Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

Will a defeated left turn to Violence & Civil War? Only if they’re stupider than I think

Posted: November 1, 2018 by datechguy in politics
Tags: ,

Bring it on

Andrew Breitbart

Last week I wrote that For the Left November 6th 2018 is going to make November 8th 2016 Look like a Mild Disappointment

Think about it. You’ve got Hollywood, the media, the Tech giants and big education behind you. You’ve got tends of millions of dollars being spent in races all over the country and you and yours. you’ve got every possible advantage going your way. Add to that you and your allies are completely energized and engaged, literally counting the days until the election so you can defeat Donald Trump…

…and you STILL lose.

How will they deal with the realization that their anger, rage and panic over Donald Trump is not shared by the voting public?

While the meltdown will be fun to watch when it’s all done a much more serious moment will arrive.

Having failed to realize that their tactics and message aren’t working and in fact might be costing them power the Democrat/left will have to make one of three choices.

The first and the smart choice would be to moderate, to realize that socialism and open boarders are not a winning policy, to decide that people who worship God are not a bunch of dunces and make an honest attempt to recruit candidates who can appeal to the general public instead of the gender studies department of an expensive university. This would be the smart thing politically and give the Democrats a chance to rebuild.

This is the right thing and the smart thing both long term and short term and therefore I suspect the Democrat left, deeply rooted in unreality will not do it.

The second choice is denial as described in this piece at bearing arms:

It’s also possible that a couple of wins for Democrats in the right places–such as the Florida governor’s race, where the Democrat holds a strong lead over his opponent–might be enough to stave off the destruction for a time. Instead, what wins there are will be spun as evidence that the tide is turning against President Trump and that it’s a huge victory for the left.

Now I think the Democrat lead in Florida is smoke and mirrors but let’s say they do well in that state and maybe Wisconsin, then they might go this route on the theory that it allows them to not have to make the decision to moderate yet, after all two years in an eternity in politics and a million different things could happen with Trump, the economy et/al.  The advantage of this plan is it keeps the confrontation with their new base from taking place which amazingly consists of groups whose stated goals are diametrically opposed to wit:

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Expect the Democrat establishment and media to play this card if humanly possible the real question is: will the base go along with it?   I’m betting not so much but in terms of what’s best for the country it’s better than the third option.

And that third option is riots and violence and perhaps even attempts to provoke civil war.

Now some of you might think this is nonsense and I wish to God you were right. But for the last several years we have seen as illustrated by ace the whole “kill trump” meme condoned and celebrated by the left.  Antifa has been cheered and authority ceded to them in leftist cities.  Violence and intimidation, as long as it is directed against conservatives has been either minimized, condoned or ignored while at the same time in the media, in the university and all over social media platforms and from Hollywood we have had the left insist that Donald Trump and anyone who supports him is a Nazi or worse whose ultimate aim is the most vile and violent acts against them.

Is it any wonder that we see stuff like this:

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stated openly, without critique, without rebuke and without any risk to reputation or employment because of the hope that such a statement might generate one more vote for Democrats nationwide?

So when this defeat takes place and those fools who have bought into this narrative of Trump and his supporters are out to get them and must be stopped the violent left, seeing that the electoral process won’t get them power will now decide that the actual physical destruction of their foes is the only option to save them?

There is a real chance that the Antifa / Black Lives Matter crowd will decide to escalate into violence in the tradition of the Weathermen and the Black Panthers.  This possibility has disaster written all over it for Democrats as it has three inherent problems.

The first it’s unlikely to be embraced by black and Hispanics voters enjoying prosperity:

As a group, DILEs [Democratic/Independent Liberal Elites]  are younger, whiter, richer and better-educated than the rest of the country. Strikingly, it is the only cohort across the political spectrum not to rank jobs and the economy as a top priority, preferring the environment and climate change. Polls show that people like Winston’s DILEs are also far less religious and far more socially liberal than the rest of the Democratic Party on issues like abortion and LGBT rights. 

If you’ve seen ANTIFA up close you’ll notice right away that they’re whiter than wonder bread and are charter members of the DILE crowd.  A bunch of white elites in masks breaking things won’t win over blacks and Hispanics who now have jobs and want to keep them.

