Two news stories this week caught our attention, and a staffer pointed out the similarities.
On WTXF-TV, the seemingly random series of attacks by a teenage gang (led by a 14-year-old girl in pink boots!) was reported in Philadelphia. And on a Fox news show, The Donald’s pick for “border czar” said that he agreed with Denver Mayor Mike Johnson on one thing: that he would be breaking the law if Denver fought against federal agents and troops removing border jumpers from the City and County of Denver. This is inexplicable, given the incredible mess in Metro Denver (including places likeAurora and Lakewood) where immigrant gangs and individuals seem to run amok.
Stepping around the morality and constitutionality of federal troops and jack-booted thugs rounding up people, and this bizarre idea of federal “czars” over anything, what goes?
Here at TPOL, we wonder if this sort of crazy behavior – madness or insanity – is really linked with living in the pressure cooker of massive, crowded urban areas? Is living in huge concentrations of human beings – together with enduring the environmental conditions of such communities – driving people to madness?
We mentioned (negatively) Canada several times recently. There are many lessons we can learn (as in “things to avoid”) from our neighbors to the north. This is one.
In the Dominion of Canada, the people we here at TPOL refer to as AmerInd are called First Nations people or Native Canadians – both rather problematic terms. Increasingly we see them called “indigenous” – a term we consider even more derogatory than just plain “Indian.” And as misleading. They have a history of abuse, without question. But so do minorities around the world and throughout history. All things given, though, Canada’s First Nations people suffered a lot less than most.
But…
As in their neighbors to the south, the provinces of Canada are under the thumb of a socialist, even communist, dictator (elected, of course) and a regime of Woke social justice warriors. Even some of the Canadian media admit that Canada, as a nation or confederation, is being destroyed by them. Massive immigration overwhelms the country; their economy is as much a shambles as that of the Fifty States, and the Woke “left” has trashed their societies by attacks on history, values, morality, ethics, and community.
Canada, as much as it actually can be called a nation, and its society and economy are the target of this regime. Actually, a target.
In what many characterize as an attempt by Uncle Joe’s puppet-masters to force The Donald’s new administration into open war with Russia in and over Ukraine, DC has told Ukraine it is okay to use US long-range missiles to attack targets in Russia itself.
So of course, Moscow has responded negatively, as reported in the Gateway Pundit: Russian forces now may use nuclear weapons to respond to non-nuclear attacks, if the survival and integrity of the Russian Federation is threatened. Putin seems to still view this as defensive and not offensive. Which has been the American (well, FedGov) position for decades. (Although that is supposedly denied today.)
Indeed, Ukraine has already fired five US-made and FedGov-supplied missiles into Russia. It is reported that none of them hit their targets: four destroyed completely and one damaged and crashing (causing some damage on the ground). These weapons were specifically of a type specified by the new Russian policy.
In response, the Russians have used a longer-range weapon of their own: an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) (incorrectly claimed to be a dreaded ICBM by many). It seems, based on the fear we read between the lines, to be an effective warning to the West. Whether heeded or not.
We are generally conditioned to think that purging of military – especially the Army – is a common feature of dictatorships. After all, that is what Stalin did (which almost cost him and Soviet Russia victory in the Great Patriotic War). And Hitler did that after the failed assassination attempt, no?
So it comes as a surprise that The Donald isn’t being attacked even more strongly by his political opponents and the mainstream media for letting appointees blather on about getting rid of a bunch of flag officers (Generals and Admirals) and dragging others into courts-martial for their actions of the soon-to-be lamented Uncle Joe regime. (A regime aided greatly in its corruption of the military by the actions of both Obummer and Bush II – and also Trump 1.0.)
It has to be more than just getting rid of Austin and the service Secretaries and a few other bureaucrats. Though that is a good start: if just a very small step.
I suspect that few company-grade (O-1 to O-3 lieutenants and captains/ensigns and lieutenants) or field-grade (O-4 to O-6 majors and colonels/commanders and captains) officers will be disappointed to have Austin go away. And many (but far from all) flag officers (O-7 and up: generals and admirals). Too many political officers: brass hats of the worst kind). The enlisted personnel of the services will be more divided, due to the quality of training and experience, but I think a majority will be happy to see him gone. As will at least some civilian DoD employees. Even a few politically-appointed and Senior Executive Service (high-level bureaucrats) will welcome the change. If it really is a change.
Hegseth may be one of those field-grade officers: we can hope he is. Better than the usual politicians or tainted flag officers. And hopefully, is own appointments will also have the guts to fix things.
Of course, the evidence is strong that both Obama and now Biden also purged the military and its civilian bureaucracy. They just didn’t make a big deal of it, and the GOP and other groups were frankly too stupid to see what was going on. And so let the current crop of Woke brass hats and career bureaucrats get power, and keep it. And Trump was too gullible in his first term to respond properly.
