally doubtful. Especially when the government’s prior claim to ownership is extremely dubious.

                PS: I deeply resent taxes on land/real property. I regard them as perhaps the single greatest affront to liberty extant, since they mean you can never truly own anything, free and clear – and so can never be free and clear of the got-damned government.

                • Hi Eric,

                  I do not believe that all land ownership is illegitimate. However, all titles derived from government land grants are illegitimate. When an explorer “claims” land in the name of a State, and the rulers of the State dole out the land to favored nobles, those land grants are immoral. This case is unambiguous.

                  Early anarchists like Proudhon, believed that most land titles were derived in this manner. His much misunderstood phrase, “property is theft” was intended to be both linguistically jarring and factually descriptive. But, he also believed that people could maintain exclusive control over legitimately acquired possessions. That sure sounds like private property to me.

                  More later, Jeremy

                  • If an explorer claims land- whether in his own name or on behalf of someone else- by the very definition of the An-coms, if that land were not being homesteaded/used, and was just millions of acres of open land, it thus belonged to nobody.

                    Granted, the state should not be the one to sell it or give it away, as it no more belongs to them than anyone else, just because they claimed it….but it should be free for the taking to those who would homestead/defend it, and thus it becomes theirs, and can be sold or given in inheritance, etc.

                    The problem is, when others are evicted from the land- like Injuns…..

                    • Hi Nunzio,

                      I hope you understand that I am not arguing against the legitimacy of property rights (in land or otherwise). I am saying, as you have just shown, that the issue is complex, both in theory and practice. In theory, the home-steading principle seems to preclude the original acquisition of land for the purpose of leaving it in it’s natural state. So, if land is un-owned until put into use, it seems that the theory implies that land, when taken out of use, would revert to un-owned status. Please understand that I am not saying this is so, just that the seemingly objective, natural rights theory of legitimate land acquisition is insufficient to resolve all conflicts.

                      Which brings us to practice. To resolve these questions we invoke utilitarian arguments (how far back, who are the heirs, is it fair to the current owner, etc…), which should give us natural rights an-caps at least some pause.

                      Again, I am not arguing that property titles are illegitimate. But, just because many modern An-Socs seem hopelessly deluded and logically incoherent does not mean that we should dismiss the entire history of thought. After all, Rand was right about many things but she was also spectacularly wrong about others.

                      I’ve long believed that if you poke a utilitarian hard enough, he will eventually invoke a natural rights principle. This implies that utilitarianism needs a foundation in natural rights. It seems equally true that we advocates of natural rights also resort to utilitarian arguments when the theory seems insufficient. Utilitarianism, by itself, provides no coherent moral theory. It is necessary to invoke a goal to which utilitarian practices be directed. Without a moral principle the goal of the “greatest good for the greatest number” is no more legitimate than the “most benefits to the most gifted”.

                      I am not asserting answers here, I’m just thinking through complex ideas.

                      Kind Regards,
                      Jeremy

                    • Hi, Jeremy,

                      Oh, I absolutely do understand that the views you are expositing concerning property rights are not your views, but rather just an explanation of what some believe; and so naturally [pun pending? 🙂 ) I hope that you understand that I am not arguing with you, but just stating my own initial thoughts to the ideas presented.

                      It is a very interesting subject, and I’m glad that you brought it up.

                      I agree with you, that forcing the question can reveal the ultimate foundation of the basis of our ideas, and even force us to confront those ideas- which is always a welcomed pursuit, as it leads to a greater understanding and either a strengthening of some of our ideas, or a rejection of them.

                      Ironically, it was largely the idea of property rights which brought me to libertarianism/anarchy, and yet, what we have been discussing is an aspect of those rights- or rather, the very foundation of them- but an aspect I had not heretofore considered.

                      Ciao!
                      Nunzio

                  • Dear Nunzio, Jeremy,

                    You beat me to it!

                    Also,

                    ‘Only a ghost can exist without material property; only a slave can work with no right to the product of his effort.

                    The doctrine that “human rights” are superior to “property rights” simply means that some human beings have the right to make property out of others’.

                    Without private property rights, an individual human being is like a character in a prison movie who has been tossed bodily into a prison yard with countless other inmates, who must then survive by joining one or another prison gang.

                • Hi Eric,

                  Free market types, libertarians and an-caps, for the most part, accept Lockean home-steading as the basis for legitimate land ownership. Central to this concept is that “virgin” land is un-owned. Socialist anarchists believe that “virgin” land is communally owned and thus private title can never be legitimate. The an-soc understanding is logically incoherent and socially destructive. It is clear that even animals assert claims to property. All humans believe, at some level, in property rights. Denying this, as an-coms do, will lead inevitably to conflict and the emergence of a de-facto propertied class which will become the de-facto ruling class. So, Bevin, Nunzio ad others are correct to believe that an-com theory is, at some level, logically absurd and self-destructive.

                  However, recognizing this does not mean that we can blithely dismiss Proudhon’s critique of property. Mainstream libertarians accept many property claims that are clearly unjust. For instance, Milton Friedman once argued that even if a previous property claim could be shown to be valid, the social utility created by the current owner should trump the previous, legitimate claim.

                  I stated that claims to un-used land are problematic, not always illegitimate. In your case, it seems clear that you are using your land, that you acquired it legitimately and that no one else can make a more valid claim to it. However, what about a private explorer who simply draws an arbitrary boundary around an enormous swath of land and calls it his? How is this legitimate? Is it obvious that Ted Turner’s enormous land holdings are all legitimate? How much labor does one have to mix with the land to generate a legitimate home-stead claim? Does being the first to put up a fence count? Unfortunately, there are no clear answers to many of these questions, and the NAP, alone, cannot answer them.

                  Jeremy

                • Hi Eric,

                  Here’s another tough one. Can one legitimately acquire large amounts of un-used land specifically to leave in it’s natural state? Most people would not only say yes, but believe such acquisition to be “good”. I can certainly see how this could be good as well. What I cannot see is how such a claim is valid on home-steading grounds.

                  Cheers,
                  Jeremy

                  • Hi Jeremy,

                    I think so, sure – again, provided the land is acquired legitimately; that is, bought from its prior owner at a mutually agreed-upon price. If I had the means, I would buy the 200 acres behind me expressly to keep it wooded and untouched. And that would be my right, as the owner – regardless of the fact that someone else might believe a “better use” could be found for the land.

                    The “homestead” thing seems to me to be relevant only as regards land that has no rightful owner (i.e., land that is unclaimed wilderness – of which today virtually none exists in habitable areas) or land that is “owned” by the government – which is of doubtful legitimacy.

                    For example, the great swaths of acreage in Nevada “owned” by Uncle. I have no moral argument with a person who homesteads some of that acreage and by dint of that claims ownership.

                    • Under the “only legit if it’s homesteaded/used” theory, I wonder if they would have a problem with someone who has 600 head of cattle and therefore is homesteading/using 1000 acres?

                      Or what if you didn’t have 6– head of cattle but of course, needed the land first, before you could acquire the cattle, to thus use the land?

                      And who would determine if your claim to that land were legit?

                      It seems, any time they make up artificial rules, it always necessitates the “need” for a government to enforce those rules……

                      That is why there can legitimately be no such thing as anarcho-communists.

                    • Hi Eric,

                      I agree with you and would do the same if I could. However, think of your proviso. The same must be true of the owner before him, etc… According to the home-steading principle, title to land can be acquired in only two ways: mixing labor with un-owned land (transforming it from it’s natural state) and obtaining title through transfer from a previous legitimate owner.

                      So, according to the home-steading principle, no one could ever have gained legitimate title to an area of land for the purpose of leaving it alone.

                      You guys know me well enough to realize that I am a staunch advocate of private property rights. I believe that they are derived from the obvious fact of self-ownership and that they are necessary for human existence.

                      I am not arguing that land titles are illegitimate; just that the issue is a lot more complex than “we” sometimes claim. Most of us here accept the NAP and believe it is derived from natural rights, I do as well. However, this can lead to the belief that all disputes can be resolved on these grounds, they cannot. Utility, fairness and culture will always play a role. For instance, if it could be proven that the title to your land was stolen from the legitimate owner many generations ago, then the home-steading principle would imply that title should revert to the heir of the original owner. But, is this fair? Should this be what happens?

                      Nunzio,

                      An-coms do not believe that nobody owns the land they believe that everybody owns the land, which eliminates the possibility of legitimate private land title. This theory is absurd. No one person can use all of the land, and everyone cannot use a given section of land. If everybody owns something, nobody owns it. This belief precludes even the possibility of non-conflicting resource allocation. It is inherently absurd and clearly incompatible with human nature.

                      However, there is a tendency among free market libertarians to accept any existing property title as legitimate. Per Proudhon, it is not at all clear that the current owners of a landed estate, acquired through a grant from an illegitimate authority, and whose wealth was built largely on the labor of peasants, has a more legitimate claim to that land than those who worked it. I don’t know the correct answer. But, Proudhon believed that property acquired through collusion with the State amounts to theft. Seems pretty similar to what “we” believe.

                      Kind Regards,
                      Jeremy

                    • Dear Jeremy,

                      You wrote:

                      “For instance, if it could be proven that the title to your land was stolen from the legitimate owner many generations ago, then the home-steading principle would imply that title should revert to the heir of the original owner. But, is this fair? Should this be what happens?”

                      Such a specific instance would indeed make it difficult to ensure justice.

                      However it’s important to note that the fault does not lie with libertarian rights theory. It lies with the governmental authorities that perpetrated the injustice long ago.

                      After all, had libertarian concepts of property rights been honored back when Custer and Sherman were committing genocide and robbing Indian lands, the current problem of land ownership would never have arisen to begin with.

                      I admit that libertarians are saddled with a theoretical albatross as a consequence. But the problem was clearly a creation of statism and statists.

                      Had all European Americans dealt with American Indians the way that William Penn did, by buying the land from them fair and square, the current injustices would never have arisen.

                    • >>“For instance, if it could be proven that the title to your land was stolen from the legitimate owner many generations ago, then the home-steading principle would imply that title should revert to the heir of the original owner. <<

                      That would open a whole other can of worms. How far back would we be obliged to go?

                      I mean, suppose the original owner had farmed/homesteaded the land, but it turned out that he had killed off some Injuns to acquire it? And suppose the Injuns he had killed had in-turn acquired the land by having attacked another tribe?

                      And then even if a legitimate succession of ownership could be established, even in the recent past, that one owner may now have 80 direct descendants.

                      And what of the person who had purchased that land in good faith, and has a house or factory etc. on it?

                      We can't right the wrongs of the past, especially if we were not complicit in having committed those wrongs.

                      We CAN avoid being complicit in the present though- it is for this reason I will not patronize police auctions or tax sales. If the state had no right to steal someone's property, then I am not going to be a partner in crime by purchasing stolen goods from the state, any more so than I would purchase them from a junkie on the street.

                    • Just wanna point out one thing here. White people claimed the NA continent was unclaimed wilderness. However, migrating tribes of people did use those so called unclaimed areas quite heavily. Didn’t stop white people from stealing it. Right? Homestead lies in the ability of the thugs in power to kill the people in possession of the area at the behest of the thieves. Hence the Indian Wars.

                    • Hi NoneYa,

                      Yup, absolutely.

                      But it’s analogous to slavery, another vile thing done to people . . . who lived and died a long time ago. I would agree with anyone who suggested that a person who had been a slave is entitled to be compensated at the expense of the person who enslaved him. But is it right for the great, great grandson of a slave – who was never a slave himself – to demand compensation from the great, great grandson of someone who owned a slave? Or someone who just happens to be white?

                      I don’t see how. It’s true the great, great grandson of the slave may have benefitted somehow from the fact that his great, great grandfather had slaves. But it is hard to prove exactly how and – more relevant – there is no malign intent or action on the part of the great, great grandson. He just happened to be the great, great grandson of someone who did a vile thing. And I don’t believe in what the Germans style sippenhaft. Certainly not inter-generational sippenhaft.

                      Same with regard to the expropriation of land owned by the natives. The people who were abused have been dead for centuries, as also the people who abused them. It is nigh impossible to determine who, exactly, owned what in, say, 1750. My land was probably owned by a tribe at one point. But which tribe? Which specific tribesmen? Are their descendants entitled to recoup the land from me? I didn’t steal it from them. Neither did the people who owned it before me – from whom I bought it. Nor the people they bought it from, and so on – going back several generations at least.

                      I think there has to be a point after which prior claims no longer have force – just as there is a statute of limitations for the prosecution of some crimes. Otherwise, we could – and would have to – go back endlessly, to antiquity, to rectify the claims made by the descendants of people’s great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents… perhaps all the way to the caveman days!

                    • Very well said, Eric!

                      And although the long-dead victims in the past can never be compensated, their descendants have been compensated in many respects to a greater or lesser degree by having had access to a quality of life and the enjoyment of rights which they would never have had in their native cultures.

                      i.e. the slave’s great great grandson living in an air-conditioned apartment and seeing his 10 kids supported by the efforts of others (essentially a reverse slavery); or the having a nice suburban home and driving a Mercedes; or being an NBA playa 🙂 and making millions, is probably preferable to living in a mud hut in Africa as some of his relatives are still doing.

                      Of course, that doesn’t excuse what was done in the past, but it does illustrate that their descendants have reaped benefits and opportunities from their ancestor’s condition, and still are, many generations later.

                      Those of us whose ancestors were not enslaved, or whose land was not usurped, really have nothing more, and in-fact are just as enslaved today by the government which did those things- so if nothing else, the term “equality” comes to mind.

                  • Dear Jeremy,

                    “Can one legitimately acquire large amounts of un-used land specifically to leave in it’s natural state?”

                    If I’m not mistaken, that is what the Nature Conservancy does. It uses land purchases to protect the environment.

                    As you noted, it’s not exactly “homesteading”, but nevertheless strikes me as morally defensible.

                    This is why I said the issue is a big one!

                    • Dear Bevin,

                      Trust me, I’m not arguing in favor of anarcho-socialism/communism. I’m merely responding to the observations about the debate on property rights that you and Nunzio made. Now, if the debate is merely about whether property rights can or should exist, I completely agree with you. Those who claim that all property rights are invalid are deluded, dishonest or both. After all, if I steal the ’68’ VW van used by Sunshine at the anarcho-hippie commune, I know that Sunshine will believe that I have violated her rights.

                      But, titles to property, especially in land, are complex in the world we inhabit. Most an-caps accept the Lockean home-steading principle as the basis for legitimately owned land. However, this basis is insufficient to solve all disputes. A coherent and generally accepted view of property rights is essential to any possible peaceful community. An-coms have no coherent theory of property rights. As Eric correctly pointed out, they believe that, absent the State, humans would simply “share” the wealth. This is an absurd and dangerous idea.

                      Cheers,
                      Jeremy

                    • Dear Jeremy,

                      I hear you. Not to worry. I believe I know where you stand.

                      I wasn’t arguing with you. I was merely shoring up the case for property rights, for the record.

                • Nunzio, I wouldn’t hardly call this group a very polite or considerate group when it comes to those who don’t belong to your Mutual Admiration Society. In fact, you asked me yourself why did I hang around when I was being ostracized?????

                  • Gail,

                    You are put off by the fact that we will not accept your authoritarian collectivism as legitimate and that we call you out for being an advocate of authoritarian collectivism. You expect us to do as you do and evade, equivocate and pretend that you are not an advocate of authoritarian collectivism and – more – that it ought not to be identified as the basis of everything you advocate.

                    I’m not going to oblige.

                    The problem, Gail, is that the truth hurts.

                    Authoritarian collectivism is despicable. It is system that enslaves and degrades all who are caught up in it. I want nothing to do with controlling the lives of other people and accept that I no more have the right to do so than they have to control my life. I want not a cent from anyone else that isn’t given me freely, as a result of mutually agreeable free exchange. I would never initiate violence against any person, though I will defend myself and my property against those who do initiate violence.

                    Can you give me a specific moral reason for denying the absolute rightness of any of the above?

                    Can you justify its opposite, authoritarian collectivism?

                    No, of course not.

                    The fact remains, Gail, that you are fundamentally the same as the “liberals” you dislike so much – because you both embrace (wait for it) authoritarian collectivism. Which you style “old glory” and “the Constitution” and other such evasive non sequiturs.

                    My pointing this out is disagreeable to you; you seem to think it smacks of bad manners. But I am not concerned with your feelings. I am concerned with facts.

                    And the fact is, you are an authoritarian collectivist – as much as you’d like to evade and equivocate.

                    I may be insolently inflexible about my moral code, but it is a coherent moral code. You may accuse me of being impractical, a dreamer – that a society built on a non-coercive basis is impossible. But you cannot accuse me of hypocrisy or cognitive dissonance. The wonderful thing about Libertarian morality is that it is clear, comprehensible and not self-contradictory. Your authoritarian collectivism, on the other hand, is subjective and arbitrary. The Rightness or Wrongness of a thing in your system is based on such things as your feelings and opinions; on whether it comports with your “values.” Or whether it has been sanctioned by a majority, or via the vote.

                    I have tried – Lord, how I have tried! – to get you to see that your system embraces the very things you purport to loathe and, at the same time, utterly undermines any principle basis for defending the things you purport to love.

                    Whatever you may say about me, my moral system is crystal clear and applies to any particular thing with absolute precision.

                    It ought to bother you that you cannot say the same about yours… .

                    • That’s the problem, Eric – you have no facts, you have illusions. I too would like to live in your world, but it wouldn’t, couldn’t, nor won’t happen. There will always be someone or group that will move in to do the very thing that we all hate. I just feel what we have is better than what we might get. Clover

                      My set of “facts” tell me that it is better (not best, nor ideal, just better), to control what we have. Because if we could get rid of the government, we will create a vacuum and nature hates a vacuum. Clover
                      I am the one who stands up against them, you supported me in your columns, but they are usually safe articles. How many on this site have tried to controlled authoritarian collectivism. Playing ‘Patty-cake with each other doesn’t count.
                      Gail, resident Clover

                    • So where you are at Gail is that we need a government because someone might impose a government.

                      But that doesn’t explain the belief system around the state you have espoused. The flag waving and the rest.

                      If we have to live with a state then it should be stripped of religious and cult status. It should be seen as what it is, the monopoly on legal violence. That it is force. And that when someone uses the government to achieve X he using force. That government is a weapon.

                      If we really need this thing, then lets make sure everyone knows what it really is.

                  • Dear Gail,

                    If it’s affirmation of your cherished beliefs that you want, why in god’s name would you come looking for it here?

                    Your authoritarian conservative views, like other peoples’ authoritarian liberal views, are far more conventional, hence far more “mainstream” than the emphatically non-mainstream views held and expressed by people here.

                    The people who frequent this site are hardcore anarchist libertarians, who reject outright any political system based on the initiation of state violence against the sovereign individual.

                    There is simply no way that anyone here is ever going to affirm either your authoritarian conservative system of government, or the SJWs’ authoritarian liberal system of government.

                    You must have known that before commenting here. A quick glance at the comments section should have made that crystal clear.

                    Were you really surprised that no one here was willing to affirm your authoritarian conservative views? You’ll forgive me if I find that hard to believe.

                    • Dear Mr. Bevin; what surprises me is that no one, save Eric and myself, use our real names.
                      I came here because Eric is my friend, and he invited me. Now are you surprised?

                      Being polite to someone with opposite views (?) doesn’t mean that you are expected to agree or affirm those, it means that you ego is mature enough to accept those that are different than your own.

                      If you are reading my posts, you will remember I said, “if we agree on everything, one of us isn’t needed.” My ego is big enough to allow you to advocate your beliefs and your disagreement towards mine.
                      I’d like to ask you and your cohorts, other than bitching, what have you done to change the situation to be more to your liking?
                      Love the Clover!

                    • Dear Gail,

                      I don’t know if you noticed, but you just confirmed that you already knew what views people here held before arrival.

                      So why the shock?

                      Re: “… other than bitching, what have you done to change the situation to be more to your liking?”

                      How do you know what I have or haven’t done???

                      What makes you so sure I haven’t done a lot to change the situation more to my liking???

                      I have been active in gun rights organizations such as Gun Owners of America for decades.

                      I have been active in anti-tax organizations for the same amount of time.

                      I was active in organizations dedicated to the defeat of zoning regulation in Texas.

                      But actually my proudest contributions have been something you dismiss as “bitching”.

                      You really shouldn’t wear your anti-intellectualism on your sleeve so prominently, as if it were a badge of honor.

                      Ideas have consequences. Change the ideas in circulation, change what is considered PC, change what is considered the Conventional Wisdom, and you will “change the situation to be more to your liking”.

                      But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations…

                      This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people, was the real American Revolution.
                      — John Adams, in a letter to H. Niles

                      Did you really not know that?

                    • Gail, this “What have you done to change the system” routine is getting old.

                      If we truly did anything to change the system, you would be the first in line to label us as criminals, because merely changing the system is no different than “changing” the communist or Nazi systrem.

                      The system needs to be eliminated, as the system is about tyranny/authoritarianism.

                      Merely working within the system/using the system to change the system is pointless, as it does not eliminate the tyranny/authoritarianism any more so than working within Stalin’s system eliminates communism.

                      You spend a lot of time and effort to change one little aspect of one law. That did not change the system, it just modified one little law. We still have arbitrary speed limits, and millions of people are still abused for merely exceeding some number on a sign- and in-fact, that is more true now than ever.

                      100 million people could each take on one cause for the next 1000 years, and it still would not effectively eliminate the injustice, abuse and illegitimacy of the system- it would just change the details.

                      And even if we could magically eliminate the system today, it would just be instantly replicated, because ultimately that system is a product of the hearts and minds of people- you know, the kind who possess human nature, which you think that that system is going to restrain/change (And hence, the real problem, these authoritarian systems are in reality religions…)- and the only way to truly hamstring/eliminate any such system, is through a change in the hearts and minds of people- and the only way to effect that is through the bringing to light of what the true nature of our problems are, and what the real solutions are- just as is done in Christian evangelism- the message may be a little different (although they do overlap in many regards) but the method is similar.

                      What did our Lord and Savior and the Apostles and the martyrs do to effect the chnages that we have all benefitted from? Did they petition Rome or organize armies or seek to reform the English monarchy? No….they made converts, who did what was right in their own lives, and thus stopped serving the forces of evil; and who in turn made converts of others who did the same. THAT is what we are doing.

                      YOU, on the other hand, have told us that you defend the system, be it right or wrong- even at the cost of your life or your childrens lives. WE refuse to serve the purposes of evil. If people would only do that, that alone would be sufficient to destroy the forces of injustice and tyranny- as tyrants can not exist, unless others are willing to take up arms in their service, be they “right or wrong” (And they’re always wrong! -People don’t need to be forced and commanded and conscripted to do what is right…)

                    • Gail, your efforts to change parts of this situation we live is admirable.

                      My question then is for a “love it or leave it” and “my country, right or wrong” sort isn’t this a waste of time or at the very least, a contradiction of love it or leave it and my country, right or wrong?

                  • Gail, are you purposely taking my words out of context???

                    My question to you about not understanding why you’d want to communicate with those who ostracized you, was in response to your mentioning that you primarily use Facebook as means of staying in-touch with your RELATIVES who treat you as an outcast/have ostracized you.

                    As for the bunch here, I think all have been pretty nice to you. I mean, you are the one who came here to a libertarian website, advocating values and beliefs which we are not in agreement with- so naturally, you can expect some heated debate- just as if you were a member of a Christian forum, and someone came in to your group defending their belief in evolution or Satanism.

                    While some here may be more cordial [Bevin, Jeremy, etc.] than I [Admittedly, I’m a thick-skinned hardened ex-NYer] I think we have all shown you respect by taking the time to actually explain our positions in detail, andwhy we may disagree with yours- as opposed to just dismissing you, or ignoring you, or just fluffing you off.

                    I think just our level of involvement with you says a lot. And it’s not that we’re being self-sacrificing our anything, but I think I speak for at least a few others when I say that even though we may disagree, we have none-tthe-less enjoyed your participation.

                    And from what you say, although your relatives are probably closer to your views than we are, notice that we don’t ostracize you. Even though we may never agree, we at least have the decency to continue a dialog.

          • bevin, you don’t understand why and I don’t understand why either. It’s like mixing apples and oranges and debating cherry pie, a total non sequitur. There are people these days who can verily argue with no thought of using fact or logic.

            Much like Gail saying she’s Mormon and evidently not knowing the Mormons were targeted by the US federal govt. and they responded with their own targeting of the troops used. I forget the exact date but the fighting went on for well over a year. The Mormons used guerilla techniques and were pretty effective before peace was finally reached.

            That’s(Mormons)a pretty tight-knit group to do a turnabout and embrace their enemy. Like everything else Mormon, you’d think it would never be a subject forgotten nor attitudes changed to a great degree. Maybe I just missed something there.

            • Dear 8,

              “you’d think it would never be a subject forgotten nor attitudes changed to a great degree. Maybe I just missed something there.”

              You would think so. Just as you would think that people would realize that there is no difference between a group of people committing extortion and an individual committing extortion.

              Just because the group calls itself “The Government”, labels its extortion “taxation”, doesn’t make it any different than an individual doing the same thing while admitting that it is a criminal act.

              You would think that anyone who is not insane would have no trouble connecting the dots. Yet lo and behold, most people can’t.

              • bevin, maybe my thinking Mormons were exempt from “govt. schooling” is wrong. That would explain no knowledge of recent history.

                We have this radical bunch of academia for the most part, backing the “we don’t know shit” group that wants to rewrite history and remove statues and other symbols of the Confederacy and another(La Razza)who wants to do away with heroes of the Tx. revolution. Against state law it’s already been done to schools in San Antonio. Mexicans now think they own San Antonio yet they own very little of the infrastructure except restaurants.

                UT couldn’t bend over fast enough last year to remove statues to a place where students wouldn’t have their little tiny feelings “hurt”. Gee, what if I enrolled in a course there and had to walk by the “great” liar? Being white, I could take my feelings and shove them.

                Conquer and divide, and it’s worked great. Academia has no excuse for what it’s doing except becoming a professor has had intellect and knowledge displaced by “feelings”.

                • Dear 8,

                  UT couldn’t bend over fast enough last year to remove statues to a place where students wouldn’t have their little tiny feelings “hurt”.

                  For me, the takeaway from all this SJW snowflake insanity merely confirms Etienne de La Boetie’s key insight regarding political power.

                  … the great mystery of politics was obedience to rulers. Why in the world do people agree to be looted and otherwise oppressed by government overlords?

                  It is not just fear, Boetie explains in “The Discourse on Voluntary Servitude,” for our consent is required. And that consent can be non-violently withdrawn.

                  In other words, we can only be enslaved, if we actually believe we have a moral obligation to be slaves.

                  If we cease believing that we have a moral obligation to be slaves, slavery simply vanishes in a puff of smoke.

                  NB: I’m referring to society-wide slavery, not the enslavement of a minority by a majority of course.

            • 8, ya gotta realize that these days, history is being rewritten, and organized groups are being subverted. Protestants are now returning to things Catholic, forgetting the 1000 years of persecution, torture and killing of their ancestors by that “church”; the sons of Japanese internment camp victims now happily spend their lives serving our military; and Moro…errr…Mormons happily serve Uncle in exchange for 501c3 status….(They don’t seem to even care about polygamy anymore).

              Sooner or later, it seems that every organized group goes mainstream. Between government infiltrators…Jesuit infiltrators, and the fact that there is lots of money to be made by making things easy and palatable for the masses, so as to attract more members…..you go from polygamy, muskets and beards….to Donny and Marie Osmond in white dress shirts…..

              • Donnie and Marie, now that takes me back. I didn’t watch tv back then anyway and that type of thing was just one reason why. I would have watched them if I could have slipped them some acid 15 minutes before showtime. Now that might have been amusing. Marie and a handful of Ludes could have been interesting too…….sure you can get into that position babe……see……It’s a bad man’s world, it’s a bad man’s world, it’s a bad man’s world……

            • No, we haven’t forgotten. I sent out a post last week about this very topic. It was a law that you could shot a Mormon on sight, that was only rescinded a few years ago.

              Also, it may come as a surprise to you that the very word, “Mormon” is derogatory. The name of our church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes referred to LDS. However, we are a very accepting group of people, believing we are all the children of our Heavenly Father, so we harbor no ill will. Most people accept us now, save a few Evangelical church who still insist on calling us a Cult.

              • All religions are cults, Gail!

                It’s just that some are more socially accepted cults than others.

                Very much as a head thief of a gang of thieves becomes a king and “his majesty” over a period of time…

                • It’s funny- when you read pretty much any definition of “cult”, they always include the word “small”, because ALL of the major formally organized groups, from the Catholics on down, also fit all the other requirements of being a cult- Only their size saves them from official cult-hood 🙂 -so again, we see the oft-repeated “It’s legit as long as a lot of people agree to it” mentality…

                  Such thinking seems to permeate all levels of our society. It’s as if we have made zero progress since the Dark Ages.

                  “We’re not a cult because there are millions of us! But you’re a cult, because there are only a handful of you, even though you follow the exact same hierarchal model as we do!” 😀

                  • I just wish people had a sense of humor – or at least, perspective!

                    As a wag observed, every religious person is already at least a semi-atheist, since he does not believe in the other religions’ gods! 🙂

                    • If only everyone didn’t take everything so seriously- or at least didn’t care so much about what others thought of them and theirs, 90% of the problems we have today would not exist.

                      That’s one of the reasons I like to be “politically-incorrect”- it’ll show ya straight away who is a whiney little snowflake who takes every little thing oh so seriously, vs. who is just a regular person.

                    • No shitski Nunzio, everybody wearing their feelings on their cuffs. Last year a guy my age looked at me and said “Cool shades man…..retro” Only cause I bought em in 88 when everybody said they were cutting edge Marchon titanium alloy guaranteed to not break or warp…..ever.

                      What goes around comes around I guess. I’m a real slave to fashion.

                    • Now THAT (Idiots wearing ripped jeans) is the epitome of the slave class!

                      When I see people who have stooped so low, and who nlatantly advertise the fact, I think “There is a sub-human who is incapable of thought; the type of person who is responsible for the world being the way it is. There is someone for whom I would not even flinch if they were scooped up and cast into a FEMA camp”.

                      What’s even worse, is when you see parents dressing their little kids up in such uniforms of distaste and offensiveness.

                      The only upside to such a thing, is that such people openly advertise their stupidity and slavishness, so that one need not waste any time on them, and can avoid them like lepers.

                      I remember near the end of my dating career in my early 30’s, I had a date with this 19 year old chick; I go to her house to pick her up, and guess what she’s wearing? Nearly new jeans with a big hole in each knee…..

                      That was the end of that!

                    • Nunzio, I figured holey jeans were easier to remove or at least those who wore them were easier to persuade.

                      I’d like to walk that holey jean crowd through the pasture in west Tx. People don’t realize how many grassburrs are thrown up by their shoes till they have a hole in their pants. I’ve had to stop and remove them from my legs when I had on shorts, one reason I rarely worked in shorts. Squat down and they have your calves and thighs stuck together.

                    • eric, growing up in west Tx. the hypocrisy of Church of Christers looking down their nose at Babdis having a piano in church was fairly hilarious when those Babdis shook their kids head to keep them from seeing people doing one of the worst things ever……dancing.

                      To this day, in the next county over(Jones), the county seat has a law that prohibits dancin. No dancin in Anson is a common term here bouts. I always wondered what Anson Jones would make of it. His home was on Washington on the Brazos and where he died. He hated Sam Houston that tells me he was a deluded politician along with his non-support by Texans who saw him as a traitor trying to broker a deal with France and Britain to leave Tx. as part of Mexico. Who knows why a bunch of hardcore Babdis took over a west Tx. county but they did.

                    • Nunzio, I have to give credit to Ed on this one and he said. Why don’t Babdix fuck standing up? Cause they’re afraid God might think they were dancin.

                    • ROTFL, 8Man!!!!! 😀

                      Reminds me of that one:

                      What the difference between Jews, Protestants and Baptists?

                      Jews don’t recognize Jesus as the Son Of God.
                      Protestants don’t recognize the pope as the head of the church.
                      And Baptists don’t recognize each other in the adult video store.

                  • Correct, Nunzio. The reason we will remain at zero is because “Nature hates a vacuum.” Idiom Definitions for ‘Nature abhors a vacuum’ This idiom is used to express the idea that empty or unfilled spaces are unnatural as they go against the laws of nature and physics.

                    You see, it isn’t so much that I disagree with some, maybe even a good portion, of what the rest of you believe in. It is just I don’t believe the utopia you wish to achieve will ever happen – if it did, it would only be a short while, until it went back to the way it was, and maybe worse (read ‘Lord of the Flies.” or Watch ‘Naked and Afraid,’ ‘Survivor.’). There will always be a controlling group, and all the people will say ‘Amen!’ I see this in my church, groups that I belong to, the health club, even on this site. This is why I say Control the government we have, keep it as small as possible.

                    • Hi Gail,

                      Just to clarify: I don’t believe that a Libertarian world would somehow bring about a utopia- I just think that it is the only political ideology which is fair and moral, and which leaves men free to live according to their consciences, so that those of us whose actions would tend to create a blessed environment are not artificially hindered.

                      But I do agree with you: It’s never going to happen. In-fact, throughout the course of human history, we see nothing but a steady progression of just the opposite. With each passing year, the size and scope of government grows more and more, so that now there is virtually not a place on earth where one can be free.

                      But look what the early settlers/Founders of this country did, against all odds, by having identified, believing in, and practicing many of these very principles. They made it possible for a brief period, after men in Europe had been dominated and reduced to serfs and peasants who were persecuted for living their consciences and worshiping their God, to be largely free for a time. And thus being free, we had a large segment of the population who practiced many Christian ideals under that freedom- the material benefits of which we are still reaping to this day, long after those ideals have stopped being practiced and/or were out-lawed.

                      Freedom can be used by the good and the evil alike- it is not a guarantee that only good will result or that there will be no evil- but it does guarantee that the good will be able to do good and not be forced to tolerate evil in anything over which they have control. And we see just the opposite where there is little or no freedom. It seems, the more tyrannical a place is (whether it be a country, or a US state like CA, NY or MA) the more evil seems to proliferate- both that which is practiced by the state, and that which is done by the citizens- while the ability to do good is restrained.

                • Agreed, Eric. LOL However, the meaning of a word becomes a collective agreement. For example, I refuse to allow the beautiful word, “gay” become corrupted, but my feelings hasn’t stopped society from collectively changing the meaning of it. There are other words, but this one is my main irritate.

  4. Oh to be a proud Mormon. Proud of the time the US military massacred them in Nauvoo. Killed more in Missouri. Chased them to Utah and gave them a choice to be like all the other christians or die.

    Reformed mormons into Latter Day Saints. Good times. Less than 50000 real Mormons left now. Submit or die.
    https://imgoat.com/uploads/0efdf2ec9b/16415.jpg

    Scotland. Bravehearts. Beaten down and killed. Now their brits with funny accents. Totally obliterated tribe of “pussies”.

    Where was I going with this?
    https://imgoat.com/uploads/0efdf2ec9b/16415.jpg

    • Haha…. Reminds me of this Japanese guy I knew who was retired from our Navy!!!! I guess he hated his own people…. He was a real flag-waver…”support the veterans!”…”support the military”….”Join the military”…[puke]

      I normally just go about my business and don’t even bother engaging people like that, as it is always pointless- but one day I couldn’t take it anymore, and gave him what for. I said “It makes ME sick when I think of what we did to your people; internment camps, and gruesome deaths of how many civilians for no reason in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, etc. And I am ashamed to even be a citizen of a country that would do such things; how could YOU, being a direct descendant of the victims of those actions now work for the enemy?”

      I forget his reply, but it was stupid, of course.

  5. Nunzio, Eric, Bevin, etc…

    Gail wrote: “Actually, I am both unwilling and I cannot understand your point.
    I can agree that the powers have to be kept in check, but I truly and fully believe that without a central government chaos would ensue”.

    She has stated explicitly that she is unwilling to consider challenges to her worldview. She has never once directly responded to comments about the logical contradictions in her beliefs. She will never accept that “anarchy” would not result in chaos. In other words, she is a “normal” person. We’re the freaks. Of course, that doesn’t make us wrong.

    My life has been improved dramatically due, in large part, to the efforts of Gail. She is neither ready nor willing to seriously consider our ideas. So what? I’m still extremely grateful for the anti-clover crusade she spearheaded. So, thank you, Gail. You achieved something concrete in this world, which is more than can be said for our anarchist babbling, or your authoritarian babbling.

    Kind Regards,
    Jeremy

    • Dear Jeremy,

      You wrote: “You achieved something concrete in this world, which is more than can be said for our anarchist babbling, or your authoritarian babbling.”

      I’m surprised that you would make such a statement, unless of course you were being facetious.

      Why?

      Because what people dismiss as “babbling” preceding a paradigm shift, is the dissemination of core concepts that lead to the transformation of mass consciousness.

      “Ideas”, as the saying goes “have consequences”.

      Usually however, the consequences are long delayed. For the longest time it will appear as if anyone attempting to disseminate these core concepts is merely shouting in the wind.

      • Dear Bevin,
        I remain committed to the dissemination of ideas as the best hope for the humanity. I also enjoy discussion, which is valuable in it’s own right. As to my comment, I was not being facetious. Gail has achieved something concrete and I think we should recognize that. Of course, that is not to say that propagating ideas is not important or that doing so does not lead to concrete and positive achievements. Ultimately, ideas rule the world.

        By “babbling”, I meant specifically the dialogue between “us” and Gail. She will not accept what we have to say and we have merely hardened her heart against us. It is because I consider the ideas so important that I sometimes despair at the difficulty in getting them across.

        Does that make sense?

        With enormous respect,
        Jeremy

        • Dear Jeremy,

          I’m glad you clarified what you meant by “babbling”.

          Yes it does make sense.

          I do lament the fact that “we have merely hardened her heart against us”. It’s a crying shame.

          That of course is why when I debate a person, I prefer to make my point in a factual and logical manner at first, and only resort to incendiary rhetoric if the other party resorts to ad hominem attacks.

          Even then, I often regret letting emotions get the better of me.

          With equal and reciprocal respect,
          Bevin

        • Jeremy writes: By “babbling”, I meant specifically the dialogue between “us” and Gail. She will not accept what we have to say and we have merely hardened her heart against us. It is because I consider the ideas so important that I sometimes despair at the difficulty in getting them across.Clover

          No, I’ve not hardened my heart. In the perfect world, your plan would be great. I’m saying it won’t work, it isn’t practical, and we would all die due to our own stupidity. Very few people would be educated, because we would have to educate ourselves and our off springs. I lean towards the natural; homeschooling, home childbirth, raw milk, etc. but I’ve witnessed the downside to natural living too, and the downside is greater than the upside.

          I maintain that the best is controlled government. It is up to us to control the beast. Run for office, attend town meeting, take issues up with your representative. You say that you believe in the US Constitution, but that is controlled government.

          • Speak for yourself, Gail.

            I’m not stupid and am perfectly capable of taking care of myself – without imposing on you or others. So – how about we herd the self-identified “stupid” into a great big pen and let them elect Leaders to Lead them? But leave the rest of us – who are not stupid – alone?

            • Eric, It’s been done. The one whom the stupid people elect is called “the president”. Only he doesn’t leave us alone.

            • Eric, how self-contained are you, really? All of our lives are regulated by the government. You electricity, water, land, food you buy.
              Clover
              In spite of the fact that I live in an apartment in a city, I’m probably as isolated as you are. I do not know any of my neighbors, I have very few friends, I never go into crowds. I am on the Internet for hours everyday. I pay exorbitant fees for Cox “Bundle,” what a joke.

              But, I imagine – I’m sure you’ll correct me if I’m wrong – I pay for govt. controlled power, I prefer this over darkness. I drive on govt. controlled road – I’m old enough to remember driving on roads before Interstate and freeways, as I’m sure each of you do. Who on this thread living ‘Naked and Afraid,’ building your own hut, making clothes out of weeds, finding food in the wild?
              Your Adorable Clover

              • Gail,

                You write that “all of our lives are regulated by the government.” Yes, exactly. But the question is – is this good? Is it right?

                I personally do not want the government regulating anything that has to do with my life. If you want someone to regulate yours, then please hire a nanny for that purpose – but leave me out of it, if you would.

                Of what relevance to this discussion is it whether you or I know our neighbors?

                Of what relevance to this discussion is it that you choose to pay “exorbitant fees” to Cox for cable?

                You prefer government controlled power and roads. What if others do not prefer them? You believe your preferences entitle you to impose them on others. This is exactly why I call you an authoritarian collectivist!

                Then you trot out the old saw that without authoritarian collectivism, “there would be no roads!” And that we’d be living “naked and afraid” in huts…

                Jesus Christ… my teeth are aching…

              • Personally, Gail, the maintenance of personal freedom in my life has been paramount. Having lived the first half of my life in NYC area, which these days, is as bad, if not worse than CA & MA, the quest to be as free as possible became my #1 priority.

                Yes, thanks to authoritarian collectivists, I HAVE to use gov’t regulated roads which were paid for with my money and even encroach on my property- but since I work at home and only drive on those roads c. once a week on average; and in this very rural county, in the 16 years I’ve lived here, I’ve never encountered a pig-mobike, I still have much more freedom than I did on the roads in NY, where you can’t go anywhere without encountering multiple mobile pork-pens, complete with license plate scanners and all; and red light cameras and speed cameras, etc.

                And in NY on “one’s own” property, you need a permit to pick a dandelion; have to pay a fee; have to have the stem inspected; and that is if it is even legal in your fiefdom. Where I live now, there is no zoning or code enforcement or anything. I can do literally anything i want on my property- like building a 25′ x 22′ garage on a whim…and all I had to do was get the materials and get my tools out, and voila! I can grow what I want (Well, not so much if I wanted pot or something like that….) and have livestock, and put fences where I want, whenever I want; and I put up an above-ground pool for nothing more than the cost of the pool…meanwhile my friend back in NY paid as much as my whole pool cost, just for the permit to put his up!

                Those of us who care about freedom, tend to find ways to be free. It’s a damn shame that everyone in the US of A can not be free- but then people tend to get the government they deserve.

                Our electricity is provided by a co-op. I suspect they may be subject to some federal regulation, as they get a lot of their power from the Tennessee Valley Authority- but really, they make no encroachments on my freedom, and if they ever do, I’ll kick ’em to the curb. Electricity is just a convenience. It might be nice to live without it. People have for thousands of years till just lately. I’m not thrilled with the fact that your wonderful government destroyed entire towns and disenfranchised many innocent people to create that TVA from whence our power comes….

                But in chort, as for phones and such being regulated and controlled by Uncle- I had nothing to do with such things, and in fact I vehemently oppose such regulation, taxation, subsidy and or government involvement in what should be the sole province of the free market- but all the authoritarian collectivists who perpetuate and defend the system “Be it right or wrong” have imposed these things upon all of us, by creating a government monopoly to which there can be no alternative, because even if someone manages to create an alternative, like Uber….they will wither regulate it or criminalize it, for the Mafia does not tolerate competition.

          • Gail,

            “I maintain that the best is controlled government.”

            You continue to repeat the same things over and over – without replying to the questions raised.

            How does one control a government that is given unilateral power to decide the degree of its own authority? Has the “limited government” experiment worked here?

            If people are stupid and cannot be trusted, how does entrusting people with authority – authority to hurt other people, to put them im cages, to take things from them using violence – fix that problem?

            I agree that some people are stupid – and just mean (Clovers, all the way up to the worst of them, the Stalins and Hitlers). But they are much more readily kept in check when they are not given power over us. What could Hitler have done without the government of Germany backing up his bloodlust? Take that away – and Hitler becomes merely an annoying, creepy guy who everyone tries to avoid.

            I can deal with a random scumbag who breaks into my house – or at least, I have a chance.

            But how do I defend myself against a Hut! Hut! Hut! no-knock raid by government goons?

            • Eric, tell me your experience with the ‘government goons.’ Inquiring minds want to know.

              I come and go as I please. I can’t remember ever having a bad experience with the government. Wait! There was a cop at the Capitol building, but he was fired over the incident. Clover

              If I didn’t like something I followed the procedure to get rid of it, and 90-99% of the time I changed the law, or got rid of the person – because I worked through the proper channels.Clover

              I said again, select the best of humanity, work with the system and live your life the way you want. I do.

              • This one beggars belief, Gail.

                Seriously?

                Every time I leave my property I have to worry that some costumed goon will notice I am not “buckled up for safety” and waylay me at gunpoint and steal $100 of my money. Or, the same thing for “speeding” and various other concocted offenses.

                The bastards steal a third to half my income each year. If I do not “stand and deliver,” they will SWAT my home and put me in a cage and steal all of my property.

                They force me to pay eternal rent on a house I paid off years ago.

                They subject me to a degrading search if I wish to travel by air.

                I am open to being stopped at gunpoint at any arbitrary moment an made to produce my “papers” – or prove that I am not “drunk.”

                I may not conduct business with whom I wish, under terms agreeable to us. I must obey the vile control freaks who believe I and others have no right to free association.

                But you think you’re “free” – because you don’t regard the laws as tyrannical and obey – but even so, you’re still open to being targeted by these buzzcut, gum-snapping low IQ government goons.

                • Eric, I don’t give the things you mention any thought at all. Except maybe, my actions if any of those sames might happen. I’m not as eager to go to court as I was at one time, and I know that the court isn’t a friends either. I also realize and accept the fact that as an elderly, handicap woman I will be treated with more kindness than a White or Black male would.

          • Hi Gail,

            I believe that there are some good ideas in the constitution, but I do not believe that words on paper can control those who, through the mechanism of the State, seek dominion over others. Especially when those who wield the power of the State have arrogated to themselves the sole right to judge the meaning of those words. As Lysander Spooner noted a long time ago, “But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain – that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it”.

            Perhaps, the most eloquent expression of your view, and in some way ours, was written by James Madison in Federalist No. 51.

            “But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”

            Madison clearly recognized the problem we describe. His solution was to create separate branches, each with an incentive to check the power of the others. However, history has clearly demonstrated that this does not work. Long ago, those in each branch realized that collusion, rather than antagonism, would lead to an increase in power for all.

            The fact that men are not angels is a powerful argument against government, not for it. Robert Higgs explains it very well here.

            http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1982

            Kind Regards,
            Jeremy

          • My life was probably saved by an assistant coach who asked in freshmen civics class what we knew of Vietnam. No answer, silence. He them said “You boys might want to learn something about it cause you’ll be there soon enough”.

            So we studied that war to the end of high school and no one from my class is a veteran. We smelled the rat(I’d inject a quote by Jack Nicholson here from The Departed but don’t know it exactly as he said it). The rat was money for the main part.

            The ‘love it or leave it’ crowd, if debated, which many couldn’t debate, just sling insults, were easily stopped in their tracks by the truth of that war. I even had those who were willing to listen, tell me “if you don’t like it, then do something about it, isn’t that your duty?” Damn right it was and I took it seriously. It was my country as much as anyone’s and my seeing LBJ and the entire DC corruption tank as being what they were only intensified my desire to “right a wrong”. If everybody had been the patriot I was the war would have never existed. But most, like Gail, don’t have the guts to stand up for “right”, just that simple. You have to buck a trend and believe me, that road less traveled is mined like a mofo by the politicians and those who do their dirty work including the general public.

