Dictator Watch - For China apologists

 If you are okay with how China operates, you need to change your opinion.  Here's why:

Sunday verse

 

New York Times think they are above the law

Project Veritas is in the process of suing the New York Times. The judge in the case ordered the NYT to stop sharing private Project Veritas communications. The NYT has decided that a legal judicial order does not apply to them. Do they feel they are above the law.

Some humor for this Black Friday

 Hopefully this is a slow news weekend.  Here's some levity for your long weekend from Adam Carolla:

Happy Thanksgiving.

 To all of my American friends and readers, Happy Thanksgiving.

Hey GOP, just do it anyway

Many conservatives and many Republican party members want there to be term limits for Congress and the Senate. This would stop us from being continually faced with Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and the likes of Mitch McConnell. The problem is the political willpower to get it done as a legislative change or even better, a Constitutional Amendment.

Fair enough.

So here's an idea; just make it a GOP party rule.  No one can join the party as any type of representative unless they are willing to agree and adhere to the party rule.  You break the rule you lose party membership and lose any committee standings you might have.  Simple.

It doesn't solve the problem of us having to look at Nancy Pelosi's face on the news most every day.  Not initially anyway.  But it does accomplish a few other things.  Firstly it keeps new blood in the GOP on a regular basis, which strips from Republicans the opportunity to become self serving insider opportunists.  That in turn makes the GOP look more fresh than the Democrat dinosaurs they are facing off with, that might pressure Democrats into adapting a similar idea.

Of course the danger is that they  might try to leverage it to argue we should do the same with court appointments.  Maybe as part of a deal on a Constitutional amendment. But that is a hurdle for another day.  So too might be using it to clean out the executive branch leadership positions like the IRS, FEC, HHS, the Pentagon, etc. of political hacks on the left.

There is no significant downside to making it a GOP only rule for now.  That is unless you are an establishment Republican who is benefitting from the status quo.  But here's the rub on that - it will confirm who needs to be rooted out of the party.

Strategic Oil Reserve usage: Not unprecedented but not good

When was the last time the strategic oil reserve has been used to offset oil prices?  Today. Thanks Brandon; brilliant management of the U.S. economy.  What a turnip. This is Brandon's feeble attempt to placate everyone given his really horrible, terrible management of all things presidential:

...on Nov. 23 ordered 50 million barrels of oil released from the nation’s strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) to help cool surging energy costs and ease pain at the pump.

“American consumers are feeling the impact of elevated gas prices at the pump and in their home heating bills, and American businesses are, too, because oil supply has not kept up with demand as the global economy emerges from the pandemic,” the White House said in a Nov. 23 statement.

Crude oil prices have surged to seven-year highs, with global demand seeing a sharp rebound from the pandemic lows. Republicans have blamed Biden’s policies—such as nixing the Keystone XL pipeline project and freezing new oil and gas drilling leases on federal land—for contributing to rising prices.

Insisting that Biden “is using every tool available to him to work to lower prices and address the lack of supply” of oil, the White House said the U.S. Department of Energy will make available 32 million barrels of crude under an exchange mechanism from all four SPR storage sites. On top of this, another 18 million barrels will be made available by accelerating the sale of crude from the SPR under a previous congressional authorization.

Has this ever been done before? The strategic oil reserve has existed since 1975.  So you'd expect it would happen from time to time.  It has, but only four times. 

Emergency releases of the reserve have occurred three times. In 1991, at the beginning of Operation Desert Storm, the United States, assuring the adequacy of global oil supplies with its allies, announced the emergency sale on the day the war broke out in the Persian Gulf.

The second release occurred in September 2005, after Hurricane Katrina crushed the oil production, distribution, and refining industries in the Gulf regions of Louisiana and Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina’s destruction was so great that refiners requested emergency release, actually receiving approval within 24 hours of the hurricane’s landfall, and before the determination was made by President George W. Bush.

In June 2011, the United States and its partners in the International Energy Agency announced the release of 60 million barrels in response to crude oil supply disruptions in Libya and other countries. The U.S. obligation was half—30 million barrels—and 30.6 million barrels were delivered by August 2011.

So during a war (Bush 41), during the fallout from Hurricane Katrina (Bush 43), and then Obama because prices basically.  Then president Trump also did it but temporarily all the while ramping up U.S. oil production so that it would not be necessary and prices would not be so volatile.  It worked. 

