BREAKING: Feds arrest Steele dossier figure

Never Trumpers Play the Moral Authority Card on Anti-Lockdown Conservatives, Get the Responses They Deserve

It would be less than honest if I did not admit that I was #NeverTrump back in 2015-2016 including supporting Gary Johnson in that election. (Not a chance in hell was I going to vote for #Hildabeast.) But over time, my views of President Trump changed insofar as I both liked many of his policies but did not like him personally. In some areas, he governed a lot better than I thought he would. And I am unaware of any president who was treated as unfairly as he has been by the loathesome media industrial complex so that factor brings about a certain degree of sympathy from me for what he has gone through -even if some of it was self inflicted by not knowing when the hell to shut up. But that is neither here nor there.

Despite all of that and much more, I grew over time to dislike and eventually loathe Never Trumpers for the skeevy grifting pieces of trash most of them are. The above article is just one example of countless ones I could post showing the depths of mental and other sickness prevalent on these most disgusting of people. And may they never be given relevance again by anyone with a normal intact functioning brain.

Miscellaneous Dyspeptic Mutterings:

I am loathe to mention these subjects but...

I have become convinced than in the lions share of cases, those espousing a particular position on masks would take the diametrically opposite view if they thought they could get a political benefit out of it. Meaning:

--Those #MAGA folks who publicly virtue signal about not wearing masks ever under any circumstance and take a "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" on reopening everything all at once would be the biggest mask nazis and wanting everything shuttered like a ghost town if Hillary Clinton was president right now. Why? To better hurt her politically.

--Those #NeverTrump folks who want to shut everything down everywhere and want people more masked than a Saudi wife are not the beacons of moral principle they purport to be. No, they are much more interested in crippling the economy to try and hurt the political standing of Orange Man this fall than they are for public safety. They would be the biggest "open it all up, we cannot be in fear" folks you can find and would probably be reprising FDR's famous slogan if someone more acceptable to them politically was in office.

It is no different here than with say the budget and debt. We now have folks who for eight years ignored and did not give a shit about ballooning deficits and skyrocketing debt under the prior administration who now suddenly are so concerned about these things? Yeah right!

Or those trusty Tea Party sorts who wailed and gnashed their teeth for eight years as the Obama administration stacked up debt but now say nary a thing when things under Orange Man continue as they did under his dusky-toned predecessor.

It even trickles down to the golf thing where those who gripe about Trump's golfing frequencies did not give a shit about the frequencies of Obama hitting the links while those who bitched often about how often Obama golfed suddenly are as quiet as whores in church when it comes to Trump's golfing.

THIS IS ALL POLITICS AND NOTHING MORE!

With the overwhelming majority of you all, stop pretending it is anything but this. The number of folks on any side who truly are taking stands of principle on these and other issues is very much in the minority. And that's the bottom line, cause Stone Cold said so!

A Must Read Thread on SpyGate, Russian Collusion, Etc.

Points to Ponder:
(This is a continuation of the series started HERE. Without further ado...)

"...As for Hillary, she’s pretty much damaged goods, but her perpetual, sniping, pity-me tour shows no signs of abating. She still has a rabidly loyal following, but it’s hard to imagine her winning the nomination again, with her iron grip on the Democratic National Committee now gone. Still, it’s in her best interest to keep the speculation fires burning. Given how thoroughly she has already sabotaged the rising candidates by hogging the media spotlight, I suspect she wants Trump to win again. I don’t see our stumbling, hacking, shop-worn Evita yielding the spotlight willingly to any younger gal.

Most Democrats have wildly underestimated Trump from the get-go. I was certainly surprised at how easily he mowed down 17 other candidates in the GOP primaries. He represents widespread popular dissatisfaction with politics as usual. Both major US parties are in turmoil and metamorphosis, as their various factions war and realign. The mainstream media’s nonstop assault on Trump has certainly backfired by cementing his outsider status. He is basically a pragmatic deal-maker, indifferent to ideology. As with Bolsonaro in Brazil, Trump rose because of decades of failure by the political establishment to address urgent systemic problems, including corruption at high levels. Democrats must hammer out their own image and agenda and stop self-destructively insulting half the electorate by treating Trump like Satan..."

To be Continued...

Hillary Clinton takes bitterness on world tour

I was going to comment on this article myself but this paragraph from the article says it all really...

Like a boxer who doesn’t know when to leave the ring, Hillary Clinton is a two-time political loser who hasn’t gotten the message she is unlikeable and unelectable. She would do herself and the country (not to mention the Democratic Party) a favor by retiring and leaving the scene of her political accident.

