And, So It Begins

Actually, it started a long time ago, with the fringe monthlies that didn't kowtow to the Established Thinking.  There have always been those, largely mimeographed sheets of paper staples together, circulated by the convicted.

Don't know what a mimeograph is?  Ask your granny - maybe your great-grandpappy.

Or, just Google it.

The Samizdats did it, even earlier, with their revolutionary documents re-typed, from one to another.  Think of the work it would take to reproduce a book by re-typing it, or copying the book into longhand.

I teach American kids for whom cut-and-paste is too much work.

The trend accelerated with the introduction of fax machines.  What, they're lame technology?  Tell that to the Chinese youth that spearheaded the Tiananmen Square revolution.  They did that armed largely with fax machines to spread the word.

Oh, sorry, you probably CAN'T tell them - they are dead, in prison, or cowed into submission.  A few are still under house arrest or living abroad.

Fast-forward to recent times.

Today's kids use their cell phones to organize their social and political activity.  There is a downside to their method.  It is ephermal - lasting but a short time, and with no quick way to archive the conversation.

However, the videos/Vimeo/Snapchat means they most like to use have been mastered, and used to spread the memes of the Left.

Where does this leave blogs?

You are unlikely to make a financial killing with political blogs.  Sorry, that's just the way it is.  If money is your prime motivator, get a sales job.

The real effect of the political/cultural blogs is to Spread the Learning.  To provoke thought, to educate younger people about historical events that they have MIS-learned, and to build coalitions.

Alternative Ways to Spread the Learning:

• Pass on videos - on Facebook, on Google+, on your and others' blogs.  They should be SHORT, memorable, and educate the viewer.  Think of Andrew Klavan, Bill Whittle, and other Conservatives who currently dominate the media.  You could try producing your own, if you are inclined.  If so, send me a message, and I'll respond.


• Circulate static media - someecards, LiberalLogic101, photos with captions, etc.  To the above places to circulate, try SnapChat - the under 21 crowd ALL use it.  Your objective is simply to provide an alternative voice/meme for people to pass on.  Remember, the goal is to Spread the Learning.


• Read HARD copies of political/cultural books, and pass them on to your friends/library/school.  By doing so, you will maximize the effect of your buying dollar.


• Continue to educate yourself.  Read, discuss, take notes.  Try meeting with others in a book club, if you can.  If that's not possible, try the Ace of Spades online book club.  It's primarily for fiction, but you can also look around to find a like-minded group of readers for political/cultural discussions.  Try Joining Conservative Mentors, or another group - they exist in a wide range of philosophies.  I've also joined the Bible-a-Thon, which is set up to complete reading the entire Old and New Testament in a year.


• Right now, Facebook is experiencing a pushback from those on the Right who are concerned about its evident Leftist bias.  But, let's get real - Conservatives skew older, and FB serves to keep up with the kids and grandkids.  There have been rumblings about an alternative FB, but I haven't seen it happening yet.  There are some things we could try:
  
  
  
  • Migrate to Google+
  
  
  • Try to set up a No Facebook Day - pick a date at least 2 months in the future, and publicize it via - I love this - Facebook.  For 24 hours, set your picture to the logo, and refuse to use FB.
  
  
  • If successful, try setting one day a week - Sunday would be appropriate - to NOT use FB.  Again, make your reason clear with a picture logo, and a statement about your decision.
  
  
  
  

Feel free to add any further idea to this list.

Saturday Randomness

I was reading Fred on Everything (he is interesting - an ex-cop with a jaundiced view of some of them, an expatriate living in Mexico, who contradicts many of the stereotypes about Mexicans, etc.), and he posted on a hot topic - police presence in Black neighborhoods.  His take is - refreshing.

Another column of his that is worth reading is his analysis of how America is already in the dumps - BEFORE Trump.  We've already been taken over by special interests, and no longer live in a democracy (or republic).

