Archive for the ‘elections’ Category

Trump Playing the Old Reagan Game with China

Posted: August 24, 2019 by datechguy in elections
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Back in the days when I was a Democrat I was suspicious of Ronald Reagan.  There were still anti-abortion Democrats pro-defense democrats who understood that Communism was as bad as Nazism or worse and that opposing it was a moral duty so I wasn’t quite alone but when the whole concept of Star Wars came all hell broke loose.

The entire media and a good chunk of the academic community went nuts.  The idea of a missile defense was crazy, lunacy and it would bankrupt up.  Almost nobody said it was impossible, America left hadn’t yet completely conquered academia so we weren’t at the point where we didn’t believe in ourselves yet but many claimed that such a system was not worth it because it couldn’t stop every missile.

I thought their arguments were weak, nobody said ships shouldn’t have AA guns because you couldn’t stop every attacking plane and I was in the computer field as a student and knew how good we were.  But more importantly Russia also knew how good we were and decided that they had to try to do what we were doing.

So in addition to financing the left and the protests against Star Wars (a tactic that our enemies still use with even greater effectiveness today) they tried to match us, but with no economy to speak up, and the need to prop up regimes in Cuba, South America and elsewhere it soon became apparently that to them (but not to the academic left) that they risked collapse, thus they started talking but when they were unwilling to make a fair deal Reagan to the astonishment of everyone walked way.

Five years later the Soviet Empire that guest speakers at my college and the smartest minds in media and government insisted was here to stay folded like a wet blanket.

Which brings us to Trump and China.

Like Russia China is in a spot, you have them trying to prop up our foes like the  Venezuelan tyranny and the North Koreans among others, they are short key natural resources and greasing others to keep them.

They are trying to build up their military and sinking a lot of money there as well.

They have their own Islamic issues with the Uyghurs and  despite their deal with Francis they are still having issues with the underground Catholic Church that is not as big of a sucker as he is, they still have Falun gong issues and now are dealing with revolt in Hong Kong.

Adding to that problem is a male heavy population that is unable to find a mate thanks to the effects of the now gone one child policy and a population that has now gotten used to better than the subsistence life that they once had to endure.

It’s a tough balancing act but as long as you have pliant companies willing to do your bidding and a weak United States it can be done.

But then comes Trump.

  • Suddenly he is reasserting US strength in the region at a time when neighboring countries are most afraid of your power.
  • Suddenly he is making moves on North Korea and when they launch missiles in to the sea isn’t willing to come hat in hand to China to beg them to stop.  He’s wiling to call the bluff.
  • Suddenly he is willing to put on tariffs to force fair deals and when you retaliate instead of folding he doubles down even in an election year.
  • Most importantly business’ seeing what’s going on decide that it’s a good idea to relocate to neighboring nations making both your economic and social problems worse.

Worst of all he does it knowing the same thing that Reagan did, that the powerful US economy fueled by dynamic citizens with the freedom to react and innovate, something that the Communist Chinese aren’t allowed,  can absorb the hit that tariff’s bring particularly since he’s made the country energy self sufficient.

China can not and every day this goes on China exacerbates their social problems and drains the funds needed to keep their balls in the air.

They could of course choose war,  but unfortunately for them their land forces can’t reach us and their naval and air forces are no match for ours.

And if you’re thinking nukes, well let’s say that a communist regime who loses it’s head wouldn’t last long, particularly with an unfriendly India and a ravenous Russia next door with a long memory and a score to settle.  Plus there is Tibet and the Uyghurs waiting for a chance to revolt for self determination.  Then consider what would happen if a Nuke hit DC and NYC and LA.  You would still have Democratic state governments able to function food production, energy production and more would go on unabated and despite the best efforts that our foes can buy in the green movement there are more than enough sufficient number of pipelines to keep things flowing and a giant strategic reserve in place.

And I haven’t even mentioned Taiwan.

China might hope for the defeat of Trump and they will likely put all their eggs in that basket but if that fails then their already weak bargaining position will be even worse, particularly since Trump has a “Trump” card concerning the debt of ours their currently hold.  as the old saying goes, if you own the bank $100 dollars it’s your problem, if you owe a million it’s theirs.  Multiply those numbers by a few million and you can see my point.

