Da Techguy's (no longer backup) Blog

I remember the day I left the republican party.

The tea party was on the rise and went to cover the MA GOP convention that was going to pick the new chair. It was an exciting time as GOP voters were finally excited and had actually fielded candidates statewide in practically every race. At the time Scott Brown had indicated his choice and implied that if said choice was made rather than the tea party candidate for who many activists who had showed for the vote, that he would run for a rematch against Elizabeth Warren who had edged him for the US Senate seat he had won by upset in 2010.

After a rather, shall we say...interesting vote with an even more interesting count of said vote (a count worthy of Democrats these days) Senator Brown’s hand picked candidate was put in office. Once and within 24 hours Brown announced he was not running and abandoned the state for New Hampshire where shock and surprise a candidate who would win in MA by being weak on abortion & guns proved he could not win in NH.

More importantly all those activist who had been excited about the GOP and had turned up and seeing how …interesting… the vote and the count had been decided to walk away from the GOP as well. I went to the City Hall in Fitchburg and officially changed my registration to unenrolled the next day and since then there has never been a real threat to any Democrat running for national office in the state.

This is the type of GOP I am used to seeing, the GOP playing “the stupid party” and never failing to fail to take advantage of a situation.

Apparently not anymore.

For all the shade thrown at Speaker Mike Johnson he’s managed, thanks in a large part to Donald Trump’s efforts to help, to keep the GOP caucus intact with a whisper of a majority to the point where he is managing wins on things like the Continuing Resolution usually by one or two votes and thus keeping the Democrats on the defensive.

Thus we all got to enjoy the spectacle of Chuck Schumer on one day defiantly opposing the House CR and threatening to shut down the government

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer threw down the gauntlet Wednesday, proclaiming that Republicans don’t have the 60 votes needed to keep the government open past Friday. But President Donald Trump and senior White House officials are increasingly confident Schumer will release enough centrists to put up the votes for passage, according to multiple White House officials I spoke to over the past 24 hours.

and then 24 hours later after a bunch of Dems made videos opposing the CR and after 50 house dems put out identical messages and tweets attacking the CR…folded like a wet blanket.

Schumer threw in the towel last night and vented on MSNBC, blaming those “bastard” Republicans over forcing him to vote to keep the government open. That slip of the tongue was not intended, but the Democratic leader is stewing over this defeat. In less than 36 hours, the Democrats caved

I must say I’m not sick of all the winning but it’s going to take some time for me to get used to the idea that the GOP isn’t the “stupid party” anymore.

I wish Rush Limbaugh had lived to see it.

Looks like he means it.

Union Soldier on the arrival of General Grant to the Army

One of the things I wrote about Donald Trump after his first term is that we hadn’t seen a president like him in terms of keeping promises since James Knox Polk.

And while we’ve seen a few changes, driven by experience and the help that Elon Musk has made possible, this trait of doing what he says is still evident as the University of Maine has discovered.

An email forwarded to the University of Maine that appears to have originated from the USDA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer directs the Department’s “awarding agencies and staff offices to temporarily no longer issue any payments or authorize any other releases of funding to Columbia University or the University of Maine System.”

Maine Pols are not happy:

In a statement, Maine Senator Angus King said the funding pause will impact Maine’s economy.

“The abrupt, unprecedented decision to cancel millions of dollars in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding for the University of Maine will have dramatic impacts on Maine’s current and future workforce, agricultural research, supply chain resiliency, and small businesses across the state,” he said.

Abrupt? Unprecedented? Leftists must be redefining words again. It’s been weeks since Donald Trump VERY publicly informed the governor of Maine that this was coming if universities in the state continued to defy his executive order on men in woman’s sports, furthermore there is a very long history of various presidents using the stick of threatening federal funds if they don’t comply with either law of EO’s

And the ACLU (which has become rather selective on what rights they defend are screaming this is an assault on free speech.

“Now what we’re seeing is the federal government trying to coerce schools to teach a certain way or to not teach certain topics. That’s inconsistent not only with freedom of expression but also with this broader idea of academic freedom,” Heiden said.

This would be news to Hillsdale College which happily teaches what it wants without a dime of federal funding. There is nothing stopping UMaine from doing without federal funds and loading their women’s teams with all the men they want.