If, like me, you want to return to a time of more freedom, pre-Federal-government-runs-everything, we might want to start planning how to take the Feds down - NOT with warfare, but with resistance, tactical refusal to give them our money, and state-by-state resistance.  I'm NOT talking revolution - that's a dead idea.  Instead, let's work incrementally, to chip away at Leftist strongholds.

Some starting points:

• Stop sending them money.  Find work that can be done under-the-table.  No taxes, no Social Security.  That last part would be difficult, but COULD be made up by the local authorities, who could collect at that level what is needed by people with no other resources.  The fact is, most people have other resources (and, when they don't have to pay Federal taxes, they have more).  Stick your extra money under the mattress - you don't want to leave it in banks, where it is vulnerable to being confiscated.


• Refuse to give ONE penny to any college for worthless degrees.  Tell your kids - "I'll pay for you to get a trade".  That's likely to be the best thing you'll ever do for that kid - it's a way of earning a living that is less likely to be outsourced.


• Maine is one of the states that reduced its welfare rolls by insisting on able-bodied people actually looking for work, enrolling in job programs, or working at part-time unpaid activities.  Surprise, surprise, as Gomer Pyle would say - almost all said, "Not worth it", and dropped off the rolls.  Other states could do this.


• Return the Federal lands to the people.  In several states, this could be a new Settlement Rush.  If there are FEMA-type trailers stored in the state, let them be re-purposed (NO complaints about their condition - the receivers fix them up themselves, and Caveat Emptor).


• Take back the schools - clear out much of the administration, turn them over to local organizations, who are responsible for finding the funding.  Except in the poorest sections of town, schools should be fully funded by the LOCAL neighborhood.  Yes, I'm talking breaking up the big city schools.  With the administration gone, costs should drop, while STILL allowing the teachers to get paid reasonably.  Replace the assistant principals with recently retired military - the AP's are mostly used for muscle to control the students, so let's get in people who know how to keep people in line.  Actually TEACH reading - anyone who cannot read at grade level should spend 1/2 their day in disciplined phonics-based reading programs - reading content-rich practical text, or NON-dystopian literature.  Anyone who cannot do math at grade level should be spending the class time on old-fashioned programs, like Saxon Math.  What little time remains should be spend on civics education that actually teaches about the Constitution and other foundational documents and principles, and practical science.

This is a link to a VERY pessimistic column.  I'm not so sure they are right - while the young seem to embrace the Socialist Revolution, at this point, it's theoretical, and their "enlightened" attitudes don't cost them.  Once the impact of the price exacted comes home, I doubt they will continue their "yeah, let's spread money around" thinking.

One MAJOR reason that the country has changed is that there are a whole lot of women who are supported by government, whether directly, with welfare or government employment, or indirectly, in nonprofits and niches like Human Resources, which are required to be so bloated because of governmental regulations.  Take away the regs, and many women in these staff positions will find themselves on the street.  At that point, they MAY come to their senses.  Either way, citizens will no longer be funding their hectoring.

I'm thinking divide & conquer:

• Use legal means to reduce government.  Fewer regulations, liberation of federal lands (with encouragement to settle on them, we might reduce the numbers in the cities), reduction of administrative bloat in government.


• Write GOOD curriculum for all ages, to explain what good government looks like, and what limitations on the federal government already exist.  Offer it, free, to schools, along with e-books telling stories that reinforce those ideas.

Lastly, here is a link to someone who, like me, supported Cruz.  Now, she has to decide which candidate will do the LEAST damage to the USA.

I've been getting rosy economic stories from Liberal/Progressive friends.  Apparently, thinking that Obama's disastrous economic policies have created a hollowed-out economy is blatant racism.

Mea culpa.

Of course, there is this, and this.  BTW, that last stat?  Straight from the Labor Dept.



 

Apparently, no matter how you massage numbers, the damned things just keep adding up to the same conclusion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Education Has Become

I'm a teacher. The "Progressive/Social Justice" model was just beginning when I was certified.  I gotta be honest, at that time, I was all in on that approach.