            People are so stupid they don’t even know they’re being bled dry for others gains. Not to mention 58,000 US citizens killed, the vast majority being conscripted slaves who had a choice of prison or armed forces at the point of a gun. How could something like that not get your attention? For the young men of this country, it was certainly something to jerk your head around, especially attending funerals for those guys who were no different from you but not as determined to do the “right” thing and simply go along to get along(famous last wished for that huge majority).

            So I got my FBI file started that only continues to grow. They never let go and it will most certainly live beyond my mortal life. Being a real patriot, in the face of stupid, blind obedience, isn’t an easy task but it’s one those of us who had been raised to do the “right” thing and have good morals were bound to do or either just become another version of the hypocrite LIOLI crowd. I could have been silent. I’d had a back injury when I was 13 and couldn’t have passed a physical but whether I could have been drafted wasn’t here nor there to me. So for the LIOLI crowd, I say Fuck You, you goddamn, gutless ass lickers.

            • Hear, hear, Mr. 8Man!!!!!

              [Applause]

              I was just a little kid when Vietnam was winding down, but conscripted slaves “fighting for our freedom…that’ll show them commies!” was pretty much all I needed to know. Kinda set the stage for the rest of my life- to know that words bandied about by the media and the government essentially have no meaning, or mean the exact opposite of their true definition; that people are fools, and are willing to kill and be killed for nothing more than a slogan and a uniform; that we are not free; and that the powers who truly rule this country are some sick mofo’s- and yet there are no lack of people and churches who support them.

              Great lessons for a 10 year old…and that was 1972, and it’s exponentially worse now….

              Guys like you are indeed the real patriots, 8. Anyone who will pick up a rifle and kill someone who has done them no harm, just because they are told to, is nothing more than a mercenary, and an evil bastard- worse than a robber, because at least the robber will not make it his priority to kill; and is not doing so in cold blood just because he’s been trained to do so and commanded to do it.

              Those bastards deserve the treatment they get from the V.A.. It’s kind of fitting, really.

              • Nunzio, thanks. But remember, not everyone could figure a way out of slavery. After all, it was the rest of your life you’d be scum if you fled or simply a criminal if you refused to serve.

                Keep in mind, everybody who got drafted almost to the man(boy), was no older than 18, a mere child or at least everybody I knew was including me. If mortally wounded I would probably have cried for my mother(mama, mama they’ve killed me, help me please) just like most kids that age did. Even those who were gung ho, and not many my age were, in fact, very few my age were gung ho. They’d already buried the gung ho’s and had gotten a good look at their corpse or “not”.

                But people like Gail have no empathy, they have no sense of responsibility to make their country what it should be. It’s so much easier to simply march to that drum beat and wrap yourself in the flag…..and for most, pray to the god that wasn’t listening. Don’t mean to insult those who are religious but if your god was in any way responsible for evil such as that. it was an evil god.

                And this brings me to what has been done in this country since Vietnam and the need to have another war. The demonization of S. Americans as was tried for a decade and a half wasn’t a take was changed to people on the other side of the earth who definitely had another “bible”. Even though those who defended Islam as being a beneficent god to a peaceful people were quickly not quoted in the MSM and only those they’d made bitter from killing their families and had what was actually a righteous cause to hate what they saw as Americanism, the slaughter of their people and made them easily pliable by those who used them for their own purposes. Remember when “America” was the great brother to Afghanistan when the godless Russians were slaughtering them? Once the Russians were defeated, we had no enemy to squander the public dollar on so those evil bastards demonized the Islam people in general. Sling enough bombs, kill enough people over enough countries and soon you have a “radical” jihadist enemy. No doubt Gail was done there front and center saying “Kill those godless Muslims” as they chanted “god is great” and fought back. You can thank the Rothschilds and the Rockefellers for the shitstorm we have everywhere in the word. You can also thank the BO’s, Clintons, Bush’s and all the Bush neocons inherited from Nixon for having Mexicans hiss at me “thousand needles” when I was in Mexico in 2004. That’s the way the entire world views us and for good reason. But the MSM they listen to doesn’t tell them the average person in this country is as much a victim as they are. it’s the Gail’s of the word who give us all a bad name.

                • I read and identified with the book “Ugly American,” and you’re right – I couldn’t care less what the rest of the world thought of me, nor my country.Clover

                  Since I never personally served in a war zone, I don’t have the empathy you speak of, Eightsouthman. I am the child of a Warrior, born and reared in the US Navy. I know how it feels to have a POW, or not really know who my Sailor Pappy is, because he was gone so much that the only thing I recognized was the uniform. I am the descendant of a line of Warriors in this nation dating back to the Revolutionary War, signers of the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and my own contribution to personally lobby Congress. Four of my sons have gone to war and returned with honor. I told my sons the words of General Patton, “I don’t expect you to die for your country, I want you to make that poor bastard to die for theirs.” I do have a cousin that probably thought or was shamed by people like you, and ‘ate his gun.’ One of the many reasons that I believe we should support emotionally our warriors. So the shame is yours, not mine, nor any person who supports our nation in war and peace.Clover

                  As to you rant on religions – let me tell you that I have a Muslim daughter-in-law, and my son has decided to embrace her religious beliefs. She is a good person and I accept her. How many of these people in your realm can you personally relate to, or do you just like to be “agin it!” Whatever you ranted about, I probably have in my family; Mexican, yep. Black, yep. I even have a Gay cousin. My life and acceptance is probably much broader than yours, and I don’t choose to isolate myself as I witness from the posts on this site. Clover

                  What have you done to support and/or better this nation?

                  • Gail,

                    Substitute “mercenary” or “unwilling conscript” for “warrior” and you’d be more accurate.

                    PS: Don’t forget the mercenaries sent by Uncle Abe to rape/stomp/murder the Southern states into docile obedience. That is to say, your ancestors.

                    But you’ve become like Stalin’s chicken. Might look that one up…

                    • Sounds like!

                      Her cognitive dissonance is striking.

                      I wonder whether it has ever occurred to her that – as an example – Adolf Eichmann made the same case for his “country and flag” (uber alles) that she has for hers… yet she doesn’t grok the moral horror.

                • Good points, 8.

                  Another tactic of the state: Get ’em while they’re young and stupid- whether it be for cops or soldiers…..

                  Some people will take the high ground though0 at any age- whether it means jail, or being burned at the stake. I’d like to think that there are certain things that I am not willing to do…no matter what.

                  Pay the consequences that the state imposes on you when you’re 18 for not doing their dirty work…or pay the consequences your conscience imposes on you if you do do it. Either way, you’ll pay. A lot of times, doing the right thing often ends up making things work out.

                  I recall having heard of one guy’s experience: He got his draft notice, and knew that he had to appear at the induction center or face arrest for failure to answer the summons. So he bought a bus ticket and went.

                  When there, he was in a line of men, and they were all told to raise their right hand or some such and take a step forward, and they would be soldiers. Everyone did so, except for this young man. He just stood in his place and didn’t rasie his hand.

                  Some yelling…and talking back and forth….he was taken to another room…..threatened with jail and who-knows-what-else, over the course of several hours. He said “You can throw me in jail, or stick a gun in my back, but I’m not volunteering and I’m not following orders to do something which is against my conscience”…..yada, yada.

                  Eventually that day, he was given a bus ticket and sent back home.

                  Years later now, as he tells this story, he gives the legal explanation: Paraphrasing, of course: They can’t and never could force involuntary servitude upon you; but they could get you for not answering the draft summons, or for desertion or insubordination, etc. The trick was in getting you to “volunteer” when you answered the draft summons, by raising your right hand and stepping forward. If you didn’t “volunteer” they really had no legal power over you”.

                  Of course, as an 18 year-old kid at the time, he didn’t know all of that…he just did what was right; was unwilling to violate his conscience and do what he knew to be wrong…..and bu doing so, it turned out to be the exact thing he needed to do.

                  We all have lines that we ultimately will not cross- whether we’re 12 or 70. You can read of Christian kids much younger than 18 being burned at the stake by the Catholics, because they refused to renounce what they believed.

                  Thankfully, my generation did not have to deal with the draft- but ya know, I don’t see much difference between a jail cell and a barracks.

                  This subject always makes me think of this comedian I heard once, who said: “I’m writing a memoir of my experiences during the Vietnam War; It’s going to be called A Guide The Bars and Taverns Of Montreal”! 😀

    • Jeremy, I am pleased that my effort in getting the repeal of NMSL has made life more comfortable for you. However, no one has asked me why I took this on, nor why I was so successful. Even though I lobbied Congress alone, many people went into the turn of the tide, especially Swamprat who trained me, and Eric who believed in me. While some say that I “rode the wave,” that’s because they never taken on something like I did. I wasn’t trained to lobby, I wasn’t paid the big bucks that some lobbyists are paid. It was truly a grassroots, shoestring operation that had some interesting twists.

      • Hi Gail,

        I have a new mission for you – getting rid of speed limits as such!

        Think about it. 65 or 70 or 75 is just as arbitrary as 55. Why should a person be punished merely for driving faster than a number on a sign erected by government bureaucrats? Isn’t it like punishing a strong man for bench pressing more than 200 pounds? Because it’s “unsafe” for a weak man to try that?

        Why not go to a standard that is based on the person’s driving? That is to say, if a person is in control of his car and there is no objective fact (such as weaving over the double yellow or some such) to indicate he is not in control of his vehicle, why not leave him be?

        Isn’t stopping people for “speeding” because – in the opinion of some Clover, it is “unsafe” and he might hurt someone – exactly like ticketing a guy who is wearing a gun on his hip because a Clover is terrified by the sight and whines that that the guy might shoot someone?

        • Eric wrote: “Think about it. 65 or 70 or 75 is just as arbitrary as 55. Why should a person be punished merely for driving faster than a number on a sign erected by government bureaucrats? Isn’t it like punishing a strong man for bench pressing more than 200 pounds? Because it’s “unsafe” for a weak man to try that? ”

          You are ‘preaching to the choir’ with this remark. I agree completely.

          Personally I feel that any speed signs should only be advisory, and those should be a “true” suggestion. I drive an overpass everyday it has a 25 mph advisory limit (orange sign), the first time I drove the loop, I couldn’t even go that slow, but I tried because it spooked me (both the loop and the sign. After all, aren’t traffic engineers suppose to give a design speed?) I have found that in my minivan that I can safely drive the loop at 45 mph, and I’m sure a low sports car could go faster. I lose all respect for traffic engineers that are lying to us.

          Find another symbol for the dunces, I resemble your using my favorite Irish 4-leaf clover. How about a Laughing Hynea?

          • But nearly every if not all edicts of the state are like the speed limit. An arbitrary decision which benefits insiders at the expense of everyone else under the cover of some greater purpose and certified by intellectual experts who do whatever it takes to support it. The speed limit is just the tip of the iceberg of rackets.

            Every single subject I’ve taught myself on I find the state employed experts tossing aside anything which does not support the politically demanded conclusion. Nothing has changed in human society in thousands of years.

      • Hi Gail,

        You have placed your faith and your patriotism front and center here. Do you not see that these ideals conflict? When you say, “my country right or wrong”, when you pine for a globe spanning American Empire, when you say that you, “bleed red, white and blue”, do you not understand that you are making an idol of the US State?

        Please consider this passage from Nunzio: “‘Right or wrong’ says it all. It says that one is willing to do wrong, just as readily as they are to do right, because to them, it’s not the moral principle/justice that matters, but rather just blind obedience to their master- and if one is willing to do wrong for their master, it means they are in opposition to my Master”.

        Based on what you have written here, I can only conclude that the God you really worship is the US State. Is that the idea you wish to project?

        Jeremy

    • Hi, Jeremy,

      Ideas do indeed have consequences. The thing which is disturbing, is that the ideas of authoritarian collectivists have the severest consequences, -such as death, enslavement, usurpation of property and abridgement of liberty. And since the system is set up to foster these aims, often all the individual needs to do to help perpetuate or expand such nefarious practices, is to give their assent by voting.

      It is often impossible to change the worldview of people who have fully accepted and are satisfied with a given philosophy, and/or who feel that it suits their needs. When one states that “The basis for all human interaction is the government”, that is pretty much a belief that, short of a spiritual or philosophical epiphany, is not going to change, and will in-fact dictate the rest of their thoughts, beliefs and actions.

      But to anyone who may be open to the truth- whether they would see the error of such a belief, or merely come to realize that such a belief is the core philosophy of much of what they have been taught, and reject it upon realizing such, or upon seeing the superiority of the alternatives- one thing is generally true: Those who will respond to the truth, will do so regardless of how it is presented or how they discover it.

      I realized from an early age that those who peddle ideas with the greatest finesse and tact, are usually the least principled, and the most interested in just selling something/adding numbers to a roll/etc., as opposed to gaining true converts who believe with heart and mind in what is being proffered.

      I remember when I was young. Although I had very Libertarian ideas from childhood, I didn’t really know anything about “Libertarianism” as a movement, or that there were others who thought as I did, and who all had come to realize some commonly accepted ideals- so in my teens and 20’s, there were still some things which I had not yet figured out- but I’d find that I’d grow the most, and come to more light when confronted by a hostile force- be it someone (an author; talk show host; live person…) who was opposed to something which I erroneously still held to at that point, or someone who was hostile to the principles of Libertarianism which I had already formulated.

      The truth is the truth, and those who seek the truth will find it. But often, a little “jarring”; confrontation, etc. can cause us to think more about a given subject, be it a new idea which we are initially opposed to, or an assualting of an idea which we may hold at the time.

      I’ve found it to be most thought-provoking, when I’ve been incensed about something, and whatever it was thus stuck in my mind, and cuased me to think about it at random times after the initial confrontation. It is at times such as those, when you either annihilate what has incensed you, by a preponderance of sound ideas to the contrary; or you realize the invalidity of what you had believed, and the superiority of what has incensed you.

      Of course, I don’t consciously try and create such situations- but nor to I try and avoid them if such occurs in the natural course of heated discussion. You might say my mantra is: Speak the truth and let the pieces fall where they may. Ultimately, those who appreciate truth will appreciate the candor and vehemence of those who proclaimed it to them most heartily; as opposed to those who were soft and easy, but who failed to really get the full effect and urgency of the message across.

      It’s kind of like the difference between an evangelist who says “God loves you!” (Well great, I guess I don’t have to do anything!), and one who says “You’re heading for Hell! Repent and believe!” (Uh-oh! I’d better get with the program!)- The world today loves the former- but that is why Christianity has died in our culture. The world hates the latter, but it is the latter type who effectively change people’s lives and beliefs.

      tl;dr version:
      People who advocate authoritarian collectivism, and approve of it’s violent coercion, and who perpetuate it’s existence, even if they do an occasional good deed through that system, or use that system to propagate conservative ideals,….are still authoritarian collectivists who are helping to perpetuate death and oppression.

      Someone in an impoverished nation in Africa or South America may say “Yeah, that guy may be a communist, but who gave me a piece of bread when I was starving?”- and so he might warm-up to communism, which ultimately will be to his own detriment and to the detriment of all his countrymen.

      • Hi Nunzio,

        I agree with the gist of what you say but, I would be amazed if anyone who knows me thinks I “peddle ideas with the greatest finesse and tact”, ha! I never present watered down versions of the truth as I see it. However, I do try to tailor words and arguments to specific people and circumstances. For instance, until I have developed a rapport with someone, I don’t introduce myself as an anarchist or begin a conversation by claiming that government is inherently immoral. I ask questions designed to cause others to think about the nature of the government they admire. I will often accept the premises that supposedly grant legitimacy to government (consent of the governed, delegation of authority, popular will, etc…) and then ask questions like, “If I cannot withhold consent, how can I grant it”? Or, “How can I delegate a power that I do not possess”?

        Here, I feel free to reveal all of my political/philosophical beliefs. In normal society, I temper the presentation in the hope that we can reach a level of understanding that allows for further discussion.

        Jeremy

        • Hi, Jeremy,

          Oh, sorry- I did not mean to imply that YOU employed obsequious finesse and tact. I was just speaking generally. I agree with you 100% here, in that your method of asking questions and thus forcing others to think in a non-confrontational manner, is superb. I only wish I had the ability to do so- but unfortunately, us Italians, despite the best of intentions, tend to be impulsive, impatient and emotional…

          Opponent: “Yeah, but….”
          Italian: “AH-HAAaaaa! YOu SON-OF-A-BEE! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ‘YEAH, BUT’?! ” 😀

          LOL! That reminds me, of a friend of mine who is more Italian than I (His parents were from Italy, whereas my grandparents were)-Back years ago when I lived in a suburban apartment in NY, he’d come over and we’d get in a heated discussion. We could talk for hours and have a ball. I’d later find out that the neighbors were bracing for violence, and fully expecting to have to call the fuzz.

          • Ethnicity. 58% British, 22% Irish, 7% Volga-Ural region, 13% Northern Europe = 100% American. My parents were born in the South (North Carolina/Mississippi), So also, the Great, Great and Great back to the 1700s before Carolina was North and South. I have Virginia heritage, Jamestown, dating back to 1609. I had direct ancestors in the Colonies before the Mayflower arrived with 2 sets of 11th Great-grandparent. I bleed Red, White and Blue. and you guys are walking on the fighting side of me.Clover

            • I had direct ancestors in pizza parlors before Chef Boyardee made his first can of spaghetti! With a few traces of German, Irish and English. (And according to one relative who’s into geneology, maybe even a little Jew. I hope it’s not Woody Allen!)

              • Would you believe that I’d never heard of, nor tasted a pizza until my New Yorker first husband told me about them. I could not imagine what it would be like, nor if I would like the taste of it. Sounded gross to me. We had been married almost two years when we traveled to his parents home in Brooklyn. He couldn’t wait for me to sample this delicacy. Pizzas in those days were different than they are now. To start with you bought them by the slice. I don’t know if they even sold them by the whole pie. There was no choice of toppings – one kind with anchovies. I’m telling you – I wasn’t impressed, and he took it personally. LOL

                • ROTFL!!!!!!

                  Oh, that’s a good one, Gail!

                  Actually, REAL pizzas are still like that….it’s just that outside of NY/NJ, you can’t really get real pizza.

                  I’ll never forget the first time I traveled, and tried a slice of pizza somewhere else- in fact, it said “NY style pizza”- and come to think of it, it was in a small town in Nevada!

                  All I can say is, I had a good laugh!

                  Then there was this time I was in CA. and got to talking to this guy out in the middle of nowhere where i was taking a walk. He deduced from my “Brooklyn accent” that I was from NY…and long story short, I started telling him how I tried a pizza there in CA. and was flabbergasted to see that they used CHEDDAR (or some kind of yellow)cheese instead of mozzarella! I was like “THAT’S not pizza!”.

                  Turns out, the guy I was talking to was the manager of the local pizza place! (Heh, that was 30 years ago, and I remember it like it was yesterday!)

                  So you were married to a Dago from Brooklyn….. that must have been interesting! (Did he say “foncul” a lot? 😀 )

    • Thank you for that, Jeremy. I don’t agree with everything our government does, or has done. I especially was appalled by the rein of Obama. I definitely did not want either a Bush, nor Clinton Dynasty, and regardless of how good Pres. Trump may turn out to be, not his family either. I recognize and under that believing in the government is like grabbing a ‘Tiger by the tail,’ at the same time I believe that government is necessary, and it is up to each of us to keep it in check. In order to be effective we have to come across as rational and supportive, otherwise we will never experience the freedom and peace that each of us desire.Clover

      The reason that I was so effective in Washington DC was because I provided facts, studies, and came across with sincerity. I was not a ‘hot shot’ fast driving teenager, I managed to find the few ‘Blue Dog’ Democrats in the party to support the NMSL repeal, as well as the Republicans. There were a few that would support the issue, but they went too far, and because of that I knew I couldn’t get the repeal, so I distanced myself from those, some wouldn’t go far enough, so I turned my back on them as well.Clover

      I’m here to tell you whether you support the government or not – you are in fact the government itself. Remember “We the People.” That is each of us.

  6. CloverIt’s obvious that I’m not preaching to the choir. But because you guys think I’m wrong, doesn’t make it so. And get off this Hitler kick – never going to happen through our government. Maybe Kim jong un will lop an A-bomb on us, or China will walk one over, after all, they already own us – but our government will never be a Hitler, in spite of the fact that it already kills millions of unborn humans every year, and getting ready to take down us older folks with the ‘good death.’ Too many will rise up, and most already have guns, for a Hitler-like through our own government. Take heart, my dears.
    Your Clover

    • Who or what, post-Hitler/Stalin days, is responsible for the deaths of more human beings on the face ohis earth than any other entity?

      HINT: It’s the same entity which contains a WHOPPING 25% of the world’s incarcerated people, while only containing 4% of the world’s population.

  7. Very well said. 🙂 I did not vote, out of principle. Having said that, I had false hope that maybe, just maybe, The Orange One was going to be different. I knew Killary was going to get us into a war, but Trump (the question mark) made a great strategic move by reaching out to the alternative camp and the angry white male. He had many convinced and many hopeful that he was going to stick it to the puppet masters. He has, unfortunately, and to the chagrin of many a voter that took a chance on him (against their better judgement) turned out to be the (orange) turd in the punch bowl.

    • This election above all, just illustrates the folly of voting.

      That Trump was the “best” choice of all the candidates, is pretty revealing.
      That they can say ANYTHING when campaigning, and not be held at all accountable in any way…
      And that even the “Libertarian Party” candidate was a steaming turd…

      Why anyone wastes their time voting, I’ll never understand- but so much more could be accomplished by non-participation. They call us irresponsible for not participating, but in reality, their participation is what keeps the system alive.

      Imagine how we’d feel had we voted?!

      • I ended up voting. there were two maybe three things on the ballot to eliminate units of government. I couldn’t pass that up. I wrote in Ron Paul and Monty Brewster for president and vice or the other way around. Can’t remember.

        • If Ron Paul were in the mix, even I would vote for the first time in my life!

          That there was no one running who was worthy of his endorsement, pretty much told the story of this election, and of where we are in history.

      • How do I start a new thread? I want to post a partial article, it proves that there will always be someone taking control – it is a matter of making an attempt to keep what government we already have in check.

        “. . .Republicans in turn won control of all three branches of the federal government – at least the three envisioned by our Founding Fathers – for the first time in a decade.

        As a consequence, Democrats have pinned their hopes to stifle President Donald Trump’s pro-growth agenda on the unprecedented insurrection of an unchecked, de facto branch of government: the bureaucratic state.. . ”

        Unless you can find yourself a deserted island, there is no way any of you are going to have the solitude you desire, but before you do this – sign up for a 21-day stint with Discovery’s ‘Naked and Afraid.’ To get a real feel how living on your own would be like.

        • You just don’t get it. We’re not talking about “living on our own” on some deserted island in a state of nature. This is not at all the same thing as the simple right to be left alone and not be interfered with by gun-toting control freaks.

          What we are talking about is human interactions being voluntary rather than coerced by violence or threat of violence. I do not live on an island by myself. I obtain what I need from others by trading value for value. I have no desire or expectation that some cadre of psychopathic goons calling itself “government” is going to loot my neighbors at gunpoint supposedly for my own good.

          I do not see government as having any legitimacy whatsoever, no more so than any other group of gangsters running a protection racket. In fact the primary difference between government and “organized crime” is that the Mob is less violent and has far less blood on its hands. Elected thugs are still thugs. These are facts that cannot be disputed.

          Now if the federal government would restrict itself to attending to its duties enumerated in Article 1, Section 8 and otherwise leave us the hell alone to live our lives probably most of us could live with that. But that motley collection of violent control freaks is not willing to do that. Ditto for the rest of them all the way down the line to the local costumed “heroes” collecting revenue on the highway and beating people senseless, or killing them, when they sniff any non-compliance.

          I say spit on them all and feed them fish heads.

          • Democrats Turn to Bureaucrats to Stop Trump
            http://www.gingrichproductions.com/2017/04/democrats-turn-to-bureaucrats-to-stop-trump/

            As a consequence, Democrats have pinned their hopes to stifle President Donald Trump’s pro-growth agenda on the unprecedented insurrection of an unchecked, de facto branch of government: the bureaucratic state.

            Through executive orders, President Trump immediately began cutting needless red tape draped across the federal government by his predecessor. This led deliberately resistant entrenched civil servants to wage a campaign to subvert the administration’s clear intention of deregulation.

          • Dear Jason,

            Well said!

            Except for the part about feeding them fish heads.

            Most Westerners don’t know it, but fish heads are actually delicious. Chinese and other Asian peoples cook them all the time.

            They are very “Primal”. Very “survivalist”. Very “waste not, want not”. The diametric opposite of millennial snowflake squeamishness.

          • This is so, and it is your fault for not having tried to stop them. We the People – that’s you and me, are the government. If you haven’t done anything to control the government, then you are the reason that it is out of control.Clover

            • This is hilarious Gail. Instead of you and the statists like you accepting blame for building the government, cheering it on against their neighbors, using it to enforce the way they think everyone else should live and so on you blame the freedom minded people for not stopping it.

              It’s wonderful debate tactic because no matter what they did to stop it you simply set the standard higher than their efforts. Even someone who pursued politics for couple decades instead of his other interests could be labeled as not doing enough.

              Let’s face facts here, if the blame is to be with the masses it’s not the informed people who have been ridiculed and worse that are to blame but the people who accepted what they were told and supported government. Those who looked to government for solutions. Those who gave into fears of the other, their neighbors, or whatever other boogiemen the state used to justify itself.

              • BrentP, if you do anything at all, it really is enough. It is doing nothing that isn’t enough.

                “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke quotes from BrainyQuote.com.Clover

                We the People have been asleep at the wheel for a long time, and this almost succeeded in our nation being our worse fears, but they have awaken. History will tell whether President Trump is what he says he is, but whatever is to be – the people have taken a stand to break up the train wreck that we were headed for.

                You have no “facts,” BrentP – none of us do. We have opinions, beliefs, assumptions, and some of us will have a learned direction that may be taking us in the wrong direction as well. This much I have learned over my long years of life. I have witnessed many things proven and then disproved. Whenever you believe that you really have a set of facts, remember yourself that it was a scientific “fact” for centuries, and proven by the “experts” that the earth was flat. Clover

                Just today the weather experts told me that the high would be 75 and the the low 69. When I got up this morning it was 52, and never got higher than 65. So much for the experts.

                When I was young and fit there was a health food expert by the name of Adelle Davis. I swore by her, read every book she wrote, and followed her advice on food to eat. She died of cancer at the age of 70 in 1974. I threw away her books and restarted eating eggs, butter, salt, meat – everything that has been said to shorten your life and kill you. I know that I will eventually die, but at the ripe old age of 82 it will probably be of old age. Live, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

                • Ahh so you chose an escape route. I’ve encountered the ‘what have you done’ argument too many times to accept that. It’s always about a moving scale. Why didn’t you run for office? Why didn’t you win? Why couldn’t you change things after you won? It’s always demanding the next level out of people. I’ve done enough and why I still try to get through to people who knows? Maybe it’s my lot in life to spoil people’s illusions.

                  And what I referred to as a fact, is very much a fact. The people who _built_ government are the ones to blame for the present conditions. You built it, you own it. It’s not the fault of the marginalized who failed to stop it, it’s the fault of people like you who welcomed it, cheered it on, and demanded it.

                  Your opinions may have shaped what you cheered for, but you cheered for it none the less and as such you are to blame for the result. Don’t go around blaming the losers of the political battle and the apathetic for failing to stop your statists. Blame yourself and your fellow statists. You took the actions to create this monster, not them. You demanded to be kept safe or this or that. Your fellow statists even when you disagreed with them on specifics you agreed with them on the principle that government had the power. So no, it’s not opinion, it’s fact. There are those of us who want to be free and those who want society to be managed. You chose the later and it’s your fault, not those who failed to stop the managers.

            • We’re supposed to control the government? I thought the government was supposed to be keeping our human nature in check by controling us [says Gail]?

              And Gail? If you and your chillin support the government, be it right or wrong, and even take up arms against your fellow citizens and sovereign nations in the service of that government,; and seeing as people like yourself, who just go with the flow and parrot that paradigm, it becomes a little difficult to control the government and the millions of so-affected citizens who are “keeping us in check”…..

              Then again, I guess all we need is a majority (as if we lived in democracy) and enough arms to out-power our adversary, and then we could control it, eh?

              • Dear Nunzio,

                George Orwell identified the process by which authoritarian collectivists can blank out the obvious contradictions in their own thinking, and claim with perfectly straight faces to be defenders of freedom.

                Doublethink is the act of simultaneously accepting two mutually contradictory beliefs as correct, often in distinct social contexts.

                Doublethink is related to, but differs from, hypocrisy and neutrality. Also related is cognitive dissonance, in which contradictory beliefs cause conflict in one’s mind.

                Doublethink is notable due to a lack of cognitive dissonance—thus the person is completely unaware of any conflict or contradiction.

                This is how Gail is able to “reconcile” the glaring contradiction in her position: “Government is necessary because people are evil by nature. Therefore some people who are evil by nature need to be given monopoly power over other people who are evil by nature”.

                Doh…

                https://www.libertarianism.org/sites/libertarianism.org/files/social-image/fbastiat_fb_link.jpg

                • Of course, Orwell also hit the nail on the head with “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”

                  The problem in the U.S. of A. is that we have developed several classes of animals who are more equal. Make a list. (I bet Orwell’s group will make the list.)

                • Bevin, is it fun for you guys to twist everything I say?

                  Check out the movie ‘Mr. Smith goes to Washington’ with James StewartClover

                  The system isn’t perfect, but it is far better than the alternative. Or, any other system in the world.

                  I’m not sure why you feel so repressed. I’m free to do what I want. I’m free to come and go as I please. I’m free to redress my Congressional representative.

                  • Dear Gail,

                    There is a meme on the Internet that you must have seen at one time or another.

                    It reads: “When did protect and serve, become obey or die?”

                    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B7CmXGvCcAASOSV.jpg:large

                    As an early Baby Boomer and former defender of the American Dream, I lived through this sea change in America. I watched in dismayed incredulity as America degenerated into Amerika.

                    When I was younger, America was indeed far closer to the America described as “land of the free, home of the brave”. Back then, I could sing those lyrics with a lump in my throat, and without any sense of irony.

                    But that was then. This is now.

                    As the years went by, I was reluctantly forced to acknowledge that limited government was delusion, rooted in flagrant self-contradictions.

                    I was forced to admit that expecting government to remain limited, was like expecting a weaponized virus dropped in a city’s water supply, not to multiply and kill everyone who drinks from it.

                    Thinking back, I came to realize it was no accident. It was inevitable, given the inherent structural defects in limited government, i.e., any government.

                    You see, government is by definition, a “territorial monopoly on the use of force”. A monopoly of any sort, always abuses it monopoly power. A monopoly in the use of force most of all. Why would anyone ever expect otherwise?

                    A government, any government, is a “crime family with a flag”, one that demands money and obedience from anyone unlucky enough to living inside a line it drew on a map.

                    Hell, a government is worse than an ordinary crime family. An ordinary crime family is usually content to leave you alone as long as you have paid them “protection money”.

                    A government, by contrast, insists on micromanaging your life even after it has robbed you at gunpoint.

                    You say you feel free. But that is only because you have yet to reach the end of the leash that Big Brother and the Nanny State has fastened around your neck and that of 300 million other Americans.

                    The moment you attempt to move an inch beyond the length of the chain, the strangling sensation in your throat will be unmistakable.

                  • Gail, my mother says she feels free to do what she wants. Bear in mind, she doesn’t want to do much. She’s spent most of her time in an apartment or house. Only drove for a brief period of time in the 1950’s; never built/owned a business; never owned real property; has absolutely no objections to being searched or scrutinized, and generally does anything she’s told to.

                    It is only when you want to do things, and also expect to have the basic human rights, like the right to privacy and of being secure in your person, papers and effects, or the right to travel unhindered and without interference, etc. that you start to feel not so free.

                    • You are talking ‘apples and oranges,’ Nunzio. As I’ve already demonstrated, when I say “. . .my country – right or wrong. . .’ I didn’t say that I tolerate the wrong, I work to change it, I don’t sit around bitching about everything that is wrong. What I take serious is the part of the Constitution that reads “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for common defence, promote the general Wilfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

                      Unlike your mother, I am very busy, and I drive. I do all the driving since my husband is legally blind. He refers to me the as race car driver mario andretti. I tell him “Get in, Sit down, Hang on and Shut up!Clover

                      In spite of my limited physical condition, I swim, ride a stationary bike for 5 minutes, walk slowly on a tread mill for 10 minutes. I wear a fitbit to gage if I’m doing as well as I can without killing the nerve system or weaken the muscles. I am an active member (meaning that I attend their luncheons and meetings) of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), the Mayflower descendants, Colonial Dames. I do family history research for myself and my husband and at the present time I have 5 clients. I have made several trips in the last 3 years, one to Alamogordo NM, another time to Austin, TX, and the latest one was to Reno NV, where I drove through a blizzard, with heavy snow on the ground, and returned in the driving rain. At present I am planning a long trip that will go through Alamogordo NM, through El Paso, TX, down to Austin, TX over to Victoria, Tx, through to the East coast to Charleston SC, head NW to Chicago IL, up through the Dakotas. I will be the sole driver.Clover

                      As to your statement about your mother, “. . .has absolutely no objections to being searched or scrutinized, and generally does anything she’s told to. . .,” doesn’t apply to me either. While I would be compliant on the road, if I am stopped by the police – I have never fought any of my battles on the side of the road, I take them to court. I would not permit either my car or person to be searched.

                      Ask Swamprat about the last time I got a ticket, and if you need any help fighting in court I would be happy to help you. In the meanwhile, take care and as long as you are a decent, legal
                      citizen, not in the process of a bank robbery or murder, you don’t have anything to worry about.

                • Here is an answer I left at Quora, that is related to the matters we have been discussing.

                  How would libertarians get from here to their model society?
                  Would the move from current governance (in the US or any other country) be fast or slow? How would you reduce the governments role? Are there parts you’d keep?

                  Bevin Chu, long time commentator on Sino-US relations
                  Answered 5h ago

                  Q: “How would libertarians get from here to their model society?”

                  First, let’s talk about how NOT to get from here to there.

                  One cannot get from here to there by means of revolution. One will never achieve a libertarian society by overthrowing an existing government. If one is “successful” in overthrowing an existing government, the new government will simply replicate all the ills of the old government.

                  The only way to get from here to there, is through a radical transformation in mass consciousness. The only way to get from here to there, is for a critical mass of the public to come to the realization that oppressive governments only exist because they themselves assume they are “necessary” and must continue to exist, otherwise “anarchy” [sic] will prevail.

                  The problem is the near universal but pitifully mistaken delusion that governments are “necessary”, and cannot be dispensed with altogether. Far too many people believe that if the government were to suddenly vanish, people would promptly run amok and begin murdering their neighbors, as depicted in the SF movie “The Purge”. This assumption is so deeply ingrained, no historical evidence to the contrary will convince them otherwise.

                  The surprising fact is that oppressive governments do not need to be overthrown. In fact, they must not be overthrown. Anyone who believes that governments need to be overthrown, is someone who foolishly believes in government. He believes that if Government B replaces Government A, then everything will be hunky dory.

                  He doesn’t realize that the problem doesn’t lie with Government A or Government B. The problem lies with GOVERNMENT PER SE. The problem lies with any government, A, B, C, or D.

                  Governments do not need to be overthrown. Governments do not need to be replaced with “better governments”. There are no “better governments”. There are only bad governments, and worse governments.

                  The way to get from here to there is not revolution. The way to get from here to there is a radical transformation in political consciousness. People must come to realize that government is not a “necessary evil”. Government is an unnecessary evil they can live without. In fact, they can only truly begin to live when government no longer exists.

                  When a critical mass of people in any society achieve that level of political awareness, we will already “be there”. No revolution will be necessary. Because the revolution will already have taken place. It will already have succeeded wildly, inside peoples’ minds.

                  The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude
                  https://mises.org/library/politics-obedience-discourse-voluntary-servitude

                • Mr. Bevin, I’ll never understand the Doublethink paradigm. Regardless of what one calls it, it must take a specially-cultivated mind- one that has been desensitized to logic, to be able to fool oneself into thinking that concepts which contain such ludicrous contradictions, are somehow integral.

                  I dunno- do all of those who embrace such things, deaden their perception with alcohol and drugs?

                  I gave up trying to figure it out. How they can listen to political speeches, for instance, which they know are BS, and which they know were written for no other purpose than to appease them and make as many of them think that the speaker is saying what they personally want to hear; and if a stray logical thought should somehow pop-up in their mind, it is quickly squelched by “Look at all the others cheering and jumping on the bandwagon! See? This must be right. What was I thinking to question it?!”.

                  But how can their senses be so deadened, so as not to feel the shame of knowing that they are defeated, yet continuing to act as though they are right, even when they can not answer a simple logical question, and must change the subject, or get mad and go away; or use the “Yeah, but…” retort -But yet they remain undaunted.

                  I forget if this was in Hayek’s chapter on why the worst get on top, but if it isn’t, it should be, as it’s another one of their tactics: Feel no pangs of conscience and acknowledge no defeat when you are clearly defeated by a preponderance of facts; just ignore and keep going. And they do.

                  I’d love to know what goes on in their head- like when sonmeone would tell us how they were sure that Saddam had WMDs and was ‘hiding them’… and when you’d ask “Why,, if he were such a madman and had WMDs, would he hide them and not use them even when his country was being attacked and destroyed?”- and the person to whom you were speaking would just go silent for 20 or 30 seconds. The thought had never occurred to them; so they processed it; could not refute it, so they just say “I don’t know” and then keep believing exactly what they had believed before.

                  Then years later, even after it becomes acknowledged fact that of course Saddam did not have WMDs, and of course, the logic of your argument was correct, and the obvious absurdity of their argument was wrong…they again fall for the very same thing the next time it is proffered.

                  I think ultimately, Gail has given us the ultimate answer: They unquestioningly support what the state decrees, be it right or wrong.

                  Apparently though, they are not honest enough to outright say “It’s wrong”- so they argue and try to justify the wrong and make it seem as though it’s right- and of course, they can not convince those who are at all logical and who care about truth, and about supporting right, and fighting wrong, but I guess going through the motions at least helps them justify it in their own minds. But why waste their time? They know they’re not fooling us, so why not just say: “It’s wrong, but I support it, because I don’t care if it’s right or wrong”? -especially when they have already admitted such?!

                  • Dear Nunzio,

                    I’ve been busy on Quora, demolishing all manner of specious arguments for victim disarmament, euphemistically known as “gun control”.

                    One gun rights defender urged everyone to ignore any “questions” that were obvious instances of trolling.

                    I disagreed. I noted that the reason for posting rebuttals is not to convert the trolls, but to sway the undecided.

                    Not everyone who stumbles across Quora questions has their mind made up.

                    Some people, mirabile dictu, are actually open to being swayed. I know, because over the years, I’ve actually had a handful of people turn around and say that I was right.

                    • bevin, I’ve had the same experience, and no, you don’t have people knocking your door down “converting” to every point you make.

                      The only thing that seems to happen instantaneously is electricity and we all know that’s not an objective view either. The older you get the less sure you are about absolutes but libertarians can agree on some, taxes and death included with taxes being theft by the state and death being the inevitable part of life.

                      20 years or so ago, the phone rang and it was an old friend on the phone I hadn’t heard from in years. I answered and she immediately said “You were right”. Damn, said I, I guess a broken clock is correct twice a day and never thought I’d ever get that much acknowledgement.

                      Ok, I was just being facetious and we both laughed so I asked what I had been right about. She said “Vietnam, it all was a conspiracy”.

                      I was sorta shocked realizing not everybody by the mid-90’s hadn’t already knocked that off. My point being, changing opinions or anything else with people is very much an issue of time passing.

                      I think I offended my best friend recently when he mentioned Beck’s “Control”(he gave me a new copy). He has refused to use the internet up until now since his wife died and there’s no longer anything flowing in but Fox. He still subscribes to Republicanism and thinks the only reason any of us still have a gun is because of Rand Paul. Obviously we don’t agree on that subject. I told him I think Rand is a Zionist ass kisser and thinks more of Israel and got the standard Republican reply “You’re an anti-semitist”. I’ve heard this enough times to expect it now. That mindset of Republicanism(or being a Democrat) boils down to talking points, one of which is to accuse anyone who doesn’t support the militarized state of Israel is anti-semitic. And it’s mainly those who don’t do the internet but plenty still who do. The Zionist moniker just flies by their presence like a gnat in the wind. Reading the MSM, you’d naturally think everybody in Israel supports that immoral cabal just as we(sic) all support our wonderful govt. As Dewey Cox would say “It’s a long, hard walk”.

                    • Dear Mssrs. Bevin & 8Man,

                      (tl; dr version right now, as I’m a-headin’ fer the pool!)

                      Funny, but after reading Bevin’s comments, I was going to say, not only are they true, nut: “A lot of times, one will not make an instant convert, or even seem to make any headway at all; but to those who are willing to see and or who care about things like justice and freedom and truth, the seeds are often sown in what we may say, and even though someone may mock us, they may also remember what we say for years to come, and see examples of what we have said being played out, that they otherwise may have been unaware of; and one day it may hit them”.

                      And then 8Man goes and posts an example of that very thing having happened! 😀

                      Trouble is: Some take so long to see it…. Which is better than never seeing it at all; but then there are the ones who see it, and yet fall for the very same thing next week when it happens again; and who revert back to their same old argument when you try to show them that the exact same thing is indeed playing-out again.

                      Sometimes I think that those who care, will eventually come to an understanding of the truth regardless of anyone else; and those who won’t, will not be affected by what we do, because ultimately it is the love and desire of truth, freedom and justice which determin whether they will or will not be on the side of those things, or enemies of them.

                      But even preaching to the choir is a worthwhile endeavor. I remember before the internet, when I thought I was the only one who possessed this particular mindset….

                      I’m not a social person, but it’s nice to know there are others, and share a little fellowship; and that no compromise is necessary.

                    • Dear 8,

                      People seldom change at their core personality level.

                      But they definitely can change at the ideological level. I already mentioned my own renunciation of top down urban planning for “aesthetic reasons”.

                      That definitely was a case of time passing. It took time to overcome “cognitive dissonance”, and admit that it was irreconcilable with my professed libertarianism.

                    • Dear Nunzio,

                      In the Internet Age, it’s hard to know when something one posted online will have an impact.

                      Have you ever Googled your own name?

                      Ripples on a pond mang.

                    • bevin, you’re correct about changing at the core level although I think even that is changeable as you age and learn.

                      I was a big D democrat for the first part of my life. It was easy to get behind anyone who wasn’t a mean-spirited Republican. In fact, it was automatic for me although Democrats didn’t represent me either.
                      It was the 80’s that changed me politically into finally not voting. I was desperate for anything that politically represented me. Honestly, I didn’t think it would happen…..but it did and I’m grateful for it.

                    • Ah, Mr. Bevin,

                      Years ago, when I’d Google my real name, one thing would come up: An article in which I was interviewed about an industry I was involved in years ago. These days, nothing comes up. I’m careful to guard my privacy (Or, more accurately, just don’t have the need to disseminate my info through the normal channels).

                      Interesting: Googling THIS name brings up some results, and they now have me wondering if those people took their name from an obscure reference to a fictional character, as I did- or if that is their real name?!

                      You really didn’t think that I’d have a Twitter account did you? (Who am I to be hob-knobing with the POTUS?!)

                  • It’s often a waste of time to debate someone face to face in an isolated setting, say at a party.

                    But debating online can actually wind up reaching a surprisingly large number lot of people.

                    For example, I recently posted an answer that got a gratifying response:
                    6.6k Views · 254 Upvotes

                    Q: “What is the central issue in the gun control debate?”

                    The central issue behind the “gun control debate” is not “safety”.

                    The central issue is much simpler, and right under everyone’s nose. But many people do not want others to see it.

                    The central issue is whether everyone should be considered equal, and enjoy equal rights, or whether an “elite” ruling class should enjoy special rights denied an “unwashed” ruled class.

                    Never forget that whenever some politician insists that “gun prohibition is necessary for public safety”, he has absolutely no intention of “ridding the nation of guns”. He merely intends to deprive you of your guns, while retaining guns for himself or his personal bodyguards.

                    The “safety” he is concerned about is his own, not yours. That is why he sends his children to elite private schools staffed with armed security guards, while denying you the same right to protect your children with guns.

                    Barack Obama for example, insisted that “Guns don’t make you safe!” If so, why didn’t he order his Secret Service detail to get rid of their guns, and make the venues for his public appearances “gun free zones”?

                    The central issue is not “public safety”. The central issue is EQUAL RIGHTS. Those who advocate “gun control” oppose equal rights. Those who oppose gun prohibition demand it, as is their right.

                    6.6k Views · 254 Upvotes
                    Upvotes254Comments16+

                    • bevin, so true. Cops, to an astonishing degree, don’t see anything beyond their present condition. They don’t seem to understand their possessing a gun in this society could be taken from them. There’s already a BO law passed that denies guns to anyone getting psychiatric counseling. Cops were the first group to find out they were considered nothing more or less than a mundane according to that law. Now cops won’t seek counseling because they’ll likely lose their gun.

                      In a way, I can’t blame anyone for not seeking counseling because of this law.

                      I grew up with a gun in my hand. It’s hell to be disarmed. Of course I view guns as tools and use them accordingly. I’ve used a .22 to mark a ceiling to roof hole in a extremely tall ceiling(25 ft.). It gives you a spot on the roof to cut your hole for whatever need you have. I use a Garand to cut big limbs from tall trees and it beats $600 to have a tree removal do it. It’s tough to live in the country with no firearm and very few people do it. Of course country dwellers seem to have a better grasp on life.

                    • Dear 8,

                      A law that takes guns away from anyone seeking counseling eh?

                      Talk about your “law of unintended consequences”.

                      Even someone cursed with a room temperature IQ ought to realize that will only discourage people who desperately need counseling from seeking it.

                      That only increases the chances of them blowing a gasket and shooting everyone dead in a “gun free zone”.

                    • bevin, the crazy thing is they check to see if someone has a gun who seeks counseling, a really easy thing to do with cops. You’re not dealing with the sharpest knives in the drawer or the most stable either. Get that dog in a corner and make him feel defenseless….really smart. No doubt “new” psychiatry thinks its grand.

  8. America is great because it’s people property and abilities are great. If you exchanged all our politicians with North Korean politicians. Nothing would diminish, only different hands would be greased.

    If you sent all American politicians and military to North Korea and they had only the people and resources that exist there, there would be no improvement.

    Government and military are takers. They can only consume or redistribute what already exists. They contribute nothing.

    • True, Tor- except, our people aren’t so great anymore. A majority of them act more like North Koreans than real Americans these days- and that is largely because of the influences exercised upon them by our government, through the schools and the media, and other methods of social control, like welfare programs.

