Wednesday, July 4, 2018

President Trump's Independence Day Message to America

What Motivates Mass Murderers


The coded message in the latest arrest of a maniac wanting to shoot up a newsroom;   . . . "Schildkraut spoke at a recent conference on gun violence and the failure of gun control, put on by the American Freedom Alliance in Los Angeles last May, called "School Shootings: Facts, Fallacies, Freedom and the Future." Showing lots of evidence, Schildkraut said it was worth it to keep shooters' names out of the paper. "There's a 12-day window, when we are most likely to see copycats," she said. "She wasn't the only one who thought this, either. AFA linked to a Mother Jones (of all places) article that explored the same proposal, which in any case is a more workable than actual gun control. Schildkraut's proposal, while it seemed farfetched to many, didn't sound much different from the press routinely keeping rape victims' names out of the paper. Schildkraut was so convinced of the importance of this she leds a group called 'No Notoriety' which advocates that the media not publish the names of these maniacs as a means of keeping other killers from activating themselves. According to one study, as many as 30% of mass shootings are copycats triggered by these two factors ... fame prospects, and the 12-day window.
"Schildkraut explained that mass shooters are often motivated by the 'notoriety' element and love the "wall to wall coverage" which magnifies the perception of a threat. For a zero such as a mass shooter, it's thrilling to go from zero to hero so instantly. Then, once jailed, they get mooning letters from lovestruck girls and women, who have some fixation on the creepy, revolting convict, which excites them even more. " . . .

Mass Murderers Should Be Deprived of Fame
. . . "The more their names are known the more likely they are to inspire imitators pursuing similar recognition. A 26-year-old man who killed nine people on a college campus in Oregon in 2015 had previously written of another killer: "A man who was known by no one, is now known by everyone. ... Seems the more people you kill, the more you're in the limelight.' " . . .

What Motivates Mass Murderers  
. . . "Is this a believable motive? Unfortunately, it is. Indeed, the goal of a high body count is nothing new at all. Many mass killers are clearly vying for fame, and not just any shooting will do. They know very well that the more people they kill, the more the world will hear about their deeds. The Newtown killer presumably picked this target also because the horror of killing small children would further add to the media attention.



Democrats Are Leaving The Party In Droves #WalkAway

Joe Newby  "The first real results of this ‘walk away’ theme will be seen in the November elections. My prediction is that many people who are afraid to declare they’re leaving the Democratic Party will openly vote against it come this November.
"Brandon Straka: “I am kicking off the #WalkAway campaign by releasing my video about why I am walking away from liberalism and the Democratic Party.”
DN: He spent years as a liberal, but now he says he’s fed up with what the Left has become." More


"This video has been seen by millions of people from all over the world. More videos were made by others and Twitter has been full of people tweeting under #WalkAway why they’ve left the Democratic party:"
Excerpts below:
As a black man, democrats want me to be a victim. They call me an Uncle Tom for talking about problems in the black community. Democrats want me to find empowerment in victimhood, but as a veteran, I was NEVER a victim. It was time for me to

As a Latino I chose to when my father became a cop. Liberals started a war against police and their rhetoric puts him in danger everyday ๐Ÿ’™ Trump loves and honors police at every turn

One of the worst parts of my decision to was my close friends and family becoming aggressive and saying some of the nastiest, vitriolic things in the name of defending their beliefs.

. . . “It is my sincere hope that you will join me in this campaign and that we may start a movement in this country – which not only encourages others to walk away from the divisive left but also takes back the narrative from the liberal media about what it means to be a conservative in America. It is up to all of us to make our voices heard and reclaim the truth.”

“ 'The Democratic Party has taken for granted that it owns racial, sexual, and religious minorities in America. It has encouraged groupthink, hypocrisy, division, stereotyping, resentment, and the acceptance of victimhood mentality. And all the while, they have discouraged minorities from having independent thought, open dialogue, measured and informed opinion, and a motivation to succeed.' ”

Happy Fourth of July, You Wonderful Country!

