But That's Different!

For those Trump-humpers who claim that Trump donated money to Hillary and other Democrats because "that's just how the game is played", I have a question: Is it OK to help out those with whom you supposedly disagree for no other reason than money and power?

"Integrity", "morality", "principled"...those a just some of the words that I would not use to describe someone who would do such a thing.

PC For All

In today's politically correct climate, shouldn't the word "gunperson" be used instead of "gunman"?

The Real Damage of Obama

Most Conservatives believe that President Brobama's constant thwarting of the Constitution is a huge danger to this country, and they're right. It is a very real danger and his executive orders and constant bypassing of the Constitution and Congress are creating very lasting damage to this country.

However, I believe the far larger problem is this: all of the other politicians are watching him and saying, "Holy Shit! Look at what this guy is getting away with! And almost nobody cares! Hardly anyone even knows about what he's doing or even that it is fucking illegal! If we would have known this years ago, just think of what we could have done! We could have done almost anything and nobody would have done shit about it!"

In fact, I believe that that is exactly what happened to the Republican Party. Before 2008, the GOP elitists at least pretended to care about what the Conservative members of the party thought. Once Obonga showed them that they didn't have to care because the vast majority of people weren't really paying attention, they just let loose their inner Progressive and did whatever the Hell they wanted to. When the Conservatives raised a stink about it, they again took a page from Obama and attacked them in the press, making Conservatives out to be unenlightened knuckle-draggers

Most Conservative pundits decry the influence of lobbyists and big-money donors (e.g. the  US Chamber of Commerrce) but, while true, those groups have always been there. What's changed is that the GOP elitists have learned that they don't have to worry about anyone stopping their gravy train! It ain't gonna happen.

Unfortunately, when they smirk and sneer at the hicks in flyover country, they are mostly correct about those hicks. The vast majority of said hicks aren't going to actually do anything to stop them. And those that try, will be smeared in the press until they're silenced. The GOPe have learned well from their Democrat brethren and friends.

And, if that isn't bad enough, just imagine what Hillary or Bernie will do with that knowledge. Or what happens when the Democrats regain control of either wing of Congress. Or both. They have learned that there is nothing stopping them from implementing their complete Socialist agenda because almost nobody cares enough to stop them. In a country of 320 million people, there are, perhaps 20 million who care enough to even speak up. The numbers are on the politicians' side.

The people who are lamenting the accelerating downfall and imminent demise of this country don't seem to understand the real reason that it is happening so quickly now: Obama has shown the politicians that they have carte blanche and that no one is able to stop them because of the apathy of the vast majority of this country.

And that apathy was no accident. It has been instilled over decades. The GOPe should really thank their Democrat cronies for that. They are at least in the game of musical chairs that is going on, and have a pretty good chance of a seat when the music stops and this country finally collapses.

Skating Away

I agree with most of what Donald Trump says. It all sounds great! And I love the fact that he's poking the elitist establishment - both Democrat and Republican - through the bars of their cages with a sharp stick. Calling an MSM reporter a "sleaze" brought a grin to my face.

The problem is that I don't believe a word of what he's saying.

If he's elected, there will be no wall built. There will be some small efforts at stemming the tide of illegals that he will tout as "Yuge!" successes. Similarly, he'll make some small changes to our trade deals and that will be the end of that. He'll tinker around the edges of the tax code and call it "reform". Same with healthcare "reform" and getting rid of Obamacare.

You see, the fact that he hasn't actually held an office doesn't make him any less of a politician. And, like all politicians, he lies. A lot.

Hillary lies to get what she wants, to make herself look better and, mostly, to cover up her wrongdoing. And when caught, she lies about her lies. She is a pathological liar. She lies even when the truth wouldn't do her any harm.

Trump, on the other hand, is lying about who he is and what he will do if elected. He is lying the same way that an actor "lies": He's playing a part. The Part of "Hardass Conservative". Do you think that it's a coincidence that this guy, who has shown many, many Liberal tendencies in the past, is now saying everything that the people labeled "extreme right" (of which I am a proud member) want to hear? Everything.

It's like Trump spent a year studying Conservatives in the same way that an actor studies for a part. If a character like Trump were in a Hollywood movie, we Conservatives would roll our eyes and say, "There goes Hollywood and their Conservative stereotyping, again". Instead, millions of Conservatives, so desperate for a presidential candidate that isn't an establishment RINO, have willingly suspended their disbelief and embraced a guy who, until very recently, showed very few Conservative bona-fides.

