The Trump Derangement Syndrome shows no sign of stopping. The alleged meeting between Russians and Donald Trump Jr is reaching a new level of fever.
The anti-Trump mainstream media is buzzing with news that Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian American lobbyist and veteran of the Soviet military, attended the June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.
Rosalind Helderman and Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post insist that Akhmetshin’s presence “adds to the potential seriousness of the Trump Tower gathering that is emerging this week as the clearest evidence so far of interactions between Trump campaign officials and Russian interests.” I think they mean the only evidence.
But now does the attendance of this lobbyist add to the “potential seriousness” of the “gathering”? If it was inappropriate for Trump Jr. to meet with one Russian lobbyist with probable Kremlin connections, the attendance of a second doesn’t make the meeting more inappropriate.
The hysteria shows no sign of abating. What comes next ?
“Resist” marches all over the country bring out thousands of leftists and feminists.
Tens of thousands of LGBTQ folk and their allies marched through Hollywood and West Hollywood on Sunday for the Resist March, a protest which this year replaced the colorful and over-the-top celebratory atmosphere of a Pride parade.
The event was billed as non-partisan, but unmistakeable was the heavy presence of marchers bearing anti-Trump signs, speakers decrying the administration’s immigration, healthcare and civil rights policies, and Democrats calling for a burst of activism to channel into the 2018 elections.
Richard Fernandez has some thoughts on where this might go.
Our trust hierarchies have collapsed. As with Soviet Russia, the “official” media sources are now distrusted as purveyors “fake news”. To fill the gap a peer-to-peer grapevine, similar to the “friends and family”, a samizdat is emerging to pick up the slack. Sonya Mann at Inc uses a startup to illustrate the growing division of society into trust groups. “Pax Dickinson wants to fund the revolution. Not a blood-in-the-streets revolution, but one where hardcore right-wingers can economically secede from the parts of society they vehemently dislike. “We need parallel everything. I do not want to ever have to spend a single dollar at a non-movement business.”
That’s the right, the alt-right if you prefer.
The left has already shown their willingness to boycott any business that does not follow their script.
Brendan Eich recently stepped down as CEO of Mozilla, developer of the Firefox Web browser. It may be more accurate to say he was forced out in the wake of a rising boycott against him. The backlash against Eich is related to his position on gay rights, but many feel that the campaign against him is its own form of discrimination and intolerance.
His crime was to quietly donate $1000 to the Proposition Eight ballet initiative, which resulted in over 7 million yes votes and a 60% margin of approval. The proposition was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge who promptly married his gay lover.
California’s AG declined to appeal his ruling. That’s a pretty effective boycott.
Nationally, we have seen a small Christian bakery driven out of business for declining to bake a custom wedding cake for a gay (lesbian) couple on religious grounds. The couple were prior customers and had been served happily in the past but not the wedding cake.
The left has been quite successful in getting people like Bill O’Reilly off the air and Roger Ailes fired for alleged sexual harassment.
Male college students have been driven from campuses until men are only 40% of college students.
There have been calls for states to secede from the Union.
Last May, the Texas Nationalist Movement came within two votes of adding Texas independence language to the state’s Republican platform.
Even California wants to secede although what it would gain is a bit hazy. Naturally, Donald Trump is suspected of supporting a secession.
I observed, the people presently working to bring about a “Cal-exit” by gathering signatures for a 2018 ballot measure that would start the secession process are pitching their efforts in language designed to appeal to the state’s progressives––and tapping into the anger that many Californians feel toward the president. “Californians are better educated, wealthier, more liberal, and value healthcare and education more than the rest of the country,” Marcus Ruiz Evans, one of the leaders of the Yes California Independence Campaign, declared in one op-ed. “Our views on education, science, immigration, taxation and healthcare are different.”
The left has pretty much won the culture war and now they seem to be going across the battlefield shooting survivors.
What can conservatives do ?