Fast Forward 30 years:

Now, the SJW (Social Justice Warrior) model is the ONLY one. Those not toeing the line have been tossed out/retired/hounded by the RE-gressive Mob. As a result, the ONLY teaching model the younger teachers have been exposed to is SJW.

What has happened to education?

It's NOT a pretty sight.

Something to Think About - A LONG March for Conservatives

Bookworm's Link - you need to read it.

In some respects, our current situation with the nomination is our own fault - for too long, Conservatives have been narrowly focused on POLITICAL solutions:

• Passing legislation to stop Obamacare, keep the status quo regarding man-woman marriage, stop abortion clinics from exploiting women, etc.


• Suing in courts to enforce Constitutionally-guaranteed rights


• Electing reliably Conservative politicians

After all that effort, we find ourselves watching a NON-Conservative wanna-be candidate taking over "our" party, and being unable to stop that juggernaut, despite the Republican party having a RICH trove of potential candidates standing by.  One by one, they have been savaged in the media, until, we are down to 2 top choices - either Trump, or a man that - although I support him - is not exactly Mr. Charismatic.

Folks, we need to focus more of our attention on the CULTURAL hegemony.

What is "hegemony"?

Progressive/Liberals/Leftists have imposed THEIR Cultural Hegemony on the rest of us - the majority - to the extent that it can be worth your life, your livelihood, and your reputation to challenge that Belief System.  From Wikipedia:

In Marxist philosophy, the term cultural hegemony describes the domination of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class, who manipulate the culture of that society — the beliefs, explanations,perceptions, values, and mores — so that their ruling-class worldview becomes the worldview that is imposed and accepted as the cultural norm; as the universally valid dominant ideologythat justifies the social, political, and economic status quo as natural, inevitable, perpetual and beneficial for everyone, rather than as artificial social constructs that benefit only the ruling class.

As Saul Alinsky said, "Make them live up to their rules."  Make the Progressive Rulers live up to their cultural norms - force them to accept alternative viewpoints by challenging them in their own words.

 

According to Hoyt

She has the neatest blog - politics, culture, and, of course, fantasy and sci-fy (she is an author, having been published both IRL by Baen and in digital form).

One of the best things is the way she analyzes America from the standpoint of an outsider, which she was, initially.  Sarah was born and raised in Portugal, and retains the ability to see us at a distance.

"The Long March" is 2 days old, but worth the time reading it.

Probably  the most crucial part?

There is strife.  Strife means the old blood and the new don’t agree.  Another way to look at it is renewal.

Problem is advocates of liberty are about as good at coordinated action as a bunch of cats

It's true, the Left outflanks us at unified action.  Gone are the days when Democrats proudly proclaimed, "I'm not a member of a political organization - we're not organized at all".

Mao and his ilk would be bursting his jacket-buttons at the way modern American Leftists have managed to corral ordinary American citizens into lockstep.  They've done it by the time-honored manner used by so many Leftists - enforcement of cultural norms and social shaming, pressure on their peers to banishment the non-conformers, and threats - threatened and actual - against employment.

Who could have predicted that the Woodstock Generation would turn to methods they ridiculed when they were the outsiders?

What is Driving the SJWs to Action in the Universities?

Hint:  It's NOT about Social Justice, Bringing in a New Era of Racial Equality, or Protecting Poor, Fragile, Little Snowflakes (who are, unlike real life, not exclusively White).

It's about a Naked Power Grab.

The Old Guard (1960s Leftists) have hung onto their power too long.  The SJW leadership is tired of waiting for them to retire/die/fade away.

They have manufactured this take-over in the footsteps of Obama, who wrested power from the Old Guard Democrat Clintons, and are putting the Alinsky Handbook into practice in that effort.

They will likely be successful.  Don't cheer their success, even though they finally rid us of the Clinton Dynasty.

Like the Bolsheviks, succeeding the Mensheviks, they will be worse - more ruthless, less bumbling, and more determined to eliminate ALL who oppose them.

