What Would Cause Me to Protest?

I'm watching the events in Washington over the course of the last two days, as great crowds gather there to participate in public demonstration. Many were there to welcome the new President, and many were there to protest his ascension to the office. It is this latter group that I concern myself with here.

Clearly, something has moved them to this act--the act of public protest. There is the investment of their time and whatever money it cost to be there, so there is also a question of logistics for many. Those who protest without violence have my consistent approval. Knock yourselves out. That's what we do here---we bitch, we march, we get on TV. I don't necessarily get it right now, because my temperament leads me to believe someone should actually DO something worth protesting, rather than protesting on the basis of what they might do or what they have said they might do. But that's just me.

This process has however, led me to wonder what kinds of things might bring me to the act of public protest. I am an ideological conservative. Public protest is just not what we do. I certainly do not protest in anticipation of societal ills, and I doubt very seriously whether I could be brought to the point of marching and sign waving by the jot and tittle of our political process--meaning that when my side loses a legislative debate--I will raise noise here and on other social media, but I won't hop in my car, drive to the metro, pack myself like a sardine among others similarly moved by the political loss, and march. Put another way, I don't think you'll see a "Million Brooks Brothers March" any time soon.

No, for me to be moved to march, bright lines would have to be crossed. And so, in an effort to figure out what might drive me to the barricades, here is a framework for what would cause me to consider it:

1. The government is in some way actively and purposefully abridging the Constitutional rights of the citizenry. Short of the kind of thing Lincoln did in the Civil War, the Bill of Rights MUST mean something. It makes no difference if the action comes as the result of legislative majority. The Greeks told us long ago that the people can be a tyrant. An example? The internment of American citizens of Japanese descent in WWII. This would have brought me to the streets.

2. The government is in some way actively and purposefully enforcing the law in a manner that selectively targets groups based on their group affinity, as a matter of public policy. Had the Obama Administration been more convincingly shown to have (from the very top) targeted conservative groups for IRS intimidation, I could see myself carrying a sign in front of the IRS building. As it turned out, it looks to me that lazy (but still ideologically motivated) IRS officials DID go after conservative groups, but the lack of a direct tie to the White House seems important. That said, if it were shown that the Trump Administration was in some way punishing its enemies using the apparatus of the State selectively, this would trip my "protest" logic. But this logic applies to any administration.

3.  The nation engages in an armed conflict I consider antithetical to our interests. This is a tough one and full of interpretation. But that my friends, is what deciding whether to protest is all about. I have a rather wide "bucket" into which I place our national interests. Some are economic. Some are security. Some are reputational. And I can easily get to the point of not supporting a whole range of interventions. But one that brings me to the streets would likely have to be waged for reasons largely disconnected from even a loose interpretation of what I consider to be in the nation's interests.

Any suggestions for other criteria? I guess what it boils down to for me is the difference between how I react to a policy setback, and how I react to essential Constitutional questions.

On the Inaugural Protests

I had a snappy little exchange with a liberal friend of mine last night on Twitter. At some point in the evening when the protests began to turn violent, I tweeted something along the lines of not remembering there being violent conservative protests when Obama was inaugurated. My liberal friend then tweeted (without reference to me--so I cannot be sure that I was his target) these words "Fun watching GOPsters who were bitterly denouncing Trump several months ago, now with the vapors about the possibility of protests."

Apparently this fellow believed that because some of us strenuously objected to the possibilty of a Trump Presidency, we must therefore believe that violent protest was warranted (or should at the very least, be accepted) now that he had been elected. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. The country conducted an election, there was a clear winner by the clearly stated rules of the game, it is time to get on with things.

That there are people protesting in the streets does not bother me. Only when they turn violent do I take issue. And seeing that the man had not even yet been inaugurated, that he had not yet made a single decision as President--there simply isn't a rational excuse for violent protest.

There seems to be an expectation among those on the left that those of us who were vocally anti-Trump during the election would then turn into take-to-the-barricades radicals when he was elected. That's just not the way it works, at least not with someone possessed of a classically conservative mind.