The second problem of course is that if the black lives matter crowd descends into violence (and some might argue that this has already happened in some cities it  but the MSM has decided it’s a “local issue” and not reported on it) justifying it per the results of election 2018 it will even further hurt the left in swing districts that they need to win in 2020 and beyond and further drive minority voters, more interested in getting ahead in the best economic times in years, to the party that’s providing it.

But the real kicker is if this violence comes it will almost certainly be directed in cities controlled by the left that haven’t seen a GOP mayor or city council in decades, because if the left as a group decides that violent revolution is a good idea they will find that directing it against conservatives in areas where conservatives are solicitous of their 2nd amendment rights will not end well for them.

And while the left might believe another “Kent State” might be useful electorally, particularly if instead of troops or police, shots are fired by Trump voters , unlike the last once they won’t control the message.

Kent State was a watershed for the left because their narrative was the providence of an anti-war media trusted by a nation who were able to sell it to them unopposed.  A “Kent State where these is cellphone video of the crowd attacking citizens or police with violent force before being countered by force is very different narrative than one the left wants to build.  In the age of the selfie a media tarnished by the “fake news” moniker isn’t going to get the public to buy violent protesters as victims.

The reality is the violent extremists of the left are primary a threat not to the right but to the left.  Mr. Cromwell might be right about blood in the streets but it will likely be Democrat blood in Democrat streets and I suspect that once the Democrat elites realize that said blood threatens them they’ll want no part of it.  I suspect any such rampage will end with the amusing spectacle of Democrat mayors and or Democrat governors begging President Trump for help as people who have lived comfortably in the Kindergarten of Eden who scream “Nazi” at the sight of Donald Trump discover the difference between pretend danger and violence and the real thing.

Perhaps those screaming “revolution” should ask themselves:  Are you really going to raise an Army to overthrow Donald Trump out of a lot of rich pampered kids who need safe spaces and counseling if Steven Crowder shows up to speak at their college?  I don’t think so.

But if I’m wrong and the left does go this route it will certainly be interesting to watch the Nancy Pelosi’s Bernie Sanders and Maxine Waters of the world try to put the monster they have unleashed back it it’s cage.  It will be even more interesting when they come crawling to Trump to do it for them.

Pritzker falling in Illinois Dem guv race

Posted: February 11, 2018 by John Ruberry in opinion/news, politics, Uncategorized
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By John Ruberry

“Big Daddy! Now what makes him so big? His big heart? His big belly? Or his big money?” Brick Pollitt in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.

Two weeks ago at the regular Da Tech Guy site I analyzed the collapse of Chris Kennedy’s gubernatorial campaign in Illinois. In that piece I all but predicted that a member of another wealthy and powerful family, JB Pritzker, would be the Democratic nominee in the autumn general election.

But then came Rod Blagojevich.

The primary election takes place on March 20. On the Republican side, incumbent Bruce Rauner is being challenged by state legislator Jeanne Ives. I’m backing her.

Pritzker has gathered most of the key Democratic endorsements, including those from organized labor, not because of his big heart or even his big belly, as Brick Pollitt quipped in Tennessee Williams’ Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, but because of his big money. The Pritzkers have been a consistent and copious source of campaign contributions for Democrats. That big money has blinded Big Labor, as the Pritzkers have a checkered history with unions. Pritzker’s campaign is mostly self-funded.

JB is falling in the polls, although his plummet is not a complete collapse as it has been with Kennedy. A month ago Rauner, who at the time viewed Ives as nothing more than an annoying fly at his picnic, ran ads online and on television with FBI wiretap audio of Pritzker and Blagojevich discussing possible public office appointments for the billionaire after Barack Obama’s election to the presidency. A month later Blago was arrested. You know the rest of the story.

After a January Democratic candidates forum, a We Ask America poll showed that Pritzker’s two dozen point lead over his next rival that he enjoyed in October had been slashed in half. And in second place was Biss, a state senator who is the hero of the progressive crowd. In the latest poll, conducted by Victory Research on Monday and Tuesday–that’s important–calls the Dem race a “dead heat” between Biss and Pritzker.

