Archive for February, 2021

The Democrats who are now in control of the Federal Government are exploiting the Capitol Hill riot to a level even I had not expected, using this one incident of violence as an excuse to begin a clamp down on those of us they consider to be the enemy. Can you guess who they are?  This is even more despicable because there is a chance this sorry affair was perpetrated by leftists.

This is right out of the standard progressive playbook and is captured in this prophetic quote by Rahm Emanuel:

You never want a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.

In response to the riot the Biden administration is proposing a rather extreme crackdown on those of us on the political right.  Of course they are cloaking their proposal in the usual progressive double speak.  Those of us who are fluent in their deceptive use of language would have no trouble deciphering the ominous message inside their proposal, which is documented in this White House Briefing Transcript.  I’ve included the full text relating to the proposal.  After each paragraph I will add my analysis and some sarcastic comments.

I also have some news to share on the President’s response to domestic violent extremism.  The January 6th assault on the Capitol and the tragic deaths and destruction that occurred underscored what we have long known: The rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat. 

Of course those of us who deal with reality, unlike those on the political left know the “violent extremists” they will crack down are those who believe in individual rights, honor the Constitution, and know the truth that presidential election was stolen from President Trump.   The Democrats will ignore those who committed the vast majority of the real violence the past decade or so, their own side of the political spectrum.

The Biden administration will confront this threat with the necessary resources and resolve.  We are committed to developing policies and strategies based on facts, on objective and rigorous analysis, and on a respect for constitutionally protected free speech and political activities. 

What are the chances of the Biden Administration actually respecting the constitutionally protected free speech of those on the political right?  Negligible at best considering the track record of the extreme leftists now controlling the Democrat Party

Our initial work on DVE will broadly fall into three areas.  The first is a tasking from President Biden sent to the ODNI today requesting a comprehensive threat assessment, coordinated with the FBI and DHS, on domestic violent extremism.  This assessment will draw on the analysis from across the government and, as appropriate, nongovernmental organizations. 

The Biden Administration will be relying on the oh so corrupt deep state which is still way too full of Obama cronies.

The key point here is that we want fact-based analysis upon which we can shape policy.  So this is really the first step in the process, and we’ll rely on our appropriate law enforcement and intelligence officials to provide that analysis. 

When has the political left ever relied on actual facts?  That quote about fact based analysis is laughable.

The second will be the building of an NSC capability to focus on countering domestic violent extremism.  As a part of this, the NSC will undertake a policy review effort to determine how the government can share information better about this threat, support efforts to prevent radicalization, disrupt violent extremist networks, and more. 

The Biden Administration will be building an infrastructure to clamp down tightly on those who are not politically in lock step with the radical political left.

There’s important work already underway across the interagency in countering DVE, and we need to understand better its current extent and where there may be gaps to address, so we can determine the best path forward. 

I interpret this paragraph to mean that the Biden Administration will crackdown and harass those of us who want to share information about and educate others about the US Constitution and our founding principles.  If I’m wrong about this please let me know.

The third will be coordinating relevant parts of the federal government to enhance and accelerate efforts to address DVE.  This considered, an NSC-convened process will focus on addressing evolving threats, radicalization, the role of social media, opportunities to improve information sharing, operational responses, and more. 

The federal government will now be working closely with the corporate tyrants who have been working overtime to silence conservatives and everyone else on the political right.  That is how I interpret this last paragraph.  Free speech and the Constitution mean nothing to the Biden Administration.  Their earlier protestation is laughable in the extreme.  When have leftists ever respected the freedom of speech of those who are not leftists?

Capt Picard: Starbase Earhart. We came here right after graduation to await our first deep space assignments.
Q: That’s right. It’s two days before your unfortunate encounter with a Nausicaan sword. You have that long to make whatever changes you wish. If you can avoid getting stabbed through the heart this time, which I doubt, I will take you back to what you think of as the present. And you can go on with your life with a real heart.
Capt Picard: Then I won’t die?
Q: Of course you’ll die. It’ll just be at a later time.

Star Trek TNG: Tapestry 1993

Screwtape: I am not in the least interested in knowing how many people in England have been killed by bombs. In what state of mind they died, I can learn from the office at this end. That they were going to die sometime, I knew already. Please keep your mind on your work,

The Screwtape letters #24

As just about everyone knows by now Rush Limbaugh died at the age of 70 yesterday and as you might expect tributes are pouring in from the right as well as celebrations from the left.

He changed this country for the better and I submit and suggest that the only reason why the Biden Administration & the deep state are doing what they are doing now rather than it having been done 20 years ago was his influence. For I remember when the very idea of the GOP EVER holding the house was a pipe dream. Rush made it a reality and the left has never forgiven him for it and the party can never repay him for it.

I also suspect there are some sighs of relief in the GOP because while Rush rarely if ever mobilized his listeners against a particular pol (on the GOP side) every swamp creature who claims conservatism in public while being a member of the uniparty knew that a word from him makes credible any primary challenger. Right now the only person who can give that word these days is Donald Trump. I suspect those men are privately celebrating forgetting that all men die and those now celebrating Rush’s death will be facing their own some day with I suspect a lot fewer people caring or offering prayers for his soul.

Since his death there is an error that is shared by many who are in tribute calling him “irreplaceable” because it forgets the nature of man.