      Take the current condition of blacks for instance: 50 years after slavery had ended, the vast majority of black kids were born in wedlock, into homes where men were the bread-winners and head of the households. Now, 50 years after the “Civil Rights” movement [More like Malcolm X-crement’s bowel movement!] and “the Great Society” of the state “goan pay all they bills”, look at the state of ’em! Almost 80% of niglets born out of wedlock; it’s a rarity to see a black household headed by an employed male who is married to the mother his “chillen”, and something like one third of all jigs have been encarcerated by the time they’re 25. [The above was basically a paraphrase of what Thomas Sowell has stated].

      Communists use propaganda; the threat of violence; compulsory “education”; laws & regulation; and economics, to not only control the actions of people, but to control their minds, so that they will eventually come to DEMAND the very things that the state wants to shove down their throats- like Obozocare.

      Our government is practicing all of the tenets of the Communist Manifesto- and the vast majority of our people now support these actions.

      • Hey Nunzio,
        I agree with the substance of your analysis, however calling my fellow blacks niglets and jigs really wasn’t necessary… I find it a bit offensive as a black man and really don’t see the value such name calling brings to the discussion. Again, I whole heartedly agree that “civil rights” and the “Great Society” among other things were a detriment to the solidarity and stability of the black family specifically and the whole of society of the “unwashed masses” generally. If more of my contemporaries truly understood who our true enemy was and still is, we would be well on our way to 10,000% improvement of our lot.

        • Hi Mac,

          No offense intended, I can assure you. I just abhor politically-correct terminology (That, and I do get rather annoyed with the behavior of a lot of “your people”….)

          Hey, if you’ve read enough of my posts, you may have noticed that I refer to my own people as “Dagos” and “WOPs”!

          And NOTHING pisses-off liberals more than using un-PC terminology, which is one of the reasons I love it! You want to try something neat: Go on a public forum where something like N. Korea is being discussed, and defend the Koreans against our warmongering threats- only refer to the Koreans as “Gooks”.

          Everyone will call you a “hater” [because people today are taught to react to certain words and concepts, without any actual thought- i.e. programming)- Even those who advocate bombing NK and killing innocent people who have done us no harm and who pose no threat to us, will call YOU the hater, merely for using the word “Gook”, even though you would be advocating the preservation of those very people.

          Such is the absurdity of our times- and personally, I think it a positive thing when such things can be illustrated to the few who may be willing to listen or who care.

          So…how about that Thomas Sowell? 😀 (Seriously, I love that guy!)

            • Ah, you probably know this old stand-by already, then, Eric:

              How do you circumcize a hillbilly? >
              >
              >
              >
              >
              >
              >
              (Kick his sister in the jaw!)

              I love all ethnic, racial, redneck, liberal, etc. jokes- basically, making fun of ANYBODY!

              (Some of the liberal ones aren’t even really jokes, but rather, just true statements- like the G. Gordon Liddy quote: “A liberal is a person who feels a great debt towards society, which debt he proposes to pay with your money.” )

              I’ve always loved the racial and ethnic stuff- but I love it now even more, because it just drives idiot white liberals INSANE! Where I now live, a lot of people have never even been more than an hour or two away from home; never spent any time in a big city, much less the “hood”. Most have never even personally met a Jew. Many have never personally known a schvatze (Sorry, Mac! 😀 but believe me, it was one of the more conservative choices;) )- and yet, because of their programming, they will promptly volunteer to tell you all about these different groups and their problems, and “how they are all caused by de eebil white man” and “racists”; and of course, the obligatory “everyone’s the same”….. That stuff is more hilarious than any joke.

          • Ok, cool. Believe me, I get just as annoyed (or more annoyed) with “my” people for their complete idocy. Indeed, using the old slurs (especially in reference to the group of which you’ve been labeled a member) and everyone (libtards, repubtards and everyone in between on that unidimensional spectrum) flies into a cum stained, piss soaked tissy! I know this first hand! In re-reading your post, I see I might have been a bit sensitive, and can sense your frustration with the entire works, lock, stock and barrel. I’m there with you. It burns my fucking hide when race hustlers, purposeful bigots (of every color), etc. vehemently and zealously wax indignant with the absolute wrong things and offer the problem (more government intrusion) as the solution. I weep when the great majority (of every cultural background) lap it up like manna from heaven. I know plenty of you all are atheistic or agnostic, so excuse me when I pray “Come Lord, QUICKLY!!!” I swear we are all doomed to the dustbin of history if he doesn’t come and set things back as they were intended with an old liberal bent.

            • Hi Mac,

              For me, one of the depressing things about our time is that so many people have lost their sense of humor, become hypersensitive and Perpetually Aggrieved. Jerry Seinfeld’s comment that he can’t do shows at college campuses anymore says a lot.

              The racial hate thing depends, of course, on collectivism.

              X hates Y presumptively because of the slights/wrongs committed by Z. Or because of the slights/wrongs committed by Z’s ancestors – and not even them, specifically.

              Of course, the hustlers in and out of government want us thinking collectively. It keeps us from thinking too much about them.

              • Mornin’ Eric,

                You know, between the air of seriousness and walking-on-eggshells created by these libturds; the reverential god-like attitude they expect one to have, which precludes all humor; and the entitlement attitude they have created around certain classes of people, they are actually doing MORE to fan the fires of contempt than to extinguish them.

                It’s like when I used to live in the city. A lot of my neighbors were handicapped. Many of them contributed absolutely nothing to society, and were just “useless eaters” [Not because of their handicap or ailments, but because the government had made them so]- and their sense of entitlement was so outrageous….

                They just expected special and reverential treatment from everyone. They acted as if it was their RIGHT to have anything and everything they ever wanted or needed provided to them. They demanded special treatment, while acting only in their own interest, and not giving a hoot as to anyone else. Most of them acted like state-created monsters.

                I used to see them crossing the road sometimes and think that it would be great to run them down!

                In short, most of them made themselves into the most abhorrent people you’d ever want to meet [Not all- a few older ones worked and did what they had to do- one whom I knew personally, despite being in a wheelchair, had 3 jobs and helped others, and didn’t expect anything from anyone…but such were rare] to the point where to this day, I still cringe when I see a handicapped person. What the libturds made these people into, has made me discriminate against them- whereas I never would have before.

                I have a physical ailment myself- but I’m pretty good at hiding it- and those who don’t know me wouldn’t have a clue. My former neighbors though [It was a newer “accessible” building in a neigborhood of older non-accessible buildings- which i guess is why it attracted a lot of gimpers…], my former neighbors would EMPHASIZE their disabilities and use them to full advantage to get special treatment. Their behavior made me sick.

            • Hey, Mac!

              AHhhh! The glorious truth in what you say! Such truth transcends any superficial human distinctions, like race or culture- it’s just truth!

              It’s like when someone doesn’t know I’m Italian and refers to someone guido as a “greaseball” or makes a reference to organized crime when they see some pisan scheming- It’s the people who are perpetuating the negative behavior whom I have the problem with- not the people observing that and calling it what it is.

              And you know what I’ve been seeing a lot of too, lately? Now that some black conservatives and/or Libertarians are becoming a little more well-known in the mainstream, the very PC libtards who have a meltdown if one dares not use the proper most reverential PC-language when referring to “an ehtnic minority”- those very same idjits will dismiss a Ben Carson or Thomas Sowell or Walter Williams as “Uncle Toms”, merely because they do not support the radical Marxist liberal nonsense that “blacks are supposed to support”.

              And how ironic is that; that the libtards fully act as though blacks are inferior and incompetent, and need the welfare state to take care of them and protect them from society at large and their own “dysfunctional ways”?

              But, use the wrong terminology, or advocate freedom for all….and suddenly YOU’RE a “raciss”!

              And AMEN! May his kingdom come! I know our atheistic friends here like to hope that somehow libertarian society will come about- but it’s never going to happen, humanly speaking. The world gets less and less free with each passing year, and has, since the beginning. It doesn’t take a genius to see that the ultimate end of human endeavors will eventually result in worldwide destruction and mass death- and people being what they are, those who survive would just rebuild the exact same type of societies as were destroyed, as indeed has happened down through history.

              If WE did not have a Divine hope, we would have no hope for this world.

              What often passes for Christianity these days gives us a bad name, so I don’t blame those here for being leery- but I know that I am a Libertarian because I am a Christian- and historically, Libertarianism has it’s roots in Christianity, because we always seem to be the ones who are affected first and most severely by the workings of kings and states; and we have always realized that the fundamental thing is to ensure freedom for ourselves and our neighbors, so that we all may live our consciences before God. Better that we should tolerate some bad behavior by other free people, in order that freedom should abound, than that we should demand enforcement of our beliefs upon others- because such does not prevent evil anyway, but it does squelch freedom- ours, as well as theirs. And I do believe that this is the very thinking of many of our American founding fathers, but is lost on many people today (Thanks largely to the government schools)

        • Well, in my day – young Black children were called Pickaninny – which has since become racist. I don’t know if our Black brothers and sisters decided to take offense at this or rather our White Liberal brothers and sisters decided it was, and pushed it until everyone believed it. I thought it was cute, and all young children are cute whether you call them ‘rugrats,’ ‘Curtain-climbers,’ ‘munchkins,’ or whatever. Can’t we all just have fun and get along.Clover

          BTW and for anyone’s information, the word Pickaninny stems from Irish folklore of small, black faries that lived in the hills. Who doesn’t like faries?

          • It had to be the white liberals, Gail. I’m sure it was them too who invented “African-American” (I used to know people from Haiti and Jamaica who HATED that term!).

            I like “turdler” for a young black kid; or “teenaper” for an older one! 😀

            And it has nothing to do with race, or “slurs”- it’s just freakin’ funny!

            The Verazanno Bridge in NY goes between an Italian section of Brooklyn and Staten Island. I once heard a Mick refer to it as ‘The Guinea Gang-plank’ and thought it was the funniest thing ever! I didn’t get all offended and think “Oh, what a prejudiced guy who must hate all Italians!”- I just laughed!

            Once, I, very-Italian Nunzio, was with another very Italian friend, and we saw this tough-looking guido who fulfilled just about every Italian stereotype you could think of. He had some little kids with him. Later on, I was making a remark to my friend about the guy and his kids, and I referred to the kids as “Little Mafia kids”!

            Yes, if people would just relax and stop taking all of this stuff so seriously.

  9. This Gail Morrison chick is one sick momma and a perfect representation of everything that’s gone wrong with those who falsely claim to be Christians. With her comments I more fully understand the concerns Bevin and others have expressed in the past – & share some of it – when it comes to the likes of her. I.e. “Exodus 15:3 – The LORD [is] a man of war:” yeah, yeah, just ignore the whole bit about Jesus saying, ‘Love your enemies’ and such. I suppose people such as her take that to mean, ‘Love them to death’ or something, and she and her ilk are, The Hand of God alongside Ceasar as they facilitate and support wiping out Christian churches in formerly secular Mideast countries? Could you imagine her ilk happily working alongside Ceasar? No wonder The Daily Bell got such flack for their excellent piece, ‘Body of Executed Terrorist Mysteriously Goes Missing’ By Joe Jarvis – April 16, 2017.

    How freaking covetous is it to say with a straight face, “with the exception of Israel, it doesn’t bother me at all to take over the whole area, and bring them into the 21th century.” as if she were a god herself and theft is only something which ‘other’ people do. It’s sickening to read her remarks. Imho, there’s no way to use reason with a person who says such, she’s like Greg Hunter, they see ‘Isreal the government’ as if it were a Christian entity and the chosen people of God, irrespective of the words of Paul as he brought ‘The Word’ to the Gentiles, while the Sanheddrin who still rule modern Isreal (and the world?) rejected it.

    She sure does go to great lengths to describe this and that, but she never seems to get around to answering anyones questions. Funny, that. Very, bot-like. Flesh or software, sometimes, either one is the same.

    I am still kind of shocked whenever I see an Imperial christian say words such as this: “As far as being a warmonger, yes, of course I am. But I believe in winning the War, and keeping the spoils. This is how and why the USA is great”

    Imho, there’s absolutely Nothing Christian about this statement, or this woman. It’s economically ignorant, to boot. [See: Austrian Economics] But I guess that’s par for the course these days. With that, I can understand the disdain many people have towards christians, especially the hypocritical Imperial kind who work against freedom and liberty.

    She reminds me of the troll Gil [or, is it Clover?] who I noticed used to haunt Will Griggs blog, too, when she writes, “I have interacted with the government and changed laws. Now, tell me what you have done to make your life and our country more to your liking?” Very, king-like words. Very, love the system, words. As if working within the system ever changed anything for the better in the long run. Oh yay! We get to drive 65mph, everyone gets to feel more free, while in fact, everyone is made less free by other means. What a slight of hand.

    I guess she and those like her will Never understand the contrariness of a statement such as this one, “I never developed the ‘socialist mentality’” Ah-hem, oh yes you have lady, you bought into it lock, stock and barrel.

    One thing is for absolute certain, in no way, no how, is she ever close to being, a ‘Free Spirit.’ I wish it were not so, but from where I’m reading, she may be about as far from that as one can be.

    What really reminded me of Gil was when she wrote this:
    “Did it occur to you to ask me what I thought constitute a crime before deciding what I believe?” as if she’d done a real good job of discussing the facts you all presented towards her and answering questions posed. She’s a Perfect representation of an ugly american’t Imperial christian.

    Did she ever answer even ONE question?

    Is she the poster child of, “The Tyranny of Good Intentions” or what?

    “I used to have a bumper sticker that read: ‘NUKE ‘EM, TIL THEY GLOW!’”

    Pardon me, but OMG, may God have mercy on her soul for being so foul. Based on this thread, there’s absoluetly Nothing, ‘Christ-like’ about that woman, nor her views. It’s totally the opposite.

    That’s all I have to say, except – mang! – Apple PC’s suck.

    • After you get through ranting, and raving, pissing and moaning Donald J. Trump will still be president.

      I give you a challenge; Try to shift your mindset from what is wrong with the USA to what is right. List 10 things, or 5 or even 2 things that you appreciate and/or thankful for.

      • Dear Gail,

        I’m thankful for the fact that surprising large numbers of Americans still realize that the right to keep and bear arms ought to be sacrosanct, because it is a natural right essential to individual liberty.

        Other than that, not much to be glad about.

        The Republican Party has totally abandoned any pretense of support for Old Right political values, and has become the Party of RINOS, Republicans In Name Only.

        Today’s GOP is largely distinguishable from the Democratic Party. Today’s GOP is essentially a watered down version of the socialist Democratic Party. It is best described as “Democratic Party Lite”. Whatever the Democratic Party advocates, today’s GOP advocates in “kinder, gentler” form.

        The GOP establishment should change its party emblem from an elephant to a rhinoceros.

        • Bravo, Mr. Bevin!

          What you said can be simply illustrated by the fact that the Repugnantcans no longer oppose socialized medicine; they just want a version of it that works better now.

          It’s kind of like having an alternate party in Nazi Germany, who favors not gassing the Jews, but instead wants to just starve them to death.

          • Dear Nunzio,

            Obamacare. That was one of the key points I had in mind too. The GOP establishment no longer opposes it. They merely want their own version of it. “We can do it better”.

            As Ayn Rand correctly noted decades ago, the GOP is a “Me too!” political party with no firm principles of its own. It is content to be dragged inexorably leftward toward a socialist dictatorship by the Democrats.

            This may not have been true at one time, but it is now, and has been true at least since the Vietnam War era.

            The clearest evidence of the GOP’s decadence was the way the Republican National Committee treated Ron Paul during his 2012 primary campaign.

            Here was a man who was the exemplar of Old Right Republican political values. He should have been the Republican Party’s flag bearer.

            Yet the RNC evinced greater animus toward him than it did toward the Democrats. I suspect he was an embarrassing reminder to them of their own betrayal of the party’s erstwhile principles.

    • Dear Helot,

      Impressive continuity we have here on this forum. You still recall the knock down, drag out debates we had about whether organized religion encouraged authoritarianism!

      I haven’t forgotten either, even though that was several years ago. Time certainly flies.

      • Bevin, not to start a row or insult anyone but religion has to rely on brain washing since there are no hard facts. It’s always seemed to me very religious people are more easily duped into believing government dogma. I don’t say any religion is a false doctrine since I cant prove it just as it can’t be proven to my satisfaction that it is the truth.

        • I’m not offended either.

          Sadly, what goes on in most “Christian” churches, is just a model of statism/authoritarianism. Which I guess, is why so many of them seem to support statism and the military etc. -in defiance of the Word of God.

          I’ll bet you though, that a large contingent of Libertarianism can be traced back to Christianity though [i.e. real practitioners of the Bible- not large organized churches- who were more often the persecutors and real enemies of such Christians].

          For both in Europe, and here, it was primarily the Christians who objected to the forced alternate “morality” of the state and it’s moral system [laws], and who realized that in order for them to be free to worship and live life as they so choose, they must preserve freedom and restrain the state.

          Even today, it is primarily such Christians who are the first and loudest objectors to such things as national IDs and social engineering and government intrusion.

          • I do not belong to a mainline Christian church. In fact, my church have been horribly treated through their short existence. Driven from place to place, called cruel names, chased to the end of the known area of the country in the desert to die, but they didn’t. When they didn’t die, the government sent the Calvary in, that fort is still an active military base today. We have been and still are laughed at, poked fun and called a cult. Often people want to rescue me, because they think that “I don’t know about the church.” When I joined, I lost friends, and even my family member stopped talking to me. But my beliefs and salvation is more important to me than anyone’s opinion of what I should believe. Our chapels are small, we have several congregations that meet at different times during Sunday. Members of that group are asked to speak in the meetings. We do not have a paid ministry, all is volunteer. We live what we believe. There are high standards, and morals. Those who don’t comply are ex-communicated. Yet, we aren’t as strict as we once were. So in that respect, I’d say that the early Christians were NOT libertarians. Even though the early settlers came to America to worship the way they wanted, they were just as harsh, and maybe harsher than the powers in Europe.

            If we go back to the way it was, you’d not get more freedom, but less – remember the Blue Laws and Prohibition.

            • Hi Gail,

              We try to avoid religious debates here for one reason: No adherent of any faith can produce objective facts to prove the existence of their specific deity nor this deity’s (supposed) instructions/demands, etc. It’s all hearsay and opinion – belief. People become annoyed when their beliefs are challenged and it’s annoying to be unable to challenge someone’s beliefs on the basis of facts. You end up with a shouting match that Eukenaba is superior to Jebediah who takes no second seat to Hxtlopochtli who farts in the direction Allah.

            • Hi Gail,

              I’d really like to discuss authoritarian collectivism with you.

              Do you understand what the term means?

              In simple terms – and one term at a time:

              Authoritarian: The exercise of force or its threat by one person or a group of people against other people to compel their obedience.

              Collectivism: The precedence of the group over the individual.

              Now combine the two – and apply to the GOP and the Democrats and the Communists and the National Socialists (and so on).

              Do you see a common thread?

              The philosophical – the moral – difference we have is that I reject both authoritarianism and collectivism while you appear to support both of those things, so long as they are directed toward ends you personally approve of – such as “nuking them until they glow” and so forth.

              Which means that in principle, you have a great deal in common, morally, not only with Democrats but also with Communists and Nazis (and so on) since you all accept that authoritarianism and collectivism should be the basis for society and government. You wish to surrender your self to the hive – to the will of the Queen Bee – whom you believe (somehow) transmutes the will of “the majority” – or (when it goes your way) the majority (or minority) you approve of. You support the use of force against people who want no part of the hive, who simply wish to be free to be left in peace.

              I’d really like it if you would address the above – directly. I don’t want to hear about “old glory” or any other such.

              Explain why authoritarianism and collectivism are moral when practiced by the right but not the left, for instance.

              • Eric said [in response to Gail]:” I reject both authoritarianism and collectivism while you appear to support both of those things, so long as they are directed toward ends you personally approve of ”

                DIng!Ding!Ding! Ding!Ding!

                This is how most people operate today, and how our pluralistic “two party” system is kept enshrined.

                This is why someone like Gail can fight the establishment when it comes to the 55MPH speed limit, but yet not give a hoot about the concepts of Libertarianism [liberty] in general, and as it pertains to others.

                To someone like Gail, there is no problem with an authoritarian system, as long as that system works for her. It’s like “All others be damned! As long as I’m comfortable with the constraints placed upon society by the system, and as long as that system doesn’t interfere with what I want to do; and criminalizes what I don’t want other people doing….”

                And as such a system grows, eventually emcompassing more and more aspects of life, it can only end in pure tyranny- which is why we are at the place we are at today.

                • You have that partially right, Nunzio. I will tell you why. . . It isn’t that I can fight some issues, but not tolerate others – the fact of the matter is the government is necessary or we would have anarchy, so either of these systems would be bad is allowed to get out of hand. This has been so since the beginning. The government needs to be controlled at all times to keep it small and under control. I see on the highway less and less control and rudeness. People cutting each other off, driving on the wrong side, etc. Once there were unwritten rules of the road, and unless one was ignorant, they were practiced, now not so much. it is being disregarded in other areas too. The riots we are seeing – this isn’t the right to assembly or free speech, this is anarchy. ‘Black Lives Matter’ fails under the same umbrella, too.

                  Many of the posts are the same – attacking me for my opinions and/or beliefs are refusing to allow me to practice and post mine. Those that are posting, including you, Eric, are trying to “make” me believe in your philosophy or shut me down. Where is the difference?

                  • If we didn’t have government we would be ruled by sociopaths! Oh wait… um….

                    The roads are discourteous places because of government. Government has spent the last 80-90-100 years focused on speed and revenue. As a result it has become an environment where all rules only matter if you get caught breaking them. “Speed Kills” has destroyed any respect for rules but since these rules still exist conflict results.

                    We’d be better off with ruleless road system where at least we would still have civility. BTW, look up hans monderman. See what a driving environment without rules does when it replaces one with lots of rules.

                  • Dear Gail,

                    You wrote:

                    Many of the posts are the same – attacking me for my opinions and/or beliefs are refusing to allow me to practice and post mine. Those that are posting, including you, Eric, are trying to “make” me believe in your philosophy or shut me down. Where is the difference?

                    There are several differences. But I will focus merely on one, the most critical one.

                    You are the only person here attempting to justify the initiation of brute force coercion to “make everyone obey the rules”.

                    Everyone else here is a free market anarchist, and subscribes to the Non-Aggression Principle, or “NAP”.

                    It is obvious you have no familiarity with the NAP, so I will explain.

                    The non-aggression principle (or NAP, also called the non-aggression axiom, the anti-coercion, zero aggression principle or non-initiation of force) is an ethical stance which asserts that “aggression” is inherently illegitimate. “Aggression”, for the purposes of NAP, is defined as initiating or threatening the use of any and all forcible interference with an individual or individual’s property.[1] In contrast to pacifism, the non-aggression principle does not preclude violent self-defense. The NAP is considered to be a defining principle of libertarianism.[2][3][4][5]

                    You on the other hand, cling to the myth that “Government is necessary”.

                    In fact, government is not merely unnecessary, it is a moral abomination.

                    Government: a gang of thugs that demands obedience and money at gunpoint from everyone inside a line it drew on a map. https://anenemyofthestate.wordpress.com/quotations-from-chairman-zhu/

                  • Gail said: “government is necessary or we would have anarchy”.

                    Exactly.
                    Oh, wait. You’re implying that something is wrong with anarchy? That unless men elect other men to rule over them with violence, that society would break down into violence, corruption and economic manipulation, much like what we have today? Oh…

                    Gail: “This has been so since the beginning”.
                    No, it hasn’t, actually. Except for modern times, and for those who lived under the rule of the empires of the past, a good deal of human history has gone on in patriarchal societies which enjoyed great stability and freedom.

                    Gail: “The government needs to be controlled at all times to keep it small and under control.”

                    That’s an oxymoron. Which is it? Does the government control the people, or do the people control the government? And if the people control the government, why can’t they just cut out the “middleman” and control the problem people themselves?

                    Gail: “I see on the highway less and less control ”

                    Perfect example! Never before have humans been under such control and scrutiny, as they are today when traveling in their cars. There are cameras and sensors and radar guns; license plate readers; RF monitors; and cops everywhere, who are empowered to molest the innocent for something as innocuous as not wearing a seatbelt. In NJ you can get a $1000 fine for not having your pet restrained in your car, and people are ticketed for going 2MPH over the speed limit.

                    Despite this unprecedented level of governmental interference and control, as you have observed, people’s behavior has become FAR worse than it was 50 years ago, when much of the above did not exist, and you could drive cross-country doing unlimited speeds in many places (as an older friend of mine used to do in the 60’s) with no consequence and very little threat of such- or at the most, a mere ticket.

                    That is just one example of how your thesis that government restrains bad behavior, is fatally flawed.

                    In fact (and you are old enough to have personally observed this): It seems as though the more government we have, the worse the behavior of society at-large becomes.

                    If you have a government of the people, and those people are largely ill-behaved and corrupt, all that happens, is that ill-behavior and corruption become institutionalized and given legitimacy and power- and THAT is exactly what we see.

                    An then, it is doubly worse for the innocent, as they must not only battle random lawless criminals (or be prevented from doing so by the government which protects those criminals) AND they must also battle the government, which finds it more profitable to harass the average harmless citizen who has assets, than to bother real criminals.

                    I would not have much of a problem with a very limited government, such as the Founders sought to establish- but the problem is, as we have seen to be the case, that power structure can grow all too easily and rapidly, while disenfranchising those governed of their power.

                    So what is the advantage of government? We have rampant crime and social decay, and are powerless to do anything about it. The average person has more money stolen by the government each year than could ever be stolen by any robber; and is FAR more likely to be the victim of one of the governments armed agents of any variety, than they are of being the victim of a private criminal- and are even rendered powerless in many cases to defend themselves against those criminals by the very government which claims to exist for their own protection.

                    Government is thus worse than useless- it is a mechanism under which crime is perpetrated and flourishes.

                    And this is not even to mention the economic crimes, and wars which can only exist under the rule of governments.

                    Do you realize that in patriarchal times, and even during some of the early empires, like Babylon and Persia,, 1500 years could elapse with NO inflation? Inflation [legalized theft] is ANOTHER crime of modern governments. [As is fractional-reserve banking; fiat money; income tax; property tax; yada, yada- all crimes against humanity, which could not exist, but for kings and governments, and those who serve them!]

            • Gail said: ” I’d say that the early Christians were NOT libertarians. “.

              Ah, but Gail, you fail to distinguish between voluntary association as opposed to compulsion/coercion on all.

              For instance: I believe in free speech. You come to my house though, and start spewing profanity, I will kick you out. I impose standards in my own life, and over my own property, and any who will not respect those standards are not welcome.

              On the other hand, I would not want to see government dictate what I nor anyone else can say at any time or in any place, because such is not their right.

              So it follows, that if we choose to associate with a group of people, regardless of what their beliefs may be, we do so voluntarily, and as a requisite to that association, we may be required to adhere to certain beliefs and conduct in order to maintain our association with that group- be it a church, or secular club, or political association.

              Even the staunchest Libertarian is not going to tolerate someone taking the stage and giving a lecture on the merits of Marxism at a meeting of the Libertarian Club.

              Libertarianism is all about freedom of association- which, next to property rights, are pretty much the line of demarcation between freedom and tyranny.

              Liberatarians do not have to accept and tolerate everything…or anything; as a fundamental of liberty is that it is your choice as to what and whom you will accept or tolerate, be it everyone, or no one at all, or only certain ones who meet your criteria; and for no other reason than that it is your criteria which you hold, without needing to justify such to anyone else.

              This is why the Bible in general, and the Apostles/New Testament church did not advocate conversion by the sword, or by civil legislation, but rather advocate conversion by evangelism and example.

          • Nunzio, there may be some truth to what you say but for me morality is almost exclusively derived from mores, something that differs radically from culture to culture.

            • 8Man, I don’t quite “get” that. You mean morality is just something that is arrived at by what has been accepted by a majority of similar people over a given period of time so as to be associated with that group’s traditions?

              If that’s so, then head-hunting could be considered moral for natives of Myanmar; as could communism be considered moral for inhabitants of California. It all becomes relative then, and there would be no absolutes.

            • Dear 8,
              When you say “differ radically” that leaves considerable room for interpretation.

              Culture definitely plays a role, but I don’t believe it leads to utter subjectivity based on arbitrary tradition.

              Why?

              Because different cultures must still comply with natural law, which is objective.

              This is why the Golden Rule is so universal. Ancient or modern. East or West. The Golden Rule, which is closely related to the NAP, reigns supreme.

              One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself (positive or directive form).[1]

              One should not treat others in ways that one would not like to be treated (negative or prohibitive form).[1]

              • bevin, in some cultures female babies beyond a certain number are killed simply because eons of living there and nothing changing everyone knows there are only so many people who can survive. A large crop of babies would mean death for everyone at some time in the future. That’s a more that is viewed as a moral. Indeed it would be immoral for the person having a baby beyond the certain number for that season to allow it to live.

                Other cultures use a certain size ring around everybody’s neck. Once you get to a certain size you are choked to death by it. That allows the entire society to keep reproducing and survive. Should someone remove their ring they would be killed or banned from existing anywhere that society lived. Necessity is not only the mother of invention(thanks Frank…..mud sh sh shark)but becomes a more that represents the “morals” of that society.

              • bevin, and let me say this too. It’s not subjectivity based on arbitrary law. It’s very much based on objectivity, no exceptions. It varies greatly from Texas Rangers hanging a horse thief no matter what the circumstance. It’s certainly not like the subjectivity of valuing a phero’s life more than a mundane, hence the capital punishment laws regarding killing a cop. FE, FEFH’s.

                • Dear 8,
                  The scenarios you describe are unfortunately all too real.

                  But that said, I firmly believe that with civilizational progress, people of all cultures are advancing toward much less “Social Darwinian” norms.

                  It’s a big question all right. I won’t deny that.

    • Oh, really?!?!?! Do you spit on our returning warriors, and call them ‘baby-killer’ the way your grandparents did? What nerve!

      • That spitting on Vietnam vets never happened, pure propaganda, I was enslaved by the military back then and if anyone had ever spit on me or my buddies they would have been rendered incapable of ever spitting again. That meme was the start of the brainwashing to worship anything in uniform that plagues Amerika today.

        • Mike, I narrowly missed becoming a scared shitless kid in uniform. I knew lots of draftees and one single person who joined voluntarily. Gail never refers to the “returning slaves “.

          Goering rightly described war.

      • I sure would, Gail. “Returning warriors” my ass! People who drop napalm and bombs on other humans who have done them no harm, just because someone commands them to, and because they would rather inflict death and suffering on innocents, rather than suffer the consequences of disobeying a tyrant [while claiming that they are “fighting for our freedom”] are not “warriors”- they are cowards and criminals- just as those who did Hitler’s dirty work- and if being spat on is the worst thing that happens to them in this life for their crimes, then they are getting off far too easily.

          • Gail, you surprise me. I was really expecting better from you.

            Would you give the same courtesy to a burglar to who didn’t intend to kill the homeowner? “He just got in the way!”.

            I’m embarrassed for you, Gail.

            • Nunzio, you’re embarrassed for me – don’t bother. You don’t sound happy with yourself, your country or your president. I don’t know what your experiences have been, but they must have been pretty gruesome for you to be so jaded.Clover

              I do feel sorry for you, but not embarrassed for nor by you. God bless!

              • Gail,

                Please confine your posts to facts and reasoned arguments. How you feel is of no interest to anyone here. Nor your family history, etc.

                PS: Your language, your choice of words, reveals your conditioning. For example, “our” president. No. He is the president. “Our” conveys a kind of servile reverence as well as the implicit idea that “we” must line up behind – that is, support and respect – the president, because he is “our” president.

                Well, Gail, many of us do not consider him “ours” – just as I am certain you didn’t consider Obama yours.

                Why the deferential attitude toward these people? What gave Trump or Obama or any of them the right to order any of us about? To take even a cent of anyone else’s money? Because they hold office? Because other people voted for them?

                I’d like a specific answer, if you are up to it!

              • Gail, my country is not of this world; and this deranged lying warmonger is not my president, nor was any other man who has been in office in my lifetime.

                We technically do not even have a president, because a legitimate president is one who is constrained to exercise only the powers granted to that office by the Constitution- and no president of the last 150 years has ever been so restrained so as to be faithful to that oath.

                Personally, I’ve had a wonderful life, and continue to- and that continuance is only because I abstain from entanglement with this illicit and corrupt system by residing in a remote rural area, and operating strictly within what’s left of the free market.

                All Americans should be able to live so freely in “the land of the free”- but 99.5% no longer do, because of our government overstepping it’s bounds, while at the same time failing to uphold the very things which it is obligated to do- such as protecting our borders from ALL foreign invaders!

                • “and no president of the last 150 years has ever been so restrained so as to be faithful to that oath”

                  Take a good look at Coolidge. While not perfect, I believe he was the last to be aware of the limitations of the office as proposed by the founders. Others will argue that he wrote “tons” of Executive Orders. But if you look at the subjects, most are things an Executive should be able to control and apply to his own branch. As I recall, few, if any, tread on the Legislative’s territory.

                  I recommend “Coolidge – An American Enigma” by Robert Sobel. As fate would have it, we got Roosevelt Lite, then Roosevelt because a kid played tennis without socks. I don’t hold with the butterfly/tornado theory, but it is amazing how small events can result in catastrophes (like FDR).

                  • Thsnks, ARY!

                    I don’t know much about Coolidge, but I kinda sorta remember hearing some good stuff. I may just have to get that book, to fill in the void. It was a very interesting time period- in a way, much like our own, with huge upheavals in society, such as feminism, and the push towards communism, which ultimately resulted in FDR’s reign- as well as being the beginning of mass popular culture and it’s use to distribute propaganda.

                    Very interesting too, as my mother was born in 1925- so I have an actual eye-witness 350′ from where I am sitting, to the days of FDR!

          • Dear Gail,

            Speaking of “educating yourself on the use of napalm”, I guess you never heard these “jody calls” that troops shouted out while jogging in formation?

            The following verses are from “Napalm Sticks to Kids.” One of the cadences of Vietnam, its use by the U.S. military created controversy about the theme.

            Bomb the village
            Kill the people
            Throw some napalm in the square
            Do it on a Sunday morning
            Kill them on their way to prayer
            Ring the bell inside the schoolhouse
            Watch the kiddies gather round
            Lock and load with your 240
            Mow them little motherfuckers down[11]

            The messages chanted by recruits may depict brutal treatment of civilians and the themes even suggest that troops might kill civilians gathered in public areas.[12]

            • All part of the programming. The one that sticks in my head went:
              Napalm sticks to little children,
              All the children of the world
              Be they yellow black or white,
              They will light up in the night.
              Napalm sticks to little children of the world

              Pure class and civilization there.

            • You do realize that this is an anti-war song sung by the same people that spit on the troops coming home – right? The draft-dodgers. The grandparents of today’s “Pussy Parade.’ Right?Clover

              Who’s side are you on? Those that will build the nation or those that will tear it down?

              • Gail,

                Do you believe that slavery is moral?

                I ask because the draft fits the definition of slavery: People with power (the state) claiming they have the right to forcibly conscript another human being and compel him to “serve” their interests. That is slavery. The fact that it is not permanent alters nothing as regards the morality of the act.

                Furthermore, it is worse than merely enslaving a person so as to exploit their body and steal the fruits of that body’s toil. The draft entails ordering a person to kill other people he has never met, who’ve done nothing to him. You will say these people are “the enemy.” Of whom, exactly? The ruling clique? Which of course doesn’t do the murdering it insists others do on its behalf.

                If it’s “pussy” to question the right of some random strangers in this thing called “government” to threaten me with violence if I do not agree to do violence to other people I’ve never met on their behalf, then I joyfully assume the mantle of “pussy.”

                I harm none who haven’t harmed me first – or tried to.

                And you know what, Gail? By that standard, the people in “our” government are far more a threat to me than foreign people thousands of miles away whose names I don’t even know. Think about it. What “freedoms” have been “taken away” by “Islamic terrorists”?

                How many freedoms have been taken away by white (allegedly) Christian men right here in the “Homeland”?

                The Chimp took away my freedom – and yours – to travel by airplane without being subjected to a loathsome and degrading incoming felon “processing.”

                Not bin Laden.

                Just one example.

                Stop taking the bait.

              • Gail, a more noble generation, instead of spitting, would have shot those returning criminals. Murderers; torturers; and oppressors of people and sovereign nations who have done us no harm nor threatened our borders, are no different than Hitler’s SS.

                Every illicit war we enter into destroys our own country more than any enemy ever could, for it makes us hated the world over; puts our nation into deeper debt; straddles the public with a bunch of desensitized, psychotic PTSD bastards when they return from their crime spree (Most of whom end up as cops or other government agents- if they don’t become drug addicts or criminals first- or even if they do in many cases); and worst of all, it morally degrades this entire nation, collectively and individually, to the point you are seeing now in everyday life, where everyone has become so used to rationalizing pure bullshit, that words and concepts no longer have any concrete meaning, and brutality and violence havec become the accepted norm.

                What we inflict on others, is returned upon our own heads.

              • Dear Gail,

                Did you not get the part of these “jody calls” being the chants that “our men in uniform” chanted during training???

                Do you have a problem with reading comprehension?

  10. President Trump has not deflated. You do not understand how he works. You want to see establishment behavior out of President Trump, and you will not get that. Trump actually won on Repeal and Replace! He got directly behind Ryan. He promoted what a good man Ryan is and that he will get it done! And Ryan didn’t do the job. So it became Obamacare lite and then it became Ryancare. And then… Ryan is suddenly saying we can get this done!! Ryan got played, and the people (well most people) saw that Ryan was the problem, not President Trump.

    Oh ye of little faith!! The game has changed and you are not going to get the square peg to go into that round hole no matter how badly you want to!!

    • Hi Tuaca,

      Well, here’s what I know:

      Trump has not replaced (much less repealed) Obamacare. He doesn’t even talk about it anymore. It looks like Obamacare is here to stay… until we’re saddled with “single payer,” once Obamacare collapses.

      He has instead “intervened” – that is, committed an act of war – against one foreign country that in no way threatened much less attacked the U.S. and seems to be preparing to “do something” about another foreign country (North Korea) that could have horrendous consequences and, in any event, will do nothing at all to make Americans more free.

      His cabinet is lousy with the same poltroonish chickenhawks and neo-cons we would have seen had Hillary won – or The Chimp been brought out of retirement.

      I grant that he did not run as a Libertarian. But at the same time, I was hoping for not just another Republican.

      • eric, another day, more bullshit. These people arguing for their obvious Republican jackoffs don’t bother to delve into what their heroes are really doing. Ryan’s health care bill was 230 pages of backdoor gun grabbing….for all intents, the same thing as Obamacare. Both were written so that those without the big bucks to pay for the horrendous amount for expensive stuff such as life saving operations and treatments give up their rights to retain the guns they had previously legally owned.

        The Klintonistas first tried this tack and with the help of the NRA succeeded in throwing people with guns and illicit substances on the same property into possible huge prison terms and the much more rewarding forfeiture and seizure law that has been the greatest thing to ever happen to any law enforcement crowd….bar none
        Not only does it allow for taking everything someone owns, their freedom for as much as a few lifetimes and their guns.

        It’s all a huge win for law enforcement of any type or level.

        The Patriot Act simplified hell out of the process by giving LE a bye for using what had been before legal protection to the public at large.

        I love the line in The Departed where the chief cop says I Love the Patriot Act. They can verily do nothing wrong legally, great for them, not too great for the people’s rights.

  11. Eric, I can’t find the post that you wanted me to comment on. The email link doesn’t take me to it. I wanted to reply to Nunzio, too and some others.

    • Hi Gail,

      If you are a registered user this link: https://ericpetersautos.com/wp-admin/edit-comments.php takes you directly to the comments. A screen may come up displaying a “sorry, no log-in enablers provided”. Ignore this statement and put in your name and password in the space provided. If you bookmark this link, you can always go directly to the full comments page. It is much easier to navigate from this page. The comments appear chronologically. To the right of the comment there are two headings, “in response to” and “submitted on”. If you click on the date/time section under the “submitted on” heading, it takes you directly to the specific comment. I hope this helps.

      I hope to comment on the gist of your posts shortly.

      Jeremy

        • After you get through ranting, and raving, pissing and moaning Donald J. Trump will still be president.

          I give you a challenge; Try to shift your mindset from what is wrong with the USA to what is right. List 10 things, or 5 or even 2 things that you appreciate and/or thankful for.

          • Gail, the only thing “right” about the USA, is the Bill Of Rights. So as far as the country goes, I am thankful for ONE thing: That we still have a view vestiges of those rights left. They’ve pretty much all been severely compromised; and if you are deprived of them, there is nothing you can do, unless you have a decade or two and a million dollars or so to pursue every infraction to the Supreme Court…if they will even hear your case; and even then, there is no guarantee that they will uphold what is right.

            Well, maybe one thing us older farts can be thankful for, is for what we USED to have here, and the heritage of the Founders and our ancestors and the Christian culture that once was- which ultimately is where the knowledge of and appreciation for those freedoms came from. That unique heritage and what it conveys is largely gone now, thanks to the flooding of this country with immigrants from other cultures which don’t share those values, and the filth that our government promotes in the schools and through it’s coercive laws.

            We should be MOURNING the loss of what we once had here. It is too late to be thankful,. Ichabod. [The glory has departed].

            Now personally, I have so many things to be thankful to God for, that I could spend an hour rattling them off (and sometimes do in prayer) but those things have nothing to do with this country, but quite the contrary, are in spite of it.

            And of course, all of the millions of innocents killed directly by this country’s actions- from the 1000-1500 or so people murdered by cops every year; to the millions of our own citizens lives who are ruined, and whose finances and families are destroyed when they are caged wrongfully or for doing something which caused no harm nor violence to any other person….to the Injuns whom we executed for their land, or just to rid places of them; to the millions of innocent citizens of sovereign nations we’ve attacked around the world- I don’t think they can be too thankful; nor should we be thankful for what was accomplished at their cost.

            We [The USA] truly fit the Biblical criteria of the end-time Babylon.

      • “sorry, no log-in enablers provided”

        That refers to the fact that Eric’s config doesn’t allow logins from google, yahoo, facebook, wordpress, and so on to be used. It has to be a logon for this site.

    • Hi Gail,

      Leaving aside the morality of what you endorse, your assertions seem to be based on a number of demonstrably false premises. First, despite the hysteria, terrorism does not pose a significant threat to people living in America. This threat, though still very small, has been aggravated, not ameliorated, by US military involvement in the Muslim world.

      Second, you assert that we must fight them over there so as not to fight them over here. This canard, based on the idea that terrorists are motivated to attack “us” because of our “freedoms” is not borne out by empirical evidence. Such evidence strongly suggests that terrorism is motivated primarily in response to Western actions, not religious fanaticism. Of course, religious fanatics employ dogma to justify, and make attractive, terrorist martyrdom but, absent military intervention, it is unlikely that such preaching would succeed on a wide scale. Think for a moment what it must be like for a Muslim male in the aftermath 9/11. Nearly all of whom, living in an “area of conflict”, are defined by US policy as terrorists. Imagine he witnesses schools, weddings, funerals, tribal meetings, soccer games etc… bombed into oblivion. Imagine that he knows that most of those killed were not terrorists. Imagine that he lost most of his family and then had to listen to the president of the US ludicrously boast that the difference between “us” and “them” is that “we” don’t target civilians. Imagine that he knows that the US intentionally targets weddings, funerals, tribal meetings, hospitals, etc… and then justifies these attacks based on the false certainty that most of those killed were terrorists. Imagine he knows that the identification of terrorist targets is rarely based on hard intelligence but rather unverifiable, self interested tips and inherently unreliable “signature” information. Imagine he sees that “his” government is either unwilling to stop any of this or actively colluding with it. Imagine he knows that, no matter what he does, if he is killed by the US he will be classified by “us” as a terrorist. Finally, imagine that he sees only one element of his society offering any avenue for “justice”. Is it surprising that he would turn to these people? US policy has increased terrorism and made it attractive to many who, otherwise, would not be involved. “Attacking them “over there”, increases the likelihood of them attacking us “over here”.

      Third, you claim that only a show of force will prevent war. Recent history does not support this assertion. The destruction of secular regimes has increased war and violence. For all their faults, Sadam Hussein and Muammar Gadaffi prevented widespread religious violence in Iraq and Libya. By deposing secular leaders, the US has empowered Al Qaeda and led to the rise of ISIS. Going further back, the 1953 CIA coup against Mohammed Mossadegh led to the rise of religious fanaticism and the rule of the Ayatollah. Imagine if the first secular, democratically elected government had been allowed to continue. Perhaps this would have led to a more peaceful, democratic Middle East which, after all, is the stated purpose of US policy.

      It is clear that you are a Christian. Does it not bother you that the actions you endorse have led to the destruction of the oldest Christian community in the world (Iraq) and the persecution and murder of Christians in Libya? Should Assad be deposed in Syria, the only relatively safe place left for Christians in the middle east will be Israel and Iran.

      Jeremy

      • No, Jeremy, I don’t think that ISIS want to “. . .terrorists are motivated to attack “us” because of our “freedoms” . . . They want our country and they don’t want us here.

        As far as Muslims go, I have a Turkish Muslim daughter-in-law, and my son who has decided to embrace her religion. She is a wonderful person, and treats me with more respect than most Christians I know, and that includes my own family. She tells me that Muslim is a religion of ‘Peace,’ and I have no reason to doubt this. While ISIS claim to be Muslim, my sweet daughter in law says, “no!”

        I don’t like to use the word “terrorist,” as we have our own ‘Home-grown’ loonies to cope with, who may or may not be Muslims.

        I’ll tell you what I can imagine, and that is what the mothers felt and endured from the behavior of their sons. I am appalled at the arrogance and rudeness of many men today. Where did so many mothers go wrong? Is this a result of ‘The Hand that Rocked the Cradle,’ wasn’t the mother, but rather the day centers, and the Liberal run public schools?

        As to your last statement; with the exception of Israel, it doesn’t bother me at all to take over the whole area, and bring them into the 21th century.

        • Hi Gail,

          You believe, “they want our country and they don’t want us here”. Based on what? “They”, as you call them, have been very clear abut what they want. Namely, they want “us” to leave them alone. The idea that radical Muslims plan, and are poised, to take over America is a delusional fantasy. Moreover, if we left them alone it would likely lead to the waning, and eventual irrelevance, of the influence of the extreme elements of Islam. Perhaps if we left them alone many Muslims would reveal themselves to be quite like the “wonderful, respectful” person you know.

          “As to your last statement; with the exception of Israel, it doesn’t bother me at all to take over the whole area, and bring them into the 21th century”.

          So, it’s OK that hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people be murdered in order to “bring them into the 21st century”. For what, exactly? Perhaps so that Muslim men can learn to be as rude and arrogant as American men?