"...Bus stop rat bag

Ha, ha, charade you are

You fucked up old hag

Ha, ha, charade you are

You radiate cold shafts of broken glass

You're nearly a good laugh

Almost worth a quick grin

You like the feel of steel

You're hot stuff with a hatpin

And good fun with a hand gun

You're nearly a laugh

You're nearly a laugh

But you're really a cry..."

Video: Hillary Almost Falling On Her Face Symbolizes Failed Campaign And The Nonsense She Spewed In India

Hillary On 2016: I Won The Places That Aren’t Looking Backwards

Gee, think #Hildabeast just helped write some GOP ads in swing states this fall?

Buy Your Popcorn. BuzzFeed Sues The DNC Over The Trump Dossier

Points to Ponder:

“Constitutional protections for due process apply when the state is attempting to deprive a person of ‘life, liberty, or property.’ That’s why we have trials before we render civil or criminal judgments. That’s why due process is mandatory before state-mandated punishment in campus sexual assault tribunals. As a general rule, when the state is attempting to deprive you of rights you’d otherwise enjoy, due process attaches. Here, there is no state action. Roy Moore will not lose his life, liberty, or property if voters reject his bid for high office. 

Due process protections, absolutely, positively do not prevent voters from evaluating the veracity of news reports and judging whether a politician is fit for public office. It was entirely fair for voters to analyze the available facts about Hillary Clinton’s email scandal or the available facts about the financial dealings of the Clinton Foundation without waiting for the outcome of a civil or criminal proceeding. It is entirely fair for members of the public to evaluate Juanita Broaddrick’s claims against Bill Clinton without a trial. Similarly, it’s entirely fair for the public to analyze the available facts about Roy Moore before deciding how to vote.” [David French]

THE LYING GAME, CLINTON STYLE

Hillary Clinton looks for her role in midterms

"Hillary should do what she does best...

- Help candidates set up unsanctioned email accounts

- Hand out drills for destroying your harddrives

- Hand out plastic red reset buttons

- Sell uranium to our enemies in order to help fund campaigns" ["Guomino"]

Trump takes travel ban appeal to Supreme Court

The cat was let out of the bag when some of the judges who implemented injunctions against the travel ban more or less said that while its unconstitutional if President Trump does it that if Resident Obama or a President Hillary Clinton had done it, it would be constitutional. Nice try folks but constitutionality is not a matter of feelings nor is it that subjective.

I look forward to SCOTUS striking the ban on the travel ban down soon!

Radio Host Savage Seeks Clinton's Help Over Ban

Here is a sample from the article before I comment:

Attorneys for the controversial San Francisco host of the syndicated "Savage Nation" radio show, say the ban is of a blatant human rights violation and formally asked Clinton on Thursday to demand that British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith "rescind the arbitrary and capricious decision" last week to "name and shame" 16 individuals, including Savage, who have been barred from entry into the country.

Smith made headlines - and raised eyebrows - when she included Savage on a list that also includes Islamic terrorists, Russian skinhead killers and neo-Nazis, saying that the individuals don't represent the United Kingdom's "values."

...

Savage - whose show reaches an estimated 8 million to 10 million listeners on nearly 400 stations nationwide, according to industry sources - told The Chronicle in an exclusive interview Thursday that "I've been very harsh on Hillary and Bill (Clinton) over the years."

"But precisely for this reason, she should take my case. It would show that she can rise above partisan politics," he said, "because Jacqui Smith is in violation of the European Union's laws themselves."

The bottom line on this issue is simple: though Michael Savage and Hillary Clinton do not agree on very much issue-wise, that he has been lumped in on the list with people who are murderers, terrorists, Nazi's and the like is blatant and vicious libel.

It is one thing to disagree with someone on issues (even stridently at that) but it is another to tolerate the smearing of other people for their views. A person who would not stand to see this happen to someone they did not agree with if (i) that person was not advocating violence and (ii) if they have any semblance of character.

It is the hope of this writer that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recognizes the principle of respect for freedom of speech in reality by standing by someone whose speech she would not agree with and not just in theory and for those for whom she agrees with. Again, right and wrong cannot depend on who agrees with you but instead on the objective nature of a position intrinsically if we are to believe in anything at all. This is something that a lot of people these days do not seem to realize but it is nonetheless a principle that once again requires being mentioned as well as defended by those who take concepts such as reason, logic, ethics, and principles seriously. I hope on this matter that Secretary of State Clinton does the right thing and stands for free speech and against defamation of character.