Brandon has worked hard to reverse Trump's success in this regard.  So much so, that this becomes the fifth time it has happened and without the external shocks that cause every other time. COVID is no excuse, this is a result of his policy changes to reverse the nation's energy independence.

Moron or deliberately destroying America? You decide.

Just ugh.

The Strange Incident in Waukesha via Paul Joseph Watson.

The media are the real enemy of the people,

Sunday verse

 

Rules for Patriots - an important corollary

I've posted most of my Rules for Patriots this year, with two more to go before year end.  But in doing so I've neglected to point out a corollary of some of those rules that almost merits its own rule.  Since I don't particularly want to end up with an unlucky 13 rules, and it's just a strange number of rules to have that doesn't roll of the tongue like 10 or 12, I'll add it here as a corollary instead:

Don't get stuck in an echo chamber.

Separate but Equal

It's been a necessary step to set up GETTR, Parler, Rumble and the like to have platforms for free speech because we are being singled out for expulsion or censorship by the likes of Facebook, Google and Twitter. I get it, totally necessary (albeit a bit late).  It's a place where we can share our thoughts and ideas freely without that threat hanging over our head.

Here's the problem, we may end up stuck in our own echo chamber, preaching to the choir as it were.  The Democrats have already shown us that living inside your own thought bubble is ultimately ruinous and the fallout for the mainstream media and most Democrats is showing in poll ratings. But the problem for us does not end there.

If I were a progressive leftist I would be thrilled that conservatives have set up their own platforms for a number of reasons.  It's as if we've circled the wagons.  They now have a direct target for their vitriol. There is no need to go search for targets, we have given them the place to direct all of their vile hatred, and all of their attacks.  We've painted a target on our own village so to speak.  It doesn't end there. 

We are at a competitive disadvantage with these platforms. The left has the media, they have the entertainment industry, they have the schools, they have most of the news outlets, they even have the overlords at major league sports industries. They still have a bigger, louder and more prevalent loudspeaker than we do. While we are working to change that, it will remain a major competitive advantage for quite some time.  If it becomes a war of attrition of ideas, we will still lose because our voices will still be drowned out by the bigger loudspeaker from the left.  We preach and ruminate to each other but the facts we have on our side, the evidence, the truth does not escape the walls of our echo chambers.

My best imitation of Jesse Jackson

Separate but equal does not mean we as conservatives and Constitutional originalists, are truly equal. Brown vs. Board of Education proved legally, almost 70 years ago, that separate does not mean equal.  We have been segregated. Isolated. That means we can be intimidated and eventually eradicated.

Beyond the echo chamber

The point is that while we are seeing these new platforms as victories we must be cognizant of the fact that they must not be end states for our freedom of speech or our overall mission. What we see as victory is merely a stepping stone for progressives unless we use it as merely a stepping stone for ourselves. We are still outnumbered in many, many places.  In order to win in the longer term, we need to undo the socialist damage done to our institutions in both the public and private sectors and in the minds.  In order to accomplish that, it is imperative that we 'red pill' liberals to the reality of what is being done to us and equally to them.  There is an urgency in that as the tipping point where it becomes too late is still inching towards us.  We must have our voices: our Parlers and Rumbles.  But our voices must carry beyond those walls to the greater audience.

Rittenhouse acquittal

I don't think I've commented on the Kyle Rittenhouse trial at all so far, but I should add my opinion that I believed all along that he was being railroaded by the media.  Thankfully the judge in the case was just and stood up to a disgraceful prosecution.  And more thankfully, he was found innocent; the evidence clearly was on his side.  The media and the outrage mob won't care.  Nevertheless, justice prevailed, and that is good for Kyle Rittenhouse but also good for America.   Justice means fair treatment under the law, not lynch-mobbing someone because you don't like their skin color or politics.

This reaction from Steven Crowder about sums it up:

MSNBC: Truckers are racist

 Just...

No time to post today so here's a comedic take on 'woke'

 Wokeness on display for your amusement:

If only...

A red tsunami in 2022?  Hopefully, but I think it's seriously wishful thinking.  There are entrenched Democrat districts, there's cheating via vote harvesting and other nefarious methods.  Nonetheless, it's still something to work towards and the signs are indeed pointing towards a good outcome for Republicans.

Brandonflation is real

 Let's Go Brandon, your inflation is brutal and you don't even understand why.  But we do.

China's rash of explosions

 Is China's CCP in the middle of a purge, or is it something else?