          Jeremy

      • Jeremy, think what Obomer administration said years ago and it was doubly driven home by the Hitleryites that you and I, both being over 40, believing in our unalienable rights and the 2nd amendment, are, by their beliefs, domestic terrorists. Of course they lump us into the Christian, bible thumping, gun toting crowd because we’re white. I often wonder what that makes my black friends. The kool-aid crowd always has some denigrating moniker for those of us who aren’t socialists, fascists, Communists, or part of the pc crowd or the government suckers. The “My Country,Love It or Leave It” crowd. Fuck em all and when the collapse comes, Let Them Eat Cake.

      • The more I see of “Gail’s” posts, the more I am convinced that “she” is just a newer gang of Yale or Harvard weenies sitting around trying to “rattle the cage”. Surely no one can be that gullible, and unable to rebuff counter-arguments or offer new ones, who has lived the many years “she” claims. Unless totally senile, of course.

        • I know Gail… she is real. She was involved with the National Motorists Association’s efforts to repeal the 55 MPH National Maximum Speed Limit back in the ’90s… I’m not sure when she became a Chimp-snuggler and warmonger…

        • Arylioa, you are wrong about all of your assumptions about me.
          Well, maybe the senile part. LOL One never knows, does one?

          Thank you, Eric, for chiming in. BTW I thought Bill Clinton/Bush, Jr./ and Obama were the Chimps and Heaven help me, if I ever snuggled up to them. Trump is nothing like them. I stand with him 100%.

          As far as being a warmonger, yes, of course I am. But I believe in winning the War, and keeping the spoils. This is how and why the USA is great, – Well, at least it was until we gave away most of what we won. I wouldn’t be surprised if Obama had given the southwestern states back to Mexico. And then, there was Spain, England and so forth. What we enjoy so much in this country, we fought for, and WON! Fact!

        • ARI, if it weren’t for what Eric says, I would agree 100% with you!

          In one post, Gail mentions that she “grew up during the Depression”- but she claims to be 82 years old, and the Depression ended pretty much in 39, at which time, Gail would have been 4 years old, and thus not even old enough at the time to even have remembered the Depression!

          That, and her tendency to dwell more on personal issues rather than deal with facts, are the classic signs of your typical internet troll/disinformation specialist. (And in my near 20 years on the internet, I think I may have suspected people of being trolls on maybe only 2 or 3 occasions….)

          And ya STILL never know- I mean, how many times do even major players in various movements turn out to be agents or provocateurs, etc.?

          Not that it matters- Our words can speak for themselves; let the readers see who has the sounder argument. But it’s funny too, that she does show up just when the site was hacked and is experiencing various glitches……

          And as someone who has lots of experience with the elderly who act much younger than their age (I come from a family of long-livers) I have to say that Gail doesn’t even seem at all even like a very young 82.

          • Well, thank you for the compliment. LOL

            I was in a sleep study and the doctor told me that I had very young brain waves for someone my age. What can I say – I’m a teen-ager at heart, only my body has grown old, and I’m fortunate that the old body hasn’t grown as old as some, and I’m still on this side of the grass.

            Let’s go into the Depression . . do you suppose that the Great Depression – which it was called that at the time, not for years later – started on October 29, 1929 and was over the next week? The results of it lingered but longer than the registered 10 years designated. And, in rural areas such as my parents came from, it lingered even longer. But I was fortunate as my Dad was a sailor and his income was $59 a month when I was born in 1935. Their rent was $11 a month. No, I don’t remember this, I was told by my parents. We were rich compared to most of the nation. One time my father walked to and from the ship to save a nickle each way and brought my mother an eggbeater. Today a bus ride would cost you $3 each way and there is no way you could buy an eggbeater for $6. Here are some things that I remember from my early years – my hand shut in the car door when I was 2 yrs old, my dolly fell off a kitchen stool and her eyes dropped out. Ever heard of the Galloping Gertie? This was a bridge that collapsed in Tacoma Washington in November 7, 1940, I was still 4 but nearing my 5th birthday. I remember driving over it, and the roar of it collapsing. My father stopped our car and I remember seeing cars slip into the water, and people climbing on their hands and knees up the collapse bridge to safety. I don’t remember if any made it or not. The effects of the Great Depression went on into the War years with rationing, government controlled transportation. Don’t tell me what I remember, because you don’t know.

            Eric has vouched for me, so you know that I’m not a troll, nor a hacker, and frankly, I resent your saying these things.

  12. Trump must be overcompensating for his tiny hands/penis by showing how macho he can be. Didn’t take long after the 59(!) missles at $1.4 million a pop to drop THE BIGGEST BOMB EVER on Shitganistan; WTF is next, an actual nuke?! I confess to hoping Drumpf would shake up the warmonger cult of D.C. but he’s done a whiplash 180 on most of his promises, should have known better – fool me 100 times, shame on me. So now he’s filling the swamp and jumping in with both feet, and all the chickenhawks cheer. I just want to live out what’s left of my life in a comfy chair with the cats on my lap, but if these psychopaths provoke a nuclear war I hope for a direct hit on myself so it’s over quickly, and may the rat bastards that cause it die slowly and painfully from radiation poisoning.

    • Ditto, Mike.

      It’s insufferable.

      Not Trump so much; he did as expected. But the lowing cattle who jeered Obama/Hillary for missile tossing and hegemony humping now cheer the Orange One.

    • Ah, Mike, just get out of that liberal shit-hole and join us in the boonies where like myself, you can only hope that they take out Taxachussetts and Neuva York, and Kalifornia. It would improve this country immensely. (Oh, and DC too, of course, but they might not, as if they got a look at “the hood” which half of it is, they’d think someone had beaten them to it).

      [Former NYer here]

    • That’s a pretty cheap shot, Mike in Boston. It is very adolescent to be pre-occupied with a guy’s size. Just hanging out in the gym locker room – checking them out, right? Well, I guess if you think with your ‘dick,’ it is difficult to reflect on how a guy can do anything constructive unless his appendage hangs to his knees, and just forget about a woman having any credibility at all – correct?

  13. I hate to have to do this on my favorite forum but here goes: I was just as appalled and sick as everyone else here when I heard about the $100m cruise missile whack job/hit/rubout.

    Then I started thinking about it- and came to some of the same conclusions that Scott Adams did about the 3D chess game being played.

    Government is not moral. It is “like fire, an untrustworthy servant and a fearful master”. And yet, we (individually, nationally, and western civilizationally if that’s a term) are truly at war.

    We are ALL individually at war for our freedoms, which is to say our souls however you define them. War is the inverse of civilized behavior. It is the negation of all higher law. Which is what offends us all so much about the nazi/commie thug cops attacking innocent people over fabricated non crimes like driving “distracted” or not wearing a suicide strap or having a couple beers with dinner before driving home. They are making war (lawfare) on us in violation of all that is civilized, decent, and good.

    By doing this thing, trump has bought himself a tactical victory and room to maneuver strategically. The communist propaganda assault of “collusion with the Russians” looks laughable now. Insane McCain and the blood chorus are temporarily appeased. Leaders around the world are looking askance at the lunatic with his finger on the trigger after he’s proved that he is ready, willing, and enthusiastic about pulling it.

    I don’t care for whatever it is that Muslims believe, but I do respect their immediate, overwhelming, and disproportionate reaction to slights and offenses to the wierd 9th century mores they seem to treasure.

    Do I like it? Not one bit. But I will watch and prepare and hope and pray that we have hired a competent manager this time in Mr Trump, and in any event he is still doing better than Bush Jong One, Willy the Turgid, Shrub 2 the sequel, and Obastard did and Hitlery would have. Of this I have no doubt, because they were only interested in attacking the things I hold dear, and I still hold to the hope that Mr Trump is defending them in a way that ultimately works.

    OK, let the saloon brawl commence. But dont call me a damned clover, them’s fightin words.

    • Hi Ernie,

      I’d like to think you’re right – but I think Trump has embraced the War Baby. Whether it’s because he decided that getting rid of Obamacare was a political loser for him and he needed a way to placate his fuuuuhhhhhhhhhhtttttttttttttttttttball loving, war-mongering Republican base… or because he was shown the Zapruder film from a different angle… is ultimately immaterial. We are back to “fightin’ fer freedom.”

      Might as well have (s)elected Hillary.

      • eric, like you I’m affeard you’re correct. Obomer didn’t get a major offensive going till late in his reign. No doubt the Shrub would have with the slightest reason he got early on by telling everyone warning him of the oncoming attack to fuck off, a good enough move back then when the howling blinded dolt Republican cheerleaders were genuflecting at his feet, kissing his ring….and his ass and lining up to give him a BJ so they could absorb some of his DNA and pass it on every “Christian” way they could. It was too much to expect voters could connect the dots to his familial CIA genealogy
        Even though the prez of Diebold publicly declared he and the employees of same were committed to giving him the election, hardly anybody was listening.

        Most of the rabid Republican Bush suckers are still committed to it even now.

        And even though the election was a sham and will always be the MSM continues unabated to do their job of total obfuscation.

        So what’s changed? Not much except the need for war continues to be ramped up before the end of the world economy so the benefactors can roll in their piles of money and continue to believe they have enough control to keep allow their shit when the rest of the world is starving but still have their guns and ammo. That alone should ensure them of only having to deal with half as many people when the masses of the cities have a to swarm into rural areas only to find weuns done gone to ground aND are hunkered down behind something better than our false fortifications. Once the herd is culled the powerful will find the ones left are out for blood and it will be theirs.

        I don’t see a pretty picture for any of us and the expensively coiffed will look just as dead as the poor hanging by their neck.

      • Forget obamacare, that’s on the head of Congress, not President Trump. Give credit where credit is due. President Trump is moving faster than a speeding bullet, in 100 or more direction – with Democrats, Liberals, and apparently Libertarians trying to shot him down from every directions. So far, he is doing everything he said he would do, and he is doing it under cost and under budget.

        • I am sorry Gail, but what are you talking about? Trump has done nothing but break promises. Repeal ObamaCare, didn’t do it. Now you say it’s on the Congress, but it was a key plank of his platform during the campaign. For you to attempt to sweep it under the rug is disingenuous at best. Tax reform, didn’t do it. Stay out of Syria, didn’t do it. Border Wall, didn’t do it. Get rid of Common core, didn’t do it. He has broken just about every single promise he made, with the exception of appointing a conservative judge to the SC. I am hugely disappointed in him.

          • In all of my 55 years [and I’ve been an observer of politics since I was a kid- I had a Nixon bumpersticker on my bike when I was 10 !] I have NEVER seen any politican break so many promises, so fast, and do the very opposite of what he said he was going to do on so many issues, as Trump has already done in just 3 months in office.

            Even that lying piece of shit Obama!

            • What has he broken? He has signed 25 Executive Orders – the most in the quickest time in history. He managed to get Neal Gorsuch into the US Supreme Court. He convince China to brace down on North Korea. He has gone after ISIS. And a number of other promises – the whole while having incredible opposition from the left and right, Democrats and GOP, and from reading this thread, the Libertarians too. Clover

              None of you guys, seem to realize or even understand how angry the American people, like myself are – and we will remove, through the elective system, the rest of the opposition. It boils down to “Get on the Trump Train,” or ‘Get run over.” If you had a candidate that would have been capable of doing better, the election would have gone different – but you don’t. So you can jump up and down, whine and cry, throw tantrums and Trump will still be president.

              • That’s hilarious. You’re cheering a president for ramping up the executive orders? That you’ll fix things through the elective system?

                The Trump Train has Goldman Sachs people running it.

                • BrentP, help me. I think I’m going to choke to death….slap me on the back, call the EMT’s. Gail is the most perverted clover I think I’ve ever seen.

                  It’s obvious she doesn’t even begin to understand the NAP. She’s all for empire building. Yaaaackkk!!!

                  • 8Man, I don’t know what it is with people like Gail. I see the same thing in my mother. They may be basically very good people, but there is a logical disconnect: They politically support things which are contrary to their own values.

                    The government can be exposed as a bunch of perverts, pedos and crooks, and yet when it comes to supposed aggressions and wars, suddenly they believe every word those filthy scumbags say.

                    They teach thier kids to uphold their moral values, and then send them off to government schools where those values are assaulted and replaced, and then demand that the kids do what they are told and earn the approval of their kommissars…..

                    It just doesn’t make any logical sense. It’s like a form a mental illness.

                    You can show them THOUSANDS of videos of disgusting cops committing outrageous crimes against our fellow citizens; show them statements where it is admitted that many such things are even a matter of policy- and yet every single time they will say “Oh, they’re not all like that; that’s just ONE bad one”.

                    They refuse to accept reality.

                    But WHY?! What has gotten so deeply embedded in their brains, that takes all precedence, to the point where they will act upon that programming rather than upon their own values and interests.

                    The only thing I can think of, is that the state is their god above all others- just as in ancient Rome, you could worship any god you chose, as long as you acknowledged Caesar as superior first.

                • Funny how the Trump train suddenly looks identical to the Hillary train, only now those who voted for Trump don’t seem to care- as if what Hillary would do is suddenly A-O-K, as long as it’s Trump who’s now doing them.

                  • Morning, Nunzio!

                    All that people like Gail care about is that they have a white male of their partei in now rather than a black dude or a harpy woman. The policies don’t matter. Just that “our team” is in. Note the fuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhtttttball parallel.

                    If Hillary had won and was bombing Syria and doing exactly what Trump has been doing, the Republicans – Gail, et al – would be stomping their feet and denouncing it all.

                    But because it’s their Dear Leader…

                    • Exactly, Eric! It is for that reason that during the election, knowing that this would likely be the scenario (just as it was with Bush) I said that it might almost sorta be better if Hitlery did win, because then the conservatives would be appalled, and might finally say enough is enough- whereas if one of their own (supposedly) gets in, he’ll have carte blanch to do pretty much anything, and it will be O-K because “He is our guy”. And that is exactly what happened.

                  • What am I overlooking here?????Clover
                    Hillary was at best a Socialist, maybe worse. She openly advocated chopping up and selling unborn children body parts. She wanted to take our guns away. In fact, she felt that the US Constitution was obsolete and wanted it done away with. She supported same gender marriages and sharing bathrooms, teaching children as young as kindergarten how to have recreational sex. Shall I go on? I do not see anything to equate her with Donald Trump. Nothing!

                    • Gail,

                      You have advocated for aggressive war and mass murder. You pine for a globe spanning American Empire. You believe that the “spoils” of such rightly belong to “us”. In short you believe that it is OK to kill people and take their stuff, so long as the killing and theft is done by the State you so admire. When people challenge these “ideas” and point out that they seem incompatible with your professed faith and supposed reverence for the constitution and the rule of law, you respond by calling us bullies and cowards.

                      You claim that you”don’t like to be challenged or misunderstood”. Well, most people here believe that you are promoting evil ideas which deserve to be challenged. As to being misunderstood, I think we understand you perfectly well. If not, please explain.

                      Perhaps the triumph of evil occurs because otherwise virtuous men come to believe that evil is good. As I see it, you are promoting evil ideas, we are resisting those ideas.

                      Jeremy

                    • Gail,

                      The Constitution is a meaningless old document that holds no water, as far as anything meaningful regarding our rights.

                      Like most Republicans, you have a moral fetish about other people’s sex lives. Do you know what the answer is? It is the restoration of property rights and the right of free association – which are two of many things that Republicans do not support.

                      Certainly, Trump does not.

                      Teach your kids whatever you consider appropriate; leave me (and my wallet) out of it. And keep your nose out of my family’s business.

                      Don’t want a transgender person to use your bathroom? Great! So long as you are the owner, you have every right to say no – or yes. This extends to allowing smoking – or not – and every other such thing on your premises. But Republicans do not believe in free association.

                • Morning, Brent!

                  You and I both know Gail personally. She is a nice lady, but like many of her generation unable or unwilling to parse exactly what is meant by such terms as “old glory” and “democracy.” She, like many people, doesn’t think conceptually. “America” (not defined) is “the greatest country on earth” and “our boys” are “fighting for freedom,” etc. She literally worships icons of state authority like the flag and suffers from both “hero” worship as well as leader worship.

                  Her mindset – her emotional state – is very much like that of the typical German in 1930s Germany. Blood and soil. Deutschland uber alles. Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer. The parallels are obvious, but she won’t see them. Because this is America – and we are free.

                  Cue Len Greenwood track.

                  • I don’t know her personally, I know of her or at least vaguely remember. I just don’t understand how someone who found that government suppressed study on speed limits could still have faith in the state. Reading those supressed speed limit studies is where my conditioning to the state started decaying rapidly.

                  • I suppose you think that I’m going to oppose you on what you wrote, O Leader?

                    I had a friend once, who had been in Hitler’s youth group – you know, the Brown shirts, etc. She told me how happy it made her. They would march, go on picnics, sing songs as they marched. She didn’t know what was going on in the country. When people say to me, “couldn’t they smell the bodies burning?” Do you smell the bodies of the 50 million unborn children burning in the incinerators?Clover

                    I also had a Jewish friend that escaped from Nazi Germany. It was interesting that her future husband, then 16 passed as any Aryan and was in the Youth group. He would sneak food for her and her mother where they were hiding, and helped her to get out of the country to American. He promise to find her, which he did and they married. He became a US Representative.

                    Yes, I am happier with my country of the past, and hope that Trump can bring some of it back. I do not expect miracles, just some of the love of country that once was a part of our culture.Clover

                    Right now I see things going more the way of Russia with the overthrow of the government and the incoming Communism, than the Fascist of Nazi Germany. History does repeat itself, and the Roman empire fell, and some day ours will too, but it would be nice if ours could last as long as the Roman and/or Greek did. – Wouldn’t it? The only thing for evil to exist, is for good men to do nothing. What are each of you doing to resist evil?

                    • Gail,

                      You have your facts wrong. The “brownshirts” were the Sturmabteilung (SA) while the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) were a separate body, under the leadership of (first) Baldur Von Schirach and later Artur Axmann.

                      And: You make the common mistake of not perceiving there is no fundamental difference between national socialism and Soviet communism. Both systems are fundamentally authoritarian collectivist. Just as both the Democrats and the Republicans are fundamentally authoritarian collectivists.

                      I keep pointing this out – and you keep ignoring it.

                    • Gail, you make it sound as though gassing the Jews was the only thing that made Hitler a bad guy.

                      It is not necessary to “smell the bodies burning” -the problem is: the establishment of collectivism/state power, and the minimalizing of the individual/family and the trading of free-market/community-based/family-based economies, for state-contolled institutions.

                      The same exact things are being practised here as were practised in Germany or the Soviet Union- from the heavy taxation, to spying, to children spending the majority of their waking hours in the care of strangers.

                      It matters not if these things come about by brute force, as they did in the USSR, or a combination of force and propaganda, such as in Germany, or voluntarily, through economic manipulation and pure propaganda, as is the case with many things here these days.

                      Our Founders knew, before there was a Hitler or USSR, that it is the love of liberty in the hearts of men, and the pursuit of that liberty in all of their dealings and institutions; and their unwillingness to tolerate compromises to that liberty, and their diligence to be ready to fight all enemies foreign and DOMESTIC who try to squalch that liberty, which keeps liberty alive.

                      A Hitler or Stalin is the merely the end result of a society losing that love of and diligence for liberty.

                      The wiser among us would so much as send our kids to a Girl Scout meeting, because just the uniforms and the agenda of those involved, along with laws foisted upon such organizations, are enough to repel those who care, and who don’t want their kids to grow up to slight the concepts of liberty for a little “fun”.

                  • Finally! Eric, you’ve shown your real hand; “The Constitution is a meaningless old document that holds no water, as far as anything meaningful regarding our rights.” And, with statement we really do not have a common thread to go on, because I feel that our nation is based on the original U.S. Constitution, without it there is not USA.

                    Second, I have no fetish, moral or otherwise about or over other people’s sex lives. I just don’t want to know about it. I do not go around telling everyone “when, how or with who,” I have sex with, why should others be legally able to push their lifestyle in my face. Or call me a bigot, because I don’t agree with them – if they kept this personal, then they would never know whether I agreed or not.

                    I have no problem with ‘Family restroom,’ which any gender could use, with or without children, by handicap, and/or Transgender. My objection is a perv lurking in a rest room.

                    I am an apartment dweller, and I would like to live in a smoke-free, dog/child-free community, but I can’t. Do you know why? It would be discrimination, so I listen to dogs barking all day, and the smell is as if I live in a kennel, kids run me over with their bikes, skate boards, etc., and the smoke comes through the wall into my apartment and then I have an asthma attack. Hotels reserve a few rooms for these issues that I’ve brought up, why is discriminatory for apartments?

                    What? “Certainly, Trump does not.” Does not What?

                    • Hi Gail,

                      Are you going to answer my questions about authoritarian collectivism?

                      Why do you – a Southerner – worship the Constitution? Has the Constitution restrained the federal government in any way whatsoever?

                    • Hello Gail,

                      You say: “I feel that our nation is based on the original U.S. Constitution”. I, and many others, have asked you to explain how your reverence for the Constitution is compatible with your attitude about war. Every US military intervention since WW2 has been unambiguously unconstitutional. The Constitution requires a declaration of war by the Congress. Nowhere in the Constitution is Congress authorized to delegate the war making power to the President. So, if you take the “original US Constitution” seriously then you should object to recent US militarism, rather than cheer it on.

                      Please note, I am not trying to prevent your views from being heard. Nor am I ridiculing your faith, beliefs and upbringing, I am asking you to support your statements. In other words, I am granting you respect by assuming that you can make such arguments. Nobody here has attempted to silence you. The fact that you can post whatever you want illustrates that fact. While you may not realize it, it is because you are obviously not an idiot that many of us wish to challenge you to think more deeply about the consistency of your beliefs.

                      Jeremy

                    • Gail, I’m kind of keen on the Constitution myself, what with it being the only thing restraining the government from absolute tyranny- but it IS essentially a meaningless piece of paper, as you buddy GWB referred to it; because now that the people have lost both the love of liberty and the POWER to demand adherence to the restraints of government prescribed by that Constitution, of what good is it?

                      The owners of private property can protest all day long that it is their right to determine the criteria of whom they will admit and who they will reject as renters of their apartments, but when the activist judge laughs at them, and decrees that somehow code and statute law are superior to what is supposed to be the law of the land, where is the power?

                      Once again, by your own words, you prove the very things we are saying.

                      Any time someone takes up arms to do the bidding of the politicians who refuse to be restrained by that which they took an oath to uphold- be it against a foreign nation, or their fellow citizens- they are just rendering that document even more powerless, as they are serving the enemy.

              • Dear Gail,

                If you are serious about “traditional American values” of small government, self reliance, and individual liberty, you really shouldn’t be cheering Trump on, any more than the libtards cheered Hillary on.

                “No matter whom you vote for, the government always wins”. And the individual who values his rights and liberty loses.

                  • Gail,

                    Every time I bring up authoritarian collectivism, you dodge.

                    Why won’t you deal with this?

                    Is it because you know, deep down, that authoritarian collectivism is indefensible?

                    • Eric, I’m having problems with the format of your website. I am getting a narrow strip of text, which is difficult to read, and even more difficult to answer. I have search for a copy of the “authoritarian collectivism,” and I have googled, and to tell you the truth, I can’t make sense out of what you are asking me, or how I should reply. Please send it in an email, so I can print it out and study it.

                      I know what both words mean, but they don’t seem to go together, do they?

                    • Gail,

                      C’mon.

                      I defined both terms and how they apply very simply and very specifically.

                      This is probably the fifth or sixth time now. One more time:

                      Authoritarian: The exercise of force or its threat by one person or a group of people against other people to compel their obedience.

                      Collectivism: The precedence of the group over the individual.

                      Now combine the two – and apply to the GOP and the Democrats and the Communists and the National Socialists (and so on).

                      Do you see a common thread?

                      The philosophical – the moral – difference we have is that I reject both authoritarianism and collectivism while you appear to support both of those things, so long as they are directed toward ends you personally approve of – such as “nuking them until they glow” and so forth.

                      Which means that in principle, you have a great deal in common, morally, not only with Democrats but also with Communists and Nazis (and so on) since you all accept that authoritarianism and collectivism should be the basis for society and government. You wish to surrender your self to the hive – to the will of the Queen Bee – whom you believe (somehow) transmutes the will of “the majority” – or (when it goes your way) the majority (or minority) you approve of. You support the use of force against people who want no part of the hive, who simply wish to be free to be left in peace.

                      I’d really like it if you would address the above – directly. I don’t want to hear about “old glory” or any other such.

                      Explain why authoritarianism and collectivism are moral when practiced by the right but not the left, for instance.

                  • Hi Gail,

                    “I’m having problems with the format of your website. I am getting a narrow strip of text, which is difficult to read, and even more difficult to answer”.

                    What you describe is an annoying bug of wordpress. It is much easier to read the comments on the full comments page. I’ve re-posted access instructions below.

                    If you are a registered user this link: https://ericpetersautos.com/wp-admin/edit-comments.php takes you directly to the comments. A screen may come up displaying a “sorry, no log-in enablers provided”. Ignore this statement and put in your name and password in the space provided. If you bookmark this link, you can always go directly to the full comments page. It is much easier to navigate from this page. The comments appear chronologically. To the right of the comment there are two headings, “in response to” and “submitted on”. If you click on the date/time section under the “submitted on” heading, it takes you directly to the specific comment. I hope this helps.

                    Jeremy

                • According to this article I surmise that we all are partially correct, and none of us wholly so.

                  I have discussed the Constitution with constitutional attorney, and it is interesting to note that they don’t all agree on the interpretation. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am not an attorney. dancer: Clover

                  I refer back to an earlier comment I made concerning Plato’s ‘Shadows on the Wall of the Cave.’ Each of us are stuck in this.

                  For those of you who continue to talk about facts, let me point out some “facts” that have been proven to be wrong. The great scientist of their day ‘proved with fact,’ that the earth was flat, that the Universe revolved around the earth, that a baby was totally formed when it left its father’s body. All these facts have been disproved.dancer: Clover

                  I happen to believe that a society needs rules, and enforcement, and it is up to the people to keep those rules reasonable, and the enforcement for the good of the community. This has not been happening, and maybe it won’t now, but please don’t burst my bubble before it needs be.

                  • Gail,

                    You “happen to believe that a society needs rules, and enforcement, and it is up to the people to keep those rules reasonable, and the enforcement for the good of the community.”

                    This statement is what Ayn Rand would have called bromide… a very dangerous bromide.

                    You “happen to believe.” Well, so? Others “happen to believe,” too. What makes your “beliefs” superior, much less enforceable on others? What makes theirs enforceable upon you?

                    “society needs rules and enforcement.” But which rules? Those you select or approve of? Based on what, exactly?

                    “…the people.” Well, who, exactly, is that? You? Me?

                    You fall for the old con that – somehow – “the people” means you and me. It actually means the people who wield power, which isn’t you or me. And even if it were, what would give us the moral right to lord it over other people? Us claiming that we are the “the people”?

                    How so?

                    “Good of the community.” The ancient justification of all tyranny. Who gets to define the “good” of “the community,” Gail? You? Logically, if “the community” decides it is “good” to enslave certain people then – ipso facto – it is “good” because “the community” has so decreed.

                    Do you see?

                    God, my teeth ache.

                    • Dear Lord . . . oh, wait – you are swearing and not praying.

                      True, true, true – who decides? This is why we have elections, and the “. . .and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”Clover

                      The person that gave me the courage to redress Congress was Madalyn Murray O’Hair. Surprised? I didn’t support her cause, however, I believe prayers should be in the home, and not in schools. So I didn’t totally object, and I didn’t realize she was an attorney until long after her cause and mine were history. But the very fact that she, single-handed took on the US Congress allowed me to believe that I could too.

                    • Hi Gail,

                      So, our rights – our liberties – are up for a vote? Whatever “the majority” decides is morally acceptable?

                      “Petition the government for redress of grievances”… Why should a free man have to beg for what is rightfully his?

                      My teeth ache even more now.

                    • Isn’t this amazing, Eric?

                      Gail is like a textbook model of the typical American today. Be they liberal, conservative, atheist, religious, rich, poor, whatever, they’re all just keeping the tyrants enshrined by constantly vying to get their interests and beliefs legislated.

                      Imagine, if instead of doing this, they all came together under the common cause of fighting the tyranny, and preserving freedom for all? Then we might have what the Founders envisioned- but there’s pretty much no chance of that, because people care more about whether their neighbor has an abortion, or about forcing their neighbor who would never have one, to pay for theirs. No one steps back and says “Maybe I should be free to do as I see fit with what is my own, and let you do the same with what is yours”.

                    • Amazing… and depressing.

                      Gail is so like all the rest. My mom is like her. Reflexive incapacity to think in terms of concepts and principles and apply them to particular things. This weird cognitive dissonance that you can’t get them to see.

                      I’ve asked Gail at least half a dozen times now to defend the authoritarian collectivism of the right given she is opposed to the authoritarian collectivism of the left.

                      But then, she is not opposed to authoritarian collectivism.

                      Just when it is used for ends she disapproves of. Otherwise, it’s great!

                      But she will not concede this. Instead, she burbles out bromides about “the people” . . . Yes, her people.

                      It’s daunting. She’s not stoopid. It’s worse. She is programmed. Cognitively crippled.

                    • Hey, Eric, at least Gail is consistent! 😀

                      The “petitioning Congress” and “voting” to determine how others should be ruled, is in keeping with her “might makes right” warmongering stance…. 😀

                      I gotta LOVE it when people use the “petition Congress” and “voting” to justify things which are totally out of context, because they don’t seem to realize that our government was never intended to have the power over people’s lives and property that it now has; so using such tactics to merely determine how government will rule over those things, is totally illegitimate, since it was never intended to have that power in the first place, and thus neither were we intended to have that power over others by extension.

                      Such a perversion of the ori9ginal meaning of such doctrines is uaually used by those who would have us believe that the US is a democracy- for that is how a democracy would operate- and the very thing that the Founders warned against.

                      What people like Gail fail to realize, is that such doctrines were established for and only pertain to the legitimate operation of government, and it’s limited sphere of power- and NOT that we can somehow use such things to allow said government to rule as a defacto democracy.

                    • Dear Nunzio,

                      “Maybe I should be free to do as I see fit with what is my own, and let you do the same with what is yours”.

                      Cue Steve Martin… (beat)…

                      “Naw!”

                    • Eric, when you think about it, EVERYONE who is not a Libertarian, is fine with authoritarian collectivism- as long as it is the brand of such that they approve of. And if we don’t like it we can “move to N. Korea or Iraq”.

                      They don’t fight authoritarian collectivism; they just vie to get it to enforce their goals and ideals.

                      Us Libertarians are the only segment of society which understands what freedom is, and advocates for it.

                    • Funny mentioned Steve Martin, Bevin. I was just thinking: If Trump were to ever get called on the carpet for doing the diametric opposite of every single thing he promised during his campaign [Like if politicians were ever held accountable], I could just picture him saying “Well EXCUUUUUUUUUUSE ME!”.

                    • bevin, teach you PARENTS well. Several times in my life I’ve been accused by older people of being “too honest”. So I should throw everything I learned as a child away?
                      Not to say my parents didn’t have their blind spots.

                      We(parents and me)used to listen to Paul Harvey every day at noon when I was in school(junior high, high school).
                      Paul beat the drum for war every day during the Vietnam “police action” but then as his son(my age)got closer to the clusterfuck he began having problems with it. It wasn’t lost on my mother….thankfully. I had already seen the light and was prepared to light out for parts unknown to avoid killing people I had nothing against.

                      This came about in the 9th grade when an assistant coach asked all the boys in civics class what they knew of Vietnam. He told us we should learn something since we’d be there soon.

                      4 years later not a single boy from my class, and it was the ONLY class in school to distinguish itself by not having one boy serve in the military. By the time we were seniors we’d smelt the rat and could identify it. The old saw about rich man goes to college and a poor man goes to work didn’t fly with us. There were no rich kids. We were all pore, but enlightened rednecks, determined to not go kill strangers for reasons we had come to see as pure blasphemy, evil as it were, doing the rich man’s dirty work. It was the ONLY class to have this distinction in our school. Amazing what thinking about something and learning what it was all about could do for just plain folk. We got no flak from our parents either.

                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztVaqZajq-I

                    • Dear 8,
                      During the Cold War, including of course the Vietnam War, I was actually a hawk.

                      I was opposed to the draft of course, because that was obviously involuntary servitude. But I did believe that fighting the Communists was the right thing to do, as long as only volunteers fought.

                      But I was deeply anti-Communist because of what Mao did to my fellow Chinese on the Mainland. Millions died.

                      Later on, I realized the defects in my minarchist thinking. I realized the Vietnam War would still have been wrong even without the draft.

                      Live and learn. Let it not be said that cognitive dissonance prevented me from changing my mind. I did it. Others can too. No excuses.

                    • bevin, good god almighty, I scrolled a mile to find a reply button. Screw you WP.

                      I can understand what you saw but communism, by it’s very definition, has never existed. It’s just another form of tyranny with the same old system of some having more than others all the way to the top where a few have it all, not a bit damned different in the endgame than fascism, socialism or any of those “isms”.

                      Funny how when I was 16 I wondered how my dad could be further out of it and when I was 40 he was a damned genius. I don’t recall telling him that in those words but I hope he knew that’s how I felt.

                    • Dear 8,

                      Funny how when I was 16 I wondered how my dad could be further out of it and when I was 40 he was a damned genius.

                      “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
                      ― Mark Twain

                      LOL!

                  • Gail said: “I happen to believe that a society needs rules, and enforcement, and it is up to the people to keep those rules reasonable, and the enforcement for the good of the community.”

                    That all seems well and fine when those who make and or enforce the rules are in agreement with you; but witness the world around you now, when the rules are being made by those who are now hostile to many of your values, in which behavior that you or I might considered illicit is given official sanction, and WE become the “criminals” for “discriminating” against those who practice the illicit behavior; or for doing something on/with our own property which the rulers deem as improper- such as having a wood stove or collecting rain water.

                    It is far better that freedom should exist for all, even if we have to allow others in the world to do things we disapprove of, so that at least WE may be free to not have to tolerate their actions in so far as it affects us, or our property, or our choice of association; and to ensure that OUR behavior can not be “criminalized”, as is currently happening, when those who oppose us become the majority.

                    And in practice, when have governments ever restrained evil? Whether we look at ancient Rome, or Medieval Europe, or pretty mcu any government of the 20th and 21st centuries, they have all caused evil to flourish, or out-right perpetrated it; and have usually persecuted and or oppressed the good/innocent/Christians.

                    As our Founders rightly observed: Once the power structure is in place to rule and control men, it is ALWAYS used for evil, and never good. The only remedy for that is to ensure that such a structure is never erected, and that the ultimate power rests with the people, over their own lives, affairs and property. Once you abridge the power/rights of others, you have established the machinery which will sooner or later claim our rights- just as when our fathers allowed the imposition of a “small tax on income, which would just affect the top few percent of the very richest citizens”, they created the machinery that would enslave every citizen of their country by confiscating at least half of the fruit of everyone’s labor.

                    • I had a difficult time finding a reply link. Why doesn’t it show up after the post sent to me, instead of the bottom of everyone’s post?

                      Anyhow, I don’t guess that any of you will come down off the Hill of dreams to the real world, but since I like walking up to a brick wall, and beating my head against it – I will try again. Clover

                      Now as Sophia Petrillo would say on ‘Golden Girls,’ Picture this . . . Let’s say you want to grow your own vegetables.
                      Would you through the seeds to the wind, or would have a garden that you’ve prepared for planting. Let’s say you’ve chosen the latter – this would be the U.S. Constitution. What does the preamble say: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish the Constitution for the United States of America. Clover

                      Ok, so instead of throwing the seeds to the win, we will tilled, hoed, matured, etc. But wait, we don’t have anything to show for our work yet, each day we must tend to our garden – water it, pull weed, keep critters out, etc.

                      You guys are wanting to reap the rewards of throwing seeds to the wind, and I’m telling you it can’t be done. The best we can do is to keep the government under control. I shudder what life in America would be like if we didn’t have the government. To think everyone would just live happily with zero control is foolish. Clover

                    • Gail,

                      I’v tried at least six times now, but you won’t respond to my questions about authoritarian collectivism, which tells me you have no response.

                      As I expected.

                      Authoritarian collectivism is indefensible; a moral atrocity. You know this, even if you won’t admit it openly.

                      So, in order to partake of it – you are compelled to avoid discussing it.

                      You evade it, instead – with bromides about “old glory” and “we the people.”

                      I suppose you also regard “taxation” as something other than theft – and believe that government has the right to rule over people who have never consented to be ruled?

                      Words matter, Gail.

                      They must be used precisely, else they have no meaning at all.

                    • CloverAaah – Nunzio, the crux of the matter is you will never get the freedom you seek, whereas, with diligence, I will be able to control the evil in the system I promote. A good movie to watch is ‘Mr. Smith goes to Washington,’ with James Steward. This my model of how to control evil.

                    • Gail, when exactly are you going to start controlling the evil via the system?

                      You’re not doing a very good job of it, because it looks more like the evil are in control of the system and are using it to control the good.

                      Yes, the heart of man is desperately wicked…. -so you think that by having a structure which gives man the ability to amass power over every aspect of other men’s lives, that somehow that will restrain evil?

                      A glance at human history and at our present world might say otherwise.

                      When all are free, at least the good can be free to lead their lives in accordance with what is good, and not be hindered, harassed or persecuted legally by others.

                      When you establish ANY kind of authoritarian system administered by men, the good are prevented from doing as their beliefs dictate, while evil is enshrined.

                      My recent posts have discussed this in more depth, but you can not refute them, so you just keep stating the same things in perpetuity, despite all of the evidence to the contrary.

                    • Dear Gail,

                      Control evil using the system?

                      How???

                      The system itself is the essence of evil. It is brute force coercion. It is some people saying “We’ve just established a government. You’re inside the line we drew on a map. So guess what? You now have to obey our rules and pay us money, understand?”

                      The system is nonsense. It is morally no different that a mob boss coming around and demanding protection money.

                      Don’t you get it???

                    • Gail is quite clearly delusional (or trolling you all – or probably both).
                      The Gails of the world vastly outnumber the free thinkers and won’t be persuaded to think outside the box. If anything, the arguing serves to solidify their narrow views.
                      People have to wake up on their own terms…

                    • Hi dirtybob,

                      Gail is very much like every single Clover I have ever engaged in discussion. They either cannot or will not acknowledge a moral principle and apply it to particular things. They seem unaware of or are unwilling to see the contradictions that riddle their “thinking.” Gail, for instance, touts liberty yet is very much an authoritarian collectivist. But she doesn’t regard her strain of authoritarian collectivism as morally despicable . . . because it’s hers. And won’t even acknowledge that it is authoritarian and collectivist. She – like every single Clover I have ever dealt with – invariably changes the subject, spouts non sequiturs; anything to avoid discussing the fundamental thing.

                      It’s not that they are stupid. It’s that their minds aren’t quite right. Quite human. They have an animal-like reactive/emotive response. Orwell called it “Duckspeak” – a noise disconnected from a conscious, thinking brain.

                      I do not say this to insult her. I think she and those like her are conditioned – and have been damaged. Purposely, by the system, to be exactly what they are.

                      I’d be much less depressed about it if Gail and those like her simply defended authoritarian collectivism as such. Gail, for instance, ought to say: Yes, I support the use of force to subordinate the individual to the collective; the individual has no rights but may be allowed certain privileges, which the collective may limit or rescind at its pleasure. I believe that certain privileges should be allowed, up to a point. I also believe that my personal beliefs and the beliefs of people who share the same should be forcibly imposed on others but that the differing views of others are vile and the people who would forcibly impose them on me are despicable cretins… etc.

                      But they never say such things.

                      I think because at some deep level, they instinctively know that to do so would unhinge their life-long programming and that could trigger a nervous breakdown.

                    • Bevin,

                      They just don’t get it. It’s like there’s something missing in the intellect which prevents them from seeing the logical conclusions of what they advocate; or that no matter how long and hard what they advocate has been practiced, it just never ever works.

                      Even my own mother. My mother and I both abhor cell phones. She won’t have one, and I just have a Tracfone which I keep in my glove compartment, which gets turned on maybe 2 or 3 times a year.

                      I’ll see my mother and rant about “zombies perpetually fooling with their phones”, and inevitably, my mother will always say “They should never have allowed people to have them! Computers either! They should have been just for business.”. 😮

                      Next words out of her mouth: “But we HAVE to do something about that lousy North Korea; They’re no good; they’re communists!”.

                      LOL- They see no contradiction of logic in such things…..

                      And no matter how you explain it, they never get it.

                      Jesus said let the wheat and the tares[weeds] grow together, and that He would separate the wicked from among the just at His 2nd coming- but so many Christians don’t even believe that; they think that Caesar is going to do the work of God on earth now- at least, in the country where they live…but not elsewhere of course. 🙂 So we have authoritarian systems, which promopte thje very evils that such people are opposed to…but yet they are blind to this.

                    • Dear Dirty Bob, Nunzio,

                      I agree. Many people really don’t get it, and never will.

                      So why do I argue with them?

                      Well, at lot of the time it’s to help third parties who might be considering the logic of free market anarchism, by providing them with common sense arguments that they can mull over.

                      Sometimes it’s because I suspect there might be a smidgen of hope that a person will be converted.

                      Once or twice that has actually happened with me online. So don’t rule it out.

                    • Exactly, Bevin!

                      Some of the arguments that have had the best impact on myself, are the ones between opposing factions, where there may have been no hope of either side convincing the other, but to an outside observer, the one making the superior argument is obvious.

                      And what’s even better, is when the person in the right is of lesser talent or intellect, but yet makes a superior argument just by reason of the fact that he is right.

                      Truth prevails- and the more arguments are posited, the more opportunities the truth has to overcome the errors.

                    • “It’s not that they are stupid. It’s that their minds aren’t quite right. Quite human. They have an animal-like reactive/emotive response. ”

                      On one hand people are made that way. it’s the design of the government run schools. The media. Etc. Intentionally done because the so-called elite see us as domesticated animals.

                      Then there is the idea that we are in a simulation. A role playing game of sorts. In all roleplaying games there are NPCs. Non-Player-Characters. They are controlled by the gamemaster or the computer. They are mostly simplistic but can serve many roles.

                      If we are in a simulation how do we tell the player characters from the NPCs? How does one know which one he is?

                  • Hi Gail,

                    “I have discussed the Constitution with constitutional attorney, and it is interesting to note that they don’t all agree on the interpretation. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am not an attorney”.

                    “The government needs to be controlled at all times to keep it small and under control”.

                    Herein lies the problem. The very entity supposedly limited by the Constitution has a legal monopoly on deciding what the Constitution means. In other words, the Federal government operates outside of the law. Words on a piece of paper cannot limit the power of the State. Only the widespread refusal of people to obey can do that.

                    When you defer to “experts” as to the meaning of the Constitution, you confirm the impotence of the document. Is it not absurd to believe that 9 government lawyers, chosen for displaying a lifetime of fealty to the exercise of government power, whose livelihood and prestige is entirely dependent on the that, can be trusted to limit that power?

                    You are obviously smart enough to understand what the Constitution says about war.

                    Jeremy

                    • Dear Jeremy,

                      The problem is not that Gail cannot understand your point.

                      The problem is that she is unwilling to understand your point.

                      Your point is of course 100% valid.

                      The Chinese have an expression that sums up the problem.

                      球員兼裁判

                      Qiúyuán jiān cáipàn

                      It means

                      “A ball player [from one team] doubling as referee”

                      As most free market anarchists have figured out, the government policing itself is like the fox guarding the hen house.

                      Too bad We the Sheeple still don’t get it.

                    • Dear Bevin,

                      So nice to hear from you, what a wonderful expression. It sums up the problem in a way any honest man should understand.

                      Cheers,
                      Jeremy

                    • Dear Jeremy,

                      It was good to see your name in the comments section here again!

                      I myself drift in and out. I have to leave once in a while, otherwise I would turn into a vegetable in the EP Auto’s garden.

              • Dear Gail,

                “None of you guys, seem to realize or even understand how angry the American people, like myself are”

                It’s hard not to laugh out loud at this. The expression, “Teach your grandmother to suck eggs” comes to mind.

                You’re the one who’s not nearly angry enough, because you’re not nearly aware enough. If you were truly aware, you’d be as angry as we are. You’d be advancing the same arguments we are, instead of defending the corrupt status quo out of blind loyalty.

                Those of us fed up to our ears with the “bipartisan” charade that is American politics are the ones who truly have reason to be angry.

                You clearly have no idea what you’re talking about. You clearly have no understanding about how the “deep state” or “shadow government” is pulling the strings from behind the screen.

                When you find out what’s really going on, come back to this forum. You’ll really have reason to be angry then.

                • Exactly Bevin.
                  I usually tell people like Gail that everything is working as it is designed to work and they got what they wanted. It’s not liked much but it is the reality of the situation. There’s not a damn thing they want to dismantle about the system or even how it fundamentally works. They just want the right people running it. For some reason with the right people running it, whomever they are, this system will be paradise on earth. Never mind its fundamental design and the reality of people who run things.

                  • Dear Brent,
                    Quite right.
                    As long as the vast majority of people in any nation demand an overriding authority that must be obeyed, they will remain slaves.
                    They will have chosen their own lot.

                    “… people ought to withdraw their consent immediately… rise up and cast off tyranny simply by refusing to concede that the state is in charge.

                    The tyrant has “nothing more than the power that you confer upon him to destroy you. Where has he acquired enough eyes to spy upon you, if you do not provide them yourselves? How can he have so many arms to beat you with, if he does not borrow them from you? The feet that trample down your cities, where does he get them if they are not your own? How does he have any power over you except through you? How would he dare assail you if he had no cooperation from you?”

                    https://mises.org/library/politics-obedience-discourse-voluntary-servitude

                • Actually, I am both unwilling and I cannot understand your point.

                  I can agree that the powers have to be kept in check, but I truly and fully believe that without a central government chaos would ensue. Clover

                  Hold onto your britches, guys – I’m quoting another Bible scripture; Jeremiah 17:9
                  King James Version (KJV)
                  9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
                  Some people toe the line because of law enforcement, some because God is looking over their shoulder, some because family or a loved one expects it of them. Without any barriers all bets are off. Clover
                  Just look over the past 30 years – I’m sure most of you can remember that far back – look at how the morals have eroded.

                  Rather than fighting the government, we all need to be fighting the ‘Watch dogs,’ that our Forefathers set up to watch the government who turned on us.

                  I understand that you can’t see the situation as I do, and I hope for all of our sake, that you will never have to endure what you are hoping for.

                  • Gail,

                    You never answer specific questions!

                    Instead, you recite your “beliefs” – and then quote scripture.

                    It’s immensely aggravating.

                    • Dear Eric,

                      As I noted earlier.

                      The problem is not that Gail cannot understand your point.

                      The problem is that she is unwilling to understand your point.

                      Her mind has already raced ahead and realized that you have her checked, and will have her checkmated in another move or two.

                      So in order to avoid losing the argument she walks away and changes the subject.

