This will be pretty much just a reading list. A reader sent me an article by Michael Lind at Tablet the topic of which will be dear to the heart of many conservatives: The Bush Restoration The populist wave is receding, leaving neoliberal elites in charge of both parties and a beleaguered working class out in the cold
I disagree with much that Lind says here - both his premises and his conclusions. I will not go in to all of that but I will say that his main premise, that Youngkin's win in Virginia is a popular validation of a restoration of the Bush dynasty, or of Neo-liberalism, or of the GOP establishment nationally, is false.
In support of that I present a simple fact: Trump's popularity among Republican voters has remained (depending on what poll you view) at 80% or above even since the 2020 election. In 2016, Republican voters resoundingly rejected GOP establishment candidates, and especially Jeb! What has the GOP establishment done since 2016 that would make them so much more popular now?
And how about that Lincoln Project. Those guys are the neo-liberal Bush crowd, right? (I mean, Rick Wilson, c'mon man). How come they pulled that stunt against Youngkin if they thought he was a good Bushite establishment GOP guy? Maybe they paid this guy to write this column, too - haha.
With all respect, Ray, Walsh is a critic. He is seeing the very same things we are. But is he presenting any suggested solutions? Actions? Nope. Skitters off after saying “what are you going to do about it?” Any of us could have done as much.
I am not willing to expose / risk myself, since I don't want my commercial activities canceled, but I do what I can
1. Read VoxDay's to understand what is going on with Wokism and Cancel Culture:
SJWs Always Lie
SJWs Always Double Down
Corporate Cancer
2. Read and Understand Alinsky's Rules For Radicals. This explains so much of how the Left and Media Communicate.
3. Boycott those companies that hate me. Christopher F. Rufo at City Journal has a good list. Gillette is one that went way over the line. A recent sales person for AT&T got asked how he can work for a Racist Company?
4. Challenge BS when I see it, if I can do it in a safe way. A group I am in just passed on this article, and I replied explaining how biased it is with over 2 pages of a take down, in a non political way.
5. Pass on articles and books that challenge the narrative. Yes, I am carpet bombing my parents with books and articles on Russia Gate and the Covid BS. Good news is it's working! I bought for them both Rigged and Ball of Collusion, among others.
6. Try to minimize my online presence on social media / internet companies that hate my politics. Twitter is one I closed a couple of accounts with.
7. Avoid paying for / patronizing sites / media. Yes, I am conflicted on Amazon and Netflix. I did email Jeff Bezos after Legal Insurrection was cut off their affiliates.
8. Understand how the FBI is infiltrating. The Revolver article on Epps was eye opening. Another was I think Michael Anton's article, where he could spot the FBI Infiltrator. No family, no connections, super loud, and trying to move up. I think Antifa had the same checklist to note potential infiltrators.
If I had time / money, stuff I would like to do:
1. Get involved with the Republican Party. Enough people do and change is possible from a grassroots level. This seems to be happening.
2. Get involved with the school board, ask questions, etc. Local elections are key.
3. Participate with other media platforms outside of FaceBook.
4. Join a local group that has similar political interests.
5. Find out if anyone is helping build infrastructure to help out conservatives. It is so easy to be deplatformed if your views don't agree with the narrative. FB, Twitter, EMail Providers, Blogger, Youtube, shopping sites HAVE ALL DONE THIS. And most people are clueless on how this works, who is safe, and how they should protect themselves.
6. Write Letters to companies I do business with, to tell them stay out of politics. There is a hierarchy of how companies listen. Emails are cheap since they are so easy to do. Twitter gets exposure, but easy to be banned. Written is more powerful, especially if you start writing to people higher up the food chain. Help organize a boycott.
7. Help out conservative groups with lawfare. So much potential here, but woefully not used by non Leftists.
8. Donate to conservative groups I trust. Unfortunately I am paranoid about CA's law on political disclosure, so I don't donate. I definitely don't donate to the GOP.
9. Starting a blog like Mark does would be fun. Unfortunately this issue of time, but there is so much bad, incorrect information out there.
There is a lot the Lind says that I personally agree with especially his lack of optimism. What he is referring to as neoliberal I'm generally calling progressives which I think is a much more accurate catch-all term for BOTH parties as their only solution is via the creation of more government.
I think he gets lost in the weeds of over dividing political classes it's irrelevant to the argument. It's basic class warfare via branded propaganda but the end result of any of their arguments is the natural progression of the loss of liberty to the expansion of government. The "why" of that is just as irrelevant just as the "who" because they are not on the side of any common citizen.
