the The passing of the former One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) combined with the shocking claims by the DOJ and FBI regarding the infamous, deceased Jeffrey Epstein, combined with mass efforts by various parts of the judicial system, the Woke and other anti-Trumpers – and the media – have brought The Donald back into the (metaphorical) firing line.
Efforts to impeach him have gone nowhere. Although GOP types suspiciously are retiring/resigning from Congress narrowing the tiny Republican majority in the House of Representatives, so far there are not enough votes to get articles of impeachment, and Speaker Johnson both remains in power and in The Donald’s good graces. (We do wonder, now and then, at the real reasons that so many of these GOP representatives are hanging up their hats. Is it “influencers” who have replaced the old German Dritte Reich custom of shortening the lives of deputies? A “kinder and gentler” type of pressure? (At least kinder than what now seems to be the practice in today’s Russia and Ukraine. One wonders.)
As a result, various and sundry conservatives, Trumpistas, and even a few Libertarians have rallied to his defense. One of those is the popular (and assuredly hated) Victor Davis Hanson. He recently wrote this:
With all due respect, Mr. Hanson, following many of the precedents set by Obummer and Uncle Joe would definitely make The Donald an Autocrat. If not an outright authoritarian Tyrant. This isn’t much of a defense of the man.
Continuing to look at the insanity of the Pandemic Panic and the lockdown over Beer Flu (COVID-19), we ran across this cute meme from 2020.
Today, every few days we see another bait-click headline on the mainstream media news sites warning us that another “spike” of some variant of COVID-19, bird flu, swine flu, measles, etc. In Texas, in Florida, in the Central African Republic or wherever.
But what is particularly notable? The epidemic of stupidity continues to climb in numbers and impact across the nation and the world. Not just in DC, but in every State capitol. And indeed, most county seats and provincial headquarters around the world.
It is not just that the pitiful excuse for an education system and the rise of Woke insanity are causing this. No, it is because we are (as a nation and culture) cultivating idiocy. In large part by tolerating it. Especially among the so-called elite. Not just the Hollywood and Nashville and Manhattan elites, but the medical professions and the politicians. And the bureaucrats.
And the voters, even as we hear the clamor for more and more “democracy.”
What kind of leader uses threats to get his way?” This is a question a correspondent asked today. He is an American evangelist in Belgium, and the question was in regards to both domestic and foreign US politics and the war in Ukraine and Russia.
Here is our answer, at first from a religious point of view (as one of us here replied to his question), and then from a political philosophic point of view – of lovers of liberty. We believe them to be fully compatible.
We here at TPOL recently looked back at some news stories and reports that interested us months and months ago. Particularly dealing with health care and health issues.
Let us share a few. They are old news, but still of interest. We will start with California
California Governor Orders Investigation Into Ultra-Processed Foods | The Epoch Times – This was reported back in January. Too bad we know that Newsom and the entire California Assembly (and government agencies) are corrupt and tyrannical – and even more than most governments. As we commented on in detail in another commentary, a recent poll (if we can trust Newsweek) claims that more Californians than ever (44%) want to secede from California. (They do not seem to realize that California would rapidly slide into a Third-World state (even more than it is already)). And the rest of the States might benefit – provided the millions fleeing from California did not pollute the other States’ electorate.
What is interesting, looking back 6 months? The report was due in April but NOTHING has been reported: the only thing I’ve been able to find is this article about a bill in the California Assembly: Harmful ultraprocessed foods may be removed from billions of California school lunches | CNN The main gist of the article is how wonderful California is in upstaging RFKJr in this – though the bill isn’t expected to become law until August. Are we right to consider Newsom’s directive to be nothing but eyewash and a Potemkin village propaganda action at best, eh?
The list of foods that will “disappear” is horrific! Look at this:
French fries
Chicken sandwiches (at least the “fast food” variety)
Burger and hot dog and sandwich buns
“Sugary” coffee drinks and milkshakes
Roast beef sandwiches (even without the buns!)