BTW, for anyone who hopes that their particular cause will, at least, benefit from the change-over, lotsa luck.  YOUR interests aren't even on the radar.  This is about power, NOT fundamentally transforming America.  Any transformation is simply a means to an end.

De-Mystifying the ISIS Successes

According to this site, it's not rocket science, but known principles of war and politics.  Here's a link to some free pdfs detailing Boyd's thinking.

Want to know more about the Future of War?

SOME of the current state of pre-war is being conducted via hacking cybersystems.

SOME of it is by the usual means of controlling/enabling lazy/reflexively anti-American media.

And, most troubling, some of the pre-war is being won by the same TROLLS that are "winning" the war for SSU (Same Sex Unions) or other Cultural Battles.

For example, I wouldn't be surprised to find that THESE globes will be widely available in the USA.

The Armenian Genocide

It's the 100-year anniversary - a very sad anniversary - of the Armenian genocide.  Even today, the Turks refuse to accept that it was a deliberate attempt to wipe a people off the face of the Earth.  Not unlike Japanese refusal to accept their nation's responsibility for atrocities committed by Japanese forces during WWII.

Here's a link to a thoughtful piece about HOW these actions occur - afterwards, too many people have trouble understanding just how a seemingly civilized nation could possibly be complicit - even directing - deliberate murder, rape, and attempted annihilation of their own citizens, based on cultural/religious factors.

In 1915, radio was in its infancy and few in Turkey were literate; most government messages of demonization were spread by word of mouth. According to Vahagan Dadrian, an historian of the Armenian genocide, the vilification of the Armenians was spread mainly through sermons by mullahs and by town criers who sprinkled the news about Armenians with words such as “traitors,” “saboteurs,” “spies,” “conspirators,” and “infidels.” Other means included dissemination of photographs of weapons that were labeled to convince Turks that their Armenian neighbors were storing up arms for use in plots to slaughter them. By stirring up distrust and fear of “those people,” a program of genocide can gain at least tacit if not open compliance from the population at large.

It sound not unlike the deliberate attempts to create hatred and mistrust of non-Black people by the Obama administration.  Americans, traditionally a people that avoided tribal/cultural divisions, are being herded into cliques, tribes, and deeply divided political entities.  Your political opponents are not merely those with different experiences and viewpoints, but actual demons.

Here's a list of those who call the Armenian genocide what it was.

Recently, Pope Francis stuck his neck out, and called a spade a spade - he garnered a lot of criticism for it, but he did it nonetheless.  For that reason, and because I'm generally a hopeful person, I have some optimism that the Catholic Church, and the papacy, will survive its Liberal/Leftist collaborators.

Here's a link to a LONG post - about divisiveness and politics, and how friendship can provide links that bridge the gap.  I think it's worth reading, and considering how we might put friendship at the service of re-building our country.

Here's another post - about brainwashing - which I think is relevant, as so many of the techniques used by Leftists - Social Shunning, Thought Control, Consensus, The Delphi Techniques - are designed to coerce obedience to authority through psychological pressure and specific, teachable techniques.

I'm luckier than most.  My father was a West Virginian, and after moving to Ohio, an outsider.  As such, he had a long experience with NOT conforming to groupthink.  Some of that must have rubbed off on me, as I've often been on the other side of conformity.

One of the most valuable things we can teach our children and grandchildren is that they won't die - they will find inner strength - by NOT conforming to the pack.  They need to learn this before they get sucked into the Great Progressive Mind-Molding Machine.

Are You Feeling a Heavy Sense of Dread?

UPDATE:

I read the following at Front Page Magazine:

Socialism’s big moments arrive when people feel helpless. It does well during depressions and recessions. That’s how we ended up with FDR, Clinton and Obama.

Socialism is a sleazy insurance salesman. Its product may be bad, but people are a lot more likely to buy it when they’re worried about the future. Europe turned to socialism after its people lost confidence in the future and themselves. America is turning to socialism after a similar crisis of confidence.