Our trust hierarchies have collapsed. As with Soviet Russia, the “official” media sources are now distrusted as purveyors “fake news”. To fill the gap a peer-to-peer grapevine, similar to the “friends and family”, a samizdat is emerging to pick up the slack. Sonya Mann at Inc uses a startup to illustrate the growing division of society into trust groups. “Pax Dickinson wants to fund the revolution. Not a blood-in-the-streets revolution, but one where hardcore right-wingers can economically secede from the parts of society they vehemently dislike. “We need parallel everything. I do not want to ever have to spend a single dollar at a non-movement business.”
In conversations with Inc., Dickinson explained that he sees CounterFund as the linchpin of a parallel far-right economy. The alt-right movement shouldn’t fund or depend on platforms that are hostile to their goals, he believes.
“America 3.0” James Bennett’s and Michael Lotus’ book postulated an eventual reorganization of states according to shared interests and values.
The Trump Derangement has now moved into real lunatic territory as Serious columnists allege family guilt in Trump’s ancestors.
Donald Trump’s grandfather Friedrich emigrated to the United States when he was 16, in 1885. He ventured west to seek his riches and finally settled in Seattle, where he opened a restaurant that, according to family historian Gwenda Blair, likely included a section for a bordello.
Gold fever hit the Pacific Northwest, and Grandfather Trump moved up to Bennett, British Columbia. It was a fast, raucous, money-grabbing atmosphere and Trump opened the Arctic Hotel, which had a bar, a restaurant and, according to an advertisement in the Dec. 9, 1899, edition of The Bennett Sun newspaper, “private boxes for ladies and parties.” Each box apparently came equipped with a bed and a scale to weigh the gold dust that was used to pay for the services offered in it.
“The sins of the fathers” seem to linger in David Brooks’ feverish imagination.
A Constitutional Convention seems far fetched but maybe it will get to that.
In 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr and former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton settled their bitter political feud with a pistol duel that took Hamilton’s life, but Article Five of the Constitution offers a more civilized resolution – a Convention of the States.
I don’t know but it seems that the hysteria that followed the loss of the election by Hillary/Obama has not abated
Maybe an internal secession might be less traumatic. It didn’t work for David Koresh or Randy Weaver but Bill Clinton is not president right now.
The fact that the Russians involved, working presumably for the Clinton campaign, needed to explain to the Trumpites that Putin wanted them to win surely demonstrates that all the Russian hacking allegations are rubbish. If the allegations were true, then (i) they wouldn’t have needed to be told, and (ii) they wouldn’t have paid any attention to the approach anyway.
From the conspiracies I’ve heard speculated, the Trump Tower visit was orchestrated to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on Trump
One was already issued for Carter Page: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-obtained-fisa-warrant-to-monitor-former-trump-adviser-carter-page/2017/04/11/620192ea-1e0e-11e7-ad74-3a742a6e93a7_story.html
Your mileage may vary.
Page had a very small role in the campaign. This was fishing for Trump.
The very dodgy Russian lawyer who met with DJ jr was admitted to the US without a visa by special permission of the Obama Justice Department. The urgent business involved was to lobby Congress (with the aid of prominent Democrats) for the repeal of the Magnitsky Act, which applies U.S. economic sanctions for known human rights violations in Russia.
It’s getting out of hand alright. I have been doing my best not to cackle at the media but it’s impossible. I had a friend go into a tirade and hang up on me because I started laughing at his earnest insistence that Trump Jr was guilty as hell.
The complete, well Fox is still in it’s own space, control of all media is a very powerful weapon. If they had not used it so badly for so long, most people would believe them. ;)
I’d welcome a civil war, blood and all, if I knew our side would win it and return the United States to limited constitutional government. But I fear that while we would win, the worst would get on top.
I’d be interested in feedback from the contributors here on the ideas expressed in Charles Murray’s latest book, “By The People…”. The book seems to have gotten little attention, sort of lost in all the Trumpmania, but basically Murray makes the case the our political system is completely broken and simply cannot possibly work for those whom he calls “Madisonian Conservatives”, or more simply, limited government “conservatarians”. After making this case, which should be fairly obvious to most here, he calls for legal, non-violent “subversive activity”. His example of such activity is pretty tame in my view: raising large amounts of money to file frequent lawsuits and gum up the system.