Tacos (but apparently not burritos or chimichangas?)
Macaroni and cheese and Chili cheese dogs
Glazed donuts and biscuits
Yes, we know that there is not a whole lot in common between, say, mac and cheese and chili cheese dogs. But that is how the highly-intelligent, public-minded, and professionally-trained writers and editors at the Daily Mirror grouped them together.
But there is more! The second paragraph of that incredibly-important and well-balanced news story has a link to what breakfast foods will also disappear. Obviously, since breakfast is “the most important meal of the day” (TM) this is even worse, though there are only seven and not eight:
Breakfast cereals – especially those with bright colors
Yogurt! Especially flavored versions
Pop Tarts (TM) and other toaster pastries
Oranges! (And here you thought that oranges were good for you!)
Stawberry-flavored milk
Baked goods (Hostess products are highlighted and have pictures to let you see what you are gonna miss!)
Although it is not one of the seven soon-to-be mourned foods for breakfast, the article ends with a warming that “some meats” apparently will go away.
Cleaning up messages and files is never fun, but sometimes it triggers a fresh look at things worth sharing.Think about these things we at TPOL discussed back in early 2023.
Is the cup half-empty? Or half-full? We face such a situation, at least the way we interpret Martin Armstrong’s discussion on Addison Wiggins’ Wiggins Session for 14 December 2022:
There is simply no possible way to prevent the collapse of our Republican forms of government. But since the media always promotes one-sided leftist fake news, they will be leading us down the path of authoritarianism for the cancel culture is all about silencing any opposition.
As Sagan points out, without skepticism we are doomed. What we must start planning for is the reconstruction of a new form of government post-2032 when this one collapses like Communism from its own corruption and weight.
No revolution will be even needed.
Of course, while Armstrong (looking forward a decade) wrote of “our Republican forms of government,” we take his language in an ironic sense. We here at TPOL have never shied from stating our strong belief that the American Republic ended more than a century ago in the cataclysmic year of 1913. And that what we live under today in these States is an ever more corrupt, debased, and debauched democracy. And one which is rapidly sliding into more and more evil forms and actions of populist, regressive tyranny. (The last two+ years demonstrate this, do they not?)
May we find ways to live up to the gift they gave us! (Next: Fireworks at Mt. Rushmore) (And see the thoughts of guests Doug and Tom, at the end.)
None of the four men remembered on Mount Rushmore were perfect. They were human. Some (many) of the things that they did were damaging to liberty, to freedom, and to the nations (States) they were supposed to serve. But we should look at the ideals, the vision, and the potential for liberty and freedom we have today because of how they are perceived today. And we must remember that simply trashing the memory of such men and their times is not going to give us much opportunity to teach people today about freedom and liberty. (Next picture: the 106th Black Hills Roundup Parade in Belle Fourche, South Dakota.)
Yes, those are cattle – longhorns – being herded along a downtown business district street. They are not “running the bulls” and they are not “mistreating” the livestock. The people of the Black Hills, for all our faults, are celebrating the ideals of freedom, of independence, and of personal responsibility in the context of voluntary cooperative efforts.
Let us quote another lover of liberty:
As the US approaches its 250th anniversary, how would you compare the personal and economic freedoms Americans have today with those envisioned by the Founding Fathers in 1776?
Doug Casey: The US has had a good, long run as a beacon of freedom for the entire world, but nothing lasts forever. Things started changing radically with the War Between the States, and the ascendancy of progressives like Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Then came FDR with his New Deal, and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. And it’s accelerated downhill from there.
The trend in the US is critically important. However, Western civilization is in decline throughout the world. And it’s more than just a civilizational issue. There’s a rot in ethics, philosophy, and even the makeup of the population. People of European descent are declining all over the world, especially in Europe itself, where the native population is dropping rapidly. Even in the United States, figures show that the white population dropped by 250,000 in the last year, while the populations of all other ethnic groups rose substantially.