There are several minor candidates running in the Democratic primary as well.

On that Monday the Chicago Tribune released additional Prizker-Blago wiretaps where Pritzker disparages several black politicians and jokes about the possibility of Blagoejevich appointing Obama’s controversial minister, Jeremiah Wright, to replace the then-president-elect in the US Senate. Pritzker, quoting Wright, even says “God d*mn America” during the recorded telephone conversation, which is something that could end up in another anti-Pritzker ad. As for the latest poll, the impact of Ptitzker’s comments hadn’t completely been digested.

Pritzker is now on an apology tour with the African American community.

Rauner, who the National Review calls “the worst Republican governor in America,” clearly has his own problems, chief among them are that none of his 44 Turnaround Agenda items have been enacted. The onetime businessman also signed into law sanctuary state and public-funding-for-abortion bills that have riled conservatives.

Ives is receiving flak for mocking Rauner’s failures in an ad where, among other things, a man wearing a dress tells Rauner, “Thank you for signing legislation that lets me use the girls’ bathroom,” As I noted on my own blog last week, while I don’t like the tone of the ad, her piece is factual and it may still prove to be effective, as the biggest howls against it come from Illinoisans who have no intention of ever voting for a Republican candidate for governor and GOP party hacks who have been bought off by Rauner’s big money.

There are two “Big Daddy” candidate for governor in the Land of Lincoln.

But the general election could result in being Biss against Ives, which would be something along the lines of a Donald Trump-Bernie Sanders matchup for president.

If that happens I will have a bounty of material to blog about this year.

John Ruberry regularly blogs at Marathon Pundit.

Nancy {hearts} Antonio

Posted: February 9, 2018 by fausta1 in opinion/news, politics, Uncategorized
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Nancy Pelosi spent eight hours babbling on the House floor the other day, presumably over DACA.

Now, DACA has become the Dems’ favorite issue. How can the mean Republicans – or anyone, for that matter – not love the idea that persons who are breaking the law should leapfrog and be given preference over foreigners who are spending time and treasure in the legal immigration process? The Republicans must be racist!

After all, even Nancy’s six year old grandson wants to look like Antonio!

NANCY PELOSI: I’m reminded of my own grandson. He is Irish, English, whatever, whatever, and Italian-American, he is a mix. But he looks more the other [Italian] side of the family, shall we say.
And when he had his sixth birthday… he had a very close friend whose name is Antonio, he’s from Guatemala. And he has beautiful tan skinned, beautiful brown eyes, and this was a proud day for me, because when my grandson blew out the candles on his cake, they said did you make a wish?
He said yes, he made a wish. What is your wish? I wish I had brown skin and brown eyes like Antonio.

 

What is it with Dems that makes them inject their progeny when they attempt to make a political point?

How many times have we heard, “How do I explain Donald Trump to my four year old?” Are we supposed to believe four year olds are precocious enough to dip a tiny toe into the political swamp on their own?

Excuse my skepticism, but I’m more likely to believe that Nancy’s grandson is more enthused about orbiting Mars in a Tesla than about looking like he has a nice tan and his grandmother’s brown eyes. Especially since Antonio, Guatemalan as he may be, could as well look Sicilian, name and all.

Nancy’s little anecdote reminds of Greta Ohlsson in the 1974 version of Murder on the Orient Express,

I was born backwards. That is why I work in Africa as missionary, teaching little brown babies more backwards than myself.

As it is, Even House Dems Wonder: What Was The Point Of The Pelosi Filibuster?

Could it be that

Pelosi wanted to make herself look good for the cameras at the expense of her caucus

Too bad Greta Ohlsson couldn’t think of that.

Fausta Wertz writes on U.S. and Latin America at Fausta’s Blog

What Weinstein means to Hollywood, Democrats and the Culture Wars

Posted: October 13, 2017 by datechguy in culture, entertainment, politics
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Hollywood honors Hollywood while disgracing America

BTW, the ancient Greek word for actor is ὑποκριτής (hypokritēs).