Right now, I'm at a low point.  Maybe later, it will be time to burrow into my nest, and pick up my spirits with an uplifting movie - The Return of the King, Enemy of the State, or other We Win, The Bad Guys Lose sort of thing.

Are you avoiding watching the news, anticipating that they will be ignoring the REAL problems of America and the world, while focusing on fluff?

Do you hate to open Facebook, knowing that your friends will be alerting you to the very REAL oppression of non-Muslims in the world?

Do you cringe when you see the President in news conferences, knowing that he will:

• Blame Bush


• Blame White cops/businessmen/teachers/school boards/governors/Republican leadership/out-of-office politicians/military/families/churches - etc., etc., etc., as the King of Siam said in the movie


• Insist that he only heard of an administration evasion in testimony/flat-out lie/crime/abuse of power - whatever - from the news


• Defend the PEACEFUL (shouldn't that be Cut to PIECES?) religion of Islam from those who would question the fact that the practitioners seem to be the ones committing war crimes/genocide/enslavement of their enemies/terrorism/invasion/oppression of non-Muslim human rights

Yeah, I know - me, too.

I have a nagging sense of dread - civilization is in peril (not unlike the desperate moments in The Two Towers part of the trilogy).  The forces of evil are in command in much of the world.  The law, such as it is, seems to have a heavy hand on the scales, in favor of anarchy, socialism, and totalitarianism.  The Christian Church is facing the Islamic and Secular Lions, and no rescue is near.

Worse, America, the sole escape, is firmly in the hands of those who hate her - the ruthlessly Anti-religious bigots, the proudly non-working overlords, the savagely brutal bureaucrats, the thoughtlessly crude, the militantly ignorant (don't know, and don't care), and the relentless Humanity-Hating Humanists.

We are on the verge of a new Dark Age.

How to Use Professor’s Use of the Phrase “Cultural/Political Hegemony” To Win the Argument

First, if you are in college, my sympathies – truly.

You are paying more for a degree that is worth less than at any time in our country’s history.

If male, you are maneuvering in a minefield of feminist threats:

• If drinking, your actions will be judged as though you were completely sober and capable of planning.  Any woman involved will be a helpless victim of you, and anyone in the vicinity.


• If your ALLEGED actions become public, the resulting embarrassment will be just what you deserve.  She, on the other hand, will be protected from public exposure, and, if “outed”, will blunt efforts to hold her responsible for her actions by crying “slut shaming” (which, according to feminists, is a BAD thing, unlike the same thing used against males).


• If brought up on charges by the college, you will have few Constitutional Rights.  No Due Process, Right to an attorney, Rules of Evidence, or Jury of your Peers.  You could be expelled from college, losing a significant investment of time and money, with little ability to appeal that decision.  All for an incident that does NOT rise to the level of a prosecutable crime.

If female, you will be “subtly” encouraged to:

• Engage in random sex with relative strangers.  You will be told that it is “empowering”.


• Drink liberally, and then use your drunken state as a reason why your partner in sex is TOTALLY to blame for the activities you both decided to engage in.


• Express your bitterness towards men in all-female group sessions.  Accept no responsibility for your decisions turning out badly.  Focus on your victimhood.


• Sign up for “women’s classes”, then, complain that employers don’t want to hire you at high wages, even though what you learned has no economic value to employers.


• DON’T take math, science, or technical courses beyond the minimum.  They’re HARD!  Complain about the “mean and sexist” professors that expect you to master the coursework, without some special assistance to you for the “handicap” of being a woman.

And the classes!  As a “privileged person (if White, even though your background may be poverty-stricken and uneducated, you will be assumed to be a member of the Power Elite.  A Person of Color, even though coming from a well-educated and wealthy family background, will be presumed to be disadvantaged and given scholarships & financial assistance), you will be accused of promoting cultural/political hegemony.  That’s like the WORST thing, EVAH!