                    • If I understand correctly your meaning of Authoritarian collectivism and/or Coercive Collectivism, you believe that you can’t have everything you would like and you desire to have no controls over your life. Do I have that right? I find this idea the same as abortion. How so, you may ask? Well, the ‘Pussy Parade’ gals want free rein to kill their unborn at will, without any regards to the human that they are preventing ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ Who knows, it has worked for them, maybe it would work for you guys too. But, Authoritarianism is not the same as Collectivism, despite what some libertarian ideologues may tell me ;).Clover

                    • Gail,

                      You clearly do not understand.

                      Libertarian morality is based on something called the Non-Aggression Principle. It means, simply, that no one has the right to use or threaten to use force against another person except in self-defense against force.

                      So, yes – you’re right. I do desire to have no controls over my life. That is to say, I deny that you or any other person has any moral right to interfere with me or in any way control my life unless in self-defense against my having first used or threatened to use force against you.

                      And for no other reason.

                      Like most right-wing authoritarian collectivists, you are concerned with abortion. Well, I’m not having one anytime soon, so bugger off!

                      I also don’t own anyone’s else’s pussy – or their flesh. So I have no right to grab their pussy or otherwise mess with it, unless of course I am invited.

                    • Gail, “Libertarian morality” is a misnomer. Libertarianism is not a religion/value system.

                      It is just a political philosophy which if practriced, would ensure that we are all free to practice what ever moral beliefs we care to, in so far as they affect us and ours and our property and those who may voluntarily associate with us.

                      This abortion rhetoric is nonsense. I don’t want the government in anyone’s womb. And whether abortion is legal or not, there are always those who will have them.

                      And it’s very ironic that you see the state as the protector of the unborn, when in-fact it is the state which has legitimatized abortion, and even restricted those who would protest the practice; and it is the state which forcibly takes YOUR money, and uses some of it to even promote and pay for abortions!

                      You’re so worried about the unborn- which is really no one else’s business, other than the person who owns the womb it is in, and the guy who contributed the spooge- why aren’t you as concerned with the millions of innocent men women and children whom the state has murdered, maimed or oppressed in it’s endless wars, be they wars against foreign countries, or “wars” on our own shores, like the “War on Drugs”- or just the authoritarian culture which does not hold it’s armed goons responsible, even if they shoot an old lady in the face.?

                      The state can decide what or what doesn’t happen to your womb; Who pays for it; What constitutes marriage; the terms of marriage; how you discipline your children; how you educate them; how or if you medicate them; yada, yada, and you seem to think that they are somehow doing the work of God on earth?!

                    • And just think Gail, how many FEWER abortions there would have been had the state not been using our money to fund Planned Parenthood and host of other programs and services, and outright funding MILLIONS of abortions.

                      You’re always saying “get involved” and how the state is all about enforcing some collective moral agreed upon by a majority, on others- well here’s a perfect example of the majority supporting something which is contrary to your values…and forcing you to pay for it. How do you like it?

                    • Nunzio, the state’s actions say volumes. I read an article today that UC Davis is putting the morning after pill in vending machines. Meanwhile our dear leaders keep trying to make vitamins difficult to get.

                    • Brent, It seems that Gail fails to notice such things. She thinks that in exchange for giving the state a few of her adult kids lives to kill some foreigners, that the state will prevent some slut from bringing her future hoodlums to the light of day. I guess she ought to rethink that, eh? 🙂

                      It’s really telling though, but not surprising at all, once we understand the true nature of the state- any state. They are the merchants of death. (And much more so than some skank who kills off her baby before it’s sprung, rather than after.)

                  • Gail,

                    How, exactly, do you propose that “powers be kept in check” when this random gaggle of people who have claimed power over others without their consent does not acknowledge the right of individual people to be left in peace, not have their property taken from them against their will? When the only thing limiting to what extent the government can control the individual’s life and seize his property is its own interpretation of its powers?

                    You advocate a system in which the individual is literally the property of whatever gang has a “majority” – or even a minority – so long as they have “the vote” and it is all done by proxy, according to rules they spout and which you seem to venerate.

                    You worry there would be chaos absent a central government that controls people’s lives.

                    I’ll take my chances – as opposed to the certainty of at least a third of my income being seized by official-legal goons, who also forbid me from ever owning property via eternal taxes that amount to eternal rent payments to the state.

                    • Eric,

                      Remember the first goal of all gangs calling themselves government is to sow the seeds of chaos aka law and disorder!

                      David Ward
                      Memphis, Tennessee

                    • The true problem with government is the state of men (generic term). Getting rid of the government, if at all possible, would not get rid of the hearts of men. Yours may be pure, which I doubt that anyone is 100% so, there is a touch of larceny in us all. It is much like ‘liars,’ we all hate liars, yet we all lie. Our personal lies are just more humane, than others. Clover

                      I’m not allowed to quote from my areas of belief, but each of you can. Sheesh@!

                    • Ah yes, we need to be ruled over by evil men who steal from us and oppress us so we won’t be ruled by evil men who steal from us and oppress us.

                      Never quite understand the difference except in the former the people don’t know they are evil oppressors and go along with it willingly.

                  • Hello Gail,

                    “..but please don’t burst my bubble before it needs be”.

                    Thank you for the work you did eliminating the drive 55 nonsense. I will no longer try to “burst your bubble”.

                    Kind Regards,
                    Jeremy

                  • Really Gail? We don’t need to fight the government? The government which uses our money to promote things such as the faggot agenda, while fining and or imprisoning Christians [or anyone else] who choose to not do business with, rent to, associate with their favored group, or who dare to criticize such groups? [Some pastors are actually in JAIL in Canada for preaching against faggotry! Pastors from this country have been been denied entry into other countries, just because they are known to be anti-homo; and right here in “good ol’ Merca” business owners have been fined- in one case over $100K- for such “crimes” as refusing to bake a cake for a queer wedding!)

                    And you don’t feel that the agents of evil who promote special rights for one group, while taking away our freedom, should be resisted and fought. (In fact, you seem to think that we should serve them!)

                    And your mis-application of scripture is utterly astounding. You are really making a good case for why many on here are rather hostile towards Chritianity- or what passes for it these days.

                    Also, quoting Scripture to unbelievers who may at least in part be seeking freedom from those who would force them to conform to our value system, is rather counter-productive, -because most of us here are seeking liberty- and in order for US to have liberty to practice our beliefs and religion, and live our lives as we see fit, we must also ensure that others have the same ability- which includes the ability to reject God and/or His moral code if they so choose.

                    Which….brings us full-circle back to the original point: If you want to use an organized group of men who threaten and use violence to maintain “order” and “morality”, whose standards are we going to use?

                    If we could use your standards, then I might not be free to live my beliefs, where they differe from yours. If we were to use my standards, then you might not be free- and whether we could legislate your or my standards, many others would not be free to live their consciences before God…or without God if they so choose- just as if they could use thec government to enforce their standards, we would not be free.

                    This is precisely WHY authoritarian collectivism can not work, and why any time people try and practice it, it always ends in both the destruction of organic cultures and religion, and in genocide, because the only way it can function, is if you have a population who are all on the “same page” and who are all pulling for the same goals; and who are all onboard with the common ethic (i.e. all must believe the same things)- and in order for that to exist, such people must be created, and those who do not “go along” must be disposed of. And this is indeed exactly what we are seeing happening before our eyes, through such machinations as political-correctness; fake news; liberal education; and government regulation- and this is what YOU are supporting by supporting the state.

                    And what we see has been repeated ad-nauseum down through history- the state gets rid of those who do not put the state first as their pre-emminent god- be they be Christians, or those who are practitioners of other political philosophies, or just those who want to be left alone and not participate with the state’s BS.

                    I see no clearer evidence of the operation of Satan, than I do in the existence of governments.

                    And as Christians, we of all people should be the most diligent to guard against illicit government, for it has always been the state which has persecuted us; opposed us; and out-lawed the very things we practice (Just try disciplining your kid these days!)- and this should be no surprise, since it was the state which ultimately killed our Savior and most of the Apostles.

                    • Numzio,

                      How’s this for a story. Paraphrased from the New Testament.

                      Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights (not sure why 40 of anything is important but it appears to be a recurring theme in the bible). During this time Jesus was tempted by Satan to throw in with his lot. One of the temptations was if Jesus would renounce his Father and join Satan, Satan would give Jesus dominion of all the kingdoms of the World. Wow! That is really really tempting isn’t it? My take is this. You can’t give what you first do not have. In this passage Satan plainly states that all governments are evil and under his control/dominion/tutelage. This alone above any other passage in the bible including the hideous book of Romans should let any person professing to be Christian to not support any government and not to place any trust in them.

                      This is not the only place in the bible that warns against the rule of man over man. It is also clearly stated in the book of Exodus that the god of the Hebrews stated rule of man was not needed. However, after enough whining by the Hebrews he instituted a King but with a heavy warning.
                      The King will take the best of your fields, of your herds, of your sons for his armies and daughters for his sluts. On the day that happens DO NOT COME CRYING TO ME!

                      ‘NUFF said.

                      David Ward
                      Memphis, Teneessee

                    • Notice Alert! The following is a disclaimer!

                      I am not Christian, Hebrew, Jewish, Muslim or any other religious denomination. I, also, do not play one on TV.

                      I do believe in a creator. However, I as a creator of more than 100 pieces of music, believe the creator is much to busy to concern himself with one little speck in the universe. Just as I can’t remember all the songs I’ve written and forgotten. Notice my output is not nearly as prolific as the creator of all things! LOL! And yet I do not worry about the song I’ve lost.

                      David Ward
                      Memphis, Tennessee

                    • Well-said, David!

                      And in multiple places where God says “Ye shall keep My statutes and My ordinances, and not turn to the right hand nor to the left…”

                      If we support/do service to ANY authroitarian government, which is a competing legal system/author of ordinances and statutes, we are enforcing that competing system upon others as well as ourselves, and that is why, conversely, the state has always persecuted Christians, because we acknowledge and obey a different God, and not the god of state (Of course, that is not so true for many Christians these days though).

                      And that is why, this country was established by those seeking religious freedom, and why Christians traditionally have been the ones opposed to state power/the state over-stepping it’s constitutional bounds in America- while the liberals tend to be atheists/agnostics, who often have no problem with the imposition of any type of authoritarian moral code (legal system)- unless, of course, they happen to have the good sense to be Libertarians. Many non-Libertarian atheists are just content to use the state to keep the “church” off of their back, and don’t seem to mind when that state prescribes it’s own value system and enforces it.

                • Frankly, I don’t understand why I bother to even reply to these insipid comments by a bunch of arrogant bone-heads. Shesh!

                  The “evil,” my dear Watson, is HUMAN NATURE. You suffer from it, I do too. The government is the least of our worries, but your being so obsessed with it, you can’t see the real enemy – Humans. They are everywhere, trying to take your money, put you down, so that they look better. The women break your heart, your children spit on you, your mother (except for Nunzio) forsakes you, the grocery man puts his hand on the scale, so on and so forth. The government makes a small feeble attempt to keep a cap on all these questionable activities.
                  Clover
                  Your guys have already lost the war with the government – Don Corleone said it best, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”

                  Good luck, guys, with your paranoia. I just hope that I don’t hear about you in a Ruby Ridge situation.

                  Your Clover

                  PS Eric – I like the sparkly clover. That’s my favorite!

                  • Gail,

                    The government is the least of our worries? It has murdered people in the tens of millions! It enslaves hundreds of millions. It steals from us every day; it bullies us every day. We are not allowed to say, “no thanks” to it.

                    You say the enemy is humans. Well, Gail, who controls the government?

                    It’s not people like me and the other “paranoids” here – who do not want to rule your life or take your money. Not even a cent of it.

                    Can you say the same about yourself?

                    Government attracts the worst sort of humans – the control freaks and (eventually) the outright murderers. You would give these humans power over yourself?

                    Amazing.

                    • You are absolutely right, Eric. The government attacks the ‘control freaks,’ as the police force, mental institution, etc. Clover

                      So shall I say “It is necessary to have some order to our lives?” Because it is important. At the same time there has to be checks and balances, which is what our forefathers set up. (at least mine, I don’t know if any of the rest of the posters can trace their family back to the signers of the Constitution, or not. I can!)

                      We the People are suppose to see that these checks and balances do not get lop-sided or out of control. If we sit around doing nothing but complaining, we will find ourselves overtaken – which almost happen – usher in Donald Trump and with the grace of God he will bring this nation back to sanity. Clover

                      BTW – you guys are in the wrong section of the nation to get any real privacy. Texas has lots of wide open spaces, Nevada too, and don’t forget Alaska. Some states are worse than ever – Virginia being one of them. Nunzio has made an attempt to get away from it in Kentucky, he just didn’t go far enough.

                      Your Clover

                  • Dear Gail,

                    Are you really so blinded by mental rigidity you can’t even see the folly in your own assertions?

                    You wrote:

                    ‘The “evil,” my dear Watson, is HUMAN NATURE. You suffer from it, I do too. The government is the least of our worries, but your being so obsessed with it, you can’t see the real enemy – Humans. They are everywhere, trying to take your money, put you down, so that they look better.’

                    If the real enemy is “defective humans trying to take your money and put you down”, then why in the world would you defend government?

                    Why would you insist that an entity filled to overflowing with ” defective humans trying to take your money and put you down” be granted unchallengeable monopoly power, and obeyed unquestioningly by everyone within reach of its tentacles???

                    Do you honestly not see the jaw-dropping absurdity in your line of “reasoning”?

                    I’m guessing the answer is yes.

                    Your thinly veiled hope that we get murdered like the Weaver family at Ruby Ridge was the giveaway.

                    • Hi Bevin,

                      I’m always amazed that Statists use the “people suck” argument and don’t realize that it is an argument against, not for, government.

                      In fact, even the Bastiat quote doesn’t go far enough as implicit in his observation is the assumption that there will be a similar distribution of “bad people” in government as in the general society.

                      But, power attracts bad people and greater power attracts the worst people. As both of us have noted, there will always be bad people in society. However, these people are outliers and, without legal protection, seeking gain through force is dangerous and costly, which serves as a natural check on sociopathic tendencies. However, with government this natural check does not exist as the cost and danger is not borne by the person wielding the power.

                      Even as a minarchist, Hayek clearly understood the problem. https://fee.org/resources/the-road-to-serfdom-chapter-10-why-the-worst-get-on-top/

                      But, it is Higgs who absolutely decimates the “people suck, therefore we need government” idiocy.
                      https://www.libertarianinstitute.org/libertarianism/if-men-were-angels/

                      Jeremy

                  • If you understand the problems of human nature then why the hell do you want a giant managerial state ruling over you? Who do you think runs that but the absolute worst human nature has to offer?

                    These people cheat to retain the power an under posted speed limit gives them so what exactly do you think they are going to on larger issues where there is more for them to gain?

                    • Dear Brent,

                      So true. Bastiat nailed it long ago.

                      “If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?
                      — Frederic Bastiat

                      Yet these militant ignoramuses still don’t get it.

                    • bevin, I’m reminded of Rock Radio when the Hitleresque bureaucrat told his underling “You see that’s the great thing about being the govt. If there’s something you don’t like you simply make it illegal”.

                      Those two lines should be enough to convince anyone “their” govt. is little more or less than a collective of tiny tyrants out solely for themselves.

                      The lie of the Gulf of Tonkin incident should be proof enough to anyone there is no real journalism on a national level. No doubt Gail is still living that lie…..and will stick to it to the grave.

                    • Dear 8,

                      Yep. Unless you are on the mailing list for the annual Bilderberg meeting, it’s not “your government”, it’s their government.

                  • Yes, Gail, the problem ultimately IS human nature; and government is the enshrinement and institutionalization of humans who possess that nature. In-fact, those who aspire to rule others by coercion and violence are the ones who possess that nature in it’s most unbridled form and highest quantity.

                    Talk about arrogance! Trying to justify unprovoked violence, coercion and theft by those whose only claim to authority over strangers is that they were chosen by a group of others who possess that same human nature, is about as arrogant as it gets.

                    There is nothing arrogant about wanting to be left alone, and rejecting the absurd entitlements of those who would make a claim over your life and property, merely because you happened to be born in a particular place, and those around you chose to have it so.

                    From a Christian standpoint, this comes under the heading of “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil”, as well as the fact that God nowhere gave men the right to author their own laws and inflict them by force upon others; He instead stipulated that we follow His laws, and only gave men the right (under certain conditions) to administer those laws. And what do we find to be the case with ALL governments? They instead make their own laws, which often justify the wicked; and criminalize those who would obey God’s laws! So if you think that human governments are the antidote to human nature….you might want to rethink that.

                    Once again (as asked already many times previously) show me ONE government which has brought about good and promoted truth, and restrained evil, death, destruction, violence and oppression and error.

                    • Here’s a practical example, Gail:

                      Just humans: I would be free to not have to tolerate homos. I could refuse to serve them in my business. I could refuse to rent an apartment to them; I could refuse to bake a cake for their “wedding”; I could refuse to have one teach my kids.

                      Enter government: They decide that fags are a special class of people who are to be given special rights and privileges, and so enforce their dictates upon me. Now I must either suffer persecution if I want to resist evil, or give in and accommodate evil because of the coercion of government.

                      And you think that this is good?

                      And regardless of where one might stand as far as faggotry goes….I’m sure that all here would agree that we should all be free to determine what we will accept or reject in our own lives and dealings, and to act accordingly with all that affects our property and anything else under our jurisdiction.

                      If I have a restaurant and don’t want to serve fags, and Eric has a restaurant and wants top serve everyone, and if SRV (from another thread) has a restaurant and wants to serve only fags, that may be tolerating some evil- but under your government, we are all restrained from exercising control over what is ours in accordance with our beliefs, and therefore must all accomodate evil….or face persecution in the form of being deprived of our liberty and property, and the ability to do as we deem proper.

                      How is THAT a check on human nature? How is THAT a restraint of evil? It is the diametric opposite! Yet, this is what you support, and with the justification that it somehow restrains evil and human nature.

                    • Nunzio writes: “om a Christian standpoint, this comes under the heading of “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil”, as well as the fact that God nowhere gave men the right to author their own laws and inflict them by force upon others; He instead stipulated that we follow His laws, and only gave men the right (under certain conditions) to administer those laws. And what do we find to be the case with ALL governments? They instead make their own laws, which often justify the wicked; and criminalize those who would obey God’s laws! So if you think that human governments are the antidote to human nature….you might want to rethink that. ” It seems to me that Jesus handled that too.
                      “And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?Clover
                      They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
                      When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
                      Matthew 22:20-22 (KJV)

                      OK, you guys can now marvel at me and go one your way.

                      Your Clover

                    • Oh, I LOVE tha, Gail!

                      Take something which was a trick question, meant to “ensnare Jesus in His words”, and not only use it as doctrine, but use it to wrongly infer that whatever Caesar declares to be his, somehow magically is.

                      One of the favorite verses oft perverted by atheists and communists- second only to “Judge not…..”.

                      What a great witness….. Now you make it look to all the atheists and agnostics here, that the Bible justifies communism or any other form of totalitarianism, all because some Jews tried to outsmart Jesus by trying to force Him to utter blasphemy, or to commit a secular crime.

                      Mannaggia!!

    • Ernie, I agree with most of what you said. I might even add that I have no love for Syrians. It has been my observation that Syrians are dishonest, out-for-themselves, petty, conniving people -but I still respect the sovereignty of their nation and right to live and exist unmolested. But that’s neither here nor there…just saying.

      As far as a competent manager goes though, I’d like to “believe”, but I don’t see how spending us into further debt with yet more wars, when our economy is basically running on fumes; how fostering what will likely be $10-a-gallon gas prices, and provoking WW3 is being anywhere near a competent manager. Instead, I think the Trumpster has sealed our doom; and it’s even worse, because it illustrates the futility of the political process, in that anyone with a pulse now realizes that no matter who they voted for, the outcome would have been exactly the same.

      I actually believe that TPTB (of which Trump is now a member- whatever happened to “Drain The Swamp” and prosecute Hitlery?) actually are intentionally provoking WW3, because it is the only way out of the mess that they and they predecessors have painted us into. If TPTB just let it all collapse naturally, as it is in the process of doing, they get the blame. f they provoke WW3, they can then blame our ruin on whoever nukes us, and get to start afresh with the goal of their population reduction having been achieved, and they being able to make their sick promises/lies to a buch who who look to them as their saviors, since people never learn from the past, and always fall for the same old lies.

      • Do you guys play nice with anyone? Nunzio, you don’t want to bake a cake for queers, eh? Hey, if I was in charge, you wouldn’t have to worry about it, I would stuff them all back into the “Closet,” and put the one that sneak out into jail. There I’ve said it! I don’t play nice either. I have zero Liberal friends, no Anarchist friends, and very few Conservative ones either. I walk to my own drummer.
        Your CloverClover

        • “If I have a restaurant and don’t want to serve fags, and Eric has a restaurant and wants top serve everyone, and if SRV (from another thread) has a restaurant and wants to serve only fags, that may be tolerating some evil- but under your government, we are all restrained from exercising control over what is ours in accordance with our beliefs, and therefore must all accomodate evil….or face persecution in the form of being deprived of our liberty and property, and the ability to do as we deem proper. “Clover

          Really?!?!?!? And you don’t think that the Liberal idiots would leave you alone? Without Government, you’d have no recourse against a mob that didn’t like what you believed in.

          None of my business, just saying . . .

          Your Clover

          • The liberal idjits couldn’t force me do anything. They couldn’t confiscate my money or property or put me in a cage. If they tried, I could at least defend myself. Their only power would be to boycott my business, which would be fine.

            On the other hand, under your government which fails to restrain evil, but manages to restrain good, they can LEGALLY do all of those things to me because they would say that I am discriminating against their special class of people who need politicians and armed goons and financial control laws and taxes to make them “equal”.

            Just as you can have an abortion anywhere in this country and even have it paid for with yOUR money, but get arrested for protested abortions.

            So again, how’s that working out for ya? Ya know, this government which is elected by and run by those evil people with evil human nature, but is supposed to restrain evil and the baser tendencies of hunan nature, while being kept in check by the people whom it is restraining…???

            Funny- but every economic-socio-political system all claim to do the very same thing- from communism to democracy- they all claim to be the key to reforming mankind and taming the evils of human nature and society. How has that worked out so far?

            Funny, as far as I know, only Libertarianism is honest, in that it does not claim to be the savior of mankind, but rather just the respecter of men to enjoy their God-given rights to live as they see fit, and reap the consequences and rewards of such, and do do as we see fit with what is ours.

            And thus Libertarianism is the ONLY political philosophy which is not incompetition with God- as it doesn’t claim to be our savior (But it allows us the freedom to serve our Savior if we so choose), whereas every other system claims to be a savior, and thus can not tolerate the competition of another Savior Who claims exclusivity.

            This is why all authoritarian governments are of Satan, and why they ultimately, sooner or later persecute Christians and out-law our practices.

            • I used to lean towards Libertarian-ism, until I met you guys. Man, I’m running the opposite direction as fast as I can.

              I came from a generation where a classmate of mine wrote the book, ‘None Dare call it a Conspiracy.’ He died a mysterious death. I belonged to the John Birch Society and then I met this group here. Do any of you get out in the world? Do you watch TV or news or anything? Or do you just sit chained to your chair and watch the shadows on the wall?

              • PS The Clover
                I forgot to put that in, and talk about controlling – why do I have to put 15 or more words in a reply.

                • I see you as more of a dandelion than a clover, Gail. 😀

                  A reply has to contain at least 15 words, because WordPress is an authoritarian-collectivist Nazi-fascist anti-free-speech control group! 😉

                  • Nuzio, WP prevented me from posting in a new way yesterday. It just came up with a single word on the go back page “conflict”.

                    Who the hell knows what that means? Not me…..and probably not WP. I have to remind myself that WP has to work with the most egregious entity associated with the internet, Google.

                    Of course, through hook and crook, Google insinuates itself into everything including driving down the road you live on and taking pictures of your house while a satellite takes pictures of your house.

                    I was struck by how ominous Google is to freedom this last round in the patch. I saw those cars everywhere and nearly had wrecks with them being driven so badly. The clovers that drive them seem to be doing everything but paying attention to traffic. They’re the very ones who act as if a 40 ton truck could stop and turn like their little shit cars they use.

                    I see Gail more as a bull nettle. Chop one down and next thing you know it’s back. I finally figured the phenomena out when I was a kid and had to dig a 7 foot deep hole beside a well casing to set a jet pump in since it wouldn’t pull the entire water column. There was a bull nettle right in the middle of it. At 7 feet deep I finally reached the end of its tap root…..amazing. When they did a 6 foot hole for Gail she’ll still have a foot of root left. Look out!

                  • We can’t even agree on the outlook of weeds. You see the Dandelion is the Military Brat weed, which we proudly wear. It shows it bright, happy yellow flower. It is so study that it can’t be killed, it blooms everywhere around the globe, and when it turns into a ‘Wish Flower,’ – – Pouf! it like the Brats move quickly to another place, leaving all behind and blooms once again, making new friends and adapting to the new environment. The Clover? It is a symbol of my ethnicity – 22% Irish and my maiden name is Dunagan. So bring it on, boys.

                    • Gail,

                      You write often about being a “military brat.” It is not a thing to be proud of. The government’s mercenaries have not fought a legitimate war since at least 1812, the last time a real “enemy” actually did attempt to “take away our freedoms.”

                      Ever since, the wars have been about imposing the hegemony of the clique that controls the government, using deluded flag-humping rubes as its cannon fodder.

                      Sorry to burst your bubble.

                    • Actually Gail, I love dandelions. When I was a kid, the end of my nose was always yellow from smelling them. I was always attracted to the bright yellow color and the contrast they presented to the greenery around them; and the wonderful aroma! (Plus, in NY, they were about the only “flower” you’d get to see in everyday life….).

                      I STILL think they should be “flowers” instead of weeds!

                    • Eric, that’s the biggest problem with military brats, veterans, pigs, and basically anyone who has ever fostered the cause of violence for the government, or supported those who have: They have to love truth and justice and freedom enough to be willing to face their consceinces and admit that they were on the wrong side; the side of evil; that they harmed/helped harm innocents, and made the world/their own country less free.

                      For most it is easier to never confront the hard questions; never question the things they saw which they knew were belying the supposed purposes of what they were doing- like a kid pretty much figuring out that there is no Santa Claus, but yet willfully refusing to think about it, so that they can maintain the illusion.

                      A select few will find peace and redemption in speaking out against the evils they saw while in Caesar’s service, and renounce it and what they did when they were a part of it.

                      They repent, and become useful human beings who further freedom and truth and justice and life, rather than continuing to fight those things. That is a sign of true maturaity and character.

                      Others do what they have to do to maintain the illusions which they have to maintain to justify their past and the actions of those whom they support- and it usually includes heavy drinking.

              • Gail,

                Why can’t you – why won’t you – discuss the moral question of coercive collectivism? Are you incapable of grasping that whether coercion is applied by a left/liberal collective or a right/conservative one, it is the same thing? Or is it simply that you “believe” your form of collectivism is legitimate and so it’s ok to coerce everyone else into submitting to it?

                PS: “Watch the news”? Seriously? You believe that the propaganda you view on the TeeVee is “news”?

                • Eric writes: ”
                  Why can’t you – why won’t you – discuss the moral question of coercive collectivism? Are you incapable of grasping that whether coercion is applied by a left/liberal collective or a right/conservative one, it is the same thing? Or is it simply that you “believe” your form of collectivism is legitimate and so it’s ok to coerce everyone else into submitting to it?” Clover

                  Maybe you and the others here need to look into the consequences of the absent of coercive collectivism, because the absence is anarchy. You and the others are assuming that with coercive collectivism that everyone would just go about their business leaving everyone else alone. Well, you’re wrong! The best any of us can do is to actively try to control the control.

                  PS: Yes, I’m serious about watching the news – all channels, and the comedians too. These are the real controllers of the people. To refuse to study the propaganda currently and in the past condemns you to “. . .being chained to the chair, watching the shadows (of your own imagination) on the wall of the cave . . .” Remember the story, ” . . .when given the chance to come out of the cave to see the real world, they refused to. They wanted to continue to believe what they believed, they did not believe, nor want to believe the truth. . .”

                  • Gail,

                    “Anarchy” only means no rulers. It does not mean no rules.

                    I have “house rules” at my place; among them, no smoking and please take your shoes off before coming inside. But you are free to come and go as you like. I do not rule you.

                    That is the difference. And what is meant by anarchy.

                    You assume most people are basically feral savages who are only restrained from theft, rape and murder because of the existence of a government which steals, rapes and murders!

                    It’s a dim view of people – and a silly one. Think of all the people you know; your friends and family. Do you really believe that any of them would steal, rape and kill if the government disappeared tomorrow?

                    Human nature is a problem – which is precisely why it is so dangerous to empower people with authority over others!

                    I can defend myself against an ordinary thug. But I can’t even talk back to a government thug without risking repercussions that I can’t defend myself against.

                    I just don’t grok your almost eye-batting love of Authority. Of other people with special costumes and titles, who presume to tell you what to do – or else.

                    I despise bullies.

                    And government is the biggest bully of them all!

                    • Eric,

                      Maybe Gail is right. 😉

                      Just think, in patriarchal times, it was necessary for one to travel in groups and be armed, to stave-off robbers.

                      Now, once large governments were established, like Rome….it was…well…uh…still necessary for people to travel in caravans and be armed to stave off robbers…. but now at least they had the privilege of paying a tax for some theoretical “protection- and if they were lucky and encountered a protector, he might not rob them.

                      But of course, in modern sophisticated times, look how easy we have it. Of course, the technology of the free market has made it possible for us to travel in steel enclosures, and we can lock the doors….

                      And we get to pay taxes, too- so the wise bastions who rule over us can tell us that when we are driving through the ‘hood at night, it might be better to keep those doors locked, and just stop at a red light, and then proceed if no cars are coming, so that we don’t get robbed or raped or killed.

                      Ah! Thank goodness that authoritarian collectivism has so restrained evil!

                      Of course now, when we do what is propitious to ensure our safety- like going through the red light in Detroit at night, or possessing arms to defend ourselves, we risk being relived of our property and liberty by the agents of the state who are “keeping us safe” because we may be committing crimes by doing these things….and the state can not tolerate CRIME, after all…

                      Isn’t it wonderful?

                      We truly have come full circle from Patrriarchal times! We still have the robbers; but we now have to pay taxes for protection; and our protectors often do as much or more than any robber would have done, while taking away our ability to protect ourselves, and thus protecting the robbers.

                      And you wonder why Gail won’t discuss it?!

                    • Dear Nunzio,

                      An enemy of freedom is someone who adds the word “but” to the end of the sentence, “I’m all for freedom… ”

                      A champion of freedom is someone who ends the sentence “I’m all for freedom” with a period.

                      Authoritarian collectivists, both Democrat and Republican alike, are enemies of freedom. Neither of them consider freedom their highest value. Everything they say before they utter the word “but” is a bare-faced lie.

                    • Exactly, Mr. Bevin!

                      “I’m all for free speech….NUT….”
                      “I’m in support of the 2nd amendment….BUT…”

                      “…BUT, who will take care of the elderly?”
                      “….BUT who will buid the roads?”
                      The answer is always the state, and always something which results in loss of liberty and confiscation of property…. Funny how that works out, eh? 😀 )

                      Authoritarian collectivists/statists seem to have an endless black hole with a never-ending supply of “buts”- therefore, I conclude that they are all “but-holes” 😀

                    • Nunzio, funny your example of protection in traveling in groups. I’m reading a book right now based in the times of pilgrimage. A group of 9 are traveling together and hear horses coming. They hide and see 5 soldiers coming. They stay hidden and only resume their travels when they’re sure the soldiers are gone. It’s one of those “out of the frying pan into the fire” situations.

                    • Some things never change, 8, eh? (Despite Gail thinking that the authoritarian state would fix that by restraining the people who are supposed to restrain the government which restrains them….)

                      Speaking of books, I gotta get me a copy of Babbit, now!

                  • Dear Gail,

                    You wrote:

                    “Maybe you and the others here need to look into the consequences of the absent of coercive collectivism, because the absence is anarchy.

                    You and the others are assuming that with [sic] coercive collectivism that everyone would just go about their business leaving everyone else alone.

                    Well, you’re wrong! The best any of us can do is to actively try to control the control.”

                    The absence of coercive collectivism is indeed “anarchy”, as Eric just clarified. It is not “chaos”, which is clearly what you meant.

                    Put differently, the absence of coercive collectivism is something which neither liberals nor conservatives respect or value — freedom.

                    Liberals and conservatives both claim to lament the erosion of freedom in America. But they are both responsible for it.

                    We are indeed assuming that in the absence of coercive collectivism, people would simply leave each other alone. Because guess what? That’s exactly what happened repeatedly in history, a subject about which you are clearly uninformed.

                    Due to widespread semantic sloppiness, the neutral term “anarchy” has become conflated with the pejorative term “chaos.” But the term anarchy, properly understood, does not mean chaos. It means “no government.”

                    Naysayers of market anarchism, including the late Ayn Rand, have trotted out a wide range of theoretical arguments purporting to prove that market anarchism can never work.

                    The only problem with the naysayers’ learned arguments is that market anarchy has worked. The market anarchist Icelandic Commonwealth worked for over three centuries. The constitutional republican United States worked for only two centuries. Did the United States work? If working for two centuries means that the United States worked, then working for three centuries means the Icelandic Commonwealth worked.

                    The Icelandic Commonwealth worked longer than the United States. While the Icelandic Commonwealth worked, it worked even better than the United States.

                    Finally, you say that freedom won’t work, and therefore the best that we can do is impose control.

                    As usual, you have reversed cause and effect. Imposing “control”, i.e., initiating brute force coercion in the name of “law and order”, is precisely what destroys freedom.

                    Your entire argument is that the only way to preserve freedom is to violate freedom.

                    Your entire line of thinking is sheer insanity.

                    • By the time I locate a ‘reply’ link, I’ve forgotten what I wanted to write. Eric, get your guy/gal to put a link after each reply – please!

                      Oh, I remember. “BUT . . .” OK, let me ask a few questions so I can get this straight. Bear with me; Do all of you live out in the boonies ? Do you have your own energy or primitive resources? Do any or all of you rely the ‘Authoritarian Collective’ resources, e.g., electricity, water, snow plows, etc.

                      When I was a young girl and lived on a farm in the Carolinas (when my Dad’s ship would go out to sea, we would return to my ancestral home.) Well to draw water, Wood stove to cook, fire places for heat, kerosene for the lamps, outhouse, dirt road, etc. We had cows to milk, hogs to slop, chickens ran through the yard and house.

                      When I was a young mother myself, While I had electricity and running water, no car, no TV, no washing machine, no dishwater, or microwave. I washed diapers in the bath tub, and boiled them on the stove, then would hang them on a clothes line. Sometimes the clothes would freeze, and I’d carry them into the house, drape them over chairs and a drying rack. When I went to buy groceries I’d push my babies in a baby buggy. I don’t think it was uphill both ways, but (there’s the ‘BUT. . .’ You’d better believe that I love the modern conveniences,
                      and thank God everyday that I’m so privileged, and don’t understand the lack of appreciation from either side of the political spectrum.

                    • I am for Freedom of Speech, and I’m not politically correct, as you can well see from many of my comments. I say what I want to say without using swear words, vulgarity, or degrading anyone.
                      2) I support our second amendment rights, I am a member of NRA, and at one time also a member of the Washington DC Women’s Shooting Club and came in second in a shooting match out of 100.
                      3) I support the Fed/State building road and taking a limited tax out of gas prices, but to be used for nothing else but those who use gas. That excludes bicycles, schools, etc. I am against toll roads, and HOV lanes, but support Express lanes.

                  • Ah the age old if we did not have the state your neighbor would murder you in your sleep and take your stuff.

                    My first step away from this illusion came in childhood in the government schools. Where I quickly learned authority did not care about me, refused to protect me, but would tie my hands and punish me if I protected myself.

                    So that’s the first step, realizing the state doesn’t care about you enough to actually stop your neighbor from killing you and taking your stuff. That is your neighbor can do it right now.

                    So what is the state doing? It is restraining you. Not the criminal. It needs the criminals so you permit the state to restrain you and your neighbors. Schools need bullies, prisons need capos, and governments need criminals.

                    In Stalin’s camps it wasn’t the intelligent political prisoners that were empowered to run them, it was the criminals. Government itself uses a mafia model and took over mafia protection and numbers rackets.

                    But what might an absence of government do? If you don’t end up with mafia er government being established to protect you you’ll have to protect yourself or hire someone to do so. Now criminals get to live in fear that they’ll be shot dead. That homes and garages will be booby trapped. Because without government their targets won’t have their hands tied any longer.

                    As Eric wrote, anarchy isn’t chaos. Chaos is several different forces trying to become the dominate government. Anarchy is the absence of government. It doesn’t exist and nobody is trying to impose one.

                    • I had the state Po Leez ask if I had booby traps. I replied they’d need to describe a booby before I could say. The way they looked and moved after that began my understanding of what they considered a booby……their own POS hides. FEFEFH’s. It’s still a hate/hate relationship. Predators after 2 old people just trying to make a living and get by. The road goes on forever and the party never ends.

                    • I was working for a big corporation when we moved to the farm. My coworkers asked if we weren’t afraid out in the boonies.

                      Afraid of what? Well, we have had people run by our house and through our back yard, over our fences, etc. etc. We came home to find we had missing stuff from the garage, etc.

                      Well, I live out where my closest neighbor, whom I can’t see, is a mile away. I have no lights on at night, dogs are running the perimeter and we’re comfortable enough to leave the screen doors unlocked and the big doors open at night and sleep fine. If my dogs were to go off, I’d grab my HK .45 out of the mattress holster till I could sling my AR over my shoulder and grab my auto shotgun and put down the handgun. But people, even criminals, aren’t stupid enough to sneak down to the house in the night and the predator class in their costumes only come in the light of day…..occifer safety of course. And that’s damned smart since my “night” AR has a tracer every 5th round with an aftermarket flash hider for such.

                      I’m always amazed the average dolt has no concept of a “gun for every situation”.

                      Gail lives under the illusion she is protected by people who can’t get a good job because they have no skills and a lack of imagination. Their first ass to cover any time they’re panicked is their own. Eventually, they might make a difference in your safety if you live between them and their hidey hole. Otherwise, they’ll think about you tomorrow when they began to wonder if you’re capable of protecting yourself, a situation that’s anathema to them and one they’ll come after you about….in the daylight.

                  • Dandelions! When one of my sons was about 5 yrs old, he picked some roses from a neighbor’s yard and brought them to me. He got in a lot of trouble for this, from both me and the neighbor. One day shortly after this adventure we were walking, and he spotted some dandelions. He asked me if they belonged to anyone, and I replied “no,” he wanted to know if it would be OK to pick them and I told him that it was. He was delighted, and picked as many as his little hands could hold. He stuck his nose in the blossom, grinning. Then, he looked up at me, and said; “These are God’s flowers, because you can pick them and no one will holler at you.”
                    Since them I’ve always seen the lowly dandelion as God’s flower, and a few years ago they were adopted as the Military Brat flower.

                    • Awww, that’s beautiful, Gail! (Except for callin’ them the Military Brat Flower…. Can’t we give Poison Ivy that designation?)

                • Eric, you didn’t burst my bubble, you only showed me your “true colors,” and it’s obvious they aren’t ‘Red, White and Blue.’Clover

                  • I don’t bat my doe eyes at any flag, Gail… why do you?

                    Again: Why do you practically worship government – which is just asshole people with titles and guns and their own self-proclaimed legal monopoly on the use of violence to impose their will on you and me?

                    I don’t think I own you. Therefore, I don;t think I have any right to control you. I do have a right to defend myself but so long as you are not harming me, then I have no right to forcible involve myself in your life one iota.

                    Why is this simple moral principle so hard for you to understand?

                    Do you not understand that if you make any exceptions, you’ve opened the door to endless exceptions – because you no longer have any moral/principled basis for objecting?

                • Eric, how can you say that the War of 1812 was a just war? This is the war where the USA tried to force Canada to be part of the USA, and Canada won that war.Clover

                • No PTS here. As far as guilt goes, I believe what Lincoln said, “It isn’t whether God is on our side, but rather are we on God’s side.
                  Clover
                  There are many righteous wars mention in the Bible, often with God himself bringing down the distraction – Sodom and Gomorrah, for example.Clover

                  Ben Franklin said; “A stitch in time, saves nine.” and/or “Pennywise and pound foolish.” I do believe in keeping our shores safe, not waiting for the enemy to come after us. The latter is foolish.Clover
                  Your Irish Clover

                    • You may be right, but when God brings down justice, I’ll leave and I won’t look back. So far, I’ve not had any spiritual prompting to leave, nor a direction to go to. So, here I stay. My Country; Right or Wrong!Clover

                    • Jesus, Gail…

                      “My country, right or wrong”… and you call yourself a Christian? What if “your country” – that is, the government – is wrong? Morally guilty of heinous crimes? Are you still going to blindly, mindlessly amen its actions? Because it is “your country”? Do you think “your country” is incapable of ever being in the wrong, morally?

                      How then are you not exactly like the Germans who sieg heiled the Fuhrer? And did worse at his behest, for their country?

                      I’m sickened…

                    • “Right or wrong” says it all. It says that one is willing to do wrong, just as readily as they are to do right, because to them, it’s not the moral principle/justice that matters, but rather just blind obedience to their master- and if one is willing to do wrong for their master, it means they are in opposition to my Master.

              • I gave up TV 25 years ago. If you watch TV, you can NOT think. Don’t believe me? Try not watching TV for 3 weeks or so, and see how different things start to look to you.

                If you think TV has any relevance to “what goes on in the world”….then YOU don’t know what is going on in the world.

                I’ve worked outdoors most of my life. for the first 39 years of my life, that meant being outdoors/on the streets in NYC area. I dealt with people from all over the world as customers in some businesses I was in.

                I walke3d through the Bushwick/East New York/Bedford-Stuyvesant sections of Brooklyn when i was a teen, back when they were burnt-out war zones [Yeah…teenagers are crazy].

                I’ve personally known people, from a guy who lived in an abandoned house, to multi-millionaires.

                I can tell you one thing: TV/the news media PERVERTS every little thing!

                I remember c.1986- The Howard Beach “racial” incident, in which 6 white teens were accused of “attacking a black guy for being in their “white neighborhood”. In reality, it was just a fight started by the BLACK when he made some comments to a girlfriend of one of the white kids. They got into a brawl. Even Roy Innes, the then black head of The Congress of Racial Equality was defending the WHITE kids, but the media ignored him, because he didn’t fit in with their agenda- and they instead got Al Sharpton to rant and rave. They convinced the world that it was a “racial incident”.

                And that was just ONE small little thing.

                TV/radio/Newspapers CONSTANTLY lie- more often lies of omission rather than flat-out untruths. They are essentially the mouthpiece for the government and the Zionists who support the welfare-warfare state.

                Here is one of their most incidious tactics: They make you think that most crimes are random, and could happen to you…so that you will fear, and want a repressive coercive state to “keep you safe”.

                “A man was found shot in his car….” -Oh my gawd, Harold! That could have been us! [They conveniently fail to mention that the man shot in his car had been trying to score some heroin; or was dropping off another man’s wife with whom he had been having an affair; or was meeting someone from Craigslist for gay sex, etc.]

                TV is as relevant to what is really going on in the world as are Winnie The pooh or The Three Bears. In fact, the latter would be a better bet, as at least they would not clog your mind with spurious information or staged images of “reality”.

                • Dear Nunzio,

                  I recently canceled my cable TV service, and now only have broadband service.

                  That said, I’m not quite as fearful about my own exposure to TV as others might be.

                  In fact, I often deliberately watch some shows in order to know first hand what the Illuminati elites in the MSM are doing to brainwash the sheeple.

                  If one has already taken the red pill, watching TV will no longer brainwash you. On the contrary, it will provide you with valuable clues as to how the 0.001% indoctrinates the masses.

                  • Once the spell is broken it’s broken. There’s no putting it back together. And it doesn’t even take understanding aka ‘red pill’. It just takes not consuming it for a good long while. Stay away from mainstream news, especially TV news for months or years and then when its on the manipulations are obvious.

                    The spell is broken and their techniques can’t re-establish it. That’s why school->tv is so important. Keeping people parroting what teacher tells them. Just severing the line to teacher for awhile breaks the spell.

                  • Ah, Dearest Mr. Bevin,
                    [I say that not just in-kind, but you really are one of my favorite posters here. And of course, it is said with an unblemished record of staunch heterosexuality 🙂 ]

                    Yes, true, one becomes aware of the techniques of mind-control which “they” employ [And they are really very simple techniques- Not some sophisticated highly advanced slights-of-hand which only the privileged can know…] they can be viewed as their own form of entertainment and used as a barometer to understand what “they” are up to.

                    But I would also posit that if we are able to even tolerate the unnatural drone and speech-patterns of TV; the manipulating of images and flashes of light; the percussive sounds and rhythms, etc. that it is indeed still having an effect upon us, and we have not truly broken free of it’s spell.

                    It is not just the actual content (of both news and entertainment shows) which is the problem; but these days, the entire medium is melded into a multi-faceted whole that works upon all of the senses, on both a conscious and subconscious level.

                    If you doubt this, just abstain from all TV and radio for several weeks. You will see the effect upon your thinking, and how you perceive things. Subtle at first, and more noticeable as time goes on.

                    Stay away for a year or so, and you will be like me, unable to even tolerate being around a TV.

                    If I go to my sister’s place (which I rarely do)- she is the kind of person who always has her TV on. I can go, and sit in the kitchen with her, and she’ll have the TV wailing away in the living room. I’ll have to ask her to turn it off. I really can’t think of anything more annoying. Once you’ve been away from it for a while, it becomes apparent how unnatural the noises and speech patterns, etc. are. I’d rather listen to an out-of-tune violin being played by an unskilled 7 year-old, or an unmuffled lawn-mower….

                    And what is REALLY disturbing, and also illustrates just how effective the “programming” is, is that you hear all of these explosive sounds and heavy percussive sounds now on TV- it is so noisy and offensive to the senses….and yet what do you see? People make Youtube videos, and they copy this very practice of adding the sound of explosions and heavy percussion and jarring noises!!

                    You can even watch videos by people who are claiming to expose the various misdeeds of the Globalist/Zionist/Hollywood/Propaganda system, and even THEY will include those sounds in their vidoes, in the opening and closing bumpers, or soundtracks, etc. -as if on automatic pilot.

                  • This we can agree on. One of the shows I like to watch is ‘Naked and Afraid.’ Most of these people will cry for days because they killed a snake or whatever, and they tell it that they are sorry. Give me a break. Reminds me of a story I heard once, and it probably isn’t true, except that it is so silly. A woman was mad over someone hunting, and said,”Why kill animals? They should just go to the supermarket and buy their meat.” I’d sure like to believe that this is a made up story. LOL

                    • LOL, I dunno, Gail- It sounds like my mother, who would not eat the nice natural grass-fed beef that I raised…..but who has no problem eating the beef from the supermarket! 🙂

                      Out of sight…out of mind.

                      Let someone else do the killing- be it of the cow you eat, or the foreigner whose oil you want.