Hogewash

I’ve been thinking of the long terms results of the Harvey Weinstein situation and the more I do so the more I conclude that it demonstrates Andrew Breitbart’s argument that politics is downstream from culture

The culture of Hollywood, actors or as they were once called “players” has historically been a libertine one in contrast to the prevailing judeo Christian culture. It existed in two extremes low brow entertainment for rowdy masses as portrayed in this clip from the hilarious picture the Great Race

or high brow entertainment for the elites as hilariously lampooned by the Marx Brothers.

Actors being a small clique were an insignificant influence on said culture and had little influence to change it. However in the 20th century with the advent of movies and entertainment both cheap enough to be affordable to the masses and a distribution method to reach millions (film and radio) theater in general and Hollywood in particular became not only A giant cash cow for those at the top but A huge source of employment for masses of ordinary and technical people involved in the maintenance, operation distribution of same.

That was big but the most significant change was the fact that it suddenly gave “players” exposure, wealth social status and power far beyond their normal utility, not only in terms of performance, but in terms of endorsements from companies wanting to use said celebrity to promote their products and causes.

There were times when this power was put to noble purposes by good people

However said wealth and power didn’t change the nature of players in general, it only empowered them beyond their actual utility to culture, 3rd Rock from the sun Alum Joseph Gordon Levett summed it up perfectly in this quote about Hollywood and actors fame being a bad thing for a culture:

“Actors didn’t use to be celebrities. A hundred years ago, they put the theaters next to the brothels. Actors were poor. Celebrities used to be kings and queens. Then the United States abolished monarchy, and now there’s this coming together of show business and celebrity. I don’t think it’s healthy. I don’t want to sound self-important, but all these celebrity shows and magazines–it comes from us, from Hollywood, from our country. We’re the ones creating it. And I think it works in close step with a lot of other bad things that are happening in the world. It promotes greed, it promotes being selfish and it promotes this ladder, where you’re a better person if you have more money. It’s not at all about the work itself. Don’t get me wrong. I love movies. But this myth of celebrity has nothing to do with movies.”

Thus you have a group of people whose primary ability is make believe and whose moral compass were diametrically opposed to the prevailing judeo christian morality suddenly calling the shots.

Now in the early days the studio system curtailed this power in the sense that it hid the worst of these influences from the public  This allowed the libertine nature and depravities of those who wanted to indulge them to only flourish in private with the occasional scandal (from Fatty Arbuckle to Errol Flynn) leaking out.  But once that system broke down the cat was out of the bag and said folks were free to use their influence to change the culture to openly live and celebrate what they did and to use film to advance the culture that they wished to celebrate and embrace:

Thus Hugh Hefner’s are celebrated and the concepts of marriage, family and morality were torn down and remade in the images of the “players” culture while the film becomes a weapon to be used against those who might push back to wit

Streep has since denounced Weinstein and protested that she was shocked, shocked, to find out that there was gambling going on in Casablanca. Streep’s protest struck me as curious in light of her lead role in the 2008 film Doubt, for which she earned an Oscar nomination. Streep’s character, a Catholic nun, is determined to prove that the priest in her parish is molesting a young boy. She encounters disapproval from the clergy, skepticism from her own fellow sisters, and opposition from the boy’s own mother. But she is indefatigable. It is perhaps the best film treatment of the complexity of sexual abuse. Somehow, after portraying day after day a character with a keen nose for impropriety on the set, Streep, like so many others, apparently could not detect the foul stench around Weinstein.

That’s from Fr. Raymond J De Sousa at the National Post noting the irony of Meryl Streep being one of many in Hollywood to use the Church’s Scandal to pummel it…

…all the while keeping their own mouths shut for the sake of their employment.

And it was not only the hollywood left that kept silence, journalist and media who gained wealth and influence by their association with Hollywood power brokers and shared their political views dived right in:

Addressing a controversy that has been percolating for the past several days in the media ecosystem since The New York Times published its own Weinstein exposé—including questions about whether NBC executives caved to the well-connected Weinstein and his formidable lawyers, Charles Harder, Lisa Bloom, and David Boies—Maddow brought it to a boiling point by telling Farrow: “NBC says that the story wasn’t publishable, that it wasn’t ready to go at the time that you brought it to them.”