The Left controls the Administrative State and they control the culture through their troika of Education, Media and Entertainment. I don’t recall any prominent Trump supporters among Fortune 500 CEO’s, and the large, powerful tech firms such as Alphabet/Google, Facebook, Apple, etc., are a big part of Leftyville. To top it off, it is apparent that most Republican politicians aren’t particularly interested in major changes. We conservatarians are a minority, problem a fairly small one, and we are heavily outgunned.
In addition to Charles Murray’s idea, I would love to see people on the political right completely stop giving money to non-profits that are in the neo-socialist/liberal fascist camp. I cut off the enviro groups years ago, and more recently I stopped giving money to major charitable organizations that were stealthily backing Obamacare in return for taxpayer “kickbacks”; adios American Cancer Society, National MS, United Way and American Heart Association. These groups and more were asking for your money while quietly making deals with the Left to point a gun at your head and take it, while wrecking what is left of the private sector of health care.
So how about it Chicago Boyz, any other subversive ideas out there? I realize trying to get the political Right to agree to do anything is serious “cat herding”, but maybe something will work.
I rather suspect that any serious attempt to sabotage the already collapsing political and social contract will be met with State counteractions that will include judicial and extra-judicial means. Note that I did not say “legal” and “extra-legal” because the rule of law really no longer exists. Much untidiness is in store.
Anything actually done will not involve feline herding. This is going to involve 4th generation warfare based on small groups with in-group loyalties. In a society where all critical functions are highly specialized, where necessities must be tranported over distances in a time urgent manner, where the Left is concentrated largely in urban enclaves mostly on the coasts dependent on the interior to survive . . . there is already a pattern available.
Look at Rome.
Because the padded horse collar had not been invented yet, it was far more efficient to move grain by ship than from nearby land. Rome became dependent on North African grain. Once that supply was cut off, Rome was scrod. Similarly, once a population reaches a critical point, water must be imported from a distance.
I offer the Ostrogothic siege of Rome in 537 as the basis for the Gentle Readers to extrapolate to modern times.
There are more modern complexities that could be interfered with to cause confusion to one’s enemies. Consider the large dependent populations in Leftist urban enclaves. Their means of exchange to purchase food is the EBT card. The previous infrastructure for the parallel pseudo-cash called “food stamps” being long gone.
If hacking efforts could either re-set all EBT balances to zero, or crash the EBT system at the point of sale, within 24 hours riots would shatter the local food supply infrastructure and economies in the areas affected.
As I said, untidy. I fear that the destruction of the social contract has reached the point where there is no nice way to do a reset. There are not sufficient bonds of trust above the small group/family/clan level to return to a rule of law that covers the powerful.
Subotai Bahadur
I’m mildly surprised that we never read about men who, told they have only six months to live, start settling scores with The Left (or indeed The Right or The Centre).
Maybe it happens but we don’t read about it?
Or how about all those boys abused by Roman Catholic priests? You never read about their exacting revenge on the hierarchy. It’s very odd.
Hm. Maybe the abused boys could grow up, become US policemen, and murder whomever they want.
After making this case, which should be fairly obvious to most here, he calls for legal, non-violent “subversive activity”. His example of such activity is pretty tame in my view: raising large amounts of money to file frequent lawsuits and gum up the system.
I’ve read his book and agree it has had little impact on those who should be at least thinking about it.
Here is a column today that seems pertinent.
Bottom line: Brooks and the conservative intellectual class need to get in touch with the American mind.
Instead of making John Rawls’ theory of justice—i.e., helping the least advantaged—the purpose of government, they should return to the American Founders’ idea that government should secure the rights of everyone to enjoy their lives and liberty and to pursue happiness.
Noblesse Oblige may be a bit outdated when the left is beneath the castle walls with battering rams.