As Stephen Waldman writes in his definitive book on the subject, "Founding Faith," the American Revolution was "powerfully shaped by the Great Awakening," an evangelical revival in the Colonies in the early 1700s, led by famous Puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards, among others.
Political Cartoons by AF Branco
Townhall
Ann Coulter  "It has become fashionable to equate the French and American Revolutions, but they share absolutely nothing beyond the word "revolution." The American Revolution was a movement based on ideas, painstakingly argued by serious men in the process of creating what would become the freest, most prosperous nation in the history of the world. (Until Democrats decided to give it away to the Third World.)

"The French Revolution was a revolt of the mob. It was the primogenitor of the horrors of the Bolshevik Revolution, Hitler's storm troopers, Mao's Cultural Revolution, Pol Pot's slaughter and America's periodic mob uprisings, from Shays' Rebellion to the current attacks on White House employees and Trump supporters.

"The French Revolution is the godless antithesis to the founding of America.

"One rather important difference is that Americans did win freedom with their revolution and created a self-governing republic.

"France's revolution consisted of pointless, bestial savagery, followed by another monarchy, followed by Napoleon's dictatorship and then finally something resembling an actual republic 80 years later. Both revolutions are said to have come from the ideas of Enlightenment thinkers, the American Revolution influenced by the writings of John Locke and the French Revolution informed by the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. This is like saying presidents Reagan and Obama both drew on the ideas of 20th-century economists -- Reagan on the writings of Milton Friedman and Obama on the writings of Paul Krugman." . . .
(I love Coulter's refined sarcasm.)
Our revolutionary symbol is the Liberty Bell, rung to summon the citizens of Philadelphia to a public reading of the just-adopted Declaration of Independence. The symbol of the French Revolution is the "National Razor" -- the guillotine

Michael Moore will need a lot of "skulls full of mush"

http://www.terrellaftermath.com/
Michael Moore: I'll surround Capitol with 'a million other people' to protest Supreme Court pick  "Liberal documentary filmmaker Michael Moore says that he would "join a million other people surrounding the United States Capitol" to prevent President Trump's forthcoming Supreme Court nominee from being confirmed." . . .

The real meaning of Democrats’ Supreme Court panic  . . . "The judicial branch was never meant to act as a superlegislature, using the verbiage of the Constitution in order to implement preferred policy prescriptions. In Federalist No. 78, Alexander Hamilton expressed the idea well: “The courts must declare the sense of the law; and if they should be disposed to exercise WILL instead of JUDGMENT, the consequence would equally be the substitution of their pleasure to that of the legislative body.” Substituting will for judgment would make the case for utterly dissolving the judicial branch.

"Yet according to the Democrats, the Supreme Court should exercise will instead of judgment. The role of the court, according to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, is to help expedite change in our society: “Our society would be strait-jacketed were not the courts, with the able assistance of the lawyers, constantly overhauling the law and adapting it to the realities of ever-changing social, industrial and political conditions.” Justice Elena Kagan believes the same thing, which is why she constantly describes the Constitution as “abstract,” leaving her room to interpret it as poetry rather than statute." . . .

Today's protest marchers are not heroes  . . . "These fun-filled protests should not be confused with actually doing something meaningful, and the protesters should not be greeted as “heroes.”  They have no real skin in the game.  It's not as if they are actually risking anything or facing any adverse consequences for their actions.  They are not civil rights activists in the South facing off against the pit bulls of Alabama sheriffs.  They are not Muhammed Ali giving up the world championship to protest the war in Vietnam.  And they certainly should not be compared to members of the underground “Resistance” (a term today’s protesters have obscenely appropriated) during World War II who risked their lives and the lives of their families in armed combat against the vastly superior forces of the German Reich.  What is at stake in getting arrested in the comfort of the Hart Office Building and paying a $50.00 fine? These are not heroes.  These are not Resistance fighters.  These are just hipster millennials missing yoga class so that they can all feel good about themselves when the day is done and post about it on social media. " . . .