                      This is “democracy” and authoritarian collectivism in a nutshell: One can reap the benefits of that which they claim to be opposed to, while someone else is doing the dirtywork which makes it possible, in their name.

                      Same thing with these tree-hugging electric-car hippies: Save the earth by driving a car that makes zero emissions. Don’t worry about the emissions from the electric generating plant 50 miles away whose pollution affects the ones living in the country and not driving electric cars.

                • You gave up TV 25 years ago, HA! and you say that I live in a bubble?!?!?Clover

                  Tell me, other then this tight little bubble on Eric’s web site, what other input do you have from the outside world?

                  • Errrrr……experiences from the REAL WORLD; personal observation; 39 years of having lived in the NYC area and dealing with people from all over the world; having worked in many varied careers since I was a teenager; having known every type of person- from a man who told me of an incident from his life which took place in 1913, to a guy who is wanted for murder in TX, to CEOs to gamblers to millionaires; being well read; having read the KJV alone in it’s entirety over 40 times thus far in my life- In short: A rich and varied life in which I’ve worn many hats- something which the average person who stays in school and then works at a 9-5 job and comes home and watches TV will never even have an inkling of.

                    If you think that TV, newspapers or radio have ANY relevance to reality, well, I dopn’t think at this point there is anything anyone can say to you which will open your eyes.

                    And of course, OUR media is truthful, right? Russian, and Chinese and Syrian media are pure propaganda….but by golly, you get the truth on ‘Mercan TV; just like our military are always the good guys, right? (Of course those pedophiles and thieves in DC magically turn into wonderful pursuers of truth and justice when it comes to things like wars and vaccinating your kids, and telling you what to do with your money so you don’t accidentally launder it…)

                    • Oh boy, I can directly answer your post. I get really agitated to have to scroll down 3 or 4 posts before I can answer, and then I wonder if you even know what my reference is to.Clover

                      Anyway, Nunzio, whatever experience you have had in your life, doesn’t keep you abreast to what is happening in the world today. So where do you get your news. Please don’t say the Internet – Bon jour! Of course, all the news channels are propaganda, including FOX News. And, entertainment shows, etc. But I don’t feel that is justification to ditch it all, because of its leanings.

                      The same with movies, schools, etc. All my children are conservatives, but not radical. I consider most of the ranting on this site to be radical. Most, including you are in a tight little box, calling illusions, facts.

                      BTW, I tell you this, because you live too far away to run over me with you car, I am in a wheel chair due to a bad batch Polio vaccine. I’m not a proponent of vaccines, etc.

                      😉 You Irish Clover

                    • Gail, Mark Twain said “Believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear”- and truer words were never spoken.

                      Even if one could get an accurate picture of what is “going on in the world”, why would it matter?

                      I’m concerned with what goes on in my life and around me- the things i actually come into contact with- and until 75 or so ago, such is the way humans the world over lived for several thousand years. (Funny, that only since the proliferation of supposed “information”, the world has quickly deteriorated….).

                      In addition to what I can observe with my own eyeballs, the things that really matter are not the ear-tickling tidbits chosen for you to hear by those with various agendas, but rather the more substantive things, such as the understanding of human nature; human behavior; morality; economics; and how things work (whether mechanical devices or political entities)- and the knowledge of such does not come through the media or schools- but is usually only manipulated and perverted by such.

                      Again, look at the Amish for just one example. Their lives and communities work far better than those of the majority of “well informed” people. They don’t know what’s happening in Japan, or Oregon…but they know where their children are, and what they are learning.

                      Awww, don’t worry Gail- I won’t run ya down! You certainly don’t sound like one of those whiny NY entitled liberal obnoxious douchewads, like i used to see. (Believe me, you’d have fantasies about running THEM down, too!)- You sound more like my mother’s now-deceased sister-in-law who was in a wheelchair for the better part of her life. This woman had 3 jobs, and would even support her perfectly able-bodied idiot daughter! She was of your generation. It’s the younger ones, from my generation and younger, who tend to be the state-created entitled monsters who seem to think it’s EVERYBODY’S obligation to bow before them, while they don’t have to give a thought to anything but themselves. I’m sure you’ve seen some of these people- then again, maybe not.

                      And ironically, someone like yourself may be in your position through no fault of your own- you’re just a victim, of PROPAGANDA and misinformation- at least one of my wheelchair-bound neighbors in NY was there because of his own foolish actions- and I’m not sure about the others, as I had nothing to do with them, but it wouldn’t surprise me if such were the case with them as well. That’s the irony of it; that’s the usually the way it is.

                      You (and I believe my mother’s SIL was a victim of the vaccine too) don’t complain, and don’t expect the world to serve you….while someone who isn’t just an innocent victim, but who was the cause of their own condition….expects you to make up for his indiscretions.

                      You don’t get that by watching the news, because they’re the very ones who push the attitude of entitlement for certain classes of people, with no regard or distinction- but when you’re free from the canned attitudes that they propagate and can rightly observe with your own eyes….well…you see the difference.

                      LOL- funny how this post came full-circle like that. Believe me, it wasn’t intentional- it just worked out that way.

                  • Here’s a practical example for you, Gail:

                    Back in the late 90’s, when Slick Willy was Prez, I’m living on Long Island and conducting a service business. I have to go to this neighborhood of $500K houses (really nothing special for the area), where the good residents get to pay over $12K a year in property taxes. The place is on the north side of a highway, and just to the south of that highway, is the “hood” where there is very high crime.

                    On the way there, I’m scanning the radio dial (I’d still listen occasionally to Xtian and talk show stations) and I come across that Savage (I forget his first name) guy, saying something about Billary, so I listen for a moment. Then he switches to singing the praises of some armed government goon who did “so much good”, and who had had the decency to croak. So I switch the radio off.

                    I get the house where I had to do business, and as I’m working, I notice an armed gov’t goon hiding a few feet in on a cross street at the nearby 3-way stop. While I was working, I saw this bastard nab 3 guys- nice looking white guys in business suits, driving nice cars, who were coming home to their $500K houses that they pay $12K a year taxes on….for rolling through the 3 way stop when there wasn’t another car in sight. The same guy who is defenseless when crack-heads from the ‘hood across the highway rummage through his yard at night.

                    Who got the picture of reality that day? Me, or the guy listening to the radio and hearing Mr. Savage ramble on about what an asset to the community the dead pig had been? (I guess the dead pig also caught lots of middle-class white guys rolling 3-way stops in cul-de-sac neighborhoods across the street from murdering and raping thugs in the hood)

                  • Oh, and Gail,

                    Even if we were to assume that ALL of the information proffered in the media were 100% true, I would still ask: What relevance does 99.9% of it have to your life?

                    How is your life somehow better, or your understanding more effectual by knowing that some douchebag in Florida snuffed her kids, or that the schvatzes in Malawi elected a new president in an election that may or may not have been rigged?

                    Is the quality of your life, or your ability to perceive and control that which directly impacts you, and better than that of say, the Amish?

                    THEN factor in the fact that WHAT you see and hear are being decided for you based on responses which those who control such mediums are seeking to elicit from you; lies of omission; perverting of facts; editorializing; etc. and really, if you think that any of this is helping you…..

                    • Nunzio, there’s a good article today in LRC about the CIA, mass media and academia. I’d post a link but WP thinks everything I do is spam and I’m back in the moderation que again(sung to Back in the Saddle Again).

                    • eric, first time it’s happened to me. I wasn’t bitching since I know there’s no accounting for it. It’s probably been doing this back and forth, in and out of que for 2 months. I know it gets old for you. If only your favorite company didn’t run the whole damned internet…….

                    • Aww, that’s O-K, 8Man, I read LewRockwell every mornin’. (Well…actually, I read the titles of the articles, and then just think about it for a minute, and move on, as it’s often preaching to the choir…. But I’ll go back and check that one out. Too bad Gail wouldn’t!)

                    • And…. [been wantin’ to make this point, so I guess here’s as good a place as any): When ya think about it, how is that such a huge slice of the population can change their culture; change their mind; all agree on certain points and be united in favor of them, instead of against them, within the span of a single generation, but for a nationwide system of mass propaganda.

                      I mean, take the average person’s view of faggotry today, or transgenderism, or socialism…. You see people even in the smallest towns in the South and Midwest, all embracing the very things which their parents considered sick.

                      You mean to tell me that this just came about organically? That a light bulb just went off in the heads of tens of millions of people all of a sudden, and they suddenly started believing that these things are somehow good, just by their own thought and observation? People like Gail seem to think that is the case…..

                  • Nunzio, on the topic of killing for survival. As you must have guess, if I haven’t already told you, I am Mormon. Mormons believe in being prepared for a time of personal survival – you know, one year’s supply of food, seeds, water, etc. OK, why do I tell you this? My friend and I decided we would put to rest (in our freezer) 50 chicken, 25 each. So, we set out to find 50 fat hens and bring them home. I had seen my family on the farm do this many times, but I was young and other than enjoying them flopping around with their head chopped off, I never took part in the slaughter.
                    But, I digress – My friend decided it would be more humane to hammer two nails into a plank, put the hen’s neck between the nails and chop off their head with an ax. (Really? Does it make a difference?)
                    I’m telling you it was a grueling adventure for me, but I am pleased to tell you that they made it to my freezer and then to the table to dine on. Victory over nature.
                    The Irish Clover

                    • I butchered some unneeded roosters once- via the ax method. I really don’t like killing things though. Now I confine myself just to eating the eggs.

                      Shoot, I find Jap beatles floating my pool still alive, and scoop them out on my hand and let them go….. And occasionally I’ve have to rescue and dry-out a butterfly….

                      I’m kind of a Dr. Doolittle. I almost got to pet an old coyote years ago, who was slowly going across the back of my property as I was bushhogging (I thought it was a dog…)

                      I caught some possums last week who were coming around to eat the food that I put out for the cats who have taken up residence here, and they were so tame, they didn’t want to exit the trap when I took them to the woods a ways down the road… I had to shake them out!…

                      People I’m not too crazy about, but I LOVE animals- andf the feeling seems to be mutual.

                      Had a panther in my woods a few years ago- He just laid there at the edge of the clearing watching me bushhog the meadow- then when the noise got to be too much for him, he slowly walked away.

                      Then there’s the time I had to step in front of my neighbor’s errant bull who was charging my mother when we were taking a walk….

                    • Nunzio writes: “You mean to tell me that this just came about organically? That a light bulb just went off in the heads of tens of millions of people all of a sudden, and they suddenly started believing that these things are somehow good, just by their own thought and observation? People like Gail seem to think that is the case…..” I’ll tell you how we got to where we are in just a short time. “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Is the Hand That Rules the World” is a poem by William Ross Wallace that praises motherhood as the preeminent force for change in the world. The poem was first published in 1865 under the title “What Rules the World”. The refrain of the poem is a commonly quoted phrase. Who is rocking the cradle, not most mothers, no they have decided to farm out their little ones (really a practice that you guys like to quote all the time – Nazi Germany) Little ones where put into day care centers. Often resulting in mental conditions, they never bonded, and the bullies could prefect they practice at early ages, and Prevs loved day care center and schools. Need I say more?

                    • “Hand That Rocks The Cradle”- You got that right, Gail- Daycare, then government schools, and the one-eyed cyclops as babysitter (and now ‘puters and phones for tykes)- Not to mention that half the parents are dingbats, being the former hippies, or their children….

                      It’s really a testament to people’s stupidity and lack of natural affection, that they care so little for their own kids, that they don’t care, nay, would even encourage them to become people who will spend their lives being miserable (despite the misnomer of “gay”), and who, 25 times more likely to develop AIDS, 40x more likely to get anal cancer and gonorrhea; guaranteed to die younger, etc. etc.

                      And let us not forget, this AGENDA is being pushed by our government and by the media…..

                    • Hi Nunzio,

                      They have been very clever. They’ve made it difficult to raise a family on one income – economically as well as socially (feminism). Thus, both parents working, thus daycare. They have also made being a parent unappealing – this is my perspective – via the social pressure to tolerate all the “safety” nonsense (e.g., can’t let the kid walk two blocks to the school; have to drive them there and queue up in the SmoooooVee because “safety,” have to keep them in “safety” seats until puberty, almost, can’t let ’em roam free/play unsupervised with their friends, etc., have to supervise 24-7 until at least 17… echhhh!)

                    • Mornin’ Eric!

                      I know, right?!!!!!

                      I never really wanted kids anyway- but even if I did, I wouldn’t have them, because it’s like they’re used as a weapon against you these days, and I’ll be damned if I’d let them grow up without being able to roam and play outside, and ride bikes and stuff, on their own, the way it should be….and without helmets.

                      It’s no wonder they all grow up to be statists/socialists/communists- as now they are used to having every action they can engage in be dictated by either the state, or some adults, from infancy.

                      What we learned from being out in the woods for hours with no adultrs around, or riding our bikes to far away lands [or so it seems, when you’re 8 !] and working things out on our own, and inventing our own rules when playing impromtu games, to solve problems and make things right….THAT was our real education; that was vital to our development.

                      If we had had to spend all of our time either in front of a screen, or in formalized settings under constant adult supervision, we could not be what we are today.

                      And the two-income thing: Funny, but when one income was the norm, you could raise a family (3 or 4 kids) on a modest blue-collar salary and live in a nice house and have a stay at home wife, so the kids wouldn’t have to be raised by strangers.

                      Now, on two incomes, that same family couldn’t live as well today- it would likely take a professional couple to live in that same house and pay the many thousands of dollars property taxes….and even they’re never aroubnd to raise their kids or have a real home life- unlike the blue-collar worker a few decades ago, who’d be home at 5 O’clock, and that would be it- and whose wife was home all day, and who’d keep the house clean and cook nutritious meals from scratch for her fambly….

                      And yet somehow, the automatons today think that what they have now is BETTER?!!!!! Yeah, I’m sure life is so much more fulfilling for Debbie Dingbat now, spending 9 hours a day plus 2 commuting to that little cubicle where she gossip with the girly men at the water cooler, and who will tell on her if she makes a comment they perceive as “inappropriate”….. Yeah, that is SO much more satisfying than raising the fruit of your womb. Hey, why waste time doing that, when the state and it’s thoroughly vetted fags, pedophiles and SJWs will gladly do it for you?

                      And don’t you dare spank your kid…oh no! But no problem if teacher calls the cops because the kid wrote something on his desk with a dry erase marker, or [gasp] drew a picture of a gun- and they will be glad to handcuff him and slam him to the ground….THAT is perfectly fine…..

            • The Liberals wouldn’t force you??? Ha ha ha ha! No, they would just burn your restaurant down, vandalize your home and probably threaten your family. Don’t any of you go outside your basement?

              Your Clover (Eric, I want the ‘Dancing Clover.’)

              • No, Gail. Liberals, or anyone else, are stripped of 95% of their coercive power without the machinery of government to do their work.

                Few liberals care enough to risk being shot, about who I choose to do business with; whether or not I choose my customers to smoke, not smoke, or have a separate section for each; or whether I have gender-specific bathrooms, and no provisions for trannies.

                They only care so much when they can do it through “elected officials” who will foster their wishes being carried-out vicariously through paid armed goons.

                In reality, in a free society with a free market, liberals would have all they could do to stay alive, without government and corporate jobs which pay them for doing essentially nothing [<- The very words of a friend of mine who was employed by a state university as a director of "multi-cultural affairs"- and who has since given up her 6-figure job to do meaningful work in the private secotr for a quarter of what she used to make]….in environments containing only feminists and neutered males who have undergone "sensitivity training"; or who make their living off grants or entitlements.

                Yes, without the state, these liberals would have to do meaningful work in the free-market, and would not have the time to be so concerned with who uses what bathroom, much less the time and energy to riot.

                This is why these liberals put their efforts into erecting tyrannical power structures, because it is the only way that they can accomplish their objectives.

                And the same applies to anyone else who would use violence and coercion to control others and their property. YOU are advocating the very same thing, only from the conservative side.

                The difference between us: While I don't want others to force me to serve fags in my hypothetical restaurant; or to dictate that my customers tolerate trannies in the restrooms, or to tell me that I must prohibit smoking, etc. NOR DO I WANT TO FORCE OTHERS TO DO As I CHOOSE TO DO WITH WHAT IS MINE.

                In a free society, if some liberal nut-case wants to ban white Christian straight males from their establishment, so be it.

                But as it stands now, with an authroitarian government, THEY get to decide what we do- and thus, no one is free; and not only that, but if you haven't noticed, insanity, liberalism, and evil are WINNING under this system, while those who would do good are forbidden/punished.

                So yet again, what is your point? You lose on all counts. Evil is NOT being restrained (but good often is); and we are not free. So what is it that you are supporting?

                • FACEBOOK??!! Of course not! I only communicate on an individual basis…and without having what I see and write censored, or actions tracked, or my data sold, or my computer invaded…..

                  Not to mention that the format is not conducive to actual long=term discussions, but rather only to short of-the-moment quips…..

                  Why ANYBODY would use Facebook, I’ll never understand….

                  • Let’s see – to coin the phrase of Killary, “What difference does it make?” In reference to all the things you wrote about face book. Surely you are naive enough to believe that we are protected from all the crap you mention about face book here on Eric’s site , are you?Clover

                    Here are the things that I like about face book; 1) It is the only way I can stay in touch with me family. We are scattered to the four-winds, and no one bothers to keep in touch, save face book. 2) I can post pictures, and see pictures of my family and friends. 3) face book is the portal to a game that I’m addicted to.

                    But last and foremost, I don’t give a hoot about who the government is keeping track of. I just don’t think that I’m of any interest that they even know that I exist, and if they did – as I’ve done before – I would make waves so big that they would never bother me again. I do not quake in my boots about anything, or anyone.

                    Now you know why this ‘Someone’ uses face book. 😉

                    • Gail, if the only thing keeping people in touch with each other is the ease and convenience of being able to make mass postings on an impersonal basis on a website…..do you really want to be in touch with those people?

                      I mean, if someone can’t pick up a phone, drop me an email and attach a few pics with the click of a mouse; send me a letter, or drop by….really, why bother communicating at all?

                      It’s kind of like my dingbat sister- now that she does Facebook, she’s in touch with all these people whom she didn’t care enough about to stay in contact with for over 25 years- former neighbors from places she used to live, etc. I guess if it’s convenient enough, one’s threshold is lowered. I like to maintain a high threshold 🙂

                      Did you know that Facebook is now the largest [or is it second largest?] repository of photos IN THE WORLD?

                      I can google my neighbor’s names, and get a picture of them. They did not consent to this…..well, they sort of did when they signed up for Facebook, they just didn’t realize it.

                      It’s not really the gov’t that I’m worried about. It’s Facebook, Google, and the companies they do business with. Did you know that they build a profile about you, detailing everything about you, from who your friends and relatives are, to your political views, to what you read and watch, to the places you frequent; places you shop; your religious views; type of music you listen to….everything- and it’s all for sale to advertisers; to websites that sell personal info to people doing “background checks”; to government agencies [no warrant needed]; advertisers; insurance companies…yada, yada…

                      Did you know that Facebook tracks everything you do on your computer; every website you visit; everything you buy online; everything you download?

                      Sorry, but THIS website does not do those things.

                      I’m not some paranoid cyber-security activist…. I don’t use a firewall or run antivirus or even update my OS (Then again, I don’t sue windows…so I don’t HAVE to!) but the very idea of just giving up all privacy and putting all of my personal info in the hands of some evil, controlling corporation, is more than abhorrent.

                      Oh, and if you’ve ever accessed Facebook from your mobile phone, bear in mind that they even keep track of your location, and NOT just when you’re using Facebook.

                      You can take a trip- even a cruise, or a tour halfway around the world….lose your itinerary, and want to to retrace your steps when you get home…just go to Facebook. They’ll plot the data on a map for you with GPS coordinates!

                      I haven’t a clue as to why anyone would tolerate all this, just to stay in touch with people who don’t care enough to pick up the phone or who can’t be bothered to take 5 minutes to write a personal email.

                  • Good to all of the above. I get lost often, even with a GPS and an iphone to tell where the nearest McDonald’s is located, so someone can find me, when I can no longer find myself.

                    As to family, I’m the outcast due to my radical views, and activist behavior. But Now I realize that I’m a moderate. You guys have helped me to see that I’m not near as far out as my family believes.

                    • Gail,

                      You are actually very conventional. Depressingly so.

                      Like most Americans, you are an authoritarian collectivist – someone who thinks the individual has no rights that are not subordinate to the group, with the group’s wishes being defined by certain individuals who claim to “represent” it. You believe that the individual is duty-bound to obey the edicts and so on of these “representatives,” even though the individual never gave his consent to their authority over him.

                      You do not believe in live – and let live. You are not willing to leave peaceful people free to pursue happiness as they see fit, when you disagree with their definition of happiness. You would impose your religious views upon others using violence. You believe in slavery. That the government has an ownership stake in human beings; that it may take from them and use them and control their very bodies – the textbook definition of what it means to be a slave.

                      You are exactly like the liberal/eft people you say you loathe. Your only difference with them is the ends toward which you believe people ought to be shoved at bayonet-point.

                    • Dear Eric,

                      You wrote:

                      “Gail, You are actually very conventional. Depressingly so.”

                      Took the words out of my mouth.

                      I’ve long been amazed how lamestream “intellechewals” comfortably ensconced within the Demopublican/Republicrat political spectrum, love to characterize themselves as “original thinkers”.

                      They are nothing of the sort. They are what novelist Sinclair Lewis called “Babbitts”.

                      The word “Babbitt” entered the English language as a “person and especially a business or professional man who conforms unthinkingly to prevailing middle-class standards”.

                      The social critic and satirist H. L. Mencken, an ardent supporter of Sinclair Lewis, called himself “an old professor of Babbittry” and said that Babbitt was a stunning work of literary realism about American society.

                      To Mencken, George F. Babbitt was an archetype of the American city dwellers who touted the virtues of Republicanism, Presbyterianism, and absolute conformity because “it is not what he [Babbitt] feels and aspires that moves him primarily; it is what the folks about him will think of him. His politics is communal politics, mob politics, herd politics; his religion is a public rite wholly without subjective significance.”

                      Mencken said that Babbitt was the literary embodiment of everything wrong with American society.

                      If Gail is lamenting her lot as an outcast destined to remain beyond the pale, she can stop her hand wringing. She is nothing of the sort. She is utterly and predictably conventional.

                    • Gail,

                      “Moderates”, “radicals”…. It’s all relative, but you’ve inadvertantly hit upon one of the mind-control techniques of television: That of making everyone think that a particular idea or behavior is “normal” and accepted by the majority.

                      It’s not enough, in their eyes, just to be an authoritarian collectivist; but you must be one who accepts “the norms” which are being propagated (even though those norms were once the radical ideas, until TV made them seem widely-accepted, sane and logical).

                      So while Libertarians, like those of us here, are the true ugly ducklings of the authoritarian-collectivist society, even other authoritarian collectivists are viewed as being outside of the norm, if they deviate from the current collective worldview- and today, that worldview is one of political-correctness; moral relativism, and socialism.

                      In other words, being a communist isn’t enough….but being the right kind of communist is what matters to them.

                      What was the difference between Russian communism or German Naziism? In the end, they were virtually identical, and yet the Russians and Germans were enemies. It’s all about manipulation- and to those who wield power in these totalitarian systems, the principles and the individuals mean nothing…it’s just a way to manipulate the masses into doing what they want them to do- so anyone who doesn’t go along with the program (i.e. anyone who can think for themselves; who embraces ideas which are currently contrary to the ones being being pushed (Even though those ideas may have been the ones which were pushed in the past) or who has another God before the god of State, is seen as someone who is to be dismissed as kooky, crazy, old-fashioned; “bigoted”, “hateful”, “close-minded” or otherwise just marginalized and ostracized as irrelevant.

                      Welcome to the club.

                      tl;dr version: Why do you want to communicate with those who treat you as an outcast??? (I treated most of my relatives as outcasts long before they viewed me as such- Most of them are not bad people; but like everyone else, they are just caught-up in the matrix, and we really have nothing in common. Why communicate with those with whom I have nothing in common? I find more satisfaction communicating with strangers here, with whom I am of the same mind on a lot of things, than I woulde communicating with those whom I know personally, with whom I really have nothing in common with.)

                    • Nunzio, you aren’t alone in that arena. Nothing left of my family but one sister and a plethora of nieces, nephews and great of the same. The younger they are the more likely they have children at an early age.

                      We had a smart amount of really bright kids in my class but the class two years older had very forgettable people. My sister was salutatorian and her husband was valedictorian which tells you a lot about them. Go off to college, meet all kinds(well, you should)of people and marry like you’re the Clinton’s inlaws.

                      We were just burying a cat, sad thing and I mounded the dirt over him. It reminded me of my mother’s funeral when my niece asked my oldest sister why they mounded the dirt over on a grave. Hell, I don’t remember needing to ask, it was obvious to me as a child although she wasn’t really a child unless 14 or so qualifies. I heard my genius sister reply that it was just the way they did it out of tradition she supposed. The wife is standing there and I looked at her and shook my head and she just looked at the ground. Not bad people at all, no “crazy” views such as I have and dull enough to use as a rub stone. When confronted with this type of “logic” a friend of mine summed it up well one day dealing with some employees with a few lyrics “Why me lord, what did I ever do?” Some things can’t be fixed and it’s wasteful to spend your time trying to make even the smallest difference. My sister has a teaching degree so look out world but on the bright side, she’s never used it. I was talking to her one day and had a short sleeved shirt on. She asked me what was wrong with my arms. I looked at my arms….I didn’t say WTF but I was thinking it. Be more specific I said since I was unaware of arm problems. She said
                      “well, they’ve got big lumps and bumps and stick out here and there”. Evidently the boys she’d dated and damn sure her husband were wimps to the nth. You cannot fix that and I wouldn’t even try. Her husband had changed the oil on their car one day and she called as asked if I could come fix it. Sure enough, the filter was leaking. I reached in and twisted it another turn, fired it up and voila, no leak.

                      I guess one libertarian in the family is all you could hope for. My sister was the manager of a store and this old man comes in, says hello and wishes her a good day and tells a joke and bought something and bid both of us goodbye. I was thinking what a nice guy he was, a widower just making life a bit better where he went. When he’s gone she say “I just hate that old man, I wish “they” would just put him in jail”. I asked why and she said she just didn’t like him. Damn, I’d hate for her to be the decider. The world is evidently packed with this mindset. Just look at all the “criminals” in this country.

                    • Hello, Bevi & Eric,

                      Yes, Gail is very conventional; while the ethos being pushed now, has moved on to something more radical than conventional- thus the one who sees the individual as subordinate to the group, is no longer a part of the group, but is starting to be viewed by the group as an outsiider, even though her views are a lot closer to those of the group than are ours.

                      The hunter becomes the hunted.

                      It’s kind of like the mainstream has moved on from National Socialism (conventional authoritarian collectivism) to communism.

                      A quote from The Simpsons comes to mind:

                      Grandpa Simpson: “I used to be with it, but then they changed what “it” was, and now what I’m with isn’t “it”…”

                    • Awww, 8, my sister’ll do yours one better- she’s the kind that’ll actually find reasons to call the fuzz on people, though she’s the one who deserves to be in a cage.

                      That’s what’s so sad about having to bury a dear departed cat or dog- they are almost all good people. They live their lives, and don’t bother anybody; they just impart joy to those who know them.

                      Oh, but at least my sister is entertaining: She’s a pathological liar, AND stupid- so the lies she tells are ovious and absurd.

                      Ah well…excuse my brevity, but I have to go change the oil in the tractors and vehicles….. (At least everything i own is tall enough that I don’t have to use ramps or jacks!)

        • [Bangs head against wall]

          Gail, Play nice or don’t nice, or don’t play at all- why should someone else dictate to you who you will associate with/do business with/approve of/disapprove of/etc.?

          “If i were in charge”? I don’t want to dictate your morals, tastes, preferences, etc. [Nor anyone else’s]. I want you and me and everyone else to be free to live their consciences- just so long as they don’t do unprovoked violence to others or their property.

          If someone “in charge” gets to decide these things, then a)we are not free; b)There will be a conflict between individuals and the state where they differ; c)Either we will not have freedom of religion [nor anything else]; or others will not have such freedom if those who hold and enforce our views are “in charge”, and d)We must either follow a multitude to do evil or suffer as criminals, any time what we advocate or do differs from those “in charge” decree.

          So where is all this going? What is the logical outcome of the tyranny you support? Just that IF we can somehow get “our guy” in charge for a period of time, we can somehow force others to live decenht moral lives, or at least outwardly assume the pretense of such? [Never mind the fact that any time “our guy” is not in charge, then WE are the ones being dictated to, to live by THEIR standards- as is currently the case, and has been for virtually all of the history of human authoritarian governments, from Nimrod to the present.]

          Perhaps you should read your Bible- paying special attention to Daniel and Revelation. It tells of just where the governments of this world are going. We get to see the future in advance. It is not pretty. It is not good, but rather evil. They will be fighting God Himself. See that part about a mark[sign] of the Beast[government*] which all must accept to buy and sell? See how everything in every country is becoming ultimately controlled by government, from the out-lawing of internal-combustion engined cars to the out-lawing of cash? Ring a bell?

          [*=If you don’t believe that a “beast” represents a government/kingdom, I can easily prove it to you with the Bible’s own words]

          • Nunzio, and others on this site that ask or want to know without asking; Why do I continue to communicate with those whose ideas and philosophies are so far from mine own?
            Let me reflect for a minute to see if I know the answer myself; to start with Eric and I have been friends for 20 years, and I highly respect him. One can love a friend without agreeing to everything. In fact, if two people agree on everything, one of them isn’t needed, and life becomes very boring.

            Now I haven’t been friends with Nunzio for very long – a few weeks at most – however, he has shown me respect, and has been interest enough to listen to me without demonizing me. Once again, I personally don’t have to agree with someone to be a friend.

            I can say the same about Swamprat, who I’ve also known for over almost 30 years, and he mentored me. He can take a lot of credit for my success in getting the repeal of NMSL.

            For the rest of the posters, you have been very rude, and so narrow-minded that you can’t stand for someone to have a different opinion and/or slant on the current situation. I have to say those of you who have degraded, and tried to demonize me have wearied me to the bone.

            I imagine that there are many viewers, along for the visual ride – some who may support my position, and some who silently root you bullies on. Bravo to the wussies!

            • Ooooppps! Gail, I think the ol’ gray-matter train took a wrong turn on the way to the return button again. My questuion to you was not about continuing to communicate with those who share different views and philosophies than you….but rather about why you’d want to stay in contact with those who ostracize you for having different views than they.

              I mean, yeah, personally, I don’t have time to hob-knob with those whose worldview and philosophies on virtually everything separate us so far that there can really be no meaningful discussion or debate or enjoyment of fellowship, nor the chance of one adding anything of value to the other- but as far as just having different ideas and beliefs, I guess as long as we at least have some major common issues to agree on, we can at least have some meaningful interaction and mutual enjoyment and benefit…

              …as is the case with many participants here. Although some participants here are not even Christians, I find in many respects I have more in common with them than I would with the “Christians” who attend the local church down the road, because we ultimately agree upon and have in common some very crucial philosophies which we consider inviolate- and although we may have come to those conclusions through different channels and or for different reasons, the fact remains that we can all agree on some major truths, while the people at the church down the road may give lip service to the Nmae of Jesus Christ, and yet deny some of the very basic things which He stood for; while some atheists here actually believe in and serve some of those very basic doctrines.

              You really do have to have some common ground, especially on the bigger issues- but regardless, if they treat you as the outcast, they are either concluding that that common ground doesn’t exist, or that they don’t want to be bothered with anyone who doesn’t toe what they consider to be the official line.

              Kind of like when certain groups dismiss us out-of-hand just for being Christian, because they either think they know what we are going to say, or just don’t want to hear what we might say- vs. a site like this, where even though some may be opposed to Christianity, they still entertain what we have to say, and respond on an individual basis.

              Oh, and to change gears a bit: I had this thought in the pool yesterday evening (I do a lot of thinking in the pool!):

              Isn’t it funny, how all of the most tyrannical/communistic states ALWAYS count exclusive religions, and Christianity in particular, as their enemy and seek to destroy them?

              From Constantine using a perverted form of “Christianity” to unify his empire, and then persecuting true Christians, to Stalin openly waging war on Christianity, to China only allowing state-registered and controlled churches, to the US criminalizing many aspects of Christian living…..all the authoritarians consider Christianity their enemy! (Yet most have no problem with Islam, Judaism, Buddhism…..)

          • She is not a Clover. She helped us get rid of the 55 mph speed limit. I know because we worked together. Clovers would never do such a thing.

            • Thank you Swamprat. And I’ve never stopped working to keep that repeal in tact. Of late, I work towards speed limit signs to only be advisory. If a person can get a speeding ticket for driving too fast for conditions, in spite of a posted limited, then it stands to reason that a person should be able to drive faster than the posted limit if conditions would allow.

              I always get a big kick out of the rolling of the eyes of a traffic engineer when I sashay in, knowing that they think that I’m just another old lady demanding them to lower speed limits and add more traffic lights/stop signs, etc. And, unlike this group here, delighted when they find out my stand.

              But, let me make myself perfectly clear I stand for God, family, country, President Trump and reasonable traffic laws. If that makes me a Clover – – so be it!

              • Hi Gail,

                I’m just trying to get you to see that “standing” for something is one thing; using force to impose it on others is something else.

                I and other Libertarians have a moral standard for the use of force; it is called the Non Aggression Principle. It means you haven’t got the moral right to use force except in self defense against and only against someone who has harmed you or your property.

                Otherwise, you are morally obligated to leave people alone – however much you may dislike or disapprove of what they are doing and even if, in fact, your way of doing things might actually be “more efficient,” or “smarter” or “safer.”

                That, Gail, is liberty. Freedom.

                But your standard is a very different one. You would use force against people for a variety of things that involve nothing to do with any harm caused to you or your property, but rather, to force them to do as you think they ought to, or to hand over their money for purposes you deem “worthy.”

                That is exactly what the “liberals” you despise do.

                The only difference is that the “liberals” do it for reasons you disagree with. But you both agree that it’s ok to use violence against people who’ve done no harm to anyone and only ask to be left in peace.

                In both cases, the freedom of the individual is forfeit to the violence of the collective.

                So, because you’ve agreed in principle about the use of force against peaceful people, to compel them to do as you think they should, and to take their money for purposes you consider “worthy,” you have no basis at all for making a moral case against “liberals” who do the same thing! Your arguments are reduced to the usual “conservative” and Republican utilitarian drivel (e.g., our “plan” is more cost-efficient than their “plan”).

                The whole “liberal” vs. “conservative” thing thus empowers the government – the control freaks who are the government.

                At the expense of individuals such as you and I!

                If you really believe in liberty, you will begin by accepting each of us is a sovereign individual. That no other individual or group of individuals owns us, and therefore has no right to control us. That the only moral basis for human interaction is mutually agreeable, peaceful cooperation – not coercive collectivism.

                • You are sprouting a whole lot of assuming in this last post, Eric. Tell me what control do you feel that I believe in. Because I want to barf at and over any control. I just signed a lease with was totally coercive – this has nothing to do with the local, state or federal government. This has to do with an individual company. I do it their way or the highway. If I bought a place then I’d be subject to ‘Home-Owners Association. When I shop at stores, I can’t barter, I must pay the price they are asking or not buy – that’s my choice. The moral basis for human interaction can only be the government. I can partition the government to pass a law that a rental cannot charge me more than a percent, but without the government I must pay or move.

                  I don’t see why the rest of you can’t see the issue at hand.

                  • Gail,

                    You did not have to sign the lease; you chose – freely – to agree to their terms and conditions. If you chose not to sign, they cannot force you to sign – or punish you for not signing.

                    Do you see the difference between that and government? Which never gives you the option to say, “no thanks”?

                    I bought a house in a county that has no zoning rules or HOA. I was free to do so – as are you.

                    You write:

                    “The moral basis for human interaction can only be the government. ”

                    Hitler would have agreed!

                    Seriously, defend this. Explain how it is moral for other people to gang together and impose their will on other people who only wish to be left in peace?

                    • I guess then, that Gail believes that it is perfectly moral for the Chinese government to dictate that it’s citizens only have one child? That is was moral for Germany to round-up Jews, and that those who hid them were “criminals”….

                      What an utterly ABSURD statement, that government is the basis for human interaction!

                      That is the foundation of communism.

                  • Gail, I lived in apartments for much of my earlier life, before moving to the country. It sucked. I did not like the restrictions placed on me by the landlords, but you know what? It was not coercion.

                    I was agreeing to rent THEIR property- and as such, had to abide by their rules. They owned the property, therefore they get to decide the rules.

                    Unfortinately, in NY, where I lived at the time, the state, county, Township and City/Village governments dictate a lot of what the landlord can and con not do with their property- i.e they are not free to decide who they rent to- they can’t ‘discriminate” against those with kids; or against those who look like they just hopped off the bus from the ‘hood, etc. If a deadbeat moves in and doesn’t pay the rent, it can noften take well over a year to get them out, and you can’t even shut off their utilities…even if they never pay a dime…..

                    So this keeps rents artificially high for the paying tenants, and makes the process of getting an apartment very grueling, as landlords try to ensurethat any potential tenant will be a good one, before accepting them, because if they are not….they will lose a LOT of time and money.

                    Oh yeah, and in NYC, a landlord must give formal written notice [I forget how far in advance] idf he is not going to renew a lease; but a tenant can elect to not renew a lease, or even break the lease, without ANY notice, with no penalty.

                    As such, it is getting to the point where no sane person will become a landlord in NY. -as the ability of the property owner to protect his interests is severely hampered by…..GOV-ERN-MENT (Not to mention the RIDICULOUS taxes they must pay for such treatment)….

                    Basically, in places like NY, CA, MA, etc. the property owners are put in a position of subservience to the inferior party.

                    A friend of mine owns several rental houses in FL. He just went through an ordeal where it took him 6 months and cost him over $4K to get some SQUATTERS out of one of his houses.

                    He had even offered the squatters a deal- cheap rent, if they’d stay and pay rent, and keep the place up. They declined, because they could just move into another house and squat there for 6 months for free, over and over again, because your glorious government does not enforce property rights of owners, but instead gives rights to trespassers.

                    These are just more cases of government yet again hindering the ability of people to do good, while promoting evil!

                    Gail, if you haven’t learned by your age; if you can’t see the pattern here; there is no hope for you.

                    Evil human nature, institutionalized and enthroned in the form of governments who have ultimate power and no restraint, only results in the propagation of evil human nature…….

  14. I’m disappointed in the lack of foresight shown in these comments. OK, I’m disappointed in the entire article that lends itself to the comments made.

    I proudly voted for Donald J. Trump. The day he announced his candidacy, I rushed down to the DMV office and registered as a Republican so I could support him. I am and have been delighted over his choices of Cabinet members, advisers, etc. I feel if the Democrats, Republicrats, Liberals, and the Pussycrats would sit down, and shut up – President Trump could get his agenda off the board.

    There has been a ‘Whack-A-Mole’ game going on in Washington as long as I can remember (and my memory goes all the way back to FDR), every time a Republican sticks their head up, one of the above mentioned whackers hit them in the head, and then pleased with themselves, scream “The Republicans did it! Not so, until Donald J. Trump came upon the scene, the Republicans wouldn’t even go to the bathroom without asking the Democrats for permission.

    Bottom line: War over there is better than war over here. Ah, but maybe it’s because I’m a Military Brat.

      • “How about no wars at all?

        War is the health of the state… and the death of liberty.”

        Would that be nice, Eric? However, for the last 27 plus years we have been draining our youth into the Middle East Hell-Hole. Wouldn’t it be nice if President Trump could end the war all together? Americas have won a war since 1945. Why? Because our leaders have been afraid to actually take the bullies and dictators to task.

        Only the show of force will we have no wars at all! I believe that President Trump will ultimately prove to the world of that.

        • I see a typo in my reply – just goes to show you that I haven’t reached perfection yet – I’m working on it, though. 😉

          In my post, I meant to say that “. . .America hasn’t won a war since 1945 . . .”

          There!

          • What war did we win in ’45? (Considering that the spoils- i.e. all of Eastern Europe- were handed to the Soviets, and thus the outcomes of that war was that many millions of people had to live under communism/communism was expanded…)

            If our goal was to defend communism, while confiscating the wealth of many Americans, then I guess you could say we won…..

            • You are right, Nunzio. No one sought out my advice, because if they had, most of Germany, Italy, Africa, Japan, etc. Would now be states or at least territories. FDR sold us out. England once said, “The sun never sets on English soil.” We should be able to say that now.

              The reason I support Trump’s war, but not the others from 1945 to date, is that we didn’t fight for the USA, nor to win. I believe that Trump is a winner, and he will win any war he gets us involved in. But if we turn around in 2020 and elect some wimpy no direction person – it will all be for nought. So who are you going to call? As to my reference to “ruler,” you knew exactly what I meant.

              Gail

              • We can, not so proudly, say that the sun never sets on American troops. More’s the pity. Fighting to win only has merit when on your own turf for purely defensive purposes. Hopefully, turf which you purchased or which was unoccupied before title was granted. Unlike you, I would suggest that equity demand we give back some that we currently occupy.

                I would like to see a strong U.S.ofA., but one which merely declared “America is a friend of freedom everywhere, but a custodian only of our own.” as JQA is reported as saying. At the same time saying “One who attempts to take freedom from us does so at his own peril. We will repulse you and send you home sadder, but wiser.”

                And certainly one where the reference would always be “The United States are…”, not “The United States is…”. A subtle but important difference “we” have lost.

                I was one of those swallow hard when seeing the flag on parade types. Goldwater supporter (until he became a lot more like you in his later years). Reagan supporter. National Review? The only true guide to sane living. I even used to be one of those “Love it or Leave it!” idiots.

                Then, when I was about 40 a young kid loaned me a copy of “The Law”. The scales didn’t quite fall off, but loosened. Ron Paul “happened” about then. I discovered the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), Hazlett, Mises, and Weaver’s “The Mainspring of Human Progress”.
                Moving away from St. Paul references to scales, I just say “I Can See Clearly Now”. And I am not at all happy with most what I see.

          • Make that “America hasn’t been at war since 1945,” and you would be correct. That’s when the last war declared by Congress ended.

          • The united States hasn’t won a war since 1783. That is when the War for Independence from Britain ended. All other so called wars that the united States were involved with were the US being the bully and not actual wars but skirmishes. The actual wars usually ended with a draw such as the war of 1812.

            The Mexican War? Bully scrap. Mexico had no long time established government. It was easy picking for a new bully on the block. The Spanish-American War? Bully scrap. The Maine? It was an aging piece of crap, no wonder the boiler exploded. But hey! It made Theodore Roosevelt, an already rich socialist, a national hero. Besides by the time the SA war occurred Spain was no longer a world power more like a banana republic. Of course, the US had to make an example of them.

            Now let’s see what is next? There are so many acts of violence and so little space to list them. The united States has been in existence for 241 years and during all that time has not been fucking with other people a grand total of a whopping 21 years.

            That is not the sign of a Christian nation. That is the sign of Satan incarnate. To wage war aggressively is not Christian. Now mind you, I am not a Christian nor am I Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, etc..

            However, I have read many differing religious text. Hell, I’ve even read the Book of Mormon! LOL! Yes, one was the KJV of the Judaeo-Christian Bible. What passes for Christian today isn’t in any way shape, form or fashion . The united States ceased being a Christian nation when they started to waged aggressive war. Doesn’t matter upon whom.

            So you say Might Makes Right. I can’t see you being a believer of the NAP. For that you fail.

            • If the USA and its policies and philosophies are so offensive to you, why don’t you go back to the country your ancestors came from, or a country better to your liking. Clover
              I love the USA, and I’ll fight and die for it as my sons, father, and ancestors have for the past 408 years. I am not ashamed to admit this. Yes, there are problems here, but if you aren’t working to change the problems, then you are part of the problem.Clover
              All this anti-war rhetoric tells me is that all of you are scared to death that the ‘Draft,’ will be restored and you will have to fight for ‘Old Glory,’ or leave the ‘Fatted Cow.’Clover

              • Love it or leave it eh?

                If I don’t like that the USA isn’t what it is supposed to be I’m the problem and have to move? If I don’t like what the USA is being turned into (or already become) I have to move? Why don’t the people who want to live a place where things are at the human mean for the last six thousand years move instead? They can choose just about any country on the planet that is more to their liking. I had one choice, the USA as it was advertised. When they change that I have to move to Somalia?

                Why don’t they move to Sweden or Denmark or Cuba or wherever things are socialized to their liking or wherever they can find a parental government to take care of them instead of wrecking what the USA was supposed to be?

                Fight for “old glory”? What a crock of sh*t. War is a racket. Go put that into your favorite search engine. You’ll find a text written in the 1930s by a hero’s hero. The Marine’s marine. He’ll put you straight. He figured out what war is and what the US military is used for. You think I want to go die for the profits of crony capitalists? Kill people who did nothing to me so wealthy families can implement their over century long social engineering plans? You go die for it. Women got their “equal” rights, so you go murder and die for it.

                You sound like what is discussed in the Americanization of Emily when Garner’s character speaks of being a coward and reality of why men keep going off to war.

                • I tried to “Clover” her… but now the Clover code (which I used ti just cut and paste) no longer produces the Clover image… sigh. I hate computers….

                  • I don’t think she needs to be pasted with the clover badge but I just don’t see how anyone can go through the 55mph NMSL battle and come out so statist. It is a subject that should strip a person bare of statist delusions IMO.

                    If I had never gotten into reading C&D back in the day and later into the debates on the NMSL, the crushing of old cars, and more about driving I still may not know or understand the true nature of the state.

                    I guess maybe people think the driving issues are small and don’t have a deeper meaning. To me if the state is willing to exploit its power, create fake science, and more over something as petty as how fast people drive on limited access highways then of course it does it when the stakes are higher and there is less direct personal effect on people.

                    • Hi Brent,

                      The common thread seems to be an inability to apply a concept to a particular. This is a Clover Characteristic. I know Gail, have met her – back in the ’90s, when I was a car columnist at The Times and was covering the NMSL repeal. She is a nice lady and means well. But she seems unable to see past the almost cartoonish propaganda archetypes (e.g., “old glory”) she has had hammered into her head such that her reactions are Pavlovian, instinctive… goodthinkful, as Orwell might have put it.

                    • GREAT point, Brent- about in your case, it being some car issues that got you to see the true nature of the state.

                      I think for almost every one of us, it probably started with one specific issue. Those issues may vary by person….but it’s always one that makes us realize that this “freedom” they always speak of, does not exist; not even in the littlest things.

                      I was lucky, as my first issue came up at a very young age: Compulsory school attendance.

                      If they can compel me to do something that I don’t want to do; and have the right to declare that they are the arbiters of what is “for my own good”, and even compel my parents to fear not complying- as if the state has any claim to the fruit of my mother’s womb- then even a 7 or 8 year-old can easily perceive that we do not possess even the most basic of freedoms.

                      And it just goes on from there- each passing year, as you grow and gain experience, you see more evidence of what that initial lesson taught you.