I have absolutely zero faith in that reversing and I see no hope in the recent elections. We've watched this historical flimflam of the 2 parties dozens of times and to what avail?
The political newcomers that are suddenly "woke" are like infants to the overall size and scope of the issues we face. It doesn't matter if it's Trump fans or the recent uptick in pissy parents. Their granular fixation on the micro-topics of school boards is a step in a direction but the state will out flank and out maneuver them as they are fighting a massive juggernaut they can't even understand.
Government doesn't stop, it simply retools and changes the taking point directions for a brief time with it's eye in the same ball. It's a Jedi mind trick that historically works well with a population of retrograde amnesia.
Lind seems to understand that conservatives have no party, no leadership and therefore no hope. In the bigger picture I absolutely agree with that. What I disagree with is that their will be any solution found in our current system. We're a century too far past the point of no return.
That is the history of every great state or society to ever to come along. Why would we be the one historic exception? We're just not that smart.
"Neoliberalism, or neo-liberalism,[1] is a term used to describe the 20th-century resurgence of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism.[2]: 7 [3] A significant factor in the rise of conservative and libertarian organizations, political parties, and think tanks, and predominately advocated by them,[4][5] it is generally associated with policies of economic liberalization, including privatization, deregulation, globalization, free trade, austerity and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society;"
Lind is correct, however, to apply this term to the political Left as well, inasmuch as the favoring of financial speculation over productive investment is favored by the wealthy of both Right and Left--however you wish to define those terms. Wikipedia is wrong to apply this term only to the Right ("conservatives and libertarians). All the Left billionaires have profited from these policies, which I trace back to abolishing Glass-Steagall.
This is the reason the Left/Right Neoliberal establishment was determined to get Trump out of the WH, come what may. Trump was a conservative, not a neoliberal.
I'll go along with Scott Adam's observation something big is happening. The question is what.
GOP Establishment is desperate to go back to business as usual. Senator Scott backing Senator Murkowski from Alaska is not a good sign, as well as all the House GOP Support for the GOP Impeachment Voters. Basically Trump and the GOP Establishment are backing different candidates.
Issues that are simmering and increasing in intensity:
1. CRT
2. Vaccine Mandate
3. Jan. 6th
4. Inflation - Increase in price of gas and groceries
5. Shortages / Port Fiasco
6. Increase in Crime
7. 2020 Election Fraud
8. Biden's Mental Condition
9. Biden's Popularity - Let's Go Brandon is huge.
10. Failure of the Public School System
11. The loss of credibility by the Elites
The Popularist Revolt is spreading. The GOP Establishment never lost control of the GOP Party, unfortunately.
"The establishment" is captured. We are all waking up to that. Everything the "establishment" says or does is received with a new awareness that all is not as it seems. Whatever name you want to give it, there is no doubt this growing awareness by the citizenry will have profound effects on the future course of our nation and our society.
Something big has happened. A large percentage of the population, including the most productive part, has completely turned off on our government and its institutions. In my twenties, after Army service, I went to live in a foreign country (France) and was mildly amused at the problems they faced and their inability to address them in a pragmatic manner. Now my America has become for me that foreign country, and as then I follow the rules which allow me to reside but have zero commitment to this country and its future. I wonder how many of my fellow Americans share that sentiment?
"A top infectious disease doctor has raised alarm about COVID-19 vaccine mandates despite top federal officials recommending them for businesses, schools, and other institutions.
Dr. Matthew Memoli, who runs a clinical studies unit within the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases—headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci—is scheduled to argue against COVID-19 vaccine mandates during a Dec. 1 seminar hosted by the agency, according to David Wendler, a senior NIH bioethicist who is planning the seminar.
“There’s a lot of debate within the NIH about whether [a vaccine mandate] is appropriate,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s an important, hot topic.”
Memoli had told Fauci in a July 30 email that he believes “the way we are using the vaccines is wrong,” adding that mandated vaccines are “extraordinarily problematic,” according to the WSJ.”
He also said:
“ Memoli also told the paper that he has sought an exemption from the federal vaccine mandate on religious grounds, saying he is willing to risk his job and medical license for the right not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.”
I disagree with much that Lind says here - both his premises and his conclusions. I will not go in to all of that but I will say that his main premise, that Youngkin's win in Virginia is a popular validation of a restoration of the Bush dynasty, or of Neo-liberalism, or of the GOP establishment nationally, is false.