Furthermore there is the temperament of Trump, the longer this goes on the higher price he will demand because he understand that if this trade war goes on China as a nation will grow weaker, while we will still be in a position to at worst tread water, and at best still grow stronger, and as I said China has a bunch of enemies around them with scores to settle.

If China is smart they will make a deal now while their bargaining position is strongest and the damage done to this point is controllable.  If they are not they will put all their eggs in the NeverTrump basket where they will find plenty of Americans ready to play.

But the longer they wait the more industries will decide that it’s safer to move their manufacturing elsewhere and future manufactures will think twice before committing there.

So even if they manage to put a Democrat in office by then they will lose both in the short term and the long.

Trump and anyone who knows history understands this, which is why Democrat voters do not.

Update: I can’t believe that I forgot to mention the Chinese Pork crisis in this piece.

Under the Fedora Latin and English, Biden & History, NYT vs Alex Stephens, LGBTQ vs Legal Documents, Dick’s Vs Guns

Posted: August 22, 2019 by datechguy in catholic, Church doctrine, culture, elections, politics, primaries
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My post on Canon Turner’s 1st Mass got a lot of attention considering it wasn’t instalanched and I wanted to make a point that might have been unclear.  I have been to the Latin mass before just not a high mass of the type that was on display.  Personally I think it would be healthy for both the vernacular and the Latin masses to both be offered in all parishes.  It would be a perfect illustration of Christ as fully human and our brother while also fully Divine as our God.  I think it’s healthy to remember both.

I don’t see why anyone is surprised that Joe Biden got the decade wrong that RFK & MLK were assassinated.  Given the historical ignorance of the young who tend to vote democrat these days and the attempts to re-write history such a mistake makes perfect sense.  Of course, maybe 1968 identifies as a year in the 70’s

Speaking of re-writing history the NYT 1619 project attempt to reframe a false history as true has actually been going on for a long time by the left.  It’s been a full generation since Mary Lefkowitz Not out of Africa and the backlash she got for refusing to teach myth as history the only difference is now their bold enough to admit it and no amount of facts such as the Vice President of the Confederacy’s attack on the founding fathers for opposing Slavery and considering it evil will stop it.  What happened with Lefkowitz was the broken window theory of this type of thing

On a similar subject that’s a pet peeve of mine on twitter this week the subject of Transgenders altering their birth certificates to change their birth sex/name is something I think is very wrong.  A birth certificate is a legal document recording an actual event.  Namely a person was born of a particular sex to a particular set of parents on a particular date at a particular place.  These are all facts and are not subject to the whims or vanity of others.  Now if you wanted to create a document that was a “certification of live birth”  where a city can certify that a person who has a different legal birth name and a different legal birth sex was in fact born at a particular place on a particular year that would be a fair compromise but we have no business changing the written record.

Finally there is word that Dicks Sporting goods which made a big deal about being woke on guns is considering discontinuing guns altogether.  It actually makes perfect sense when you consider the reaction by gun owners to the company’s previous move:

“I’m not furious, not at all. They made a business decision. I get it. They want to step out of their non-political lane and become corporate activists. I can calmly step out of my lane, too. And given every chance I get, I will not use their products,” he said.

If buyers of guns with long memories are still angry and not going to your stores and you have no interest in getting their business back it’s a logical business decision to stop carrying items that might appeal to that customer base, the remaining guns and hunting items in this case,  and move to a set of items that appeal to the customers you still have.

It’s the same principle that MSNBC and the NYT is using when moving away from reality why give facts when your remaining base will only pay for propaganda?

Kasich, Flake, Sanford and Walsh I’ve seen this game in the Church before

Posted: August 22, 2019 by datechguy in catholic, election 2020, elections, politics, Uncategorized
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Via Kurt Schlichter I saw this thread concerning responding to this Washington Post story about these anti Trump republicans efforts to find a primary challenger to Donald Trump. My answer to the thread is that not only does it not surprise me in the least but I’d be shocked if they gave it up.

At first I was going to compare them to Dick’s sporting goods dumping guns, after all if you have a different customer base there is no point it trying to cater to the old one but on sober reflection this is more analogous  to this question as to why dissident Catholic groups and theologians remain in the church. 

Someone once asked a famous dissenting theologian why she remained in the Church if she found so much of its doctrine and practice so detestable.