                    • There was a fair amount of government school that never sat right with me but it wasn’t enough to show me what the state really was. I didn’t make full sense of school experiences until I read and listened to John Taylor Gatto. I wish I had known that in school. I basically made myself a target for teachers with my off the program learning and more.

              • Gail, if you want to fight for this country, go to DC and engage the enemy! The only ones threatening and breaching our borders are immigrants who those in DC not only refuse to repel, but openly invite and give our wealth to.

                The idea of fighting some foreign country half way around the world for various economic of political reasons (such as the fact that Israel wants them destroyed) is not valid reason to fight them, let alone compel our citizens to participate in such insanity by force, while claiming that we are “fighting for freedom”.

                Personally, I would die before I’d take an innocent life just because some idiot in a uniform commanded me to. I have to answer to a higher Judge; and so will that goon in uniform, eventually.

                Those of us who refuse to do evil, are the real heroes. To kill the innocent in service to the state, is about the most sickening, criminal, cowardly, advancement of evil that anyone can possibly do.

                For someone who claims to be a Christian, such is exponentially more evil. How many so-called Christians caused the deaths or ruination of their Christian brothers in Iraq; all the while affording the pagan Muslims and their demonic book the greatest respect? I’m sure that the Devil is well pleased with such actions.

                The last legitimate war that the US fought was the Revolutionary War. Every war since then has been no different than the operation of organized crime.

                • I feel that those who will not fight for their country are cowards.

                  If someone broke into your home threatening to kill your family, would you just sit there and allow it to happen?Clover

                  How are your next door neighbor? After all they are no skin off your nose, right?

                  ◄ Numbers 33:55 ►
                  But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which you let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein you dwell.

                  • I believe you have that backwards. WE are breaking into THEIR homes. By your definition we should all be about killing the remaining American Indians. WWJD?

                    • WWJD?

                      18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?

                      19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.Clover

                      20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

                      21 They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.

                  • Gail, if someone breaks into my home, they’re going in the sinkhole with a bullet in their head.

                    It should be the same way with those who are breaking into our country, but instead, the traitors in DC are giving them our wealth.

                    And now you say that those who don’t want to serve those traitors by breaking into someone else’s home [country] are cowards?

                    You’re saying that the wars that those traitors declare are a “thus saith the LORD”?

                    Actually, by your own logic, the countries which we invade are perfectly justified in whatever they do to us, because WE have broken into their home; and they are merely defending their borders- something which we should be doing, but are prevented from, because our mercenaries are serving traitors, and doing their dirty-work all over the world- everywhere, except at our own borders, ports and airports.

                    C’mon Gail….you’re certainly not senile, so all I can think is that your posts are bordering on pure spam.

      • Eric,

        I have to agree with Nunzio and other posters here. While you may know Gail from earlier battles such as the 55 speed limit. She basically comes across as a shill for the state. She needs to branded as a clover. No if, and, or but about it.

        David Ward
        Memphis, Tennessee

        P.S. I also agree that her showing up here so soon after the site was hacked is totally suspicious.
        P.P.S. Since when are all my post being moderated? They were moderated under my account and now they are moderated when I am not signed in. Something has to give. If I am logged in my post should not be moderated.

        • Hi David,

          I hear you in re Gail… my finger is on the “Clover” button!

          On the rest: I wish I knew. Computers and code are not – as you know – my thing.

          • Let me see if I hear you right – no dissent or you’re banished – finger on the “Clover” button, is that correct? The hell with what I’ve accomplished throughout my life, surely, I’ve slipped off the rail now. Clover

            Well, I’m disappointed, too. So, I’ll move on.

            • Gail, normally I don’t like to see anyone take their ball and go home but your “love it or leave it ” bs is highly offensive. ….so don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

              In the 60s in west Tx you actually had to commit a crime to even be noticed.

              This once fairly free state….and entire country for the most part has become nothing short of a totalitarian playground for those of The LIOLI crowd with fewer independent minded people every day. I hear the sound of LBJ and Nixon when I hear those words

              Unfortunately for the average person it’s difficult if not impossible to not commit 2 or 3 felonies every day……and stupid people still spout the lie of Americans living in the freest country on earth.

              The Patriot Act was the real start in earnest of creating a police state. We no longer even have the right to refuse to let a cop take our blood. Not very free from my point of view.

              • The fact that the US only contains 4.4% of the world’s population, yet 25% of the world’s incarcerated people pretty much ays it all.

                Either our people are the most criminally-inclined people on the face of the earth….or we are the most tyrannical nation on earth. One of the two must be true.

            • Gail,

              “Let me see if I hear you right – no dissent or you’re banished – finger on the “Clover” button, is that correct?”

              No, that is not correct. Being branded by Eric as a “clover” does not get you banished. And, “dissent” is welcome here; just don’t expect not to be criticized.

              You claim to be a deep thinker, unmoved by propaganda. But, you have offered nothing but boilerplate statist propaganda. You are proud of your reflexive pro-war stance but provide no coherent, moral justification for this view.

              I have read all of your posts and the justifications you do provide, seem based on a number of premises, all of them false. You claim that those “rabid dogs” seek to invade the US and conquer it for themselves. You have made an idol of the US state. You equate military intervention with “fighting for old glory”. You reject the legitimacy of private property by invoking the “love it or leave it” canard. Finally, you believe, despite overwhelming evidence, that “cleaning up” a foreign nation is just a matter of will.

              Your first premise is delusional. It is true that some of “them” want to come here to hurt “us”. But, that desire is driven by the immoral and insane interventions you endorse. Funny, prior to the US’ undeclared switch to permanent war against Islam, most of “them” came here to better their lives, seek education, become lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, etc… In short, they came to participate in “our” way of life, not destroy it. To the extent that this may no longer be true, US policy bears most of the blame.

              I include the second premise specifically to rile you up. You idolize the US state and argue that it’s greatness derives from its’ willingness to kill and plunder. You cherry pick scripture to imply that Trump specifically, and the US generally, is doing the LORD’s work. Is this not blasphemy?

              You claim that objecting to US wars of aggression is cowardly. You imply that these wars are fought in defense of the US. This is nonsense. US wars are fought for the benefit of a plutocratic elite; the safety, liberty and interests of us “mere mundanes” is not part of the agenda. To advocate that others kill and die for this is not noble, it is obscene.

              The “love it or leave it” canard is logically valid only if the State legitimately owns all property. I assume you don’t believe this.

              Finally, you assert that war is good but only if “we” are willing do do what it takes to win. Trump, you believe, has such will. This belief is also delusional, in that it ignores reality. It also requires a definition of what it means to win. Despite the rhetoric about democracy and human rights “winning”, for the US, means the installation of a stable, compliant, vassal State. This is not possible. The creation of such a State will require violence and suffering; this will be blamed on the US and the newly created State. This government will never be seen as legitimate by its’ own people. In other words, the seeds of its’ destruction are planted at the time of its’ creation.

              Jeremy

            • Gail, I don’t think Eric was referring to banishment. I mean, if we don’t believe in free speech for our enemies, we don’t believe in free speech. [Not saying you’re necessarily an enemy].

              Dissenters actually allow us a much greater opportunity to exhibit our own philosophies and prove their superiority. I mean, what is better than letting our own words and ideas speak for themselves?

              Without some dissenters, we are just preaching to the choir.

          • WOW! What a bunch of mean-spirited bullies you have on your website, Eric.

            There is nothing that I could post to this group that would please them, unless I agreed to ‘Goose-step’ with their views and philosophies. Which I don’t, nor will I ever become as pathetically saded as each of you seem to have become. While I still see injustices in the system, I still hold to the idea that USA has the best government in the world (even if Obama did try to destroy it).Clover

            “IYHO,” really? The closest one that seemed to be a mite humble was Nunzio – and he is probably laughing up his sleeve at me.

            You have made fun of my upbringing, my beliefs, and tried your best to make a caricature out of me. You’ve failed on all counts. Since God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, I would suggest that each of you re-read the Bible to know what it says, and try to understand its wisdom, rather than ‘cherry-picking’ a verse here and there. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

            • Hi Gail,

              You speak of bullies. What better definition could there be of the actions of the U.S. government?

              I wish you would answer the specific questions I asked – and respond to observations made. Especially as regards who has been taking away “our freedoms.”

              • Eric, do you want to know why I was such a success in Washington DC? I didn’t go there with the mentality that I’ve witnessed on your website. I see nothing but lack of gratitude, discontent, and rudeness toward any ideas, other than the narrow minded views expressed here. My cheery, and positive behavior is what won the Congressional members over. As one representative wrote on a picture he gave me, “You have been kind, pleasant and ‘There.” Do you think that these boys are going to intimidate me with their trite and vindictive comments? Heaven forbid! When I was lobbying to get the repeal of the NMSL, I had 144 Safety Groups, USDOT, and the entire Insurance Industry against me. President Bill Clinton vowed to veto any bill that I got through. Ralph Nader tried to kick me out of a meeting, and refused to serve me refreshments (that hurt ;-), and a USDOT representative screamed that I had falsified documents while I was speaking to the National Governor Association. Yet, I floated through the Hallowed Halls of Congress and managed to get a veto proof bill through. Yes, I’m proud of what I did. Every state in the union have adjusted their speed limits upward due to my effort. I have affected every person who have been a driver or passenger over the past 21 years.
                Impossible everyone said, even you, yet I did it! Maybe I can’t change every law on the books, but I’ve put in more effort than most to keep the local and federal government out of our lives. I guess you still can’t eat ice cream on Sunday in Massachusetts, and you can still shoot a Mormon on sight in Missouri. Whenever I find a law getting too close to me, I lobby to change it, because I want to be a law abiding citizens, and I want the government to respect me.

                I’m sorry that your Eastern states are so far behind, but out West we get to drive 80/85mph, and aren’t bothered if we drive faster – unless you have a California tag – for some reason the cops really dislike them.

                With that said, Eric, ask me again what your problem with the U.S. Government might be? Now, remember my soul resides in the deep South who went to war over States Rights. My ancestors settled in the Appalachian Mountains of Carolina before it was North and South. Little areas such as theses are hard-pressed to have any government intervention other than their own.
                What do you mean “. . .who has been taking away ‘our freedoms?” Re-ask the question(s), please.

                • Gail said:
                  “on your website. I see nothing but lack of gratitude, discontent, and rudeness toward any ideas, other than the narrow minded views expressed here.”

                  Gail, I don’t think that the outright rejection of coercion and unprovoked violence -be it from a gang of men who call themselves’ the state”, or from an individual- can be viewed as narrow-minded.

                  It is probably THE most broad-minded principle which men can ever conceive, as ot affords all people the right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness, and only restrains those who exercise violence against those who have not used violence toward them.

                  Pretty much, everything we discuss boils down to that core issue. It’s pretty darn hard to justify any departure from that simple value- whether on an individual, collective, local, national or world level- but when one does, THAT usually represents narrow-mindedness, as it seeks to suspend those most basic and fundamental values for some “greater cause”, when in fact, there can be no greater cause.

                  And no, I can assure you that I am not laughing at you! While we may agree on some points of conservative values, I think, much as is the case with most people, be they liberal or conservative, the difference lies in the fact that most want to legislate their values, and force others by rote to practice them- be they liberal or conservative.

                  But I don’t want a conservative dictating the details of my life, any more so than I’d want a liberal to do the same.

                  But I think what people- even good people, like yourself and my own mother, fail to realize, is that it matters not so much who has control over a power structure- be it GWB or Obozo or Hitler or Castro- but rather, that such a power structure exists. For once that power structure exists, it will be used and abused, and at first, some will lose their freedom, while those condone the values of the rulers of that power structure will consider themselves free; but eventually, the power will increase until that structure possesses all power and all men are mere subjects or vassals and/or a different admin. will reign; but either way, all will eventually lose their freedom, and sovereignty.

                  To call opposition to that “narrow-minded” is like calling staunch opposition to communism narrow-minded.

                  • What kind of life do you live?Clover

                    As for me, I have not experience what you speak of. I go where I want to go, I do what I want to do, when I don’t like something I change it. Period!

                    I do not feel oppressed, and in some respects, I feel society is better than its ever been. There have been changes that I’m not pleased over, but I have chosen a lifestyle that fits my beliefs and opinions.

            • Not another old canard…. the USA is better than the alternatives. At what point along this long line of losing liberty does this become invalid? The millions in the prison system due to personal vices and selling substances wrt people’s personal vices? The NSA snooping on everyone? The body scanners at the airports? The crony capitalist system where if you don’t go kissing pinky rings to cut a deal on taxes forget about having a successful business? The anarcho-tyranny shakedowns including civil asset forfeiture? I can go on. At what point does this eating out of our substance make some alternative better?

              There are numerous alternative systems that work just as well if not better for people on this planet now. For the amount of taxes I pay why shouldn’t I move to a social democracy and pay just about the same amount and actually get something for it? If I were to start my own business I don’t think I would even try to make the stuff here. To be successful these days it often has to be done illegally until the business is strong enough to deal with regulatory state.

              I’m not a bully Gail, you just keep hitting me the bully behavior of the state. I know just obey the law until you can change it. LOve it or leave it.

              How many man hours did it take to repeal the NMSL? It took dedicated effort of many people over the span of two decades to get rid of a law that was obviously bad on the trivial subject of how fast to drive on the interstate. What sort of effort would it take to repeal something more meaningful?

              The fact it took so much effort over so much time to accomplish so little says something about the nature of the beast we are dealing with here.

              It’s not being bully to confront your notions. Either you can argue your points successfully or you can’t.

              • BrentP, I’ve told the group a lot about myself – probably leaving myself open for ridicule, thinking at the time I was among friends because of Eric. I won’t be so forth coming in the future.

                Many of the words, initials and/or acronyms used on this site are foreign to me. I reckon you all are trying to impress each other and overwhelm me. But that is OK, because most of them are easy to find the meaning of.

                Losing liberty? Surely, you jest??? Or are you talking about the federal government land grab. Once there was the right to squat on land not own by someone else, not any longer is this possible. Nope, no homestead rights on the land you chose to squat on. You can no longer throw the overnight ‘Slop jar’ out the window in the morning. A Cop can no longer burst into your home without a warrant like they could in the good old days. The government no longer quarantines you with a big yellow sign on the door of your house. Although, I’m not sure that was such a good thing to get rid of. The “Draft,” no longer exists, and President Trump says he won’t put it back.

                I have to agree that the prison system is a mess. I personally feel that prison should not be a punishment, but a protection of the general public from dangerous people who have demonstrated that they are a menace to society. Any non-violet crime could be handled by ‘house’ arrest, and a fine.

                Airports? HA! I refuse to fly, and if enough people had my attitude and the airlines started losing money, ‘Watch the changes take place.’ But no, people are too short sighted to think in terms of how they can control their own environment.

                Look at me, talking to you as if I think you are a reason person. LOL You have an agenda, and it makes little difference what I write here. So, I’m going on about my business. If anything I’ve written makes sense to you, I’ll return and continue, as I didn’t even get through your first paragraph.

                Have a good day!

                • Gail said: “Airports? HA! I refuse to fly, and if enough people had my attitude and the airlines started losing money, ‘Watch the changes take place.’ But no, people are too short sighted to think in terms of how they can control their own environment. ”

                  I couldn’t have said that better! Another case of “people getting the government they deserve”- but you’ve also said that this is a nation of laws- and what goes on at airports is patently unconstitutional- i.e. against the law of the land- and WE should not have to tolerate such, just because millions of idiots are willing to tolerate illegal practices for what they perceive as for their own “safety”.

                  Our tax money [another unconstitutional institution] goes to pay for those airports/air traffic control/”security” [all unconstitutional as well] and we thus have a RIGHT to use such facilities, but can not, because no matter who one votes for, they refuse to abide by the Constitution; and our fathers have allowed that government to grow so big and powerful, and to restrict our power [by disarmament] so much, that we are now helpless.

                  • I agree with you on this one. Under the guise of ‘safety,’ the government was able to take liberties that were not their right to take. There are many things that I do, or don’t do, as the case may be so that my liberties are not infringed upon. But, I do it quickly, so as not to draw attention to myself. The save who would might rob me. I don’t go around using bad or vulgar words – that does nothing to change the situation. It turns people off that might support your issues.Clover

              • Second part: “. . .How many man hours did it take to repeal the NMSL? . . .”

                From the time I joined the NMA and became first the Texas State Chapter Coordinator and successfully prevented that state from permanently passing a 55 law, to keep on the books ’75mph temporarily suspended.’ The other national coordinators kept chanting “Send Gail to DC, she’s get ride of the NMSL.” And so it was agreed upon. Google me and read my story. While much effort was put into this over a number of years, I personally with very little money, or appreciation got the repeal in 11 months. Who knows if I could have accomplished it sooner.

    • If war comes here it’s because of making war over there. What happens overseas comes home eventually in one form or another. Presently we’re getting an occupation style police state.

      As far as the democrats and republicans go I don’t care about their team sport. It’s nice seeing ‘because Trump’ making everything democrats called conspiracy theories become acceptable topics, but nobody but myself seems to want to use that opening so it will always be special to Trump in people’s minds instead of the way things are and have been.

      The problem with presidents like Trump is that once the state has them the state advances its aims much more quickly.

      • BrentP, you do realize that we haven’t had a president like President Trump since President Harry Truman, don’t you? You are probably too young to remember what President Truman did, but if you’re up on history, you’d know that it ended WWII, and the world knew that the USA meant business for a long time. Our economy was good, and we were respected.

        • So Gail, you’re saying all that matters is that we use power and might to dominate the world and win any wars we deem proper to start, just because….err….why exactly?

          So if Hitler had had the power to accomplish that, it would have been good? Stalin? Mau? Oh, no, it only applies to Americans because we this just happens to be where we live, and so we’re the good guys, and because we fight for the Jews?

          Might makes right? Or do you really take these things at face value, and think that we are somehow doing good by occupying, manipulating and destroying half of the nations on earth? You really believe that we’re “fighting terrorists”? That Saddam had WMDs? That the Japs pulled a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor? That some sand-farmers flew airplanes into 4 targets on 9-11?(And the black boxes were curiously destroyed, but the paper passports survived…LOL) No, C’mon, really???

          • Yes, really!!! Some days, and this is one of them, I wonder why I give the time of day to any of you. Well, OK – most of you.

            Hitler in power, Japanese (in my day we called them ‘Japs’), and so forth through many of the replies to my comment(s), especially yours, Zunzio (what kind of a name is this anyhow, and how do you pronounce it?) If I had had my way during these wars USA would have claimed the countries as our own, as we did in days of old – yes, days before my time.

            As far as your comments on fairly current events – I believe that reality is stranger than fiction, and I know why. Do you or do you just grab at whatever current “straw” is being propagated at the time.

            But foremost, I am under no obligation to make sense to you, my thoughts and talents go deeper than most, so don’t try to keep up with me.

            • Hi Gail,

              Some history for you:

              Hitler was the creation of Versailles, which was the creation of the “progressive” tyrant Wilson, who entered a European war that was no business of America’s, and thereby ended a stalemate that would have resulted in a reasonable negotiated peace into a three-hole rape of Germany that resulted in… Hitler and WW II.

              FDR (like Lincoln did to the South – and I know you disapprove of that) maneuvered the Japanese into attacking Pearl Harbor as a defensive action (from their point of view). In typically psychotic American fashion, he took umbrage at the Japanese asserting spheres of influence in their own part of the world… while the U.S. asserts “interests” in every corner of the world.

              The Germans invade Poland and it’s an outrage. The U.S. invades Mexico and it’s a glorious expansion of the empire.

              Uncle genocides the native peoples of this continent – siccing the 1870s equivalent of SS Gruppenfuhrer Oskar Dirlewanger on them (I refer to Sherman) and … blank stare. Get rid of the red riff-raff. But the Germans push for Lebensraum in the East and you are affronted.

              And, today. Do you really think they “hate us for our freedoms”? I know you are opposed to “refugees” being resettled here. So why, then, do you support actions that create more refugees?

              Your friend and Enemy of Freedom…

              • Actually, Eric, I don’t support action that would create more refugees. I support, cleaning up those countries, so the refugees can go home. I believe that they are entitled to their way of life, and beliefs, but I do not believe that they have the right to change my way of life and beliefs. Liberals seem to be hell bent for leather to help these refugees not only come into the USA, but to change our way of life.

                So, I’m counting on them not wanting to come here, if they feel they can resume their lives in there native country.

                Gail

                • But Gail… don’t you see?

                  We bomb these countries; “regime change” them… and what happens? Would there be a “refugee crisis” were it not for The Chimp’s war crime attack on Iraq? The continued attacks on Syria?

                  Think!

                  • The war actually started in 1990 under Bush Sr., and it will continue until drastic measures are taken. I’m counting on those drastic measures coming to fruition under President Trump. It is too soon to know if it will or not. I just feel it is important to give him the benefit of the doubt. The Liberals on both sides of the aisle, the rabble-rousers, and the Pussy Parade are giving him enough static. I would think the rest of you could just sit back on the sidelines until we see what plays out.

                    I am thinking, or why would I even bother to reply!

                    • “Drastic measures,” Gail?

                      Great. Throw gas on the fire… maybe you’d like something fissionable instead?

                      You know what, though? One day, “drastic measures” are going to be used against us. You and me. Because of the psychopaths in DC. And you are cheering them on.

                    • The war began in 1914. Wilson got the US federal government into it formally on April 6, 1917.

                      Because of Wilson’s help the Sykes-Picot plan was implemented after “victory” was achieved by the allies. There has been war after war since dealing with what came out of that war to end all wars. More like the war to begin all wars.

                      A century has gone by and people still are singing ‘over there’ and wanting to make the world safe for democracy at the barrel of a gun. A century and lessons haven’t been learned by americans. But I suppose the human race hasn’t learned them in six thousand years so why should those living in much of north america be any better?

                  • Find a new word for the new president, “chimp” is old hat.

                    I identify with him, except for the money, of course. LOL

                    I stood nose to nose with the biggest and best, and while you supported me, you didn’t believe that I could actually pull off the repeal.

                    Trump will give us more freedom, but not to riot in the street, block road, nor torment cops, etc.

                    More freedom, like in the old days? You mean when they held trials on witches, or put a person in stocks. Bust down doors, etc. Ah, the good ol’ days.

                    If more people would take on their local and federal government we wouldn’t be in the mess that we are in.

                    I spent 20 years doing what I’m advocating, but I’m old now and the fire in the belly is only dying embers. It is time for the young people to take the torch and carry on. In the meanwhile, I’ll support President Trump and the members of his team.

                    God bless America!

                • And why is it the business of the Trump Regime to “clean up” Syria or any other country? Why is this act of war – and that’s what it was – ok with you?

                  What would your reaction be if another country lobbed 30 missiles (or even just one) at the U.S.”

                  Oh, but that’s different!

                  Really… ?

                  How?

                  • Exactly, Eric!

                    Would we be O-K with the Chinese coming here to “clean up our country”?

                    And I wonder just how many refugees returned to Iraq since we “cleaned it up”? (Of course, the locals are now wishing for Saddam again, as our rule is much more tyrannical).

                    Funny, but Gail doesn’t seem to notice that more people want out of Iraq now, and no one is going back.

                    And how she doesn’t seem to notice that nowhere in our Constitution does it give us the right to do this.

                    It’s absurdity- preaching “freedom” and “safety” while making our own people pay the cost of these abominable deeds, and ruining our own economy, and making us hated around the world.

                    [By-the-way….the site seems to be fixed! Yay!]

                    • Ya know, Eric? Gail reminds me a lot of my mother. They really do mean well; it’s just that they’ve had that institutional “patriotism” shoved down their throats since they were little kids; between the Depression and then WW2; all of FDR’s communistic programs to “save” them from every boogeyman [which Uncle created], and basically only the mass media at the time as the sole source of information, they’ve basically lived their lives seeing only one side to “world issues”.

                      Would they even DARE question that which they have honored all of their lives, considering that their husbands/fathers/children and even themselves all participated in the various boondoggles in various ways, from being killed, to killing others? They don’t even want to remotely entertain the notion that “we” might have done wrong; that “we” may have been the bad guys; that they may have been lied to; that what they fought and died for may not have been heroic, but instead may have been evil; that others may not have deserved what “we” did to them, but that we may deserve what they were trying to do to us.

                      They won’t even entertain such ideas, because they might have to admit they’ve been fooled for their whole lives, and were tricked into supporting evil, rather than fighting it; that they were tricked into fostering the spread of communism and tyranny, rather than freedom. That their heroes are criminals.

                      Really, it’s not a hair different than the Germans of Hitler’s day.

                      My mother and I still argue about it. She’ll hear something about perpetrating some atrocity on Iran, and say “Good!”. I’ll say: “How is destroying a sovereign nation good? What did they ever do to us?” To which she’ll reply “Oh, they took our guys hostage; threatened to do this…killed so and so…” -and when I mention that WE started it by overthrowing their government and installing our puppet, The Shah, and that we’ve been messing with them ever since, all she can say is “I don’t want to talk about it!” -because there is no rational come-back which an otherwise decent moral person can use.

                      You would think that such would be enough to make them confront their own perspective, but I guess that they feel that being conflicted is better than admitting that they and their loved ones were hugely fooled and served the machinations of evil. )Although if they’d renounce their errors, they could at least redeem themselves, which would be a lot better than going to the grave knowing that they are willingly participating in a lie).

                      It’s funny, you, me, Gail and my mother all liked Trump to some extent when he was campaigning. Trump did a 180 on mosgt of what he originally stood for, so people like you and I no longer support him, since he is now the very opposite of what made us like him, and yet people like Gail and my mother have no trouble supporting him, even though he is now acting in many ways like Hillary whom they [rightfully] abhor. In fact, if anything,

                      There IS no explaining that, other than the fact that they are buying into some BS on an emotional level, rather than on a rational level. Just as my mother liked The Chimp until near the very end. How does one go from supporting a Marxist, to then supporting The Donald?

                      Notice that the major world troubles of the last 100 years or so did not exist, until women were allowed to vote.

                  • The reason I’m for cleaning up Syria is to send the people home, and not let them into the USA.

                    The post I was trying to reply to became so small and in a narrow line, that I could no longer follow it.

                    Gail

                    • The US federal government made the mess that is Syria today. Expecting it to clean it up is well….

            • So, “we” are always the good guys; the rest of the world is always out to get us for no good reason; and we can’t exist unless we dominate and destroy every other nation on earth?

              Gail, you are a perfect example of how people like Hitler come to power and do so with the blessing and participation of the majority of their countrymen- because so many, like yourself, buy the propaganda, hook, line and sinker, without even ever exercising a critical thought or the basic tenets of logic. Even when they are pointed out to you, you just ignore them, even though you can not refute them, because you just want to advance your heroes and your system, as long as they victimize someone else and not you.

              I was going to ask how old you are, because from your superficial knowledge of history and acceptance of propaganda, I had assumed you are very young, but your latest comment belies my assumption.

              As for the Japs: So, when we cut off their access to oil from Sumatra (their primary source of it) thus guaranteeing the destruction of their economy, they just should have sat back like nice Nips and have done nothing and maybe thanked us? What we did wasn’t a declaration of war, but what they in-turn did was?

              But of course, when some Sand-niggers dare to do something, like abandon the petro-dollar, or exercise dominion over their own country, or [gasp] threaten to retaliate against Is-ra-hell, well then, THAT is war!

              No, you are not under any obligation to make sense to me- but then why post on a public forum, amongst those who don’t share your love of war and brutality and empire? You chose to come here voluntarily, so what would the point be if not to try and make us see your “logic” [I use the term in it’s loosest sense]?

              One would therefore assume that you can not defend your position, or that you just post to flap your gums.

              • Well, Nunzio – since you seem intrigued by me, wanting to know my background and how I ‘. . .flap my gums . . .’

                Here is a short bio, and if you are really interested Eric has written several articles about me, and a bio himself.

                I am a Navy Brat, and I am 82 yrs old. When I was 60yrs old, I packed up my belongings into a 20′ Ryder truck, pulling my 1995 Contour behind me on a trailer and drove to Washington DC to become a lobbyist.

                Now, you’ll have to do a little research on your own to find out how I changed your life, and every life in the USA.

                • The only “change” I want from the cartel of psychotic, pathologically violent gangsters and control freaks referring to itself as “government” is for that criminal gang to leave me the hell alone. (And by extension leave everyone else the hell alone except perhaps for defense against actual threats by those even more psychotic and violent.)

                  There is no sign that anything your or anyone has done in government is leading in that direction. Despite all the rhetoric from the Republicans, at the end of the day they accomplish nothing. They cannot even get their act together enough to get rid of 0bamacare. Spineless and useless pretty much sums it up.

                • I wasn’t intrigued, Gail….. And I would like to parrot what Jason Flinders stated. The whole idea of freedom is supposed to be about the individual/family doing as they please with what is their own; not about a collective or majority deciding “what is best” and enforcing their dictates and extracting the resources with which to do so from the individuals/families in the land.

                  NOW you’ve got me a little curious, but i don’t think I’ll take the bait just yet, as I prefer to deal with your ideas on their own merits [or lack thereof] rather than with a personality.

                  I will try and afford you a little more respect though, because of your seniority.

                  Much like my 92 year-old mother, you probably mean well, but it is very hard to overcome the world you came from [It is easier for us young whippersnappers, because things are so much more blatantly evil in our sphere of existence]

                  My mother was a Marine wife in WW2, and was on Saipan in ’45. Our mercenary killers will always be “our boys” to her; she can never overcome that imagery; you can never convince her that they are the agents of the very things that she abhors.

                  Such is propaganda. Government creates a monster, and then says they’re protecting you from it (Oh, yeah, you have to do the work…). Then they have a parade, and everyone cheers- You’re a “communist” if you don’t love the ones who made all of Eastern Europe safe for communism, errr, I mean America safe for democracy……

                  • This nation is not, and never has been a democracy, it is a Republic. That means that we elect representatives to represent us.

                    From what I read on this thread, it seems you are saying that you’re are in favor anarchy.

                    My roots in this country go back to 1609 Jamestown Virginia British Colony. The men in my family have fought in every war this nation has been involved in, except the War Between the States, then my family were Confederates.

                    Yes, I probably have a lot in common with your 92 yr old mother. My mother crossed over to the other side when she was 99 yrs old. I’m pleased to say that our views were similar, as are the Conservative views of my 8 living children and most of my grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. However, I do have 2 cousins that don’t adhere to my views, but they aren’t Libertarians, they are Liberals (eww).

                    I am not persuaded by propaganda on any side, not Liberal, Libertarians, Socialist, Communist, Muslim, etc. I do expose myself to all views and decide for myself what is reasonable. As for me, I am a patriot for and of these United States of America. “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

                    • Gail said: “This nation is not, and never has been a democracy, it is a Republic. That means that we elect representatives to represent us.”

                      Amen! On that we can fully agree!

                      Only I might add that to fully realize that ideal and legitimately so, our representatives must abide by the tenets of the Constitution, and within the bounds which it prescribes as being the right of government.

                      Anarchist? Yes, fine. Libertarian; minarchist; Constitutionalist; I’m for anything that would limit or greatly reduce the scope of government. But if the government would ioperate within the bounds set for it by the Constitution, I could happily live with that even.

                      I’m a patriot too- but of the America described in the Constitution and established by the Founding Fathers- which is far different than the “America” we have today. The two are incompatible.

                      Actually, if you’re a patriot of the modern America, you are essentially a communist, because this America practices all the major precepts of the Communist Manifesto- including the biggies of heavy progressive taxation; redistribution of wealth; compulsory pooblik education; and abolition of private property [If you don’t think we practice this, just try not paying your property taxes, or doing as you please on your own property in most locales, without obtaining a permit and/or paying the required fee).

                      Now since no one in their right mind can deny the above, the usual comeback is a string of excuses to justify the existence of the same. Will you disappoint us, Gail? 😀

                      And remember: “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free”.

                      Ha! I remember, c. 7 years old watching movies with my mother about WW2 and seeing our mercenaries shooting people; or watching the news and seeing them dump chemicals on the Gooks; and I’d say “I’d never do that!” and Mater would say “If you refuse, they’ll put you in jail, or might even shoot you!”. This from the same person who’d tell me i should be grateful that we live in a free country. Even at 7, I realized that such is NOT freedom.

                      But hey, Gail, at least you and I a little closer to the same ethic than the usual idiot liberals and socialists I end up arguing with. At least we have SOME common ground, both embracing largely conservative values.

                  • Well, Jason – I can pretty much agree with what you have written.

                    True the Republicans have been next to useless for the last 100 years, but so have any other party, save the Democrats.

                    In defense of the other Parties, the Democrats have been bullies. They have had great fun intimidating any person that tries to stand up against them. For them it has been a ‘Whack-A-Mole’ game. Some of the Republicans, suffering from the ‘Stockholm Syndrome,’ and some so corrupt that it made no difference.

                    Enter from ‘Stage Right,’ Donald J. Trump. Hopefully he can take them all down, but he can’t do it all in 100 days. As the old saying goes, “It’s difficult to remember that the object is to drain the swamp, when you’re up to your arse in alligators.”

                    • Gail,

                      The Republicans have been far from useless – as far as advancing the scope and power of the federal government. What you fail to grasp is that both the GOP and the Democrats are the same thing at bottom – coercive collectivists.

                      It seems you may be one, too… and that saddens me.

                    • The Republicans may be useless, but the Democrats are WORSE than useless. Truly the party of slavery, reducing the individual to a condition of servitude to the collective. In fact the Progressive movement of which the DEMOCRATS are a part has a long history of worshipping vicious dictators like Stalin, Mao, and Castro.

                      It was the DEMOCRATS who saddled us with the Federal Reserve and the Income Tax, with the blatant lies that the first would end depressions and recessions, and that the latter would never affect working people, it would just be a nuisance for the ultra-rich. (Of course that would be bad enough even if it had not been a damned bald-faced lie.)

                      It was the DEMOCRATS that saddled us with the Social Security Ponzi scheme, with the solemn promise (lie) to the American people that the SSN would NEVER become a national identifier. (Now you can hardly take a dump without being tracked by that number.)

                      It was the DEMOCRATS that saddled us with “you have to pass it to see what’s in it” 0bamacare with the solemn promise (lie) that it would reduce costs and if you like your plan and your doctor you can keep them.

                      It is the DEMOCRATS who are pushing the global warming/climate change lies in order to grab even more power and stolen wealth while placing every aspect of our lives under central control.

                      That’s just a few of the highlights.

                      Yes, the Repubicans are spineless and useless, but don’t try to give me any damned bullshit about the damned DEMOCRATS being any good whatsoever.

                    • Hi Gail,

                      You seem almost reverential toward “Donald J. Trump.” IIRC, you were also a fan of The Chimp.

                      How did/have either of these two increased liberty for the individual in the United States?

                      Note that Trump talked about replacing – not repealing – Obamacare. And has failed at both. But he has succeeded at dropping bombs on foreign people who’ve done nothing to America, much less threaten “our freedoms.”

                      Don’t you see?

                    • Ya know Eric, I was thinking about this last night. People of Gail’s generation were privileged to have lived at an opportune time.

                      They were just kids during the war, so, unless they liost a close loved one, the war essentially didn’t affect them.

                      Then, they came of age after the war, and lived the best years of their lives between 1945 and 1975, which was pretty much the pinnacle of Western society- about as good as it ever could be on a mass scale.

                      I was born in ’62, so I got in on the tail end of some of that. I call it “the old world”- It was GREAT! Those who didn’t experience it, will never know how good it was.

                      I think, therefore, it is natural for people of Gail’s generation to look upon Uncle as the enabler and protector of that way of life.

                      They see the wars as protecting that way of life- even though it was Uncle who created the problems which necessitated those wars; even though those wars killed many innocents, and deprived millions of liberty and property; and even though had we not had those wars, we still would have had that great time period, and probably even more so and for longer, because it was not Uncle who created that Camelot, but rather our people and culture and institutions of society, despite the various evils that Uncle perpetrated.

                      Also, in their day, there were still large factions of Uncle who were defending our institutions of culture and society- i.e. they were [at least ostensibly] guarding against communism; against the countercultural movements, such as the Beatniks and Hippies; and against socially destructive perversions, like faggotry.

                      So it’s easier for people like Gail and my mother to see Uncle as the defender of all that was good and holy. Trouble is, they have failed to notice that Uncle has done a 180, and instead of defending the good, is now promoting the very evils which it used to battle.

                      Why don’t they notice this? Same reason they don’t seem to notice or care that Trump is now doing the diametric opposite of things for which they elected him: Emotionalism.

                      They fail to “see” the actual actions or consequences of those actions. They just remember the imagery and the warm fuzzy feelings they had when listening to the campaign speeches. So now, every time they see or hear Trump, they recall those emotions. He could kill 6 million Jews at this point- or 6 million Christians- and they wouldn’t care- they willingly buy whatever excuse was proffered.

                      Trump knows this, which is why, early on, he said he could kill a bunch of NYers and still win the election. (Actually, that might not be a bad idea, still 😉 )

                      Women have this problem far more than men do. Elections now are all about catering to women. Although, now with Generation Y and Millenials, many of whose men are essentially women, men are starting to go the same way- and maybe this is why they are actively feminizing boys in the pooblik schools- Get everyone to operate based on emotionalism, and the facts/reality/actions mean nothing. You can lie to their faces, and it doesn’t matter. They seem not to remember or care, because all they remember is the way the lie made them feels at the time. The reality means nothing.

                • Gail,

                  You haven’t articulated a morally defensible, principled argument. All you’ve done is repeat belligerent GOP boilerplate.

                  Trump is behaving just like Hillary or The Chimp. More wars – to keep the boobs from remembering that he was elected to stop them and get rid of (not “replace”) Obamacare…

                  Or have you already forgotten?

                • Gail, have you ever considered:

                  Most of the laws in the U.S. are premised on pre-crime – the idea that “someone” might do something to cause harm. For example, random sobriety checkpoints that presume everyone is a “dangerous drunk” until they prove they are not. I know you oppose those laws…

                  Well, the Trump Regime’s attack on Syria and generally operates on the same idea. They “might” do something to us.

                  Do you see?

                  If you oppose the one, you should – logically, morally – oppose the other…

        • Yes Gail, many of us here, even if not old enough to personally remember it, are well aware of what Harry the Haberdasher did. He incinerated 2 cities, one of them the largest concentration of Christians in Japan. All because Japan would not agree to an ‘unconditional’ surrender. And in the end we allowed them to keep their Emporer, which was the one condition they were requesting.
          Plus Harry allowed the OSS to morph into the CIA.
          I could go on and on, but those 2 things alone ought to be enough.

          • Phillip the Bruce, if you aren’t old enough to experience and/or remember it, you are under the delusions of the propagandizes. They spin their webs nicely, and cleverly. I am perpetually amazed how history changes, and I wonder about that in times before my time. Don’t you?

            Shadows on the Wall of the cave is the history we know.
            In the allegory, Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk.

            Gail

            • Gail I think you are the one under the influence of the propaganda masters, aka the MSM in cahoots with the Feds. My dad served in WWII in the pacific under MacArthur, and even he was opposed to using the nuke on Japan. Truman wanted to show how macho he was by showing off how many people he could incinerate at a single stroke, not to mention impress the Russkies with our power. Kind of like the Donald shooting off missles and dropping gigantic bombs to prove how tough he is.
              Remember all the war movies showing the Gestapo stopping people asking to see their “papers”? How do you feel about being subjected to that here in the good ole USSA any time you travel or at random checkpoints in the land of the “free”? Wake up and smell the coffee.

        • Trump’s election was the people giving a finger to the so-called elite. However Trump doesn’t have the intellectual base not to be played by the swamp. Trump can fight the swamp but I as I believe I’ve stated before the swamp, the establishment, has two methods. It co-opts or it kills. The killing may be a political career/character assassination or a bodily one. It tried the first with Trump. It’s usually successful with outsiders. It didn’t work. Now they’ve learned how to press his buttons and get what they want. He’s co-opted.

          See Trump doesn’t have the grasp of history not to fall for dead babies and sunken ships. So Remember the Maine and defend the babies against the Hun. Same old scam. Same old war.
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6hRDS3LvQQ

    • Gail, if you supported Presi-fink Trump from the beginning (as I largely did) how can you continue to support him now, seeing that he is doing the diametric opposite in many regards to things he claimed to support while campaigning?

      It is precisely because of “Wars over there” that we have social and economic decay over here; tyranny and violence from our own government, paid for by the money which they extort from us; and why will soon have war over here, because the world will not tolerate this much longer, and nor can we afford to pursue such things much longer. And considering that “we” created most of the problems “over there” which we are claiming to be rectifying (Such as overthrowing sovereign and often democratic governments, to install our own puppets, as we did in Iran in ’53…), what we’re doing is akin to lighting a fire and then claiming to be a hero after put it out, after it destroys the house, because we managed to save the cat.

      • Nunzio, whatever are you talking about? Why did you vote for Donald J. Trump to be president?

        I know why I voted – Donald Trump pledged to disrupt the system. He is keeping that promise and I’m routing him on.

        Gail

        • Vote? I didn’t vote. I pretty much knew it was going to end up like this, and I didn’t want to give my assent to it.

          I was hoping that he truly would disrupt the system, but he has proven over the course of the last 3 months that it will be business as usual, or even on a grander scale.

          You can’t disrupt the system by doing exactly what the Zionists/Globalists/Neocons had wanted all along.

    • And I, for one, am disappointed int he extreme that a war mongering collectivist comes on here and tells us how much she loves killing people by proxy.

  15. I saw this coming months ago when he started announcing his cabinet picks. Mattis was the first sign. Remember, Mattis was the ideal third party candidate the neocons wanted to defeat Trump.

    It’s frightening how many banksters and neocons have wormed their way into this administration. Trump doesn’t seem to be fighting them off. I guess America got duped…..again.

    • O, ye of little faith. Give President Trump a chance, he has been pulled down on every side, and yet, he has ignored the opposition to forge onward. If you never supported him, then you are the opposition. If you did support and voted for him, then give him a chance, and tell the opposition to sit down and shut up!

      Gail

        • Gail likes the idea of a hegemonic Uncle enforcing his will upon the world, especially upon the “ragheads” and other such. There ain’t no end to doing right, you see.

        • Very old cliche; We all drink the kool-aid, just from different troughs. LOL a trite, stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase, usually expressing a popular or common thought or idea, that has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse, as sadder but wiser, or strong as an ox.

          Pastor Jones is long dead and no longer a treat!

      • Gail, I guess those who voted for Trump gave him a chance, and for war mongers such as yourself things have gone swimmingly but for the rest of us wanting at least some tax relief by not making everybody involved in the military /welfare state even more money it isn’t working…but what the hell, he had no intention of helping anyone but rich sociopaths anyhow.
        I’m not a big fan of big guv that translates into never having any luv for Republicans which goes for the Democrats who decided they wanted summa that big war money too
        This is why I’ve voted once in over 3 decades but instead voted for Ted Cruz as an experiment as was voting straight Libertarian for the rest of that election.

        Had I done the homework I should have I wouldn’t have experimented with Cruz. I haven’t felt clean since.

        At least I got past those decades ago of thinking voting for the opposite party of the current prez might be productive.

        As an old friend who had worked for the Christians in Action and survived their attempt to finalize his retirement told me about an upcoming 80’s vote when I asked what he thought each candidate would do, “There won’t be a gnats ass difference “. He was dead on and I just observed elections from that point on with the exception of 2008. Since Cruz was the only winner I voted for in that election, I’ve returned to the sidelines.

        Now, election nights, I like to stock up on Perrier and Wild Turkey 101 and have a reloading party. Hey darlin, pass me that box of 85 grain Sierra SPBT’S please…..

        • Got me beat, 8Man. I like to have an unloading party and pass SBD’s! 😀

          Closest I ever came to voting was when Ron Paul was running. If he had made it through the primary, I would have actually voted!

          • Nunzio, I gotta admit unloading parties are more satisfying. ..but without a visible. known enemy I’d just be slinging lead at unseen cattle and my cats, not very satisfying. I can imagine Edwin Meese, the Shrub and others but to be honest, the closest thing to a real target that’s ever been close to me was Colin Powell on the 666 ranch just N of me but if he wasn’t just a dupe like many others, at least he had the grace to STFU and go home….and he did rid us of a really abusive Parks and Wildlife occifer so it’s hard for me to hold a grudge. It’s a long story but it’s a west Tx story…and I hate to tell stories out of school.

            • Ah! That’s right; the Shrub has his compound in your neck-o-the-woods! (Funny how when it’s one of “them”, it’s “an estate”, but when it’s someone whom they want to vilify, it’s “a compound”!)

              I was speaking more so of unloading spent tacos and chili though…. the kind that make my colon go pow! 😀

              • The Shrub’s place was close toa Crawford, 200 plus miles from me, nowhere near the 666,one of the oldest ranches in the SW less than 30 miles from me.

                Lucky for us no airport near to land a jumbo jet.

                I used to get my parts with a SW buyers guide before the Internet. I’m remote enough many manufacturers would sell to me without using their retail suppliers.

                Typical conversation, So, how far are you from Dallas? 300 miles. How about Amarillo? Bout the same. El Paso? 550. Houston? 450. Hell guy, you’re 300 miles from anywhere. Yep, that’s about it.

                Oh hell, just give me a physical address and we’ll ship them to you. Well my only address is a PO box but if you use it the freight companies know where I am.

                I’ve had small, inexpensive parts show up at the PO no charge……and then that damned 911 bs was implemented and everybody got an address. …..for their protection. And that’s a joke for more than one reason. My neighbor had a crazy cow run over a gate and break both his legs. He’s 8 miles from the county clinic and the EMTs took 45 minutes to get to his house.

  16. What kills me, is that the Trump supporters who still support him, suddenly believe the intel. Intel which comes from people and agencies which they were rightly calling crooks and liars just last week, for trying to say that Trump was allied with Putin [Wish that he were!]; That the Russians ‘hacked’ the election”; That Hillary et al were innocent; etc. etc.

    And now, the line I’m getting [It must have been uttered in the MSM…] when I try to point out how people have always been fooled by the various lies in the past which were used as justification for acts of aggression/wars, such as “Saddam had WMDs”, is “Oh, you sound like one of those people who believe that our government had something to do with 911”.

    What do you even say to someone who is so grossly ignorant of reality and the recent past?!

    I’ve pretty much given up at this point. Why even argue? Let them have their police state and their WW3. Let their kids and parents die fighting for our tyranny, while they call it “freedom”. There is just no hope for them. We can preach to the choir, and make each other feel good knowing that there are still a few of us who are not under the spell of the propaganda mills of Hollywood and the Dept. Of. Edumacation- but we are not going to wake anyone up from the hypnosis they are under at this point, if they haven’t already figured it out for themselves.

      • And now thanks to the interwebz and ebooks/Kindle et al, the Ministry Of Truth’s jon is now a cake-walk. They’ve even convinced people of something called “The Mandela Effect” just in caseanyone might remember any further back than 5 minutes ago….

    • “What do you even say to someone who is so grossly ignorant of reality and the recent past?!”

      So sophomoric!