In support of that I present a simple fact: Trump's popularity among Republican voters has remained (depending on what poll you view) at 80% or above even since the 2020 election. In 2016, Republican voters resoundingly rejected GOP establishment candidates, and especially Jeb! What has the GOP establishment done since 2016 that would make them so much more popular now?
And how about that Lincoln Project. Those guys are the neo-liberal Bush crowd, right? (I mean, Rick Wilson, c'mon man). How come they pulled that stunt against Youngkin if they thought he was a good Bushite establishment GOP guy? Maybe they paid this guy to write this column, too - haha.
Yes. I thought what he had to say about Youngkin's win was ridiculous.
Interesting article by Michael Walsh.
America Needs an Emergency Plan, Right Away
If you do reader view you can read it without registration.
The question is are results due to:
- incompetence
- Wokism
- Deliberate malignant actions driven by a progressive goal to change society.
https://m.theepochtimes.com/america-needs-an-emergency-plan-right-away_4094825.html?utm_source=partner
With all respect, Ray, Walsh is a critic. He is seeing the very same things we are. But is he presenting any suggested solutions? Actions? Nope. Skitters off after saying “what are you going to do about it?” Any of us could have done as much.
Bebe,
Here is what I am doing/ done:
I am not willing to expose / risk myself, since I don't want my commercial activities canceled, but I do what I can
1. Read VoxDay's to understand what is going on with Wokism and Cancel Culture:
SJWs Always Lie
SJWs Always Double Down
Corporate Cancer
2. Read and Understand Alinsky's Rules For Radicals. This explains so much of how the Left and Media Communicate.
3. Boycott those companies that hate me. Christopher F. Rufo at City Journal has a good list. Gillette is one that went way over the line. A recent sales person for AT&T got asked how he can work for a Racist Company?
https://www.city-journal.org/contributor/christopher-f-rufo_1334
4. Challenge BS when I see it, if I can do it in a safe way. A group I am in just passed on this article, and I replied explaining how biased it is with over 2 pages of a take down, in a non political way.
https://annenberg.usc.edu/research/center-public-relations/global-communication-report
5. Pass on articles and books that challenge the narrative. Yes, I am carpet bombing my parents with books and articles on Russia Gate and the Covid BS. Good news is it's working! I bought for them both Rigged and Ball of Collusion, among others.
6. Try to minimize my online presence on social media / internet companies that hate my politics. Twitter is one I closed a couple of accounts with.
7. Avoid paying for / patronizing sites / media. Yes, I am conflicted on Amazon and Netflix. I did email Jeff Bezos after Legal Insurrection was cut off their affiliates.
8. Understand how the FBI is infiltrating. The Revolver article on Epps was eye opening. Another was I think Michael Anton's article, where he could spot the FBI Infiltrator. No family, no connections, super loud, and trying to move up. I think Antifa had the same checklist to note potential infiltrators.
If I had time / money, stuff I would like to do:
1. Get involved with the Republican Party. Enough people do and change is possible from a grassroots level. This seems to be happening.
2. Get involved with the school board, ask questions, etc. Local elections are key.
3. Participate with other media platforms outside of FaceBook.
4. Join a local group that has similar political interests.
5. Find out if anyone is helping build infrastructure to help out conservatives. It is so easy to be deplatformed if your views don't agree with the narrative. FB, Twitter, EMail Providers, Blogger, Youtube, shopping sites HAVE ALL DONE THIS. And most people are clueless on how this works, who is safe, and how they should protect themselves.
6. Write Letters to companies I do business with, to tell them stay out of politics. There is a hierarchy of how companies listen. Emails are cheap since they are so easy to do. Twitter gets exposure, but easy to be banned. Written is more powerful, especially if you start writing to people higher up the food chain. Help organize a boycott.
7. Help out conservative groups with lawfare. So much potential here, but woefully not used by non Leftists.
8. Donate to conservative groups I trust. Unfortunately I am paranoid about CA's law on political disclosure, so I don't donate. I definitely don't donate to the GOP.
9. Starting a blog like Mark does would be fun. Unfortunately this issue of time, but there is so much bad, incorrect information out there.
Reasonable. Do what you can and have time to do, try to 'convert' those closest to you.
There is a lot the Lind says that I personally agree with especially his lack of optimism. What he is referring to as neoliberal I'm generally calling progressives which I think is a much more accurate catch-all term for BOTH parties as their only solution is via the creation of more government.
I think he gets lost in the weeds of over dividing political classes it's irrelevant to the argument. It's basic class warfare via branded propaganda but the end result of any of their arguments is the natural progression of the loss of liberty to the expansion of government. The "why" of that is just as irrelevant just as the "who" because they are not on the side of any common citizen.