She answered, “It’s where the Xerox machine is.” In other words, she remains b/c the Church butters her bread and pays her rent. The Church provides her with the resources she needs to undermine the Church.

as I put it in another post about a dissident group of protestants:

If they join other denominations they’re just another face in the crowd and are no longer significant, if they form independent churches they become a small congregation that won’t last a generation but as long as they remain dissenters within the the UMC then they are assured of getting attention, fawning press and financial support from outside organizations opposed to this vote and anxious to redefine sin for their own purposes.

As long as they are still nominally republican they remain newsworthy, once they decide to leave the party then they aren’t worthy of coverage or financial support from the left.

Trump, Election 2020 and The Optimism of a Latin Mass.

Posted: August 20, 2019 by datechguy in catholic, Church doctrine, culture, elections, media, News/opinion, politics

A few days ago I attended the 1st Mass of Canon Edward Turner of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest who was ordained in Rome on July 4th as a Catholic priest.

The Mass was a solemn high mass of the 1962 rite held at St John the Guardian of our lady Parish at St. John the Evangelist Church in Clinton Ma.  I had been invited by his mother who I know from Eucharist Adoration at my parish and attended with my wife.  It’s one of the most visually incredible churches in the area and was the perfect setting for the type of mass we were attending for the 1st time.

It was a very long mass, done entirely in Latin chant with a full Gregorian choir singing responses.  Only the homily and some remarks by Bishop McManus near the end were in English and when the two hours plus of the mass were complete it took another full hour for all who wished to gain the plenary indulgence granted by decree from Rome to receive the personal blessing of Canon Turner at the alter rail.

Now given the title of this post you might ask:  DaTechGuy, what does a very long Latin mass have to do with Election 2020, Donald Trump or even optimism?  Well the answer comes from something my wife said to me while there.

The church was not only packed but it was packed with large families this post and I don’t mean cousins etc, I mean moms and dads with five six and seven young kids.  The people sitting in front of us had seven and my wife noted not only the number of such kids but her amazement at how well behaved they all were during a two hour service in a language that I presume most of them don’t know well.

Then I remembered the story about the Hippie dippy parish in Portland Oregon that’s so upset that their new black pastor is God forbid is doing the sacrifice of the mass (the regular mass not the Latin mass btw) as it is rather than as they want it.  What I most remembered about the story was thumbnail of the protesters in this video

Not a kid or even a young person in sight! That’s the image of the dying liberal orders not only in the church but everywhere. How many prominent liberals can you think of with even TWO kids?

Now you might see a lot of big liberal in the news and talked about on social media but they never have a large brood with them do they?

In contrast how many of you are hearing about this mass and the people at it for the 1st time from me?

Now think of election 2020 and President Donald Trump, think of the states he won, think of the successes he is having, think of the extra money in your pocket, look at all the “help wanted” signs everywhere and ponder how hard the MSM tried to suppress that news and their current attempts to create a recession out of the whole cloth.

Don’t you think people working now who weren’t working before will notice?

Or consider all those who reluctantly voted for Trump, how many of those people seeing what he did on Life, on the courts on taxes can’t wait to vote for him the 2nd time around.

Also consider all those the left is trying to intimidate. What do you think will happen once they are in a voting booth with nobody to see them?

And don’t forget the left can’t just hold what they have, they have to expand what they got last time, sure they’ll be stealing more votes since they know they need them but Trump isn’t an establishment republican, he’s a street fighter and he’ll be ready for it.

And you expect me to be worried?

OK in fairness once Trump is out of office I expect to see some hard times, but hard times are not the end times. Think of the last century. We had the 1st world war, world war 2, the cold war, epidemics that killed tens of thousands and yet Evangelicals are worried about the end times based on the last few years, Seriously?

Are there reasons to be worried about the future, of course. The Devil and the left always fight hardest when they’re in trouble and I’d not be surprised to see some horrible violent things come out of the left post Trump or even during a Trump 2nd term.

But I remember that mass and know one thing, in 20 years all those kids at that Mass and many like them will have grown up and perhaps started to have kids of their own vastly outnumbering their counterparts on the left while a lot of those liberal baby boomers will not.

Perhaps i’ll still be here to see it perhaps not but to our evangelical friends who are so worried about the future I would remind them that, as Mark Steyn says the future belongs to those who show up.

That’s why I’m certain that future will be glorious.

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