People such as these, perhaps: North Carolina Social Justice Activist: Boycott July 4, Crash Other People's Cookouts



Tuesday, July 3, 2018

History as Nothing Much at All

Victor Davis Hanson

If everything is like the Nazis, then the Nazis of history are no different from an ICE officer, a White House staffer, or . . . you and me.  

Demagoguery
"Former CIA director Michael Hayden recently tweeted a picture of a Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, with his commentary: “Other governments have separated mothers from children.” The suggestion was that industrialized death on an unprecedented scale was somehow similar to the temporary detention of children once their parents have been detained for violating federal law.

"Actor Peter Fonda recently advised the following about Trump policy adviser Stephen Miller: “Don’t let the pedophile Stephen Goebbels Miller near those girls separated from their parents.” Comedian Kathy Griffin has asserted that the Trump administration is “quite pro-Nazi.”

"Fonda perhaps lacks the subtlety of a Bill Kristol, who implies rather than sledgehammers the Nazi comparisons. When Michael Anton, a writer whose articles often appeared in The Weekly Standard, went to work for the Trump administration, Kristol reduced Anton to the status of an infamous Nazi lawyer: “Carl Schmitt to Mike Anton: First time tragedy, second time farce.”

"Sounds slick, but Anton was working for an elected government in general and in particular for a National Security Council under Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster that was trying to reestablish U.S. deterrence. Stranger still, it is hard to understand how Carl Schmitt’s Nazi-party membership and advocacy (begun formally as early as 1933) were in any sense “tragic” rather than vile. And if the subordinate is supposedly Carl Schmitt, what then would Kristol call his boss, the iconic McMaster? Goebbels? Heydrich?" . . .
History is now following a sort of Gresham’s law: Lots of cheap, bad history drives out what is left of good history.In other words, when almost everything and everyone is analogous to Belzec, Sobibรณr, and Treblinka and their architects, then Belzec, Sobibรณr, and Treblinka become almost nothing at all.

Quick looks at some things

Kylie Jenner Gets Trashed For Wishing Caitlyn Jenner A Happy Father's Day  "My dad is my dad, but he’s not there physically anymore. But she lets me call her dad — that’s the last little piece of dad I’ve got," she said.
"Talk about heartbreaking. Clearly, the transition has deeply affected the entire family, especially Kylie and Kendall"

Sidwell Friends Teacher Harasses Scott Pruitt At A Restaurant  . . . “I just wanted to urge you to resign, because of what you’re doing to the environment in our country,” Mink said, holding her two-year-old son and a notepad, as her husband recorded the encounter." . . . We'll watch for her on a late-night talk show; you know: the kind where the host has an applause sign.


Vandals Throw Brick Through Nebraska GOP Office, Scrawl “Abolish ICE” In Front  . . . "Prominent Democrats across the country have been whipping up support for abolishing U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE), in an appeal to the party’s left-wing base." . . .


Man Who Threatened Rand Paul And His Family Identified  . . . "While [Nathanial Blaine] Luffman’s alleged victim is not named in court records describing the threats, U.S. Capitol Police describe him as an Oregon elected official with an office at a federal building in Portland. The court records also say the suspect has been associated with “other known threatening communications to members of Congress." . . .




Of course, some blame July.

Then again, maybe it's Israel's fault: 
Iran Blames Israel For Stealing CloudsIsrael lives rent-free inside the heads of the ayatollahs and Obama

Surely you've heard of the #WalkAway movement?