Inaugural Balls

As political as I am, I have attended only one inaugural ball in my life. In January 1993, I was the Flag Aide to a Three Star in Washington, and one of the senior civilians in our office was a genuine, Medal-of-Honor Recipient War Hero---Tom Kelley.  Tom and I became quite close (we shared a solid Irish sense of humor), and when Clinton won the election, Tom was able to get me two tickets to the Medal of Honor Ball, which as it turns out, would be the only one Clinton and Gore attended together.

My wife and I got all gussied up (she in ball gown, me in Dinner Dress Blues) and we had a blast.

Eighteen days later, we decided to separate.

Ten months later, we were divorced.

Haven't been to an inaugural ball since.

Trump Team Getting Out the Budget Knife

Here's a story to warm the cockles of a conservative's heart. This story from The Hill lays out the broad strokes of the developing Trump Administration budget proposal, which cuts $10T in spending over 10 years, including privatizing "public" broadcasting, and eliminating funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. This is change I can get behind.

More Navy!!!!

Some of you know that I've been engaged in an American Seapower Speaking Tour. I had a recent event videotaped, and below you can find a lightly edited version. Enjoy!

The Lowdown on the Showdown

War is upon us. So far it is an uncivil, loud and vicious war, and I think will continue to be. There will be casualties on both sides; ruined careers, ruined fortunes and ruined lives. The American political establishment has declared this war on behalf of the globalist elites. This war is waged by their foot soldiers in the 'bought and paid for' media, the academy and the federal bureaucracy against the middle-class of America. What instigated this war (their Archduke Ferdinand moment) was the presidential election of which the outcome was completely unacceptable. The elites (I make no party distinction) are full of anger, outrage and self-pity. They feel blindsided. They have convinced themselves outside influences are at least partly responsible for the result. They are beside themselves with angst believing the world is in peril without their enlightened leadership all the while knowing they could have affected the outcome, numerous times, had they just taken Donald Trump seriously. They are determined to fix their mistake.

What we are witnessing in Washington and New York is panic. In one short week a man they do not and cannot control, will take the reins of power. This situation is incomprehensible for a ruling class who think themselves the best and brightest, with not only an obligation but the EXCLUSIVE RIGHT to rule America (and much of the world). For them the notion some pleb, without their validation and approval, without a clear 'understanding' as to what the new administration's policies will be vis-a-vis their positions and power, the idea some guy like Trump could take their Presidency and expose them to the 'will of the people', well the whole thought just leaves them speechless. Trump is a festering, open wound even BEFORE he takes office, and he has to go, there is no alternative. The political establishment, and even more so the 'wanna be' establishment, hates Donald Trump like no other. The American left hated Reagan, they hated Nixon, they hated the Bushes, but that was just business. This is different. This is bi-partisan and visceral. This is FEAR!

"FEAR IS THE ONLY TRUE ENEMY, BORN OF IGNORANCE AND THE PARENT OF ANGER AND HATE".    

The question is can Trump beat the establishment and what does this all mean for us? The answer is yes he can and everything.  We all know Trump doesn't fear the establishment. He's been fighting these kinds of people all his life. Plus he has at least one significant advantage. You see the guy on the bottom knows the guy on top all too well, but the guy on top has to work at knowing the people beneath him (or her). The Donald's business background has prepared him well for this job. Trump broke into Manhattan real estate AGAINST the advice of his very experienced father and Trump was smart enough and tough enough to beat them at their own game. Just consider for one second how hard it was to scratch his way to the top of that hill! He dealt with cronyism in government and unions, mafiosi, predatory banks, rules, regs and bullshit like you wouldn't believe. It boggles the mind. What Trump did wasn't free enterprise as I we know it, it was dealing with the corrupted, the criminal, the connected and the incorrigible... and he WON! This man understands how to beat a rigged game, a fact the establishment knows only too well. Hence the panic.