Not the least bit amusing. The church has paid out billions in restitution so abuse victims can repair their lives. Making jokes about them is very poor taste.
Mr. Bahadur pointed out a very real vulnerability of the Left and the social control of the welfare state it has constructed.
I suspect that EBT cards are organized by states and each state contracts out the issuance and servicing of the cards to specific banks. Hence, attacks on the cards require hacks of well-guarded and sophisticated financial institutions. I think Bank of America services the cards in California. These are tough targets!
However, such attacks have had some success in the past.
What would be the political result of a successful attack and what motivation would drive it? Taking California as an example, an attack that was highly successful would block transfer payments and maybe expenditures to millions for days or maybe a week. Like a classic terrorist attack, many would die, but the real purpose would be to undermine trust in the government. No longer was Uncle Sugar the dependable provider. Charity groups would mobilize to mitigate the suffering but would be overwhelmed.
However, the elites would be untouched, and maybe strengthened depending on their success it mitigating the problem. Like government sanctions against hostile, foreign powers, only the little people would be hurt.
Sorry, but there has to be a better way. Start by asking what are we trying to accomplish?
Keep thinking.
And it looks like the Minneapolis cop who shot that Australian woman was a diversity experiment that went terribly wrong
http://www.startribune.com/what-we-know-about-mohamed-noor-minneapolis-police-officer-who-fatally-shot-justine-damond/435018163/#1
“Sorry, but there has to be a better way. Start by asking what are we trying to accomplish?”
Subotai appears to believe our country is too far gone, the lawlessness and increasing despotism of the Left cannot be checked. I don’t think we are quite there yet, and I also think the number of those who want to disrupt their lives to do something legal or otherwise is pretty small. Speaking of Minneapolis, how many saw this little Powerline piece on the Edina school system?
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/07/left-wing-indoctrination-in-the-schools-its-worse-than-you-think.php
Nothing ever seems to happen to the Leftists who engage in such outrageous conduct. The sane Lefties never hear about these things because their propagandists won’t let them hear about them. In the “punch back twice as hard” mode from Glenn Reynolds, what I want to accomplish is to create serious consequences for some of these bastions of Leftyville. The odds are against it, but enough punches might get the attention of the key part of the Left, the top 5% in income, wealth and education. More sand in the gears, more boycotts of firms like Target with their bathroom nonsense, more damaging exposes from Project Veritas, funding cuts and ultimately job losses to Lefty non-profits, etc.
The post notes some efforts to do a boycott of leftist companies and some of that goes on but I;m not sure how effective,
Reebok just dumped on half the population. Maybe they figure young and blacks are their most significant customers and unlikely ot care.
OK, speaking theoretically, I will attempt to respond to some of the comments on my theoretical post.
1) We have just in the last 24 hours had as direct and objective a proof possible that there IS NO ORGANIZED POLITICAL FORCE that will a) tell the truth in any matter of import, b) oppose the Democrats in any way, and c) can be called to account by any political or legal means in any timely fashion. We have been trying for over 7 years and are in no better position than when the TEA Party was formed. The amount of time remaining before fiscal, political, or foreign catastrophe cannot be definitively stated at this point, but it bloody well is less than the 7 years we have failed.
2) We know that the Left has shown a) that it has progressed/regressed to public physical violence as a standard operating procedure, from riots in the streets and attacks on anyone who disagrees with them in public to attempted mass assassination to overthrow the results of the congressional elections, and b) that there are no legal or political consequences for such actions from either the State or the supposed opposition party. In fact, the attacks on conservatives are met with silence if not barely concealed glee by both the GOPe and the Democrats.
3) That would imply as Owen says, that attempts to punch back have to be aimed as he says at the top 5% of the enemy. This could be considered analogous to proper shooting doctrine of aiming for the center of mass instead of the TV version of being able to shoot to disarm, which is totally fictional. You do have to impact the enemy leadership of both theoretical parties.