But maybe we have a chance to get rid of not just the apples that are rotten to the core, but also those apples that have started going bad. The pruning may need to go down well below the O-7 level (Brigadier General and the lower half of the Rear Admirals. A lot of O-6s are also corrupted and contaminated by DEI and worse: colonels and Navy captains. And a fair number of the senior NCO corps is also in need of careful examination: corruption is always a problem but there is at least some evidence that is a significant problem.
But the purge is far from enough. What is really needed is massive reform: perhaps the kind that the DOGE will recommend, together with a DefSec Hegseth. What could be included?
Bringing the troops Home, and not replacing them with allies and mercenaries. American troops belong on American land – the Navy and Marines can protect the sea lanes and the really critical naval bases needed for that mission. Ditto for the USAF and USSF.
Transferring a majority of troops, airmen, Guardians, Marines, and sailors into the Reserve Forces. Mostly National Guard, though there is no reason why a big slice of reserve Naval forces could not be converted to State-controlled units of the coastal and Great Lakes States.
Eliminating divisions as tactical units, making brigades (4-5,000 troops) the primary combined arms combat units, and redistributing them across a larger number of installations.
Changing the current policies of allowing transgender and other marginally-medically-handicapped people into the service. If they want to “serve” they can do so as civilians.
Ending the broad sexual integration of combat and combat support units: enforce the same physical standards for both men and women for infantry, armor, artillery, aviation, and engineer assignments. If a woman can meet the strength and other physical requirements without waivers then by all means, but make sexual relations with anyone but their own spouse a court-martial offense. And enforce it.
Stop the DEI nonsense training and replace it with real training on the skills needed for their duty. Together with that, again make discrimination against a fellow military member (or for that matter, a civilian employee of the service) a court-martial offense. And enforce it!
Stop the rotation of retiring senior officers, NCOs, and civilians into the defense industries and others. If retired and departing military want to continue to be involved, let them compete for and serve as civilian employees, or as retired service members still subject to military regulations and the UCMJ.
These are just a few ideas thrown out to ponder – and hopefully get feedback. There are problems with all of them, and many other ideas worth considering. And the reform or replacement of the military establishment is just a start on dealing with the insanity called the Federal government. But it is that: a start.
PS: Just to make it clear for the record: we at TPOL do not think that Hegseth is a very moral man: three marriages and his admitted fornication and drunkenness demonstrate that is the case. But we point out that just as Lincoln saw US Grant as worth serving despite his boozing, cigars, and owning slaves, and that in the same way Ike was an effective leader despite his adultery. That doesn’t make it right, of course. But we take what we can, and to quote a friend, “spit out the bones.”
Today, Friday, 22 November 2024, is the 61st anniversary of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th President of these United States. A very public event, yet still decades later shrouded in mystery.
It never hurts to look back and compare then with now. Let’s do that briefly.
The United States of America was a very different place then. In beliefs, in technology, population, society, standards of living, and much else. His life spanned the middle of the 20th Century, and America’s rise to power as perhaps the greatest empire in world history. (Never mind that virtually no one called it that, then or now.) The differences are stark in every way.
It is now less than two months before The Donald again assumes duties as Massa. That is, as President of the United States: the most powerful office in world history: an elected tyrant or monarch that ultimately has more power than any other ruler on the planet, and in 6,000-7,000 years. More potential power, even if he and his predecessors have never exercised it.
Of course, Uncle Joe (and the people who try to and often do apparently control him) had that for four years and we are still here. Things may be bad, but they could be far worse. Will it be any different with The Donald?
Is disaster on the horizon – are we watching the clock tick down to “doomsday,” as the talking heads seem to push?
Or could we once again muddle through and avoid the disasters that so many people think they see coming. But fear sells, so…
We say two months, assuming that something doesn’t happen. To Orange-Man-Bad, to the FedGov, to the entire planet, of course. There are a lot of things, of course, that can happen. He can have a stroke, a heart attack, or a successful wannabe assassin. He could have a car crash or a plane crash; someone could poison him, stab him, or figure out some way to get a judge to put him behind bars. Theoretically, a Woke military could stage a coup and keep him from taking office.
This article describes how the FedGov’s. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a 2020 plan (during the Beer Flu Pandemic Panic) to create concentration camps for Americans who were classified as susceptible to the COVID disease, including the elderly, those with immunity problems, and others with high health risk factors: people of any age with “serious underlying medical conditions.” (That last phrase is understood to include obesity, diabetes and asthma.)The camp inmates would be given minimal food rations and some cleaning supplies but little else. There would be no religious services (provided from outside, at least, and difficult with mandatory enforced isolation (“distancing”). Oh, and no provisions for legal appeal or right to legal counsel.
Time and time again, we see American judges – from the Supremes on down – twist the definitions of words to suit their activist, political, and often Woke agenda. Not that so-called “conservative” judges do not act the same way.