As of this posting.
Even in the face of dealing with the evil of North Korea and the Ayatollahs of Iran, the left is willing to tolerate ending Trump's efforts in these matters to spite him. The left would rather have murderous, threatening dictators and Obama rather than Trump or any - any - Republican. If we dare think President Trump's absence would bring civility back, then we are too naive to possess a Republic such as this. TD



Straka
Viral ‘Walk Away’ Videos Highlight Growing Movement of Democrats Leaving the Party  . . . "Meet Brandon Straka, the unlikely liberator and new faceof the “silent minority” of Americans who’ve been cast out by family and friends, fired from jobs, and forced into silent social ghettos for their failure to “get it” about how hateful and dangerous Donald Trump is, and why he and all his supporters should be subjected to an ever-expanding social and professional fatwah." . . .
When actor James Woods tweeted out the hashtag “#WalkAway” in late June, even the alt-right missed the enormity of what lay beneath it. The Democratic Party had, in fact, struck an iceberg.
Some 5 million people on Facebook and YouTube have seen the video by now. A very handsome gay man, who you just assume is about to scold you on progressive talking points, instead says this:
“Once upon a time, I was a liberal. Well, to be honest, less than a year ago, I was still a liberal.
“I reject a system which allows an ambitious, misinformed and dogmatic mob to suppress free speech, create false narratives, and apathetically steamroll over the truth.”
And then this devastating line—the Rosa Parks moment of the video:
“I reject hate.”
If Democratic strategists were still able to watch the rest of the video without suffering a nervous breakdown, they’d see that it quickly got worse.
“These are the reasons why I became a liberal. And these are the same reasons why I am now walking away.”
The #Walkaway Facebook page



Why I joined #WalkAway  "I recently joined the #WalkAway Facebook group and was moved reading a number of posts from former lifelong Democrats by members of just about every minority group imaginable (LGBT, black, Latino, Jewish, Muslim, etc.).  They are done with the Democratic Party, figuratively walking away from it.  They have finally woken up to the fact that the party has veered too far left and suffers from a bad case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. " . . .
" . . . A couple of years later, many delegates at the national convention booed when G-d and Israel were mentioned.  I will never vote for a Democrat in a national race again. "   Also here.



PJ Media: #WalkAway Campaign Urges Fed-Up Democrats to Leave the Party
. . . "He said the reason he was so devastated was because he believed all of the media lies about Trump being a "racist, bigot, sexist, homophobe, sexual predator.""He said his evolution away from the lies began when he saw a video that exposed the lie that Trump had made fun of a reporter's disability."It's a compilation of footage going back to like the nineties," Straka told Harris. "It's him doing that exact same voice, and that exact same gesture numerous times when he's talking about numerous people in numerous situations," he explained." . . .

Breitbart claims the movement "goes viral"  "The #Walkaway movement that began with a popular Facebook video featuring a gay hairdresser in New York City explaining why he was leaving the Democratic Party has quickly morphed into a major force on social media and beyond. ' . . .
"The movement has been especially successful because its spokespersons have not been the sort typically associated with conservativism. Young and old, black and white, men and women, gay and straight—the campaign seems to elude stereotypes and pigeonholing.
"The popular young conservative commentator C.J. Pearson, for instance, has given the movement a significant push by highlighting the Democratic Party’s racist past. “The Democratic Party is the party of slavery. The party of Jim Crow. The party of segregation. The party of the KKK,” Pearson tweeted Saturday.“  " 'Democrats walked away from black folks long ago. Now, it’s our time to #WalkAway,” he added." . . .


Pompeo to head to North Korea as doubts mount about its intentions



Reuters  "U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will leave for North Korea on Thursday seeking agreement on a plan for the country’s denuclearization, despite mounting doubts about Pyongyang’s willingness to abandon a weapons program that threatens the United States and its allies.

"North Korea has consistently refused in past rounds of failed negotiations to provide an inventory of its weapons program, and U.S. intelligence remains uncertain of how many nuclear warheads North Korea has.

"The Defense Intelligence Agency has a high end estimate of about 50 nuclear warheads. But U.S. intelligence agencies believe Pyongyang is concealing an unknown number, including smaller tactical nuclear weapons, in caves and other underground facilities around the country." . . .