Regardless of how you may feel about Trump, step back a second and consider. Isn't all this what we've been waiting for? How many times on this very blog have we complained about media corruption? How many times have we pointed an accusing finger at Obama's cronyism and corruption? How many times have we seen our politicians refuse to represent us "WE THE PEOPLE" or obey our laws or hold themselves and their colleagues accountable? How much of our money will they blow? How many times will they exempt themselves from the rules they impose on us? They use and abuse us and we complain, and rightly so, but that's all we do. Now, at this moment in history, we have a rare opportunity in Donald Trump. I would even say a once in a lifetime opportunity. At any other time and place the man would be a disaster, but in our present circumstance he is Heaven sent being absolutely perfect for the job at hand. A guy with his skill-set, his mind-set, his toughness and determination showing up when we as a nation sit precariously close to the precipice, Good Grief it's almost biblical. All we have to do is hope and pray the left continues their reckless attacks, watch his back and let the guy be himself. Mark my words, if we stick by Trump he will break the back of the left, and we will get our country back.

So, if you think as I do the elites are ruining the country and destroying the greatest, most productive middle-class in the history of mankind and therefore MUST be taken to task and/or rendered powerless, that we need an AMERICAN cultural revolution to preserve our values and the rights and priviledges enunciated so well by the Founders, that the days of 'by and for the elites' and their failed globalist economics are OVER, then let's all commit to this Presidency. We owe it to ourselves, our children and our children's children to preserve, protect and defend American culture and the Judio-Christian values we hold dear. We owe it to the World as well. No other country can do what we do and still be a force for good. No one apart from we Americans can do it or will do it.

The establishment elites have a vastly different view, a view of entitlement and privilege and world governance. The believe the nation-state is obsolete. They are neither for nor against American interests, and they are standing in our way, but they will not go quietly. A war is not only necessary and inevitable, but desirable. If we want our country back we must take it and Trump is the best chance we've had in a generation. Now is the time. There is no alternative.

CW Does Some of that Navy Magic

Doing my annual thing at the Surface Navy Association Symposium. Vago Muradian of Defense and Aerospace Report did an interview with me that may be of interest to those tiring of politics....

From Russia With Love

Can you believe all the whining, pissing and moaning going on these days? Of course you can, we all knew the Dems would take the election hard, forgetabout the #nevertrump idiots. I personally am eating it up, their pain is my pleasure. It's wonderful to see the left thrashing about hoping someway, somehow they will find themselves back in power. I almost feel sorry for them, even though they did it to themselves and their efforts have no basis whatsoever in reality, but WTF, neither does their ideology. At this stage I am absolutely convinced they would resort to violence ON A GRAND SCALE if they thought; #1 there was any hope at all for success and #2 they could direct things from afar with no possibility of putting their own asses in harm's way. As I've said many times in the past, liberals are many, hardcore leftists few. Liberals are the storefront clerks, leftists are the shop owners in the back who rarely show their face. Liberals are do-gooder pussies, leftists are killers and thugs not the least bit shy about (how do they describe it?) cracking a few eggs to get their subjugated and compliant omelette they can eat off of for at least a generation. But before you buy into all this stuff about Russia "weaponizing" DNC emails (which apparently CW has) let's keep a few things in mind. It could all be 100% bullshit.

To start with do we indeed KNOW Russia hacked the DNC? The answer is maybe. Our Director of National Intelligence (a position created after 9/11 to act as a clearinghouse because liberals had put up so many bureaucratic impediments between our intelligence agencies the right hand didn't know if the left hand was scratching its butt or picking its nose) the venerable James Clapper is of no use on the subject. He is just another of Obama's political stooges, as are all the President's appointees. He's lied before Congress and repeatedly covered up facts that don't jibe well with the Baraq Hussein Obama official world view. In short he's a hack, I know it, you know it, and anybody paying attention knows it. So his testimony before that bitter loser John McCain's committee the other day has the same level of credibility as Rachel Dolezal's Ancestry.com profile. BTW I hear she's dating fake black dude Shaun King...or maybe they're just Facebook friends.