4) Any direct, physical attack on the Leftist center of mass a) can be defended against by their own armed protectors, and b) the defense would be reinforced by both “parties” and by the forces of the State. There will be no “Militia uprising” or any such. Ain’t gonna happen. And indeed, militia type forces are best used in a defensive role to attrite a conscript, non-elite force.
5) Since the 1960’s, the Left has explicitly used the threat of urban unrest as a weapon against the rest of the country, urban unrest that they claim to be able to trigger or control. Thus the careers of Jesse Jackson, et. al.
6) However, also since the 1960’s our country has become vastly more politically segregated, with the Left massing in a relatively small number of urban conglomerations on the coasts and borders that are dependent on outside commerce to survive and are relatively isolated from each other and separated from the sources of the commerce they need. The rest of the country has enough economic strength and contiguous communication to trade on interior lines of communication and survive. While many of the ports of entry of the country are held by the Left, not all are. Food, water, and power come largely from the interior. A look at the map of the counties won by Trump -v- the counties won by Clinton is a pretty reasonable approximation.
7) The inhabitants of those Leftist enclaves are on average not as routinely self-reliant as the average inhabitant of the interior. They are not armed as well, on average, as inhabitants of the interior, nor are they as likely to have experienced discipline in groups; either military or based on careers where life and death is on the line routinely.
Just as the inhabitants of Rome were not a military asset for the Roman Army during the Ostrogothic siege, but were rather a liability; one cannot expect the average dweller of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Portland, or Seattle to be able to debouch from their urban areas and take and hold the key lines of communications they need for food, water, and power. It would be like feeding them into a meatgrinder, and even Leftists are not that stupid, I hope.
8) Whitehall said:
The process of creating that dependent class that lives in the cities means that they in fact depend on the 5% and the government for pretty much anything. That sudden loss of ability to depend on 5% and the government makes them less a weapon under the control of the Left. But the key is that it would affect and target that 5%. If the EBT cards are useless, that Leftist weapon of urban riots will be unleashed and have no place to go but inward in the city. If utilities are interfered with, the only places that will have lights will be the places the 5% are with their own generators. In a darkened city, rioters go towards light. And may well find themselves engaging the 5%’s armed protection. Win or lose, it is going to put the fear of reality in the 5%. For the first time.
But let us say that the 5% compounds are not attacked. Those luxury compounds are still dependent on the access to luxuries and regular goods in those urban areas. Suddenly that is less safe. Let us say that you are the proprietor of “Acme Food Distributors”. You find that the retailers you sold to cannot get paid because the EBT’s are not BT-ing. So they cannot pay you.
Now, if you are like most middlemen, especially in the food business, cash flow is key. If stores in, to use your example L.A. are not paying you in a timely fashion you are either not going to sell to them or you are going to put in a price premium for that area. Not selling means you don’t send your delivery trucks. They stay in the interior, which has the effect of making any future Ostrogothic action easier. If they raise the prices, the dependent types are going to have to pay more if and when the EBT’s start EBT-ing again. Which, outside the control of that 5% means that the locals are going to be subject to unrest.
Now, if you are one of the 5%, the last thing you want is to have to put up with what mere mortals do. And if suddenly the city your luxury compound depends on is unstable and perhaps unsafe, you are going to give thought to leaving. This abandons part of your political base, and incidentally means you no longer have any reason to care about what happens there. Just as they believe they no longer have any reason to care what happens to us. But that loss of political base, and the need to beat feet out of there opens up possibilities of other political/economic arrangements, which can be exploited later.
So, what are we trying to accomplish? To break or lessen the hold on power by that 5% regardless of putative party. Is that the best way? Not necessarily. Is it the only way? Certainly not. Are there more devious and effective ways? You can bet your glucose-infused specimen of Equus africanus asinus.
I do not claim this as a Clausewitzian staff study. This, and the previous post, is me woolgathering off the top of my admittedly not-very-nice head. As Owen did in his first post, I look forward to other ideas.
Subotai Bahadur