Meanwhile people wondering “who will now lead?” are forgetting something critical about both history and what Rush actually did.

Rush’s primary job as a Radio host was to draw and hold an audience. In this he was more successful than anyone else I know of but the real task he gave to himself was to educate.

Rush Limbaugh educated a generation and a half of Americans about things as they are. about truth vs spin, about reality vs liberal fantasies and most of all about the joys and optimism of the United States of America.

That’s why it is so proper for him to die on Ash Wednesday a day of fasting and prayer and the beginning of the Lenten season which is one of reflection of finding the path that God wants us on. I suspect there will be more than a few of his listeners who have grown up with him who will be reflecting on how he inspired them and how to carry on his word of educating the American people to the wonders of our republic “if we can keep it” as Franklin said.

While our enemies are celebrating our mourning I for one am looking forward I look forward to the Easter that will follow when our mourning is done to see who will pick up the fallen flag and turn back to us conservatives saying “Onward!”

Such sowed the see and I suspect will will yield a bountiful harvest to the dismay of our foes and for the betterment of America.

That is the optimism of Rush that we should carry with us

Ash Wednesday: Even Now

Posted: February 17, 2021 by datechguy in catholic, Church doctrine
Me? You want me to Join You?

Jesus: Matthew, Matthew son of Alphaeus.

Matthew: Yes?

Jesus: Follow me.

Matthew: Me?

Jesus: [laughs] Yes, you.

Simon (Peter): Whoa whoa whoa whoa. What are you doing?

Matthew: You want me, to join you?

Gaius: Keep moving street preacher.

Simon (Peter): Do you have any idea what this guy has done? Do you even know him?

Jesus: Yes.

The Chosen, Season 1 Episode 7

Today is Ash Wednesday and it’s worth repeating the point I made last year about my favorite old testament passage from the Prophet Joel which is the 1st reading at every Catholic Mass today (and which I want to be the 1st reading at my funeral when the day comes).

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.
Joel 2 12-18

This is for my money the most hopeful passage in the entire old testament and the perfect prestaging for the coming of Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, not only because of what it says but because what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say…

  • Even Now….unless you’ve had an abortion
  • Even now….unless you’ve cheated on your spouse
  • Even now…..unless you are a thief
  • Even now…..unless you are a drug dealier
  • Even now…..unless you are a murder
  • Even now…..unless you are a terrorist
  • Even now…..unless you are an atheist
  • Even now…..unless you promote sodomy
  • Even now…..unless you’ve sold your soul to the devil

and it’s worth noting that there is no political connection

  • Even now…..unless you voted Trump
  • Even now…..unless you voted Biden
  • Even now…..unless you stole an election
  • Even now…..unless you rioted
  • Even now…..unless you’ve been cancelled
  • Even now…..unless you’ve cancelled someone
  • Even now…..unless you’ve pushed transgerderism
  • Even now…..unless you’re transgender
  • Even now…..unless you’re a communist
  • Even now…..unless you’re a fascist
  • Even now…..unless you’re Antifa

Put simply if at whatever place you happen to be in the now you choose to Turn to God with your whole heart you will be shown forgiveness and mercy.

This is actually where we are every single day of our lives, but every Ash Wednesday the church explicitly reminds us of this remarkable fact.

Here’s the video of Matthew discovering it.

Biden’s foreign faux pas

Posted: February 16, 2021 by chrisharper in Uncomfortable Truths
Tags: , ,

By Christopher Harper

Joe Biden was wrong on “nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”

That’s the appraisal of Robert Gates, the former defense secretary under Barack Obama. Gates made the assessment in a memoir and has confirmed his appraisal in later interviews.

“We disagreed significantly on Afghanistan and some other issues. I think that the vice president had some issues with the military,” Gates told CBS News in a 2019 interview.

So far as president, Biden’s policies have been almost startling wrongheaded.

For example, Biden has failed to contact Israeli officials since he assumed office, and his press secretary has sidestepped questions about whether the Jewish state was an important ally.

Sure, Israel can be challenging to deal with. But the country has been a solid counter to radical Islam and repressive regimes in the Middle East.

Moreover, Israel entered into various groundbreaking peace agreements under President Trump with a host of Arab nations.

But there’s more. Biden promised from the campaign trail to be hard on Saudi Arabia, particularly when it came to their involvement in Yemen’s six-year-long civil war.

“We were going to, in fact, make them pay the price and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are,” Biden said during a Democratic primary debate, adding that there is “very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia.”

Again, Saudi Arabia can be difficult. But the country remains a powerful force in the region, particularly in countering Iran’s negative influence.

In a neck-snapping reversal of policy, Biden has suddenly realized that China poses an economic and military threat to the United States.
During the campaign, Biden criticized Trump’s policies of higher tariffs and other tough stances against the Beijing government.
After a two-hour telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Biden made a 180-degree turn in his thinking.
“Last night, I was on the phone with for two straight hours with Xi Jinping,” Biden told reporters in the Oval Office. “It was a good conversation. I know him well. We spent a lot of time together over the years I was vice president. But if we don’t get moving, they’re going to eat our lunch.”

That’s precisely what Trump said for nearly his entire presidency—a position Biden scoff at.

Maybe Biden has gotten one foreign policy initiative right: Staying on course with Trump’s approach to China.