So, to answer the question: Apart from the huge and obvious changes in technology, I think the US founders would find the country culturally unrecognizable. This trend is underscored by the presumptive election of Zohran Mamdani as mayor of New York. He’s young, affable, charismatic. His appeal is understandable relative to the corrupt and constipated alternatives. But he’s also a Muslim communist who openly wants to overthrow what’s left of American traditions in the largest and most important city in the country.
And a digest of what another lover of liberty (Tom Woods) has to say:
Independence Day is coming up, and I wonder how many people really get why it matters. In school, we were told this: “No taxation without representation.” Zzzzzzzz.
The real principles were more like the following.
(1) No legislation without representation. The colonists insisted that they could be governed only by the colonial legislatures. This is the principle of self-government.
(2) Contrary to the modern view that the state [or State] must be considered one and indivisible, the colonists believed that a smaller unit may withdraw from a larger one. [The principle of secession.]
(3) The colonists’ view of the (unwritten) British constitution was that Parliament [was limited in power]. Customary practice was the test of constitutionality. Parliament … [claimed] … that the will and act of Parliament sufficed to make its measures constitutional. This is the principle of strict construction. [And therefore of limited government.] … [not] … a “living, breathing” view of the Constitution.
[The above concepts were a good start: the Founding Fathers still believed that human government could indeed be a faithful servant and protect liberty, not steal it. In 250 years, we have learned better, and their understanding is shown to be lacking. But they were headed in the right direction.
As we write and publish this today, it is just 8 or so hours before the local clock (Mountain Time) ticks off midnight.
Tomorrow morning, NPR (National Public Radio – one of the propaganda arms of the Woke left and the FedGov) will no doubt have its traditional reading of the Declaration of Independence, published in 1776. The reading will no doubt include the voices of dozens or hundreds of NPR “personalities” and a few celebrities and famous people.
It is a ritual. And as the news and opinion stories which will both precede and follow the reading will show, it is an empty ritual. At least for the staff and bosses of NPR. And without doubt, many of the advertisers (excuse me, “sponsors”) and other funders of the network.
Not long ago, the Iowa Libertarian Party shared this great cartoon:
This is, of course, a lot more taxes and regulations and government stupidity and meddling (the Fed!) that could be shown. But as we near the celebration of Independence Day (and the day before the Continental Congress actually DID approve the Declaration and thus Independece), it is worth looking back 249 years to ask, are we free? Did the Founding Fathers achieve their goals? Do those goals remain accomplished in 2025?
The Price of Liberty 
Autocrat? Aristocrat? Authoritarian? Tyrant?
the The passing of the former One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) combined with the shocking claims by the DOJ and FBI regarding the infamous, deceased Jeffrey Epstein, combined with mass efforts by various parts of the judicial system, the Woke and other anti-Trumpers – and the media – have brought The Donald back into the (metaphorical) firing line.
Efforts to impeach him have gone nowhere. Although GOP types suspiciously are retiring/resigning from Congress narrowing the tiny Republican majority in the House of Representatives, so far there are not enough votes to get articles of impeachment, and Speaker Johnson both remains in power and in The Donald’s good graces. (We do wonder, now and then, at the real reasons that so many of these GOP representatives are hanging up their hats. Is it “influencers” who have replaced the old German Dritte Reich custom of shortening the lives of deputies? A “kinder and gentler” type of pressure? (At least kinder than what now seems to be the practice in today’s Russia and Ukraine. One wonders.)
As a result, various and sundry conservatives, Trumpistas, and even a few Libertarians have rallied to his defense. One of those is the popular (and assuredly hated) Victor Davis Hanson. He recently wrote this:
With all due respect, Mr. Hanson, following many of the precedents set by Obummer and Uncle Joe would definitely make The Donald an Autocrat. If not an outright authoritarian Tyrant. This isn’t much of a defense of the man.
Continue reading →