But having said that Lord knows none of us would put something like this past the Russians, or the Chinese, Israelis, Brits, French, Italians, Latvians or the Burkinabe if they had a God-damn computer and an outlet to plug it into. The point is everybody hacks everybody, if they can. And the fact the Democratic National Committee got hacked by SOMEBODY is NOT my problem. "But Hammer, they 'weaponized' those emails for the benefit of one candidate over another. We cannot allow our elections to be hijacked by a foreign power, especially Vlad Putin. He's so SCARY!" To which I say not nearly as scary as what was in the emails: Corruption, collusion and a laundry list of RICO predicates that would keep an honest prosecutor busy for the next several decades. "But Hammer...eh....we don't want to talk about that."

To put this in perspective, this whole business is a no more than a last-ditch effort by the MSM and the left (one and the same) to delegitimize Donald Trump before he even takes office, all the while distracting from the real criminality found in the emails. If John McCain and the bachelor (hint, hint) Lindsey Graham gave a good God-damn about the United States of America and the integrity of our elections they would be going after George Soros, Jan Schakowsky and her thug husband Robert Creamer who directed much of the violence at Trump rallies (otherwise known as a blatant attempt to affect our elections). Plus the idea that many who read this blog have bought into this narrative of deceit troubles me greatly. You need to wise up and stop being used. If Putin did it, he did us a favor!

A Trump supporter being "affected".

It Appears the Wall Will Not Be Paid for by Mexico

The entering argument for national sovereignty is being able to determine who enters and who stays in one's country.

We have a porous border with Mexico that needs to be effectively closed.

I fully support a physical wall being built.

I believed that it was a national security imperative, and that as such it would be funded by the American taxpayer.

It appears that the President-Elect agrees. 

On Term Limits

Senator Ted Cruz, capitalizing on a subject that is near and dear to America's growing populist movement and one that also has some adherents in the mainstream conservative movement, has introduced in Congress an amendment to the Constitution that imposes term limits on members of the House and Senate.The amendment limits service to three two-year terms in the House and two six-year terms in the Senate.  My compliments to Senator Cruz for refamiliarizing the American people with a proper method of amending the Constitution (see Article V), but as bad as Congress is, things would be measurably worse if this amendment were to become law. Here's why:

1. Like any other job, being a competent legislator takes time. After a certain amount of time, one begins to acquire expertise. Once attained, that expertise is applied to law-making. Under the Cruz amendment, members of our legislative branch would not be in Congress long-enough to attain this experitise and put it to work. Power would move naturally then from the legislators to unelected bureaucrats in the administrative state. Additionally, if you think there is a "swamp" now, just wait until the day when the only folks with policy expertise are lowly paid staffers and highly paid lobbyists. And if you think there is a revolving door now.....

2.  While we may detest Congress, we love our own Reps and Senators. Why should Americans be denied the services of those deemed best qualified to represent a given polity simply because those outside that polity don't like them? I don't care for Chuck Schumer. Not one bit. But the voters he represents returned him to office in 2010 with 66.4% of the vote. Clearly someone likes him.

Here's a pretty good piece on the subject from The Heritage Foundation from 2009. I think it holds up well.

RINO's Talk about the Future

Jonah Goldberg and Bill Kristol talk about where we are headed. A lot to like here.

It Was All Obama...and they love him for it.

I'm sure the Democratic Party is gearing up for the smear campaign of all smear campaigns. The Donald has gotten under their skin like no Republican since Richard Nixon. It's a blind, unreconcilable hatred with no semblance of reason or thought. Trump touches all the bases in the progressive playbook of hate; racist, homophobe, misogynist, xenophobic and at least ten other 'isms' or phobias I can't recall. Plus leftists feel emboldened when they see common cause with Republicans who feel as threatened by Trump as they do. But Donald J. Trump is not to blame. Donald Trump is a symptom.

The problem was Democrats, as they usually do, overstepped and over-reached. They take every election as a mandate. Most of them are well aware their ideas are unpopular and unworkable, but they have no policy discipline, no idea of what they can reasonably get away with.