I have absolutely zero faith in that reversing and I see no hope in the recent elections. We've watched this historical flimflam of the 2 parties dozens of times and to what avail?
The political newcomers that are suddenly "woke" are like infants to the overall size and scope of the issues we face. It doesn't matter if it's Trump fans or the recent uptick in pissy parents. Their granular fixation on the micro-topics of school boards is a step in a direction but the state will out flank and out maneuver them as they are fighting a massive juggernaut they can't even understand.
Government doesn't stop, it simply retools and changes the taking point directions for a brief time with it's eye in the same ball. It's a Jedi mind trick that historically works well with a population of retrograde amnesia.
Lind seems to understand that conservatives have no party, no leadership and therefore no hope. In the bigger picture I absolutely agree with that. What I disagree with is that their will be any solution found in our current system. We're a century too far past the point of no return.
That is the history of every great state or society to ever to come along. Why would we be the one historic exception? We're just not that smart.
"What he is referring to as neoliberal I'm generally calling progressives"
That's totally wrong. He's referring to classical liberal/libertarian ideas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism
"Neoliberalism, or neo-liberalism,[1] is a term used to describe the 20th-century resurgence of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism.[2]: 7 [3] A significant factor in the rise of conservative and libertarian organizations, political parties, and think tanks, and predominately advocated by them,[4][5] it is generally associated with policies of economic liberalization, including privatization, deregulation, globalization, free trade, austerity and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society;"
Lind is correct, however, to apply this term to the political Left as well, inasmuch as the favoring of financial speculation over productive investment is favored by the wealthy of both Right and Left--however you wish to define those terms. Wikipedia is wrong to apply this term only to the Right ("conservatives and libertarians). All the Left billionaires have profited from these policies, which I trace back to abolishing Glass-Steagall.
This is the reason the Left/Right Neoliberal establishment was determined to get Trump out of the WH, come what may. Trump was a conservative, not a neoliberal.
I'll go along with Scott Adam's observation something big is happening. The question is what.
GOP Establishment is desperate to go back to business as usual. Senator Scott backing Senator Murkowski from Alaska is not a good sign, as well as all the House GOP Support for the GOP Impeachment Voters. Basically Trump and the GOP Establishment are backing different candidates.
Issues that are simmering and increasing in intensity:
1. CRT
2. Vaccine Mandate
3. Jan. 6th
4. Inflation - Increase in price of gas and groceries
5. Shortages / Port Fiasco
6. Increase in Crime
7. 2020 Election Fraud
8. Biden's Mental Condition
9. Biden's Popularity - Let's Go Brandon is huge.
10. Failure of the Public School System
11. The loss of credibility by the Elites
The Popularist Revolt is spreading. The GOP Establishment never lost control of the GOP Party, unfortunately.
"The establishment" is captured. We are all waking up to that. Everything the "establishment" says or does is received with a new awareness that all is not as it seems. Whatever name you want to give it, there is no doubt this growing awareness by the citizenry will have profound effects on the future course of our nation and our society.
Something big has happened. A large percentage of the population, including the most productive part, has completely turned off on our government and its institutions. In my twenties, after Army service, I went to live in a foreign country (France) and was mildly amused at the problems they faced and their inability to address them in a pragmatic manner. Now my America has become for me that foreign country, and as then I follow the rules which allow me to reside but have zero commitment to this country and its future. I wonder how many of my fellow Americans share that sentiment?
Another high-level mutiny:
"A top infectious disease doctor has raised alarm about COVID-19 vaccine mandates despite top federal officials recommending them for businesses, schools, and other institutions.
Dr. Matthew Memoli, who runs a clinical studies unit within the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases—headed by Dr. Anthony Fauci—is scheduled to argue against COVID-19 vaccine mandates during a Dec. 1 seminar hosted by the agency, according to David Wendler, a senior NIH bioethicist who is planning the seminar.
“There’s a lot of debate within the NIH about whether [a vaccine mandate] is appropriate,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s an important, hot topic.”
Memoli had told Fauci in a July 30 email that he believes “the way we are using the vaccines is wrong,” adding that mandated vaccines are “extraordinarily problematic,” according to the WSJ.”
He also said:
“ Memoli also told the paper that he has sought an exemption from the federal vaccine mandate on religious grounds, saying he is willing to risk his job and medical license for the right not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.”
More here:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_breakingnews/senior-nih-doctor-pushes-back-on-covid-19-vaccine-mandates_4095305.html?
Tx.
That wouldn't surprise me, re the tie.