  17. Test comment.
    When I load a page it says I am logged in as someone else. This one says “Logged in as eric”. Let’s see who it posts as. If it’s me it’s a minor display bug. If some else it’s more serious.

    • It’s a hack… still not sure whether it’s been fixed…

      Everyone: Log out and then log-in again; clear your cache… let me know whether you’re having issues…

      • Make that “America hasn’t been at war since 1945,” and you would be correct. That’s when the last war(declared by Congress) ended.

  18. Not only was Trump’s $100 million missile attack unjustified and illegal, it was also an almost complete failure in terms of destructiveness thanks to Russian ECM or electronic counter measures. Thirty-six of the missiles ($55 million worth) were deflected and the remainder didn’t do much damage. I read today that despite all that his approval rating is heading up which instantly bolstered a queasy feeling that I have little in common with most Americans. Thankfully, Russian leaders seem to actually possess centers and intelligence unlike the psychopaths running the show here. Those attributes may be all that is keeping us from going to war with a people who should be our natural allies.
    http://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/04/09/trump-humilated-syria-shoots-down-34-of-59-cruise-missiles-russia-to-upgrade-system-soon/

    • Hi Marc,

      Agreed.

      And, like you, I worry that Trump has now got The Fever – for war. And that we might as well forget about him doing anything to dial back the authoritarianism of the Federal government.

  19. Hi Eric:

    Very nice article.

    I’m struck by the positive feedback loop between United States government (USG) officials and the mainstream media (MSM) regarding the use of the pejorative word “regime” to describe disfavored internationally recognized governments. As you noted, the word is usually preceded by the government leader’s name in an attempt to make him (always male) a personal enemy of the USG, and, of course, of the MSM and the US people. One month ago, you might have heard the MSM and USG referring to the “Syrian government” but now it’s the “Assad regime.” As soon as you notice this language shift, you can be certain that the now reviled government will be the target of belligerent statements by USG officals, if not aggressive actions like economic sanctions, “punitive” strikes, or outright threats of deposing/killing the leader and destroying the country. The MSM will even add the word unnecessarily, just to drive home the message: I recently saw a map graphic on CNN with the label “Syrian regime and Russian forces.” I guess the jury is still out regarding Russia vs. “Putin regime”, although the latter is becoming widespread.

    This use of this language in foreign affairs parallels the domestic use of the word “compound” to describe a disfavored someone’s or some group’s home, ranch, farm, or community. Do you ever hear anyone saying, “I’m going to my compound for dinner?” When you hear this word used by USG or state agents, and copied or incentivized by the MSM, you can be certain that the described people and property will be violently attacked by police or the FBI/BATF/DEA/IRS, etc.

    In both cases the MSM will lead the cheers for the ensuing death and destruction.

    • Thanks, David!

      And, yes, the language is revelatory – as is the syncopation of its use by the government and the MSM, which has become its all-but-official Propaganda Ministry.

      I saw some of this from the inside, when I worked in the MSM, back in the ’90s. I have one particularly interesting story…

      • Eric, David, et al,

        Since the weasel in chief has bought into the use of regime to describe a government the pentagon disapproves, should we now refer to the feral government as the Trump junta? Just asking.

      • WOW! There’s a whole lot of jumping to conclusion on this thread, more than I’d expect from you young ‘whipper-snappers.’ And, all men, too. The rulers of tomorrow, but who would rather sit at their computers hurling mean insults at their elder (no plural, here, as I’ve not detected anyone much older than 30. Eric exempt.), and me!

        Ok, at least one, Nunzio, wants to placate me with some respect for my age, but not my experience – right? You may feel that I’m seared around the edges with propaganda, but this ol’ girl has a lot of mileage. I haven’t sat around complaining about the government or laws, I have interacted with the government and changed laws. Now, tell me what you have done to make your life and our country more to your liking?

        I share much of your contempt for the government, though, and most of the previous presidents, while at the same time accepting that we are a nation of laws. I personally fought the lowering of the BAC nationwide, even though I am a ‘Tee-totaler.” I’ve gone toe to toe, and nose to nose with MADD, and If I was ever stopped at a check point, I would refuse to take the test. Once a TV crew went with me to find a check point, so my refusal would air on the news. I fought a speeding ticket so widely publicized that I was known around the country. From that court circus, it is apparent that there isn’t a cop in the nation that would stop me or at least, hasn’t in those many years.

        With all said and done, until Donald J. Trump appeared on the scene, I haven’t been able to say many nice things about any president that I can remember – that goes back to FDR. Some I actually hated, Obama was one, LBJ was so crooked that he had to be screwed into the ground when he died. Although, I have to admit that I enjoyed Camelot, even though it was only an illusion. I didn’t even think Reagan was that great, not as bad as some, but not that great as people today seem to think. Not you guys, of course.

        I grew up in the Depression – ‘Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without’ mentality. The WWII years were hard, the nation was still recovering from the Depression. There was rationing of gas, sugar, coffee, silk stocking, cigarette, etc. My father was in the Navy fighting in the Pacific. When his ship was sunk in 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea, he was missing in action for 2 months. When the War was over, my father was a different man. Have any of you served in the military or seen war up close and personal? Which would you chose? Waiting for the enemy to come here, or go to them? You do know that erratic Islam wants us dead, don’t you? They don’t care what you may or may not believe. They are like rabid dogs, they aren’t going to live peaceably among us, they want to take over our county with us gone. I’m all for ‘live and let live,’ but when my way of life and existence is threatened I have no problem with them being squelch. If not by our military, then I’ll defend myself.

        I was a young ‘Stay-at-home’ mother during the golden years of the 50s. I never developed the ‘socialist mentality’ that is so prevalent on military bases and in the Brats that grew up on them. You might call me a ‘Free Spirit.’
        Bottom line here is: If you live in the USA, then Donald J. Trump is your president. If you don’t like this, then I would suggest that you work towards finding a candidate that you do like to run against him in 2020. In the mean time, just accept the inevitable. Time and tide waits for no man, this too will pass, so be of good cheer.

        • “The rulers of tomorrow” Gail? I think I speak for pretty much everyone here when i say that I don’t want to rule anybody. Elect me to office and all I’d do is repeal law after law. I could do so for the rest of my life, and it wouldn’t be enough.

          This country was not supposed to be about ruling; it was supposed to be about a very limited government, whose purpose it was supposed to be to protect the liberty and property of it’s citizens, and defend our country’s borders- which are about the only things our now-extant government DOESN’T do.

          Nor can you change such a system from within, as cartels never willingly relinquish power once it has been established. Those with the power, and their minions, would never tolerate the reduction of power necessary to return to a Constitutional government. These monsters think nothing of infringing upon the rights and borders of sovereign nations, at great expense and with great violence; do you think they would just sit by and allow a few individuals to neuter their illegitimate empire? To think so is very naive.

          Nor have I ever/would I ever join the military. The only legitimate military is the Militia. I would defend my own property, persons and community. Other places and countries I am not interested in being a mercenary doing the will of some corrupt politician and/or banker, such as in the oppressing or killing of someone who has done me no harm/is not my enemy, just because some deuche commands me to. Sorry, that is contradictory to my Christian and Libertarian beliefs.

          I’m an enemy of MADD too- but I do not drink, so where does that leave me in that regard? 🙂 Yes, Gail, I guessed by the “Morrison” that you were probably not a tea-totaler! 😉 😀 (Ooo! If I were queer, I’d say “ZING!”)

        • “The rulers of tomorrow” Gail? I think I speak for pretty much everyone here when i say that I don’t want to rule anybody. Elect me to office and all I’d do is repeal law after law. I could do so for the rest of my life, and it wouldn’t be enough.

          This country was not supposed to be about ruling; it was supposed to be about a very limited government, whose purpose it was supposed to be to protect the liberty and property of it’s citizens, and defend our country’s borders- which are about the only things our now-extant government DOESN’T do.

          Nor can you change such a system from within, as cartels never willingly relinquish power once it has been established. Those with the power, and their minions, would never tolerate the reduction of power necessary to return to a Constitutional government. These monsters think nothing of infringing upon the rights and borders of sovereign nations, at great expense and with great violence; do you think they would just sit by and allow a few individuals to neuter their illegitimate empire? To think so is very naive.

          Nor have I ever/would I ever join the military. The only legitimate military is the Militia. I would defend my own property, persons and community. Other places and countries I am not interested in being a mercenary doing the will of some corrupt politician and/or banker, such as in the oppressing or killing of someone who has done me no harm/is not my enemy, just because some deuche commands me to. Sorry, that is contradictory to my Christian and Libertarian beliefs.

          I’m an enemy of MADD too- but I do not drink, so where does that leave me in that regard? 🙂 Yes, Gail, I guessed by the “Morrison” that you were probably not a tea-totaler! 😉 😀 (Ooo! If I were queer, I’d say “ZING!”)

          • “Zing!” is a queer word. In what vernacular are you using? Are we still in the gym locker room, or an even darker meaning?

            To start with “Morrison” is a married name, not my maiden name. Second the DNA of the one I’m married to is Scottish, Brit and Viking (which he is very proud of the latter). Dunagan is my birth name and my DNA is 22% Irish, 58% Brit and 7% Vulga-Ural region. The remaining is scattered throughout Northern Europe. Both of our families were in the Americas in the 1600s, migrating down to the Carolinas before it was North and South, and beyond.

            I would never insult my forefathers (and I mean that literally) by saying some of things that I read on this post. I read that you want to uphold the US Constitution, but then want to put in qualifiers to justify you own agenda.

            The same with your statement, “Sorry, that is contradictory to my Christian and Libertarian beliefs.” The two are an oxymoron. You can’t say that I’m against war, capital punishment, but it is OK to kill unborn children and legalized behavior that is anti-Biblical and against the very precepts of the Constitution.

            Ecclesiastes 3:8 – A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. or Exodus 15:3 – The LORD [is] a man of war: the LORD [is] his name. or – – – Shall I
            go on?

            • Well, O-K, I’ll give ya some sympathy for being married to a Scot! ACCKK!

              And sorry, but I’ve NEVER heard a straight man use the word “zing”.

              You’ve got me beat on being here longer! My grandparents were immigrants. We’ve barely been here 100 years. We’re Dagos (Eye-talians). [From Northern Italy, not Sicily or Palermo! Eeeesh!]

              Now who ever said that there is anything wrong with LEGITIMATE war, as in self-defense? Not me!

              Abortion? It’s a wicked thing, just like sodomy or adultery, but what business is it of the government’s? Actually, I think it’s great that abortion is legal, so that the wicked can off their illegitimate kids. What kind of mother would someone be, if the only thing that kept her from killing her unborn baby was the threat of legal punishment?

              Let the wicked kill their kids all day long. I’ll even give ’em a coat hanger and a vacuum. The more abortions, the less criminals there will be in the future.

              God even performs defacto abortions as punishment on those who have rejected him:

              Hosea 13:16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

              Capital punishment? In theory, fine- like in a theocracy- but otherwise, who gets to determine what offesnes are punishable by death? If one uses the Biblical standards, then we’d have a theocracy. If one does not have such a theocracy, then any disagreement between the Biblical standard and the man-made law, would either constitue injustice or murder in God’s eyes- so you can NOT have capital punishment outside of a theocracy- much less in a system such as ours where the legal system is a Babylon of confusion and contradictions and injustices, and where the guilty often go free and the innocent are often condemned.

              Remember too, that in God’s economy, the next of kin of the victim had the right and obligation to execute the murderer. This solved the problem of what to do with murderers.

              We will not have a perfect world and true justice until Christ returns. Until such time, the best we can do is to try and ensure that keep tyranny at bay, so that we and our neighbors may be free to live our consciences before God.

              Was that not the very thing which the Pilgrims were seeking?

              To ensure such freedoms in an imperfect world, we may have to tolerate the evils that some will do- but that is within God’s plan too- the wheat amongst the tares. And it sure beats what we have now, where in the name of stopping evil, every aspect of everyone’s life is regulated, which only results in the stifling of the good, and does absolutely nothing to diminish evil; in fact, if anything, the more tyranny grows, the more evil seems to abound.

              • We will always have evil amidst us, and the evil will continue doing evil. Isaiah 5:20King James Version (KJV)

                20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

                While we cannot stop, nor prevent it, we do not have to legalize it. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

                With the logic you pointed out, why have any laws at all. Not one law prevent crime, it simply punishes those that are caught. I read once that only 3% of the people doing crime are ever convicted and those only because they confessed.

                gail

                • Gail,

                  We have a different definition of “crime.” You appear to hold the general view that a “crime” is an action forbidden by law. I think this is a very dangerous definition. Can you guess why?

                  My definition of “crime” is: The deliberate causing of harm to the person or property of another. In other words, there must be a victim – an actual, human individual who has been harmed in some specific way – in order for there to be a crime. If an accusation is made, but a victim cannot be presented, or specific harm adduced, the accused must be regarded as not guilty of any crime and let alone.

                  According to your definition, most of what the government does – and many things it could do – is legitimate because it is the law and to violate these laws constitutes crime. A person may be accused – and convicted and punished – based on nothing more than that he has broken the law; that is, affronted some statute or other. It is not necessary to produce a victim, or any evidence/proof that any harm has been caused by the person accused.

                  According to my definition, the vast majority (upwards of 90 percent) of what government does is illegitimate because it causes harm to people – and that to violate/ignore most laws is morally defensible because the laws have no moral standing.

                  • Boy, you guys must be exhausted from jumping to conclusions. Did it occur to you to ask me what I thought constitute a crime before deciding what I believe?

                • Again with the breathtakingly asinine comments! Typical for people who cannot make an argument, she resorts to the tired old, well then, let’s have no laws at all! There is nothing to discuss with one this shallow.

  20. “There was, for all of three months, some hope that perhaps this time it’d be different. That – for once – the federal government was headed by someone not perpetually priapic for wars, which are (cheers!) the health of the state, the mortification of liberty and sulfuric acid thrown in the face of human decency.”

    And although I was never too optimistic, I’m bitterly disappointed. I can’t help wondering if he was lying to us all along, or if, after the election he and his family and his fortune were severely threatened (as you alluded to re the Zapruder film.) Probably it was some of both, but mainly the latter.

    Either he was/is a despicable, lying traitor…….or he’s not courageous enough to put it all on the line to save America.

    At least he hasn’t “yet” reneged on his border wall promise, or tried to confiscate our guns. But with WW III looming, things are looking kinda grim.

    • Hi Mike,

      And now he is sending an “armada” to North Korea… http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/04/12/trump-armada-north-korea-fox-news-sje-orig.cnn

      Why? The US – with at least 10,000 thermonuclear nuclear warheads and the means to deliver them anywhere – is somehow “threatened” by a low-rent Asian Dr. Evil wannabee who might be able to lob 1 crude fission bomb onto… South Korea? Or Japan? And then be vaporized in return?

      Trump has bought the package.

      I can’t believe I entertained any hope, even for a few weeks.

      • Ah, don’t feel bad, Eric. A lot of us thought that maybe, just maybe Trump would offer a little break from the march of evil and insanity that this country has been pursuing nonstop.

        At least there’s one consolation: By not voting, at least WE didn’t give our assent to this BS. We weren’t fooled THAT badly. Imagine how we’d feel right now had we actually voted for the lesser-evil, who in-fact seems to actually be an equal evil to the other non-choice?!

          • HI Eric,

            I was still logged in this morning and had no issues. Normal morning, other than the tragic loss of Will Grigg.

            Jeremy

              • Maybe the clovernment doesn’t like some of our comments, and considers such comments on an obscure website a threat to their billion-dollar propaganda machine, so they’re mining for a little info….

                I seemed to have been logged out and unsubscribed at some point, unbeknownst to me- but had no trouble logging back in. (Uh, looking at the name and email fields, it appears to have happened again. Wonder how many of my comments lately have been posted anonymously without me realizing it?)

                  • I have received your communication and it is understood.

                    😉

                    (Still having to punch in my log-in stuff, and subscribe each time I reply…)

                  • I can access some posts, but not all. At times when I click on the link in the email I am taken to the top, but not to the post that I wanted to respond. This certainly whips up the paranoia, and surely government intervention and control. AAAGGG! 😉

          • Hey Eric, I am writing this on my phone, which sucks, because my computer won’t go to the site. Claims it is not secure

    • Did you have your fingers in your ears when President Trump, while on the campaign trail, said “I will get rid of ISIS. I will bomb them where they live. I will take out their families.” And, all the people shouted, “Yea! Go Trump!” I can’t remember all the names he called the little dictator in North Korea, but he said he would take care of that threat too.

      President Trump is doing exactly what he said he would do. I supported him then, and I support him now.

      • Gail,

        These “terrorist” groups, if not creatures of Uncle (Osama and his outfit, for example, were financed and trained by the CIA – a fact) are the blowback of Uncle. Has it ever occurred to you that whacking the hornet’s nest tends to annoy the hornets?

        Why is what goes on in a foreign country any more the business of you and I than what you and I are doing is the business of foreign governments?

        These “threats” you speak of are contrived. The notion that Syria – for Christ’s sake, Gail – “threatens” (cough) “our freedoms” is beyond imbecilic.

        Oh! But he “gassed his own people!” Is it really necessary for me to deconstruct that morsel of doublethinkian fatuity?

        And North Korea?

        It is a third world country; maybe a second world country (barely) with (maybe) a small handful of primitive fission bombs it can’t deliver within 1,000 miles of the “homeland” and – would be insane to do, if it could. Do you really suppose the Dear Leader (theirs) is suicidal? That he would lob one of his petty fission bombs – in the certain knowledge that many fusion bombs would be lobbed back, that his country and his regime and himself would cease to exist?

        You buy this delusional/paranoid idiocy?

        You believe the gang of power-lusting, narcissistic psychopaths who are the government?

        You do not see that by endlessly confecting “threats” to “our freedoms,” these bastards systematically destroy our actual freedoms? While destroying the lives of people who’ve never done a thing to us?

        Who has taken away “our freedoms,” Gail? Is it ululating Muslims? Or is it (mostly) white American assholes?

        Has it not occurred to you that the Koreans and anyone else who wishes to not become Uncle’ bitch wants a couple of crude fission bombs for that reason? To avoid becoming Uncle’ bitch? If only “Saddam” had had one… it would have checked The Chimp and prevented the debacle that ensued; the displacement of millions, the deaths of hundreds of thousands… an endless got-damned war that has benefitted not a single American and which has eviscerated “our freedoms.”

        I know. I am an enemy of freedom.

        Cue that Len Greenwood song…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E

        • eric, same thing I’ve said practically forever . If I were the prez, chief monarch or the head honcho of ANY country, first item on my agenda would be nuclear weapons. Even if your delivery system was a team of mules pulling a large wagon with “patriotic” sinners it would be enough to hold the bullies(US)at bay.

          Only the propaganda infused “military brat” could believe otherwise…..and I’ve known plenty of those who had no such illogical thoughts.

      • Oh, I heard Trump’s threats of “bombing ISIS” when he was campaigning. It did trouble me. How do you “Bomb ISIS”, anymore so than could you “bomb all the members of La Raza or MS-13” here??? I guess, if you bombed Los Angeles, you could say you were bombing La Raza?

        So what does bombing ISIS have to do with bombing a Syrian airbase (which was actually ISIS’s enemy); or bombing a gas depot in Afghanistan; or invading Somolia, or threatening/bombing/invading N. Korea? Hmmm? Has N. Korea now joined ISIS en mass?

        Had this convo with my mother yesterday when I went over to mow her grass:
        Mom: “Thank goodness Prez Trump is doing something about that lousy North Korea, or we’d be having WW3” (!!!!! 😮 )
        Me: “What exactly has NK done to us?”
        Mom: “Did you see? They’d tried testing a missile, but it blew up!”
        Me:”So they’re not allowed to defend their country? At least what they do, they do in their own country. What we do, we do all over the world. We’re the ones going around bombing everyone. We’re the ones with military bases all over the world. We’re the ones distributing arms and munitions to various nations run by dictators; we’re the ones giving money to countries to do our bidding, and arming and financing rebels in other countries…..but Korea is doing something worthy of war because it wants to defend itself? And our bombing and meddling with all of these nations is going to PREVENT WW3??!!”

        It’s like they’ve been hypnotized. No sense; no logic. You’d expect such if it were coming from some stupid liberal who has their head up their ass; but when such nonsense comes from good people who tend to generally uphold high moral values and logic in most other spheres of their lives, it just doesn’t make sense.

        • Your mother sounds more articulate than I. And, you sound like you have ‘mommy-issues.’

          Is she computer literate? What TV news does she watch? Is she a fan of Rush Limbaugh? What about her friends? Are any of them still alive?

          Do you watch any news programs, or do you just stay in a small group of similar views?

          • No, no mommy issues, Gail- LOL. I just find it very ironic that someone who is otherwise of very high moral character, and who despises unprovoked violence, can support wars of aggression; and that even though she can not refute my arguments; and while I often have to provide her with facts of which she was ignorant, she still does not change her position.

            My mother lives on my acreage, about 350′ from my home. Neither one of us watches TV. She does occasionally listen to Sean Hannity; doesn’t care for Rush. (I gave up on all of the mainstream talkshow hosts long ago, after somewhat starting to like them in the Slick Willy days, but then getting disgusted, when instead of criticizing Bush when he’d do wrong, they acted as if he could do no wrong- and so it seems to be the case with Trump!)

            Just about all of my mothers friends are finally dead (They were scattered all over the country, but had kept in touch, in many cases for 60 years! She used to read me their letters when I was a kid, and would still do so recently! I never met the majority of them, but felt as though I knew them intimately!).

            Many of the people she grew up with though are still alive and in-touch, such as a few sisters-in-laws, and cousins of hers, etc.

            It would probably seem very unusual to someone of the younger generations, how, although my mother grew up in the heart of NYC, virtually all of the people from her childhood remained in each others lives to some extent over the course of even 10 decades in some cases!

            For instance: Some of my mother’s sisters-in-laws, she knew when she was a child, as they lived on the same block- and in those days (1920’s and 30’s) even in the big cities, everyone knew each other/knew their neighbors. So, these people are closer in some instances, than some people are with their blood relatives.

            Is it any wonder that I love nostalgia, having heard so many stories of the old days from mother, all of my life, so that I feel as if I had lived in those times and known those people?

            Oh, and no, unfortunately, my mother doesn’t have any interest in using a computer. I wish she would- she could use something to do other than reading and watching DVDs! (She still fancies herself doing yardwork- Luckily, she can’t start the lawnmower or drive the tractors! She has snuck over though, and pinched the pruning shears and grass clippers!)

            I do think that you two would get along very well!

            • Good Morning, Nunzio – although it is afternoon for you. I enjoyed your last post – newsy, informative and interesting. A few statements, I’m not sure if I’m following you though.

              What should I tackle first – it was a long post? OK, I’ll start with your mother and you. So you take care of your mother, correct? I could only dream of a child like you. 😉 My children are scattered to the four winds and I rarely see them. Eight out of thirteen are still living. Several marriages under my belt, but I’ve been married to current husband for 34 years. I truly believe in marriage, and I’ve been getting better at selection and durability. But some would only hold me accountable to my failures, rather than my success.

              You mentioned “ignorant,” all of us are ignorant in one thing or another. It takes a big person to accept this fact. Do I remember everything? No. Have I viewed what I do remember with colored glasses? Of course, we all do, some colored dark and gloomy and some rose colored.

              I used to be a big fan of Rush, and I might still be – it just isn’t convenient to take the time to listen to him anymore. I do have him on face book though, so I get a blur here and there. He really trashed Trump in the being of his campaign, and I wasn’t happy about that. The arrogant side of me felt that he wasn’t seeing the “real” picture. He seems to have soften his stand of late.

              While I would probably like your mom, it doesn’t sound like we have as much in common as you seem to think we do. 1) I’m on the computer most of my waking hours, and dream about it when I sleep. I tell myself often, “Get a life, Gail!” What do I do on the computer? I start the day with banking info; 2) WW etools/fitbit; 3) email, mostly unsubscribing (where do all this crap come from and how do they find me?) 3) Family History research a. for my own family; b. my husbands lines (only 2 are still alive); c. whatever clients that I might have, and right now there are five; d. DNA on several sites. 4) face book and farm town. Now, 5) I’ve added Eric’s site back on my list. I used to be on his list all the time and I drifted away. I have a very limited attention span, probably due to senility (were you the one who suggested this? After all, how can anyone my age keep her wits, experiences, and/or knowledge in tact, right?)

              I am a ‘Desert Rat.’ I live in Las Vegas, Nevada in a typical Southwestern style apartment complex that has 360 units, 2 swimming pools and 2 hot tubs. There is also a fitness center. However, I rarely use any of them, as I belong to a health club and drive 6 miles at 4:30 am to use it. Sometimes I drive further, as there are seven clubs in town. We have lived in the same apartment for 13 years. This is the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere, usually only 2 – 4 years and off again to see new horizons. You can read about my childhood at this website: http://www.bratsourjourneyhome.com/gail.htm

              Unlike your Mom, I hate yard work, or even getting my hands dirty, so I don’t even pretend to do yard work. I am happy with the desert landscaping, and the maintenance crew that tends to it, so it looks pretty for me. I heard on the grapevine that the management will be painting the buildings soon. I would op for brick red, beige and cream, but I will probably have to settle for charcoal, grey and chartreuse, because those are the popular colors in the area right now. When we moved in the buildings where a cream color with red tile roofs, then they painted them about 5 or so years ago to a beige, dark beige, still have the red tile roofs. Ok – enough of that.

              Most of my friends I’ve lost track of, and I figure that they don’t go onto the computer. I’ve searched face book, Military Brats, Adak, Alaska, Barbers Point, Oahu, etc. all the bases I grew up on are now closed, and my friends are gone with the wind. I find that I no longer have much in common with the young Brats. I am amazed at how many of them are fiercely Liberal Hillary supporters. I don’t have any friends my age, most of my friends are 20 to 30 years younger than me, including my husband. I am an only children, so no siblings, and my parents have crossed over. I remember, as well, my mother and grandmother keeping in touch through letters, as you mentioned your mother doing. Not me, if I can’t send them something on face book or email, they don’t hear from me, and that includes Thank You notes.

              I do like TV though, and I recognize that even sit-com are designed for propaganda, and I delight in pointing this out. Most of them though are not worth my time. I do like ‘Survivor,’ and now I’m into ‘Naked and Afraid.’

              Gail

              • Hi Gail,

                I’m busy this week, so I’m gonna have to play catch-up in a few days; and I’m looking forward to replying to a few of your posts in particular -but until then, just a few quick words here.

                13 kids? Darn, Gail. It’s a vagina; not a clown car! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist! :D)

                Ah! I too enjoy spending time on the ‘puter. Gimme a day when the weather’s bad, and I have no computer work to do, and I can spend the whole day on the interwebz and then wonder where the time went.

                I primarily enjoy forums; especially on a site like this, where I can have a little fellowship with others who share similar views to my own [Before the internet, I was “all alone”- as I tend to have non-mainstream ideas on many subjects and aspects of life- pretty much since I was a kid. The propaganda and brainwashing we are all subjected to from a young age, seems not to have “taken” in my case- Thank goodness], and where I can also debate with others who may be somewhat dissimilar or totally opposite, as I find that I tend to do my best thinking when challenged, as it forces me to more fully examine and test my own ideas.

                So we do have that in common.

                On the other hand, I’ve never been able to understand why people even want to visit Las Vegas 😮 ! -Much less live there; and in an apartment complex or building, no less.

                I can dig the wide-open spaces of the desert though! I’ve spent some time in the high desert of the Sierra Nevadas, and poked around NV. a little too. If I could have a second home and it wasn’t so far, I could see myself having a little Unabomber-style shack somewhere out in the middle of nowhere there.

                Ultimately though, I love trees and grass and abundant rain (Gotta love T-storms!). I moved from the NYC area 16 years ago to KY, where I have 27 acres of former cow pasture and woods, where I put used mobile homes for my mother and I, and manicured the place and built some out-buildings, etc. and pretty much live as close to paradise as one can get in Police State USA these days.

                It’s not the desert though. Had only one neighbor when I moved here. As is usually the case though, as soon as I set up camp, others started moving in nearby- so now I can see a few other houses in my view, especially in the winter 🙁 and while it was nice and dark when I first moved here, now there are a lot of lights all around :(.

                My mother had lived in apartments most of her life- she was married several times too- always picked losers; still spend most of her life alone; never had nothing, except for me and my two sisters- and they are of no account.

                Me? I love solitude; quietness; peace. Never found what i was looking for in a woman when I was younger, and am thankful now that I didn’t, as I’ve come to think that marriage (at least these days) is only for those who don’t like being alone. (Although I naturally strongly believe in the institution of marriage- and that it is for life- which is why it is something I have never taken lightly).

                Anywho, I haven’t even gotten a chance to read new comments (let alone new articles by Eric) in the last 24 hours, and with it being spring now and nice weather and all, I may be MIA for days at a tkime- but hopefully I’ll get a chance to catch-up, at least at night, by early next week.[I don’t understand where the time goes- this is virtually the only comment section/forum I participate on these days!]

                I appreciate the info about yourself. It’s nice when we know someone as a “person” and not just an anonymous name.

                Hey, I’m impressed! 22% Irish, and you can get along with your part-Scot huisband for 35 years?! I thought the Irish and the Scots hated each other? 😉

                • Good-morning, Nunzio! I am starting over today. No, not turning over a new leaf, just starting over. I was in the process of writing a long, newsy letter to you when I lost it. I didn’t bother looking for it because I had not saved it. Carelessness on my part because I had several windows opened and I wanted to get rid of some of them, and yours was one of them.

                  Line upon line, I will respond to your post. I’m pleased that you are cordial to me. I’ve really taken a beaten the past few days, including my old buddy of 25 years. Ouch! But that is neither here nor there, when you get around to reading the posts you will see for yourself. In the meanwhile I’m still humming, “I’m looking over a four-leaf clover that I overlooked before.” So go ahead, “Clover me!” I love the glitter too.

                  I’m busy too. Life keeps rushing in on me. Dang it! Are you your mother’s caretaker (I refused to change this good English word to “caregiver,” because some liberal was offended.) I have the late effects of polio, and now in a wheel chair. But I don’t feel sorry for myself, so don’t you either. I was 19 yrs old when I got the polio from the newly approve vaccine. This is my lasting memory of Hawaii. We were Navy at Pearl when I got sick. I was in isolation for 6 weeks. Told that I would never walk again. Shortly thereafter I was airevac to the mainland. First to Travis AFB, and then to a hospital in Los Angeles that specialized in polio cases. Within 5 years I beat the odds, climbed out of the wheel chair, wore braces and crutches for another couple of years, and finally threw them all away, and resumed my life as a normal person (whatever that is). This is why I don’t feel sorry for myself – I walked, skipped, ran, danced, etc., until late 1999. In February 2000 I was diagnosed with Post-polio Sequelae (PPS). The decline was gradual at first, back to braces and crutches and special ugly shoes. I still don’t feel sorry for myself though, after all many women my age are already six-foot under, and those living are in a wheel chair too. So, life goes on. I tell you this, so I can tell you that I am a caretaker of my husband. He is legally blind with many medical problems. It is humorous when we park valet, they try to stuff me in the passenger’s seat, and Hunny tells them, you don’t want me to drive, she is the ‘Designated Driver.’ LOL

                  Line 2: I enjoyed your humor. I thought I had heard them all over the years, but your quip is new. BTW, just for educational purposes; the vagina is the exit, it’s the womb or uterus that is the “car.” Reminds me of a medical exam I had recently. The doctor said to me after a sonogram, “Your uterus is surprisingly small considering the amount of children you’ve had.” Of Course, I’m always quick in wit, to which I relied, “What were you expecting? My uterus to look like a balloon that had been inflated to much, and just waving around in my abdominal cavity?” Enough humor about my private parts.

                  Line 3: Just push me up to my computer and I’m happy. I hope that I never lose my ability to view the ‘window of the world.’

                  Line 4: Many, OK – most of the guys on this thread have a poor opinion of my views. They are so steeped in their own that they can’t see anything else. I didn’t get one reply over my Plato “Shadows on the Wall of the Cave.” comment. If one never looks out of themselves they are trapped in their views. I understand the “all alone” comment. I get so weary of the ‘aghast look’ and/or ‘I can’t believe she said that look.’ It is rare that I fit in to the Left/right or middle. I do find it stimulating to discuss views, sharing mine and listening to theirs, but when I’m attacked, such as I have been here it is no longer stimulating, fun, nor enlightening. I also don’t care for the “I’m better than you” mentality either that I’ve witnessed here. Too set in their ways and their thinking too limited.

                  Line 5: Short and sweet. I’m pleased that we have the ‘open-mind, I’ll listen to you and weigh what you said,’ mentality. If everyone agreed what use would we be? We couldn’t grow in our intellect, could we?

                  Line 6: Oh, let me tell you about Las Vegas – you do realize that it is like any other town, except we have lots of tourists from all over the world, don’t you? And, they rarely go anywhere except ‘The Strip,’ right? I live 10 miles from ‘The Strip,’ and rarely go there. I don’t gamble, I don’t drink, I can no longer dance, I can’t afford the shows, and I hate crowds. I once thought that I would like to live in the wilderness. At one point, when some of the kids were still home, we purchased a house on 3/4 acre, and it was already designed for growing things. I killed it all, I left a brown farm. Never again. I now live where all my maintenance, inside and out are taken care of – at no effort or cost to me. Yeah!

                  Line 8: “. . .trees, and grass and abundant rain (gotta love T-storms). . .” Me, I love blue skies, moderate temperatures (most days) same old, same old. I never have to worry about umbrellas or snow shoes. When I live back East, I was allergic to everything that grew. I was on medication, shots, inhalers, etc. I told the doctor that I didn’t want to live this way. He told me that I needed to move to a warm, dry climate. So, I went home and told my husband that the doctor said that I had to move to Las Vegas. LOL The rest is history, we have been here 13 years, and I haven’t had to take any medication. Win-win!

                  Line 9: Light pollution. The curse of civilization. When I was young, at night it was dark! I miss that.

                  10: Yes, it is hard on the heart to watch a marriage discinegrate. It is hard on the kids too. With the knowledge that I have now, I would have just made it work, and marriage is hard work, no doubt about it.

                  Line 11: What were you looking for in a woman? A church of your choice is the best place to find a good woman, and it’s never too late to start looking. I don’t know what your age is, but I know that many woman would be happy to find a good man. I’ve never had a problem finding a husband, only lost one that left me, the rest of them hate me for calling it quits. Only one of my has-beens are still alive. My current marriage was effy for a long time. Each year we would say to each other, “Well, we made it through the year, want to try for another year?” And so we did. At some point neither of us could imagine not being a family. 34 years now. It will be hard when one of us turns ‘toes up.’ But no gets out of this life alive.

                  Line 12: I need to go look at other areas of Eric’s website too. With all said and done, I’ve got to go drive my sweetie around, and we have coupon to go to a nearby Casino buffet – yum, yum!

                  Line 13: I appreciate your treating me as a real person. Next time, I’ll really get into my opinions. Have a good day, my friend! Gail

                  • Gail,

                    The core issue is whether each of us is sovereign over ourselves – or not.

                    If we are sovereign, it means no other person may legitimately (morally) use force against us for any reason except in self-defense. This means: No meddling in our personal affairs, no interfering with our choices and no forcing us to go along with “plans” or “help” when we prefer not to.

                    It also means no one else can presume to speak for us unless we have freely given explicit proxy power for them to do so – and in that case, the proxy applies only to us and not to anyone else.

                    This is my position – and it’s why I reject all variants of coercive collectivism, including the Republican and “conservative” variety.

                    You may not realize it, but you have no moral basis for objecting to the coercive collectivism of the left, of Democrats… because you do not disagree with the principle of coercive collectivism, only with the ends it used to achieve.

                    • Eric, you are advocating anarchy. What you deem reasonable, might not to me. So right there you are encroaching on my rights. This is why we are a nation of laws. This is why we elect representatives to speak for us. If we don’t like them, we vote them out. There is less freedom with a democracy than with a republic. The best way to control our lives is to become involved. Run for office, vote, involve yourself.

                    • Representatives?
                      When senators became directly elected and the house capped at 435 that freed the federal government from representing the people except in the most extreme circumstances. Then that just means wait until later. Eventually they get what their masters want one way or another.

                    • The very term “representative” is misleading, as it implies a democracy, in which those elected represent the interests of the voters- as opposed to the Constitutional Republic we are supposed to have, in which [a better word might be:] “delegates” [?] are just supposed to represent us in so far as our delegating the responsiblity to them of maintaining the role allotted to them by the Constitution.

                      [Hurrah! Rainy day…I get to catch up on here!]

                  • Hi, Gail,

                    Well, even though we may be opposites in many respects, I’m glad that we can both be cordial and enjoy each other’s posts, too.

                    To answer your question about being my mother’s caretaker (And I agree, I use the old “real” terminology, rather than the new PC-babble of the cultural Marxists!), well….uh, I do my mother’s shopping, and fix things around her place…but she really doesn’t need a caretaker. (Even when she does, she pretty much won’t allow anyone to do anything for her!). She doesn’t drive (Not so much because of her age- as even when she was young, she pretty much only drove briefly in the 1950’s…. My now-deceased aunt was still driving at 96, and had never had an accident in my lifetime; and my sister has a neighbor who is 101 and still drives!) so she relies on me for that- but otherwise, she still cooks and cleans, and half the time, ends up bringing food over for me! (I’m an excellent cook, myself, too). In fact, I have spaghetti sauce in the fridge that Mopm made, which I’ll be having tonight… Mmmmm! [I’m not your stereotypical Dago, but i do LOVE my pasta!!].

                    I’m just going to keep this brief, because there’s one post I’d like to reply to while I have the chance- but: re: finding a suitable woman through a church when I was in the market:

                    Ah! Finding a suitable church is even harder than finding a suitable woman! Quite frankly, I’ve found that organized religion is counterproductive in this era when we all have direct access to the Word of God. We can spend our time conforming to what other men say, or we can spend our time conforming to what the Bible says. We will be judged by the latter. (As well as blessed in this life- and I can say, in the 32 years since I started doing this, I have been insanely blessed!)

                    But, anywho, Gail, I enjoy your more personal posts, and you do have a great writing style.

                    Now to try and play catch-up a bit on here. Uh-oh, the rain has stopped, I’d better hurry, ‘cuz if it dries up before dinner, I’ll have to go out and put a couple of water inlet gaskets on the tractor! 😮

                    Every time I’m hindered by rain, I always think of this book I read years ago: O Come Ye Back To Ireland by Christine Breen [How did i remember that?!) about this couple from NYC who inherited a rural cottage in Ireland, and ended up moving there and living in it! It rained on just about every page! Hey, you might enjoy that book, what with the mick blood and all…. 🙂

                    Oh, and PS: Thanks for mentioning my humor. A lot of people don’t “get” me. I’m always glad when someone does, because I do try and make people laugh.

                    Oh! And the 4 Leaf Clover song. Yes! It’s been stuck in my head too! Nyah! Well here’s one for you! (I’m a big fan of the big bands and 30’s/40’s music)
                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR0M3_UzxEw

  21. It’s the SAME THING, over and over again, and the morons fall for each each and every time, never having learned a thing from the past.

    And just like with past regimes- Bush after 9-11, etc.- if you dare to point out the obvious facts to those who elected them, you get the old “Oh, you must be a liberal! Move to Mexico or Syria! They were gassing their own people and CHILDREN, for Gawd’s sake, dontcha know, and we know this is true because we seen[sic] it on CNN and it came came straight from the CIA’s mouth, and we all know that they can not tell a lie!”.

    Land of the feeble; home of the brain-dead.

    They say you can count on two things: Death and taxes. They need to update that to three things: You can also count on the stupidity of the general public to fall for the same lies, no matter how many times they’ve been fooled by those very lies in the past. Start a war: The opposition will warm up to you, and your supporters will love you even more.

    Isn’t it about time that the rest of the world got together and did what we/they did to Hitler?

    What REALLY irks me, is that it seems that everyone I speak to in real life who supported Trump, instead of feeling betrayed now, is getting out their flag and waving it, even though the creep has abandoned virtually all of his campaign promises already, and even doing the diametric opposite of what he had promised in many instances.

    I don’t know what’s more disgusting: Trump’s actions or the fact that those who voted for him don’t feel betrayed, and don’t even hint at holding him accountable.

    We are in this tyranny, regardless of whom they elect, until we get nuked, or it collapses under it’s own dysfunction.

    Well…it was nice, for oNCE in my life, actually having a wee little bit of hope for something positive for a few months, anyway. But hey, we knew where this was going, right? I mean, ya pack your cabinet with Neocon warmonger generals, how can ya not be planning war?

    • You guys keep forgetting. Trump said he was going to eliminate terrorists. He was going to target their families and their homes. fight a war so dirty that even they would have to stop.

      Now if you have some sort of economic power then we might talk, everyone else is to be destroyed

      • Or if you actually have nukes, like Israel or North Korea. Otherwise​we’ll claim you’re developing them and sanction you.

  22. The local school board stealers have to go to Boobus every seven years (locusts?) and ask to steal more money from me. I found some studies proving spending more actually harms the children. Several people have responded: “We don’t need studies!” These are the same moots breathers that love the Colts and bombing other nations. Idiots.

  23. The cruise missiles were sent both as a demonstration of “Doing Something About The Problem” and as a distraction from the health care loss in Congress.

    It’s very hard for a modern US politician to sit back and say “Nope. That’s not our problem.” and then follow it up with vigorous inaction.

    • Hi chiph,

      Your post reminds me of a quip by the great Robert Higgs: “Don’t just stand there, undo something!”

      Jeremy

      • Jeremy, others lament they had hope things would change.

        I woulda hoped in one hand and shit in the other…..but I got sick of needing to clean up decades ago.

        I wrote the NRA in 1980 and told them I wouldn’t let the screen door hit my ass on the way out and their much beloved Republican gun grabber could KMA as they ramped up for more war on the public and foreigners alike.

        Sure enough the antigun legislation they helped write before and then during the Klinton regime’s reign eventually bit my wife and I in the second Chimps reign.

        Trump’s just carrying on with more violence for profit as expected.
        Publo
        After all, shit always rolls downhill and we’re all downhill from the Republocrat and Demoplican machine with our only involvement being just to pay for the Jack Abramhoffs and the profiteers on either side.

        Every time I have to think about this shit storm I hear the old song playing with just a couple lyric substitutions instead of I’m Just a Gigolo Everywhere I go…

        Get over it everybody till you’re ready to do something different. Doing the same thing time and time again and expecting a different result is a surprise when nothing changes? Reminds me of a guy I worked with who used a box of fuses when he’d throw in the disconnect, replace those fuses, throw the disconnect again, change fuses ad nauseum. When the whole lot was gone I said “Gosh, they just don’t make fuses like they usta”.

    • The problem is that it is exactly the response he should have. As far as our “country” is concerned it is none of our business.

  24. Hi Eric, et al,
    Having not voted at all, because of principled reasons, I was simply glad that Hillary was out for several pragmatic reasons:
    1) at least for now, our guns are safe
    2) Hillary would already have had us at war with Russia…she has a history of extremely aggressive and quick-trigger war actions under her belt during the Clinton administration, as SoS (Libya) and supporting more of the same.
    3) Hillary is just so fucking arrogantly corrupt and dismissive of anybody who disagrees with her.
    4) As a bonus, her loss set the neo-Marxist, SJW, identity politics crowd into a spiral of angst and that was a joy to behold.

    That said, my brother predicted that Trump would be a yugh disappointment for anybody foolish enough to believe he would change anything. The chattering class goes on about how Trump is “literally Hitler” which is ironic given that the Nazis were left-wing socialists who came to power through intimidating the legally elected government in Germany. The folks who are doing the most Hitleresque actions are the loons on the left. That being said, people are correct in noting that Trump is a vain, narcissistic buffoon. So is Hillary Clinton. That’s what gets elected in the U.S.S.A. If you look at every presidential candidate since G. Washington, every one of them has projected as a peaceful candidate. Every one of them lied like a rug. Most egregious were Wilson and FDR in that respect. Bush 2 declared the U.S. would not police the world. You get the drill. That Trump talked about co-operation with Russia was just a ruse to hook the gullible into believing, against all rational analysis, that this time was different, that Lucy would let Charlie Brown kick the football. Cynics like me knew better. The deep state is much more powerful than anybody realizes. Any intransigence on the part of Trump would have resulted in his assassination and worse. Pence would have been on board with the deep state from the getgo…like LBJ 2.
    One more thing. The left, neoMarxists that have taken over the Democratic party do not think like the majority of the “liberals” of my youth. The new left consists of a bunch of brainwashed, violent, tyrannical, racist, misandrist assholes who eschew freedom of speech…hell freedom in general. They are Clovers in the extreme. The Republicans, in general, are no different. As to what is a libertarian….well the definition seems pretty clear to me and it is also obvious that the Libertarian Party, and Reason magazine and most people who self-identify as libertarians don’t have a lot of respect for basic libertarian principles. I’m relabelling myself as an anti-slavery individualist. The word libertarian, like liberal and conservative has been tainted.

    Hmmm, sorry for the long screed. BTW, the check’s in the mail.

  25. The Congress quit being relevant to the voter in the 1930s. It gave up even more power during WW 2 and even more during the Cold War. Now the Congress is basically just producing material for the late night talk show monologues. And raising money for the parties.

    Ever since the Emerald City was taken over by lobbyists and think tanks there’s been no reason for the public’s opinion to matter. As long as the bureaucracy can find a think tank to produce papers that make the lobbyists happy that’s all that matters. Trump either got a deal or a threat. Either way he’s playing ball now.

      • Either that or they simply learned how to manipulate Trump. Remember outside of mainstream media drawing attention to it Trump has been going after the pedophiles. So it wouldn’t surprise me that the war party simply figured out that with the right dead-children narrative they could manipulate Trump into doing what they wanted. And dead children narratives has been something the american war party has been doing for a century.

        The US government goes to war with stories of dead children or sunken/attacked boats with a side order of WMD time and time again and none of them have ever been true. So there is IMO about a 0.001% chance this chemical weapons story is true as it was told to us.

        Remember the Maine!

        • I largely agree, Brent. I think our fine scum in the agency gave the Trumpster false intelligence- BUT, he should have known; should have suspected what they were going to do. It’s kinda hard to believe that he could walk rioght into a trap like that.

          And then there’s the fact that he packed his cabinets with neocon warmonger generals. Seems silly to do that unless one is either planning to go to war, or wanting to be talked into it.

          But I do think ultimately he was given false intel.

          • For me its easy to believe because I have found Trump to have all the knowledge of history, economics, science, and so on as the average american on the street. That is practically none. He has opinions on them but his knowledge level and time spent on the subjects is clearly low. Sometimes his gut gets him close to the right answer but gut feelings can just as easily go the other way especially when someone who controls the information that is seen wants them to.

  26. Excellent article; however, I take exception to “Only Libertarians, the only sane Americans left, are appalled.”.

    I interpret the word Libertarians (capitol L) to mean the political party.

    As an unaffiliated voter, I consider unaffiliated to be the ONLY sane choice.

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