BHO took office in a financial crisis CAUSED by Democrat policies stupidly left in place by a weak and distracted Republican President. Through their bought and paid for media they successfully laid the blame on every conservative since Ronald Reagan. They were well positioned to be the saviors of the middle-class resulting in Democrat rule for the next several decades. But what did they do? They set about ramming through an unpopular and unworkable healthcare takeover which not only didn't address the problems of the uninsured but actually raised cost (and limited choices) to those who did have insurance. We all know the result. Since 2008, across the board from top to bottom the Democratic Party has been devastated, and Hillary is just the latest casualty.

What I just described is the accepted, conservative view of this past election and I think there's a lot of validity to it. But I'd like to add a few points if I may.

If you were to talk (or gloat) to a committed progressive, the smarter ones would tell you they are not worried at all. They are in a happy place and look forward to a Trump Presidency. Why? Because their agenda has been advanced, significantly! Plus they are far from being powerless and this is a time for consolidation. A respite before the next big push. They would tell you elections are fleeting, temporary, of the moment. What BHO was trying to do was TRANSFORM the system, and he hasn't done a bad job, in fact they would say he's done a great job. He has put nearly a generation out of work, in debt and beholding to government one way or another. He has transferred middle-class wealth out of the country to foreign dictatorships and abused and weakened our military. He has destroyed (or nationalized) industries and natural resources. He has armed our worst enemies and created divisions among our populace designed to weaken our resolve to defend ourselves and our allies. He has flooded our country with people unable or unwilling to assimilate but more than willing to game our system. He has overburdened our social safety net and squandered our money to the point of insolvency. In other words he has weakened us as a nation unlike anything we've seen in modern history, including the Great Depression. He has made us ripe for social unrest and revolution. He has employed the Cloward-Piven, Saul Alinsky strategy like MacArthur island hopped to Japan. He indeed has been a transformational President and although he and his fellow progressives would have much preferred Hillary carry on, they are not in the least bothered by Trump. Let Trump take the heat for a while, let Trump deal with the mess, and when he fails, well you know.

Remember their strategy, one step back, two steps forward. As the tide comes in (so to speak) the progressive agenda will ebb and flow, but it never recedes as far as it was and it always advances further than it has been. THAT thinking is repeatedly drummed into their leftist heads and it's why they never quit and never get discouraged...and why they ADORE Baraq Hussein Obama.


 

New Years Resolutions

Every year at this time, I review a list of 10 predictions I made the previous year, and I make a set of new resolutions for the coming year. I am however, after this year's events, out of the predictions business. And so I will not be doing this part anymore

I also review my performance on a list of ten resolutions I've made, and then put out ten new ones. But as I sit here, I find myself somewhat unconcerned with how I did. And so I will just list my 2017 resolutions.

1. I resolve to make more money this year. I spend an awful lot of my time on unpaid stuff, but this year I will minimize these pursuits and concentrate more on financial return.
2. I resolve to exercise at least four times every week
3. I resolve to average 1500 net calories a day for the year.
4. I resolve to be more positive. I have a habit--especially with my own family--of making little negative comments that when taken out of context, are small and meaningless (at least to me)--but when added up, add up to me being a jerk. I need to be less of a jerk.
5. I resolve to be less of a jerk.
6. I resolve to obey posted speed limits more often.
7. I resolve to curse less. Much less.
8.  I resolve to golf more.But not so much that I impact #1
9. I resolve to spend more time on the water.
10. I resolve to spend less time on social media.

A Time for Choosing

As I've said here on this blog before, the Russians did not "hack" our Presidential election. Hillary Clinton lost because she misread the electorate, just like every single GOP primary contestant but one.

However, it is clear to me from the evidence presented, and from the direct conversations I have had with those in a position to know, that the Russians did in fact attempt to influence our election. President Obama--who famously hit the "Reset" button with the Russians, bent over backward to accommodate their paranoia, bungled Syria in such a way as to invite the Russians to build up their air and naval power in the Eastern Mediterranean, and refused Republican requests to investigate Russian activity in the late election--has taken strong action to sanction Russia as a result.

Both Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McConnell have strongly supported the President's actions, however late they come in the game. I agree also with the moves.