Of course, you will ask what that is.  The professor’s explanation will be meandering and confusing.  Like me, you will finally Google the phrase, only to find that it means (Wikipedia definition):

Hegemony (UK /hɨˈɡɛməni/, US /hɨˈdʒɛməni/;^[1][2][3] Greek:ἡγεμονία hēgemonía, "leadership" and "rule") is an indirect form of government, and of imperial dominance in which the hegemon (leader state) rules geopolitically subordinate states by the implied means of power, the threat of force, rather than by direct military force.

Huh?  According to Merriam-Webster, it’s better (and more clearly) defined as:

he·ge·mo·ny

noun \hi-ˈje-mə-nē, -ˈge-; ˈhe-jə-ˌmō-nē\

: influence or control over another country, a group of people, etc.

Full Definition of HEGEMONY

1:  preponderant influence or authority over others : domination <battled for hegemony in Asia>

2:  the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group

I don’t get it.  Rather than using military muscle to overcome a government, and subdue a people, Hegemonists use influence/persuasion to spread their way of life to other cultures.

And, somehow, that’s a BAD thing?

Understand, these professors don’t see violent takeover as bad – providing that the states exerting this enforced, imposed-from-afar influence are NOT the United States of America.  They have no problem with rooting for Muslim-dominated countries to invade, China to send out its armies, or for Russia to take over the Crimea.

They just don’t want the USA to come out on top – ever – even by peaceful means.

Oh, on that how to use the professor’s words against them in arguments?  Don’t accept their framing of that phrase.  Every time they talk about political or cultural hegemony, say:

• So, if I understand you correctly, you’re saying that using peaceful, non-violent means to spread your culture is wrong?  Are you in favor of imposing your culture by force?


• So, if you DON’T try to persuade people to give up aspects of their culture, you’re in favor of:
  
  
  
  • Slavery of Africans by people of Arab descent?
  
  
  • Genital mutilation?
  
  
  • Forced marriage by adult men to underage girls – even as young as 6?
  
  
  • Stoning of women who have sex outside of marriage – even if raped?
  
  
  • So, you’re against the Russian take-over of the Crimea?
  
  
  • So, you’re against forbidding Christianity in Muslim countries, which is being facilitated by burning churches, kidnapping and rape of Christian women, then forcing them to convert and marry their rapists? (Christians were in these countries BEFORE Islam – they have the antiquity high ground)
  
  
  
  

You get the idea.  Turn their words against them.  Make them justify their position.  As Saul Alinsky wrote, in Rules for Radicals,

RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

 

This is a BAD Idea!

Honestly, you'd think that one of the requirements for people working in government today is a COMPLETE IGNORANCE of the Constitution!

There seems to be no other way to explain this boneheaded decision:

FCC to "monitor" news broadcasts for bias

Even more EXCITING, the firm that the FCC is looking at to conduct the study of the media, specializes in "social welfare".

Here's a link to the actual proposal.  I'm not that concerned about them looking at what they call "Critical Information Needs" - that's examining the actual content, and comparing it to how well it matches what the public has a need to know (assuming, perhaps unrealistically, that our Leftist government minions can fairly judge that) - but, that the major focus of the study seems to be on "perceived" needs.

Whose perception is going to take precedence?  Leftists?  Minorities (including transgender, transexual, bi-, undecided, Arab-heritage - the RIGHT kind, the Muslims, not those "icky" Christian Arabs, those with quasi-psychiatric diagnoses that are PROUDLY used to excuse horrible behavior, et al)?

I'm confident that this will be used as a club to eliminate non-Leftist media.

BTW, isn't it funny that the ones that seem to be getting most enervated about this are NOT the Old Media, but the New Media?  Who says the MSM haven't outlived their purpose?

What Do You REALLY Know About History?

A recent review of books about Ulysses S Grant made me wonder.

Too often, history is written by supporters of the leading party.  In present day, history taught in schools is SOLIDLY controlled by Liberal/Leftist teachers, and written to reflect that slant.