But for now their reaction is having the same effect as the execution of Admiral Byng did on the British Navy. They are discovering in Maine that Trump, like General Grant, means it.

Yesterday’s speech by the president scored huge with Americans and I suspect will advance his agenda. It was a good and effective speech but it was made stronger and more effective by the actions of Democrats in the audience.

Pro-Tip if you can’t stand and clap for:

1. A terrorist mastermind who murdered Americans transferred to the US for Punishment
2. The release of a US Citizen held by Russia
3. A 13 year old who beat brain cancer

You have no business in politicts.

Bottom line, this illustrated a truism about the dems and Trump, If they had treated Trump as a normal president from the state they would not be in the state they are today.

And frankly if they treated last nights speech as a normal speech and didn’t try stupid stunts and refuse to clap for good things Trump would not have been able to play them.

Idiots.

Yesterday’s snow and ice reminded me of my age as I came in huffing and puffing after two stints outside to clean what I can. The snow, combined with freezing rain combined with artic cold really did a number on me. The wife’s back door was frozen open which complicated the day even more.

With me a few months away from 62 and carrying a newly discovered heart aneurism I’m going to have to start thinking about alternatives to me being out there for hours.

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Did I actually see CBS’s Margaret Brennan of CBS go on national television and try to blame the rise of the Third Reich on free speech?

Has the media actually reached that low a point in terms of either ignorance or spin?

When I see things like that as the son of a man who served in the Pacific in World War 2 I not only shake my head but I’m reminded just how smart IKE was in making sure every solider saw what had happened at the death camps to make such revisionist history.

In fairness as part of the requirements of free speech Brennan and all those who are trying to rewrite the history of world war 2 including people who are with us on other issues like Carlson and Owens are entitled to their opinions and have a right to express them.

And I have the right to either call bullshit or to point and them and laugh or maybe both.

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It’s been interesting to see the Democrat pivot to try to proclaim themselves as against waste and fraud and yet completely apoplectic over it being publicly revealed.

It’s pretty hard to defend the indefensible particularly when you see that there is basically an entire class of people who were making very comfortable livings off of phony program and phony non-profits funded by taxpayers while knowing that a lot of the pols complaining about Musk & co have managed to become rich off of jobs that pay a lot less then their net worth.

The impossibly rich lifestyle of DC liberals, funded by YOU the taxpayer, without your consent or approval. This is how they live, and the receipts prove it.

USAID, the NEA, and other taxpayer-funded programs issue billions of dollars in grants. John and Jane, or Pete and Pete,… pic.twitter.com/qwq2o2GusA

— Cernovich (@Cernovich) February 15, 2025

The spin will continue until they can find some kind of alternative way to fight but you can be sure they’re not going to give up this wealth without a fight so once the spin is over the next tactic will come.

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A lot of fuss was made about the US vs Canada hockey game and the booing of our national anthem.

Now historically there was plenty of trouble between the US and Canada not just the war of 1812 but some Irish invasions via the US of Canada that were beaten back in the late 19th century but since World War 1 we’ve gotten on like a house on fire.

I propose a simply deal with our Canadian neighbors based on something rather normal. Self interest.

Let Canada work toward the best interest of Canada and let America work toward the best interests of America if both sides do that we’ll end up with fair deals that we can all live with.

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Finally there is a lot of talk about Elon Musk and his love child and a lot of people banging their chests pointing at the sin of adultery as proof he should not be celebrated for what he is doing in government.

I have three things to say about that.

First of all we are no longer the nation we once were. There was a time when such a thing might have been disqualifying under the old rules. We have however been told repeatedly by our friends on the left that such things doesn’t matter by our friends on the left and is not disqualifying for service. This argument was lost by those of us who were for the old rule in the same way that the argument against ending the filibuster was. Apparently now they don’t like the new rules. Too bad.

Second of all when you are working for an object you want the best qualified person to do that job. I don’t ask the man fixing my breaks, or cooking my meal in a restaurant or plowing my streets if he goes to confession and says the act of contrition. I want a person who can do the job and do it will. Musk is that person.

Finally let me say this. I am very glad I am not the richest man in the history of the world. Because as a long married man I suspect that such a position would attract the attention of a rather large amount of highly desirable women offering their favors would be the dictionary definition of the “proximate occasion of sin.”

I’m happy not to have to worry about such a temptation.