Farrow fired back: “I walked into the door at The New Yorker with an explosively reportable piece that should have been public earlier. And immediately, obviously, The New Yorker recognized that. And it is not accurate to say that it was not reportable. In fact, there were multiple determinations that it was reportable at NBC.”

In fairness to NBC the New Yorker recognized that once the story was already out in the public

Given the confluence of money and celebrity it was natural that Hollywood would become a political influence and boy did it.

The New York Times ran its first exposé on the disgraced Hollywood mogul at the end of a $2.2 million run of personal and bundled political donations, which made Weinstein a very familiar and popular figure among Democrats. Weinstein backed Democrats with significant national profiles, who rushed to embrace his wealth and star power. He put his mark on the DNC with over $300,000 in donations over a quarter-century, hoping to shape the party’s leadership. Weinstein put a special emphasis on the Senate, providing over $193,000 in funds to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) benefited most, with over $36,000 in overall donations, but Weinstein also gave more than $25,000 each to the two current senators from New York: Democrats Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Weinstein paid even more special attention to the very top. He donated to both Bill and Hillary Clinton repeatedly during the Clinton presidency, helping to launch the first lady’s political career in her first run for office. 

That’s old friend Ed Morrissey noting the money that has gone to Democrats from Weinstein alone and more importantly where it has gone”

These facts are inescapable. Weinstein was a very real part of the political life of the two families most identified with Democratic Party leadership. The Clintons held social events and fundraisers with the Hollywood executive for years; one bash in June 2016 raised more than $1.8 million for her presidential run. The Obamas sent their daughter Malia to intern for Weinstein’s company last year.

Weinstein had indisputably ingratiated himself into the highest levels of Democratic power.

Or in other words during the period when the Democrat Party embraced the redefinition of marriage, gay culture, transgenderism, radical feminism and extreme libertine culture while rejecting traditional culture, God, the Church and traditional morality, they were being financed heavily by an industry known for its libertine culture in general and by an individual in particularly who used that political power and wealth to enable him to prey on the same women who they claimed to champion.

And the Journalist who have invested completely in said party are also feeling the heat 

“Journalistic integrity is dead,” he declared. “There is no such thing anymore. So everything is about weaponization of information.” Standing behind a mahogany podium in a baggy dark suit, Boyle preached with the confidence of a true believer. In a stuttering staccato, he condemned the nation’s preeminent news outlets as “corrupted institutions,” “built on a lie,” and a criminal “syndicate that needs to be dismantled.” Boyle and his compatriots were laboring to usher in an imminent—and glorious—journalistic apocalypse. “We envision a day when CNN is no longer in business. We envision a day when The New York Timescloses its doors. I think that day is possible.”

This is a defeat in the culture wars for the left on the scale of a Midway or a Stalingrad and worst of all for the left in general and the Democrat / MSM party in particular the Weinstein revelations are coming at the nadir of Democrat and media power and influence and the rise of a populist Donald Trump who is intimately familiar with how the Hollywood, celebrity culture works which is why at least some in the MSM see the coming apocalypse.

The only question left is this, will conservatives be wise enough to “Keep up the Skeer” and prevent them from recovering

Update: Weinstein isn’t going down without a fight and Allahpundit wins the internet today with a line that is both funny and kinda sad at the same time.

The most darkly funny part of this is Weinstein thinking he still has a career to return to. The idea that Hollywood would welcome back a man who’s been credibly accused of abject degeneracy seems … totally plausible, now that I think of it.

Boy do I miss the days of Jimmy Stewart

Update 2:  Sometimes I swear Donald Trump’s enemies are secretly working for him

Porn King Larry Flynt and Hustler Magazine is offering $10 million for information leading to the impeachment of Donald J. Trump as president.

Because if I was the Democrat/Never Trump team trying to distance myself from Hollywood and guys going after women in the post Weinstein era is a porn king offering millions leading the anti Trump charge is not the image I want out there.

Seriously you can’t make this stuff up.

Update 3:  Fixed some grammar issues.

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