But there is a good deal of hypocrisy brewing in our modern Republican Party, one in which for some reason, Vladimir Putin's obvious attempt to influence our election is seen by some as a civic duty to Americans, rather than the act of espionage that it is. Make no mistake folks--Putin OWNS this. The Russian intelligence services would NEVER have done something on this scale without his express consent and close oversight.

Four years ago, the GOP Nominee for President, Mitt Romney, called Russia our #1 geopolitical foe. He was laughed at by the President and his entire party. Putin then spent the next four years proving Romney right, and Republicans NEVER missed a chance to drive this point home to Democrats. But because Putin's espionage campaign was aimed at the Democratic candidate, all of a sudden much of the GOP has forgotten the past four years altogether. One GOP House member went as far as to laud the Russian operation. 

It is a time for choosing for Republicans. Have you become so intoxicated by power that you are immune to great power meddling in our internal political process, or worse, have you allied yourself with it? Do you REALLY think that Russian security services have focused EXCLUSIVELY on Democrats, and that they don't have a trove of information, electronic intercepts, email, and video of numerous Republicans to include the President-Elect and many of his cabinet nominees just waiting for the opportunity to arise where release would serve Russian interests? To whom will you complain then, if you find nothing to complain about now?

Or are you concerned at the prospect of Russian interference and the precedent it could set for the future, not to mention the basic impropriety of what they have done?

We are at the dawn of a new era of great power competition. Russia is one of the adversaries, China is the other. It is time for patriots to put aside the settling of scores and buckle down to the reality that this competition brings. Now is not the time for petty political pride--it is that time to act like an American.

The Day Facebook Died (I hope)

I've been a Facebook customer (subscriber/user/chump) for I don't know, maybe going on ten years now. I don't use it like most folks. I've never used it to "keep up", as the people I wish to keep up with I keep up with. I don't care to see how someone I knew from 'way back when' turned out. I don't care to make contact with high school, Army or college buddies from times gone by. My view is we are all on our own path, and what interested me as younger man rarely interests me now. Plus I'm just not that social, and to be honest I find most people petty, intellectually slow, ignorant and tedious. Yes I know I'm an asshole, but I'm ok with it.

So I've never been a Facebook whore, in fact I find the whole process of ASKING someone to be a "friend" and the puerile act of "unfriending" somewhat embarassing. I use Facebook simply as a conduit for commenting on various political sites, and that's all the hell it's good for in Hammer-World....but not anymore. This "fake news" bullshit was the last straw.

Facebook had SOME utility before kowtowing to all this hysterical, panic driven "fake news" fakery from the left. Yes indeed there is fake news, all conservatives are well aware of this fact, it's just that it's impossible to qualify most of the time. There are a thousand and one ways to mislead, misdirect and obfuscate, how will FB sort all that out? The answer is they won't, they'll just sort out the views they (or Politifact) don't like.

But it's not all bad. I look at it like this, Zuckeberg has done us a solid, in the long run. All this whining and acting out illustrates the panic of our leftist friends. We can expect more of the same for the foreseeable future as they are desperate for a win. Just keep in mind, for conservatives politics is always a road game. For the most part the left controls the media and the messaging, and just as important how long they want their message before the public. But come January WE control the government. It's time we used our power to advance our agenda, much the same as the Democrats have done. Mr. Zuckerberg has given us a wonderful excuse to pull him in for a short interview before the House Sub-Committee on Communications and Technology. We can do a little vetting of the vetors, see what our billionaire uber-nerd has to say about the veracity of Politifact. After all it's in the public interest is it not? According to what I've read in the NY Times etc. most of these millennial shit-heads get their news from social media. It would also be a good opportunity to ask about FB's intolerance of conservative thought and opinion, which has always been there but is presently out of control. This is just a logical extension of net-neutrality so those communist bastards over at the FCC should have no problem.

The situation is we won, we control government like we never have before. But do not think for one second we are in control. The left still owns most of the courts, the media, the academy and the bureaucracy. We can do a lot, and should, but it won't be easy. We will face furious opposition if and when we go after the aforementioned cornerstones of the American leftist monolith. BUT IT MUST BE DONE, otherwise ours will be a short-lived, pyrrhic victory that does more harm than good. Trump must follow through where Reagan and Gingrich couldn't. I don't want to kill Facebook or any other news outlet, I want to own them. And even if all we achieve is parity, then that will be a great victory indeed. So let's repeal and replace Facebook while we've got the strength... before we loose this generation entirely.  