Sunday verse

 

Lessons from Australia and other China news

 An unofficial Dictator Watch entry:

Thank you Veterans

 

Stunning non-admission admission by AG Garland

AG Garland couldn't say "no federal agents were present" because it would have amounted to perjury.  If it were the case he would have said so and moved on because there would have been no policy issue at all.

They're hunting Project Veritas

The FBI raided James O'Keefe's house because he's exposing the truth.  This is the extent the progressives have co-opted and empowered the deep state to do their bidding.

Rules for Patriots - Rule #11: Participate but don't participate

 This is a continuation of my Rules for Patriots series, designed as a patriot's guide to success in fighting the creeping progressivism infecting America. It's a conservative response to Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. This series is a lengthy read, but it is very important to understand.  This one happens to be a video, so it's more digestible. Being able to use this approach, as a team, will simplify, streamline and expedite achieving our patriotic objectives.

Links to previous rules: Rule #10, Rule #9, Rule #8, Rule #7, Rule #6, Rule #5, Rule #4, Rule #3, Rule #2 and Rule #1.

When you take a look at parents taking school boards to task for teaching things like Critical Race Theory, the obvious conclusion is that in order to affect change, you have to participate.  The recent Virginia gubernatorial election reinforces that notion too.  The same parents who were disgusted with what was being taught to their children, and were being told to butt out of the discussion, showed up to vote and made a statement that changed Virginia, at least for the time being.  Participation matters.  But it does not matter everywhere.  In fact, in some places it's better not to participate.  For example the swamp that is Twitter is a cesspool and when you get in there it it acts like quicksand; it wastes time and effort and only drags you further down without improving the political environment one iota.

When society itself has become ill, it might not be fixable, at least not within the structure of that society itself.  It's hard to recognize when that might be the case, but we have seen many signs of it:

The solution is not always to try to change the system from within, but to create a parallel structure and operate within that framework as much as possible.  In the case of the United States, that parallel structure is one that believes in the principles set out by the Founding Fathers.  The way to fix the existing society is to show an alternative that works better.  We all know that the principles in the Constitution would be a better way to govern society; with legislation that goes beyond what the founders understood but yet confined by the principles they proposed; individual liberty being paramount among those. But also important are individual responsibility and a healthy morality.

Parallel Structures

 

If former Czech president and former Soviet era dissident Vaclav Havel was right (and he was), the only way to stop living the lie of a corrupt system is to live the truth.  He did not say believe the truth, he said live it.  That becomes increasingly difficult in an oppressive regime and mono-culture, mono-belief society.  But, there are ways to do it.  Even in small ways, it can make a difference if enough people eventually begin to participate:

Parallel structures become parallel societies in time.  There are many ways to create parallel structures.  Home schooling or private schooling are both alternatives to public education, which has clearly become a problem.  Bitcoin and other crypto currencies are alternatives to regular government currency, not to mention woke big banks.  Gettr and Parler are alternatives to Twitter and Facebook.  These already exist.  Entertainment?  Check out some family friendly options.  Sports? Create your own if you don't like what you see in the NFL or NBA. The GOP representatives for you are establishment RINOs?  Work around them and work to replace them using means outside the party.  It can be done (just ask Edward Durr).

As these parallel societies grow they can converge and experience synergy by doing so.  The snowball effect of combining these parallel structures and societies means that over time, successful parallels will multiply, and faith in the failing and dishonest system, upheld by lies, will dissipate.  The new structures and societies can continue to grow and flourish attracting more and more adherents.  This is how the Soviet bloc collapsed.  We in the west have created an unnecessary decay by allowing socialists and communists to pervert our systems and beliefs to the point that they no longer mean what they meant and do not stand up to real scrutiny because they have been so corrupted.

Do not accept that this version of reality is the only one and it cannot be changed. Change it on  micro level and let that grow.  Help it grow to a macro level.  You can do this by engaging those who are curious and by knowing your facts and your audience (something I have discussed in other rules). Do not wait for someone else to do these things, there are micro things you can do on your own, or with family and/or friends.  The principles that made America a great nation are not lost, only fading badly.  But the time is now to act.  Yes work within the system by voting and supporting valuable candidates, but work outside of it too, because that is from where the momentum will come.

The New Jersey disconnect

MetLife Stadium is in New Jersey, the state Democrats are trying to say the won in the 2021 gubernatorial election.  Meanwhile at a recent soccer match, the entire MetLife stadium did this (warning, language):

The whole stadium was chanting, or at least nearly so. There's a disconnect between counted votes and the reality on the ground.  Make no mistake, "found ballots" will always be enough to put Democrats over the top in some states, but there is an emergent disconnect between winners and reality.