On President Barack Obama's Political Mentor:
(A Rerum Novarum Compilation Thread)

Saul Alinsky is one of the largest intellectual influences on our president as well as the whole "community organizing" model that President Obama was trained in. He also also ran as president using this approach and therefore will presumably will try to use as president. To give an idea of what this means for Americans, I have put together a series of threads for readers of this humble weblog to review. The thread spans from March 25, 2007 to October 22, 2008. I do not necessarily agree with the views of the threads below but have included a cross-section to give a balanced approach to the subject of Saul Alinsky and what he was really about. Without further ado...

For Clinton and Obama, a Common Ideological Touchstone (circa March 25, 2007)

Obama in Chicago: portrait of a pragmatist (circa April 3, 2007)

[Deval] Patrick, [Barack] Obama campaigns share language of 'hope' (circa April 16, 2007)

Reading Hillary Clinton's hidden thesis (circa May 19, 2007)

While then-college student Hillary Rodham wrote her thesis, she met Saul Alinsky and interviewed him. She however could not have known in 1969 that Saul Alinsky would write a manifesto of sorts in 1971 called Rules For Radicals that he would dedicate "[t]o Lucifer, the first radical." Young Barack Obama on the other hand having been privy to such a book does not have the same excuse. Moving on...

Democrats and the Legacy of Activist Saul Alinsky (circa May 21, 2007)

"Ruthless" For Obama (circa September 4, 2007)

Obama's Alinsky Jujitsu (circa January 8, 2008)

Alinsky, Clinton, Obama (circa January 10, 2008)

In the above bit, a reader of the site's writer supporting Obama talked about how Clinton and Obama differed as it pertains to Alinsky.

Hillary Hardball vs. Barack Softball: Is there a Genuine Difference? (circa March 7, 2008)

Alinsky, Governance, Democracy, Obama (circa April 6, 2008)

The above one lists Alinsky's "Thirteen Rules" making it a must read in my view for that reason alone. Sod that, I will post the thirteen rules from Rules For Radicals to this humble weblog in the coming week. Moving on...

Saul Alinsky -Yet Another Obama Mentor From His Marxist Past (circa May 17, 2008)

WANTED: An Honest Journalist That Will Investigate B. Hussein Obama (circa July 2, 2008)

Michelle Obama Used Lines From Saul Alinsky's Book "Rules For Radicals" In Last Night's Speech (circa August 26, 2008)

Saul Alinsky's Son: "Obama Learned His Lesson Well" (circa September 2, 2008)

Obama, His Mentor Saul Akinsky, and the Relationship Between "Community Organizer" and Marxism (circa September 10, 2008)

Guess who recommended Obama to enter Harvard (circa September 24, 2008)

GARRETT: What Obama picked up from Saul Alinsky's playbook (circa October 22, 2008)

Readers who review the above threads and take into account your host's view of marxism{1} will well realize why I viewed posting a thread like this to be necessary so that those who want to combat what this president is going to try can familiarize themselves with one of his chief tactical influences.

Note:

{1} Here are just a few of the threads from this weblog's archives on marxism in order from oldest to most recent so our view of the matter is discernible without the slightest shade of ambiguity:

Points to Ponder on the Many Masks of Modern Marxism (circa July 3, 2005)

On Marxists and Their Methodology (circa July 22, 2006)

Miscellaneous Musings (circa June 29, 2007)

On Reminding Readers of the Significance of "May Day" (circa May 1, 2008)

Miscellaneous Threads Worth Noting (circa June 18, 2008)

Camille Paglia on various issues (Salon Magazine)

Though she and I often disagree, I have often found Camille Paglia to be an interesting and provocative read. On the above thread, she covers:

--The subject of President Obama's pledge of federal money for infrastructure repairs which she applauds as well as the approach to using computers in classrooms.{1}

--The comportment of President Obama{2} thus far with his appointments -something she is pleased with.{3}

--Her question with regards to the appointment of Sen. Hillary Clinton to the position of Secretary of State.{4}

--Her views on the massacre in Mumbai and on (by implication) national security issues.{5}

--Her assessment of Gov. Sarah Palin's preparation of sorts for 2012{6} and she really lets Dick Cavett have it not to mention the ivory tower elitist mentality that permeates how so many of the msm sorts act.{7}

--Her assessment of the antics of the gay lobby on the subject of homosexual so-called "marriage"{8}

--Some musings on Christmas carols which are...interesting to say the least.{9}

What are the views of your humble servant at Rerum Novarum on these issues??? Check the footnotes of this posting for details on that and be sure to give Camille's thread above a review.