Media Bias and the Staffing of an Administration

President-Elect Trump is busy staffing his team these days, and I have been generally pleased with many of his selections. The whole process has--as these things tend to do--raised in my mind questions of media bias, or at the very least, media affinity/groupthink.

PEOTUS has the responsibilty to pick people to run the various agencies and departments in his administration, many of whom must then be confirmed by the Senate. These agencies and departments have missions and regulatory functions, some of which fall directly into the ideological push and pull of the roll of government in the lives of Americans. Determining who will lead them is in effect, a statement on how active or intrusive a President would wish that agency or department to be. Where the bias comes in is the degree to which the media has focused its attention on how some of Trump's picks seem to hold views that reflect an ideological desire to restrain the bureaucracy they would head. We see this reaction to his Secretary of the Interior, his EPA Director, and his rumored FDA Director. In each case, the man nominated has taken positions publicly that question the expanse of power exercised by the organization he will head. These stances are reported with great trepidation, with various and sundry environmentalists, patient rights advocates, and other fans of a greater role for the government loudly decrying the choice.

Where the bias comes in is that when a liberal President stocks his pond with people who would presumably use the power and authority of the offices they are granted to increase the regulatory state, the reporting is matter of fact, as if it is quite natural for an environmentalist to be appointed as the Secretary of the Interior or the head of the EPA. Only when someone is appointed who might rightly restrain the state does the media go into its collective rush to the fainting couches.

On Russian Activities During the Election

There is a great deal of discussion in the media over the past few days about intelligence community assessments that Russian security services attempted to play a role in our election. There seems to be NO doubt among them that the Russians played such a role--but there is doubt as to whether that role was designed to favor one candidate over the other. Apparently, the CIA believes that Russia was trying to throw the election for Trump, and the FBI is not convinced. One (FBI) is a law enforcement agency and so is likely more interested in a tighter case, whereas the CIA is a classic intelligence agency where making calls on "good enough" information is the name of the game.

Here is what I think.

1) I believe the CIA is correct. Wikileaks has been thought by our own security services to be a front for Russian intellegence for some time now, and the information put out be Wikileaks was almost exclusively prejudicial to Hillary Clinton.

2) I do not believe that the Russians were involved in ANY voting mischief, because there is no evidence of it. Their involvement was a classic information operation designed to sway opinion. I am unsure how successful their operation was, and I do not believe we can ever know.

3) The election is over. Period. Donald Trump is the President-elect.

4) That said, we cannot as a sovereign nation allow foreign interference in our electoral process. Both parties (and every patriotic American) should get behind a thorough investigation designed to reveal the tactics and measures that Russia took, expose them for their perfidy, and figure out ways to mitigate this kind of thing in future elections.

On My Conduct During the Election

Since Donald Trump's election, I have had numerous opportunities to discuss its impact with friends, strangers, family members, and even with members of the Press. These conversations have forced me to think deeply about my views...but more to the point, my behavior during the election.  The bottom line is that I behaved badly, I brought discredit upon myself, and I've learned important lessons about how I wish to conduct myself in the future.  What am I talking about?

Let's start with what I am NOT talking about. I am not talking about all of the instances here and elsewhere on social media where I pointed out legitimate policy differences between what Trump was saying and what I believed and what I thought the bulk of Conservatives and Republicans believed. I am proud of the policy stands I took, and had I restricted my statements SOLELY to the realm of policy, I would not be writing this post.  But I didn't.

I said and wrote disrespectful, ad hominem, and personally insulting things about a man I have never met (Trump), and I lumped a good many of his voters into the mix. I allowed my deep disappointment in my candidate's demise (Rubio) to cause me to act inhumanely, and I allowed my ego--battered by having been so utterly wrong in my political judgment--to drive me into great fits of anger and pique.