Therefore, what children learn is:

• Washington, Jefferson, and almost all of the other WHITE Founding Fathers were racist, sexist, and, generally, Bad Guys.  The ONLY reason for the "3/5ths" clause in the Constitution is that they ALL Hated Black People.


• After those early days, the only presidents worth mentioning are Andrew Jackson (man of the people), Abraham Lincoln (we won't mention his party affiliation, but we LOVE him because he abused the Constitution to keep the Union together), Teddy Roosevelt (another unmentionable party, but not REALLY - he was a Progressive!  Which is a Wonderful Thing!), and Wilson (REALLY smart - an honest-to-God PhD - and we LOVE his League of Nations idea, which only failed because of those BAD Republicans, who like to see helpless creatures die grisly deaths, among other failings.  They love him MOST because he was a Progressive).


• Then, after a period of prosperity (for some STRANGE, unknown reason, it coincided with a series of Republican administrations ), we have The SAINTED FDR (who, just like Wilson, trashed the Constitution), followed by Cold Warriors (including Truman, who, although a Democrat, had the unfortunate habit of not always kowtowing to Communists), followed by Another SECULAR Saint, JFK (he had to be a Secular Saint, because he sure wasn't all that Catholic, according to his family), LBJ (Bad-Good - Bad on Vietnam, Good on the Great Society), The VERY BAD - in fact, E-V-I-L Nixon (Yeah, the Progressives went all Impeachment on yo' a$$!), Ford (Eh.), Carter (there are no words to describe how bad a president he was, except to say that he and Obama are neck-and-neck for the ABSOLUTELY WORST!), Reagan (Boo!  Hiss!  Yet, amazingly, the economy improved and the debt lessened under his administration - and, foreign relations were terrific).


• Then, Bush I (Eh.), Billy Boy Clinton (who managed to eclipse JFK for sleazy, tawdry actions - in his case, both in and out of the bedroom), and Bush II (neither as bad nor as good as his enemies and friends say).


• And, then, there's Obama.  Who:
  
  
  
  • Took office under the cloud of probable primary and election fraud.
  
  
  • Proceeded to mis-manage the economy so badly that we're still mired in unemployment, low GDP, and national debt.
  
  
  • Blithely ignored the Constitution (What, exactly, was he supposed to be an expert on?)
  
  
  • Handled corruption and other impeachable offenses by grandly declaring that he, and all his people, were completely innocent, even before the investigation began.  Then, proceeded to block those investigations.  Then, again declared that there was nothing to the charges.
  
  
  • Has a backside that is covered in layers of lipstick from the Mainstream Media.  Still enjoys telling them to shut up, and take his word for everything.  They still grovel at his feet.
  
  
  • Has stirred up more racially-based hatred than ANY president, including Woodrow Wilson, who segregated the Federal government.  His take on current events:  If you're Black, you could be my son.  If you're White, why are you even talking - you know you're a Hater!
  
  
  
  

One bright spot is the recent fictional books by Rush Limbaugh, which are intended for young people to learn more about the United States' history, not as they are often taught in school.

I'm convinced that it will be the efforts of SEVERAL generations to remove the Leftist detritus from our culture.

What I've Been Reading

It all started most innocently.  I had previously read about the Hollywood Blacklist, from the viewpoint of the alleged Communists.  Of course, they were ALL COMPLETELY INNOCENT, and unfairly targeted by the Vast Right-Wing Machine (shades of Hillary!) for persecution by the government.

Then, I read Red Star Over Hollywood, a meticulously researched book about the takeover of Hollywood by pro-Communist (really, pro-Soviet) people in the entertainment industry.  It flatly contradicted much of what we have believed about that era, and the extent to which Leftist viewpoints dominated (and still do) the film industry.

From that book, I went to reading Witness - the story by Whittaker Chambers of his connection to the Alger Hiss trial.  From that book, I began to question much of what I had accepted about the 1950s pushback against Communism.