I understand why it happened. I'm just saddened that so many of my fellow Conservatives would actually fall for this shtick. I figured that they were more grounded and able to see through a scam than Obama's supporters were in 2008. Because, other than the political ideology, it's the same play now that we saw back then.

When/if Trump gets to Washington, it will be like the scene in Braveheart where the Irish are on the battlefield, sprinting towards each other, screaming their scariest battle cries and then, suddenly, stop and embrace each other.

Trump will get to Washington and, suddenly, all of the rhetoric against the establishment will be forgotten. He will immediately begin making "great" "wonderful" deals with Ryan and McConnell and whomever the Democrats have in their leadership roles.

All of these cult-of-personality Trump fanatics who think that Trump will shake things up in DC are going to be extremely disappointed when he gets to Washington and does little or nothing about all of the issues that he's now using to whip them into a frenzy. Like every other politician.

I just wonder how they'll react. I'm hoping that these Conservatives are real enough to admit that they were wrong and not - like the Obamabots - ooh and ahh over the Emperor's wonderful fashion sense for his entire term.

Well, do you ever get the feeling

That the story's too damn real

And in the present tense?

Or that everybody's on the stage

And it seems like you're the only person

Sitting in the audience?

- Jethro Tull

If You Really Want the Federal Government Rolled Back...

I keep hearing the Conservative talking heads lamenting that, since Republicans have control of the House of Representatives, they never use "the power of the purse" to stop any of the Leftists' power grabs by not funding their ridiculous programs.

It would be all well and good if the Republicans would stick their necks out a tiny bit to defund these things but, all in all it wouldn't amount to shit. Sure, they could stop a few things from being funded, but the Federal government would continue to grow and grow. The money would just be pissed away on other Leftist bullshit.

No, the only real way to stop this government is so simple that I rarely have heard anyone seriously propose it: Repeal the 16th Amendment!  Remove the income tax proceeds of every American from the Federal government, and it goes back to being what it was originally meant to be: small and almost inconsequential to the vast majority of Americans.

After your initial incredulousness wears off, think about it. Would it really be that hard to get 2/3 of the states onboard with this?

State-level politicians (especially the Leftists) are every bit as greedy and power hungry as their Washington counterparts. The promise of getting their hands on all of the money now being sent to Washington from their states would easily convince most of them to vote to end the Federal income tax. Sure, there would be die-hard big-government holdouts, but I really don't think that there would be that many of them.

Of course, the Statists in the MSM would shriek non-stop about children, women, lions, gorillas and old people dying in the streets, but even the low-information voters could be pretty easily subdued just by telling them that all of the "free shit" that they're currently getting from the Feds would just be administered by the state now. As long as they think that they'll still be getting their handouts, they'll quickly go back to watching Reality TV.

Even your average, uninformed Democrat voter wouldn't really have an argument against it. What could they say when it's made clear that they will still get the same services, only from the state instead of the Feds?

The middle class would be onboard as soon as you told them that, since we'd get rid of the inefficiency of sending money to Washington only to have it sent back to us, they'd be seeing a 10% tax cut.

There are some people out there that have been pushing for this, but they never seem to be taken seriously, and I don't understand why.

When the 16th Amendment was passed, the Soviet Union - the first real attempt at Socialism - was only a few years old, and Socialism wasn't yet seen as a bad thing. The world had no examples of the horrors that it would bring and, as is the case today, it all sounded like a really good idea - as long as you didn't factor in human nature or put too much thought into it.

Since then, we've seen 150 million people murdered at the hands of large, centralized governments, their people impoverished and sent to labor camps for the simple act of disagreeing with their government Lords.

And even in the not-quite-so-tyrannical American Federal government, people are disgusted by the waste, fraud, corruption and abuse of power emanating from Washington. Most of those people may not have a clue as to what to do about it, but they don't like it one bit.

And all of that could go away with no loss in the quality of their life. In fact, without the Feds regulating every tiny aspect of their lives, the quality of their lives would actually get better.

I think that it wold be an easy sell. I just don't understand why Conservatives aren't pushing this day in, day out, 24/7.