Notes:

{1} I am not sure I agree with her on this unless it involves contracting the work out to private companies to do. I cannot stand the idea of the federal government running anything of a business nature because they will inexorably screw it up as always. But if she favours the use of private contractors for this infrastructure work to be done, then we could be simpatico with her on this one. Certainly improvements on this score are needed, the question is more of the how they are to be done sort than the do they need to be done ones because that they are needed is in my mind pretty self-evident.

On the computers issue, we are in agreement most definitely and I speak as someone who went through the whole public school system and got the lions share of my knowledge through my own outside the classroom efforts.

{2} Yes he is the President-elect but barring extraordinary circumstances occurring, he will be president next month so we at Rerum Novarum will refer to him as such now.

{3} She is right that so far President Obama has conducted himself well.

{4} I was wondering much the same thing myself.

{5} Of which I completely concur.

{6} On this she and I are in agreement. I should note in the interest of disclosure that Paglia was one of the few feminists who stood up for Gov. Palin during the election and gave her a lot more credit than the msm as a rule was willing to do. This is to her credit and it illustrates why even in disagreeing with her at times (sometimes diametrically so) that I read her work with interest.

{7} I am one hundred percent in agreement with her on her disdain for this mentality of which we saw in spades during this election in how Gov. Palin was treated (whatever one thinks of Gov. Palin or her politics this treatment was disgusting).

{8} For those readers who wonder why I refer to "so-called 'marriage'", I remind them of a principle I have always adhered to which was outlined again recently:

Revisiting the Subject of the Underlying Weltanschauung of "Language Control" (circa November 25, 2008)

Suffice to say, on this issue Paglia and I have some differences of view and I will leave it at that.

{9} On this subject let it suffice to say that when it comes to an atheist's musings on Christmas carols I am somewhat agnostic but intrigued ;-)

Gotta Love Those PUMAS

Miscellaneous Musings and Threads of Interest:

Some brief comments on recent stories...

MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat

My view of Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann is not one and the same{1} but it suffices to say that Matthews has been so ridiculously Obama partisan (and Olbermann has been the absolute worst excuse for a "journalist" for a long time) that this demotion was long overdue.

US Government takes over mortgage giants

I hope this is not permanent. The federal government has a poor track record of trying to do anything efficiently besides equip the military and win wars. I would suggest a sunset date on this action when these mortgage giants are allowed to be privatized again and some changes made to regulations starting with the elimination of some of the really absurd programs out there that lent money to people who had no business trying to buy property.{2}

Clinton limits Palin criticism while campaigning

For reasons we discussed recently{3} no doubt!!!

One of Them and One of Us

Often have we said that Patrick Buchanan is a streaky shooter but when he is on, it is usually nothing but net and the above article is an example of what we refer to.

Notes:

{1} Matthews is usually borderline rabid but at the very least he tends to control himself however tenuously. He is a Democratic sympathizer but from what I have been able to glean over the years not the toady that others are. (He can of course also be critical of the Democrats.) Some have opined that Matthews simply had a bad day...certainly that is a possible explanation for it...

In the past four years or so, the power slippage has been even more dramatic with the arrival of the blogosphere as an entity that now must be taken seriously as a source for news and opinion on issues. And bloggers are inclined by nature to discuss what they want to discuss which can often mean the very issues that the mainstream media does not want to talk about.

To make absurdity... well.... more absurd, Matthews' MSNBC colleague Keith Oberman drank the Kool Aid to its last dregs in defending Matthews.

Olbermann is a media footlicker (to put it nicely). I would not worry too much about anything he says. [Excerpts from Rerum Novarum (circa August 24, 2004)]

{2} People are so financially illiterate these days that I believe a course in finance should be taught in high school along with a course in basic reason and logic.

{3} On Sen. Hillary Clinton and Her Being "On Board" for Sen. Obama (circa September 14, 2008)

On Sen. Hillary Clinton and Her Being "On Board" for Sen. Obama:

This is part of a running dialogue I am having with some friends in private -the following is my response to something sent by Kevin Tierney. Without further ado...

So much for the Clinton's being on board....

http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2008/09/06/clinton_limits_palin_criticism_while_campaigning

Obama needs her as his attack dog against Palin, and Hillary has no desire to do so. :)

My response read as follows:

Well, if this election is about "issues" as she says, how about defining the word "change" and how it applies to the Obama campaign. Much like those who whine about "torture" and do not care to explain what they mean by the term or how it applies to the subject of the WOT, I am curious to know what goes into "change" in their minds because based on observation, it means "more of the same" if we judge their actions as opposed to their words.

Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos" needs to give way to "Operation Free Falling" because with all respect to Tom Petty that is what things are on the verge of now for Obama and company if it has not already began (and I believe it has). I do not care about any polling data except one and it is "likely voters." McCain leads there by ten points last time I checked and we have barely gotten going now. There is little the msm can say about McCain now that will make Obama look preferable -if anything McCain hanging back as he did from March to June and only starting to really make a move in July. Even the [Paris] Hilton ads now look good because it set the frame of reference of Obama looking like a celebrity which implies lack of credibility as a politician. Then when Obama at the convention gave that big speech where he had a Nuremberg-like backdrop and concert-like atmosphere, it reinforced rather than detracted from the celebrity label.

Hillary has about as much interest in Obama winning in 08 as she did Kerry in 04. I predict she and Bill will find ways to subtly sabotage this candidacy going into the fall -one way is for her to not go after Palin. This is what "that boy" (cf. Jimmah Carter) is going to get for daring to derail Hillary's party coronation this year. [From and Email Circular to Kevin Tierney and Others (circa September 8, 2008)]

And since then, things not only have not improved but they have worsened -a subject that will be at least touched on in the coming days as time allows for it.

On Sen. McCain's Selection of Governor Sarah Palin as His Running Mate:

Before posting the planned thread on Joe Biden, I want to take this moment to note that my usual prescience in political prognosticating went awry with Senator McCain's choice of vp this morning.{1} Susan Palin is quite unknown overall but she fits the bill of what I went over would have been preferable in a vp pick for McCain despite my view that Romney was basically in the bag as the pick. Or as I noted yesterday when referencing an early morning chat thread on the matter:

McCain has supposedly already decided the vp to be announced Friday. I think it will be Romney...

frankly a conservative vp from a state that is a tossup may be a better pick though particularly if that conservative is a woman...

I am not [saying] Romney would be a bad pick mind you, just selecting a woman from a key battleground state with solid conservative credentials would really make the Biden pick look [worse] than it is cause Biden is not change. a woman vice president has only been tried once and on a [ticket] that had no prayer of winning. and this would be a conservative woman which would be a better vp first anyway. [Excerpt from a Chat (circa August 28, 2008) as recorded in a Rerum Novarum posting (circa August 28, 2008)]

Truthfully, I did not have any particular candidate in mind when writing those words because (i) I was pretty sure the pick would have been Romney and (ii) I could not think of any conservative women who actually fit all those parameters. And Governor Susan Palin of Alaska does not fit all of them either. She is from Alaska which has 3 electoral votes which McCain was going to get anyway.

However, she is a woman and this gives Sen. McCain the chance to counter the meaningless "change" mantra of Sen. Obama with a genuine change of pace. I refer to nominating a woman as a vp running mate on a ticket that actually has a ghosts of a chance of winning{2} and as a substantive addition rather than merely trying to get attention.{3} By contrast, Governor Palin has been the governor of a state and mayor of a city: both of which are positions of executive governance. And while the msm will predictably pounce on her thin resume for governing, the fact is, she is more qualified to be president than Sen. Barack Obama is. I may supplement this posting with another from the archives which I believe was blogged last year on the issue of executive experience being important in a presidential candidate{4} but for now that is all I will say on that matter.

From a strategery standpoint, Sen. McCain added a strongly conservative woman running mate with executive experience. This will enable him to potentially attract some discouraged women voters who are angry at the way in which the Democrats and Sen. Obama disrespected Sen. Hillary Clinton{5} and will make Sen. Biden look really bad if he tries to employ his usual thuggary on her. Plus, is it wrong of me to like the idea of a conservative woman vice presidential candidate standing on stage wearing a dress instead of a pants-suit???

Excellent selection Sen. McCain: certainly better than that of Sen. Obama's pick about which I will speak of next.

Notes:

{1} And on this occasion I am very gladly be wrong with a prediction.

{2} Sen. Walter Mondale had no prayer whatsoever in 1984 as anyone who was awake at the time realized.

{3} This is basically what it was as Rep. Geraldine Ferraro had no particular standout skills for this position.

{4} I cannot remember at the moment if I blogged that thread or not.

{5} And yes, I am no fan of Sen. Clinton but she was disrespected by the DNC as well as the msm in the mania of both to proclaim the ObaMessiah.