I've read many other books, but one of the most important was about the Venona Papers - I know, I know, you are (most of you) saying "What?!"

The Venona Papers - from Wikipedia:

For much of its history, knowledge of Venona was restricted even from the highest levels of government. Senior army officers, in consultation with the FBI and CIA, made the decision to restrict knowledge of Venona within the government (even the CIA was not made an active partner until 1952). Army Chief of Staff Omar Bradley, concerned about the White House's history of leaking sensitive information, decided to deny President Truman direct knowledge of the project. The president received the substance of the material only through FBI, Justice Department, and CIA reports on counterintelligence and intelligence matters.

Yeah, that part about keeping Truman informed raised my eyebrows - I don't believe that Bradley was concerned about Truman's loyalty, but the questionable people who surrounded him, and who might find out if Truman was more fully informed.

I strongly urge everyone to read up on the Venona resources; although the archives are still hotly protested by the Leftists, they have not been able to refute the evidence, although they do pick at the details.

What I'm reading online is How Wars are Made.  It's a book posted, in full, about the Lendlease program of WWII, and how the Soviets took advantage of it to boost their post-war economy, take over much of Europe, and get the knowledge and materials to make the atom bomb.  It created quite a stir when first published, but I doubt anyone under the age of 80 has ever heard of it.  The intro to it is pretty standard "anti-Commie" stuff (by the site, not the Major who wrote it), but if you skip past that, it's a fascinating story.

Offline, I'm reading Diane West's American Betrayal - a book that has created quite a controversy.  She argues (and provides quite a lot of evidence for) the idea that Soviet agents/allies permeated the US government, before, during, and after WWII.  There are those on both sides of the issue - those that think Ms. West went too far, and those that defend her - and her own rebuttal to critics.  You might want to read the pros and cons about the book.  But, I strongly urge you to follow up by reading the book, itself.  There is no substitute for direct examination.

Where do I stand on it?  West may be a bit over-the-top in her suspicions about Harry Hopkins and others; however, there is no doubt that their ACTIONS did support, and promote, Soviet supremacy in world affairs.  Whether that support was appropriate, given the grave situation before and during WWII, is a legitimate matter for debate.

I favor openness - read both sides, and make up your own mind.  In my case, having had exposure to Leftist thinking - in spades - during my undergraduate years, I'm leaning more towards West's premise of widespread Leftist infiltration of government and other institutions, pre and post WWII.

The reality is that we all know the Leftist side of the story - Big, Bad McCarthy unfairly persecutes the innocent Liberal, who is COMPLETELY innocent of any devious activities/associations.  That's the story we heard in school - complete with the play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller (himself a Leftist).  The story we all got was that the Paranoid Right, who supported McCarthy's investigation into Communists in America (as opposed to the GOOD Right, who condemned him), were decisively PROVEN wrong, and shown to be wrong, on television (and, snidely dissed by a snippy Joseph Welch, whose famous phrase "Have you no sense of decency?" rings triumphantly in Leftist and Liberal ears).

What really happened?  Joseph Welch was attempting to shut down a part of the inquiry into the activities of an associate in his law firm (Fred Fisher).  He became more and histrionic, culminating in that famous phrase.  So, he gained fame for refusing to allow the Senator to investigate possible anti-American activities, a task that they have as part of their mission.

WAS Fred Fisher associated with Communists?  Well, he DID belong the the National Lawyers Guild while in college - they were HEAVILY intertwined with the American Communist Party.  So, it would seem to be a legitimate inquiry.

I'm on the fence, but leaning towards Conservative thinking in this matter.  Were some persons unfairly swept up in the investigations?  Possibly.  However, many seem to be vigorously exclaiming their TOTAL innocence, while using various means to avoid stating so, under oath (for which, if proven to be lying, they could be prosecuted - as was Alger Hiss).  BEING a Communist wasn't then, or now, a crime.  LYING about it to Congress was, and is.  As Martha Stewart found, it wasn't the actions that caused her trouble, it was lying about it to the government, under oath.