Sunday verse

 

Implosion in Congress

 Pelosi fail:

Bloodbath for Democrats

 Now it's time to shine. Virginia proved to be a sweep for Republicans:

Glenn Youngkin saves the day. The gubernatorial candidate bested Democrat Terry McAuliffe in yesterday’s elections in the Old Dominion. The GOP dominated the state, clinching all three statewide officed. Youngkin clinched the governor’s win. Jason Miyares is our new attorney general. And Winsome Sears is our lieutenant governor. She’s the first black woman to occupy the office. The House of Delegates also flipped 51-49.

Meanwhile In New Jersey, as of this posting Republican upstart, longshot candidate for governor, Jack Ciattarelli holds a very slim lead over Democrat incumbent Phil Murphy.  This was a state that guy (Brandon) carried in 2020 by double digits. Of course every vote is not counted and surely some will be counted twice, so there's that.

Make no mistake though (although the Democrats most likely will), this is a foreshadowing of the 2022 midterm elections, provided Democrats do not change course.  The Democrats tried to make the Virginia election about president Trump. They failed. It appears they are going to make the defeat about president Trump (aka RACISM!!!) as well. If they fail to learn the lesson and swallow their own Kool Aid, 2022 could end up worse than the shellacking they took in 2010. History repeating no doubt.  Democrats could learn from this. Prior to that 2010 bloodbath, in 2009 Republican Bob McDonnell upset Democrat favorite Craig Deeds.  And in New Jersey, Chris Christie upset heavy favorite Jon Corzine.

I don't believe Democrats are capable of doing anything as far as strategy anymore other than doubling down.  There's a limit of course as to how much the GOP can win, but 2022 may in fact hit that limit at this rate. 

Unexpected

 Is Ron DeSantis going to run for president???  At 10 a.m. we'll know:

China's aluminum titan is in trouble

 Generally accepted accounting principles are apparently anathema to China.

Common sense reaction to stupidity

This is where we are at in 2021.  It's either complete idiocy or common sense.  There's no longer any in between.  What is heartening to see is the reaction to the professor's stupidity.

Virginia, the fix is in

An article in left-leaning Politico today is trying to nationalize the result of the upcoming Virginia gubernatorial election, and by proxy, all elections.  Perhaps they think it's a winning strategy for the left to make every election about federal politics.  The far left has been in lockstep with voting Democrat for a long time.  Nationalizing the race might actually be a boon to the right instead.  Unless the fix is in and they know that far left governor Terry McAuliffe is going to win, allowing them to make national claims about the election result.

We don’t need to wait until the results are in, however, to draw one clear conclusion from this contest. It will or should deal another decisive blow to one of the most enduring, least useful observations about American elections: “All politics is local.”

Oh really? Why would this election prove that?  Based on what evidence? The article glosses over specifics to jump straight to this numeric observation: 

Presidential elections have almost always been driven by broader factors than local matters: war, inflation, recession, domestic upheaval, corruption. Over the last decade or two, the drift — more like a surge — toward political polarization has seen the steady disappearance of split ticket voting, where a personally admirable candidate of one party could win the votes from those who identify with another party. In 2020, only one Senate candidate, Maine Republican Susan Collins, won in a state carried by the other party’s presidential nominee. A decade ago, 23 senators came from states that had voted for the other party’s presidential candidate. Today, the number is six.

That doesn't speak to nationalization of elections, it speaks to geographic polarization, or coincidence, or possibly an alignment of local politics with federal politics.  It does not mean people will vote for governor or mayor based on who is president or who controls congress. At least not on a 1:1 ratio.

Of course there have been other reasons to want this race nationalized.  McAuliffe has been as disastrous as  a candidate as he has been as a governor.  They've been bringing in the big guns like Obama and Biden to try to nationalize this race, and they've tried to often as possible mention president Trump.  It's a distraction from McAuliffe's bungled approach to schools and parents wanting to have a say in what their children are being taught.

Should McAuliffe lose, you can bet just as quickly they will at least publicly start saying it was his issue, not about a national referendum on Biden.  Even if they believe that it actually was.  Nationalizing it is just a talking point as of today.  But it is also possible the fix is in and they are saying it's a national referendum because they are going to make sure they get the result they want.