Trump has sought to make Waters, one of the fiercest critics of his administration, the face of the Democratic Party

Miguel Guanipa
UK Daily Mail  . . . "But he hit Democrats heavily, particularly Waters, who he has repeatedly gone after ever since she called on the public to assail his administration officials when they see them.
. . . 
"One Democrat on that committee told The Hill that a few members of the panel are worried that Waters' recent remarks about confronting administration officials are a sign that she's itching to lead a crusade against Trump.
" 'We've got a division because some people are very concerned that she's going to be pushing an ideological agenda,' said the lawmaker. 'We can have disagreements on the substance, and that's fine. I just want to make sure it doesn't become like a show.'  
"And Waters has acknowledged her enhance public role as a Trump critic and the dangers that come with it.
"Over the weekend she warned would-be assassins that if they intend to target her, they 'better shoot straight.' 
" 'I know that there are those who are talking about censuring me, talking about kicking me out of Congress, talking about shooting me, talking about hanging me,' Waters during a rally on Saturday.

" 'All I have to say is this, if you shoot me you better shoot straight, there's nothing like a wounded animal.' "

Maxine Waters is done with 'nice guy politics'  
. . . From the perspective of some House Democrats, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has the right message. She’s just not always the best messenger.
"The Los Angeles lawmaker’s early calls for President Trump’s impeachment and viral showdowns with administration officials have endeared Waters to the party’s young, liberal base. And those stances have also garnered the respect of many House Democrats, who admire how Waters, 79, sticks to her political convictions.
. . . 
"Yet her most recent remarks — encouraging public confrontation with Cabinet members — rankled some of those colleagues and raised concerns about how Waters would handle increased authority if Democrats regain control of the House in November." . . .

The Rodney King riots taught us not to make her voters angry. Just ask truck driver Reginald Denny  TD

Ocasio-Cortez may be a phony, but is still leftist enough for the northeast

Monica Showalter: Vaunted Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is damaged goods now  . . . "This is a dramatic turnaround.  Ocasio's youth, hipsterly pert campaign literature, and fresh-faced good looks had, up until a few days ago, been hailed as sign that Democrats' fortunes were turning upward, socialism was alive, and a blue wave was building after all.  Ocasio used her ethnicity to draw ethnic voters, and while her ethnicity itself is not in question, her supposed common shared experience with those voters is.  She's not going to serve the Bronx and Queens as Jenny from the block, shoveling pork as the locals like.  She's more likely to serve as their disdainful college professor, spouting snowflake-friendly admonitions and going green, as befits her real background."

Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a racist? Good grief, are conservatives using that accusation too?

. . . "Instead of being truthful, the progressive politician, raised in Yorktown Heights, portrayed herself as a Marxist "from the block," so to speak." . . .

Monday, July 2, 2018

Obama Not Going Away

Powerline  "Our relative freedom from the sound of Obama’s voice should not mislead us into thinking he has retreated into postpresidential respectability. We know that’s not his way. In the New York Post column “The myth of Obama’s disappearance,” Paul Sperry documents in excruciating detail that he is still out there seeking fundamental transformation. He’s not going anywhere. He hasn’t changed his stripes. He means to put us back on the road he left us on. He reminds us that history does not trace an inevitable arc. It’s in our hands."

The myth of Obama’s ‘disappearance’  . . . "Obama is doing far more to shape the political landscape than is visible. In fact, for an ex-prez, he’s taking an unusually active role in politics, including helping radical protest groups fight Trump and his policies and devising a scheme to flip the GOP majority in the House and permanently turn red seats blue.

"From his sprawling DC office not far from the White House, where he oversees a full-time staff of 20, Obama has held regular meetings with Democratic lawmakers, as well as DNC chief Tom Perez, whom he personally helped install to run the Democratic Party. Obama has also met with his attorney general, Eric Holder, to craft a strategy to redraw congressional district maps in Democrats’ favor, according to Politico. Holder now runs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which Obama helped his old friend launch." . . .