The FDA announced early last month that close to 80,000 pounds of Costco’s Kirkland Signature Butter was being pulled and that recall has just been upgraded to a Class II as of November 7.
Warning: (May) Contain Milk
The reason? “The labels did not contain the warning “Contains Milk” even though the ingredients listed include “cream.”
Colorado is considered a “Blue State” today – having voted against the GOP and Trump in the last three elections. And with the State GOP in seemingly permanent disarray, and a frankly worthless LP; the General Assembly (both houses) is a hotbed of regressive actions. Maybe not up to California “standards” but bad.
But the reality is different. Despite the gerrymandering (the usual political partisanship both old parties engage in), Colorado’s congressional delegation is evenly split: 4 to 4. (Both senators are currently Dems, together with most State officials.) The final race was just called 6 days after Election Day, when a GOP member defeating the Democrat by only a few hundred votes in District 8. District 8 is the northern side of the Metro Denver area, stretching along US85 to the college city of Greeley and including portions of oil- and gas-rich Weld County, and parts of both Adams and Larimer County. Those two counties are dominated by “liberal” (regressive) cities: Aurora and Fort Collins (home of Colorado State University).
Democrats losing District 8 is shattering the Front Range: the Democratic urban area stretching nearly from Wyoming all the way to just north of Colorado Springs. (Colorado Springs is the small rectangular red area: home of massive Army, Air, and Space Forces installations).
The gerrymandering was exquisite.
The Eastern Plains (deeply conservative ranching, farming, and oil) were lumped together with Douglas County, which has become another bedroom suburia for Metro Denver and as liberal as the other seven counties around Denver.
The Western Slope (again mostly deeply conservative ranching, oil, and once upon a time farming and timber) was also crafted carefully. In addition to the Woke wealthy areas like Telluride and Durango, it was stuck with the Hispanic San Luis Valley and Trinidad and the union-strong Pueblo area. All very loyal to the Democrats, of course. But not this year.
Two of the blue districts are most of Denver Metro, but the two larger blue districts are carefully (and weirdly) laid out. The north one is rooted firmly on Boulder and Fort Collins (university towns) and a few mountain liberal bastions (Aspen, Steamboat Springs). The south one holds regressive Woke Jefferson and Broomfield Counties, with Vail and Dillon, and drags the Central Rockies along with it: conservatives and libertarians in the mountains are vastly outnumbered.
Still, the Democrats hold great power because they control the major urban areas. Denver reelected their harridan with 76% of the vote. And the votes in most other districts were close.
But as in the rest of the States, the Democrats did it to themselves. For once, the Republicans couldn’t make enough of a mess of their party to defeat themselves.
How did the Democrats do it? They estranged much of the Hispanic vote, for one. Although Colorado has its more than fair share of recent immigrants, many Coloradoans of Hispanic heritage are descendants of settlers back in the 1600s when it was part of Mexico Nuevo. They apparently even ticked off a lot of black Coloradoans – the State followed national trends which saw many more black men vote red this year. Even though the urban areas far outvote and dominate the rural areas, many traditional Democratic voters in those rural areas either switched sides or just didn’t vote. Coupled with similarly disaffected Democrats in suburban areas, it has tilted Colorado. At least temporarily.
Sadly, the Colorado LP – the original home of the modern Libertarian Party – is about as dysfunctional as it is possible to be and still exist. Or so it seems. Even more so than the Colorado Republican Party is. And it is pretty bad: torn between the extreme (and apparently popular) Lauren Bobert wing and the growing number of “compassionate conservatives” who seek some influence with the Democrat majority in the General Assembly. And mostly that means caving in on anything and everything, instead of taking a stand. A forlorn hope, in multiple ways.
The entire State is up in the air – a state of flux. But we fear that for now, despite the split congressional delegation, Colorado is increasingly captive to the Regressive tyrants of both the Democratic Party and their GOP “opponents.” There is less and less room for liberty in the beautiful State.
The Price of Liberty 
Are urban areas incubators for madness?
Two news stories this week caught our attention, and a staffer pointed out the similarities.
On WTXF-TV, the seemingly random series of attacks by a teenage gang (led by a 14-year-old girl in pink boots!) was reported in Philadelphia. And on a Fox news show, The Donald’s pick for “border czar” said that he agreed with Denver Mayor Mike Johnson on one thing: that he would be breaking the law if Denver fought against federal agents and troops removing border jumpers from the City and County of Denver. This is inexplicable, given the incredible mess in Metro Denver (including places likeAurora and Lakewood) where immigrant gangs and individuals seem to run amok.
Stepping around the morality and constitutionality of federal troops and jack-booted thugs rounding up people, and this bizarre idea of federal “czars” over anything, what goes?
Here at TPOL, we wonder if this sort of crazy behavior – madness or insanity – is really linked with living in the pressure cooker of massive, crowded urban areas? Is living in huge concentrations of human beings – together with enduring the environmental conditions of such communities – driving people to madness?
Continue reading →