Quite simply, I let the election get the best of me, and I allowed it to make me a lesser man. I was intemperate, immodest, and without poise. I cannot undo what I did, but I can resolve not to repeat it. So this is what I am going to do.

As I wrote when after the election, I wish the President-Elect well. I hope and pray he is successful. I have been greatly pleased by some of the people he has chosen to surround himself with, and I hope he continues to attract more.

Where his policy choices and my preferences overlap, I will say so.

Where they are in conflict, I will say so too, and I will explain why I hold the views I do.

What I will not do is insult him or anyone else. I broke my own blog's rules over and over, but I won't do it again. I aim to disagree without being disagreeable, something at which I failed miserably over the past year.

I ask you--my readers--to call me on this. If I lapse into personal attacks, I want to hear about it. I think the quality of this blog suffered greatly this year and it was entirely my fault. I think we can return it to a place of considered thought and opinion in 2017, and I hope that you'll keep reading.

And So It Goes....

Remember this smug little bastard? Yes, no? That's John Koskinen the IRS Commish. He was just given a pass yesterday by the House which voted to send his impeachment recommendation back to committee. That's the Judicial Committee which had brought the matter before the House to start with. In other words they handed it right back.
Now this guy destroyed evidence under subpoena, withheld evidence, engaged in illegal targeting of certain groups (which is still going on) and lied about it all before Congress. If all that doesn't rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors I don't know what does.
The galling thing about this vote is (the Democrats bloc voted of course) 166 Republicans crossed the aisle and voted against the committee. In my mind they voted against the rule of law and the will of their constituents.
This is a textbook example of why we need special prosecutors. Obviously this man is guilty. Obviously the proper thing to do would be to prosecute, and just as obviously we are in the world of political threats and deal-making. 166 Republicans do not go rogue. This was the leadership Paul Ryan et al. But think on this all you #nevertrump-ers out there, this is the kind of shit that got Trump nominated and elected. A team that misses their free-throws is one thing, a team that doesn't care to hit their free-throws is another. Paul Ryan and the Republican leadership is part of the problem. I don't expect them to go immediately, but go they must and go they will. They're out of touch. The mood of the country is FOLLOW THE LAW!

Know this guy? He's the Governor of North Carolina Pat McCrory. He just conceded the election to Attorney General Roy Cooper after a month or so of recounts. The perception is he lost because of HB2 legislation which denies transgendered folks the "right" to use the restroom of their choice regardless of what may or may not be dangling between their legs. That may be true but I don't don't think so. I think the election was stolen, and here's why.
1. When it looked like McCrory would pull it out in a close one, 95k votes were "discovered" in Durham County, just before midnight on election day, in one of the most corrupt counties in the state (remember Duke Lacrosse?).
2. North Carolina has "same day" voter registration and several hundred Duke, NCCU students were discovered to have the same address, which turned out to be no address at all (1 Duke University Way). None of these votes could be verified. I was actually told by a Dem operative the students had been "advised to use that address" and it was no big deal. I tried to envision such a scenario: "Ok people, listen up. Don't use your real address, use 1 Duke University Way. It's a paperwork thing. Got that?" Obviously there was a lot of cheating going on in Durham, and that's just one county. In Bladen County an organized ballot box stuffing operation was exposed, but the perps will probably get a pass...they're Democrats after all.
3. Ok, let's assume HB2 riled up the populace and many wanted to punish the politicians who had thrust this injustice upon some of our most vulnerable perverts. Why didn't they punish the Legislators? Most especially why didn't they vote out Lt. Gov Dan Forest, a VOCAL supporter of HB2? He won by 300,000 votes. So, we're being told Roy Cooper won with less votes than Dan Forest because HB2 was such a big issue (which Dan Forest supported LOUDLY AND VIGOROUSLY!) and people wanted to punish Pat McCrory. This was just a surgical strike at the Gov for this one issue.
BULLLLLLLL-SHIT! If the Governor gets punished so does the Lt. Gov from the same party with the same views. To think otherwise is idiotic.
It's very telling that Soros has spent the past five years setting up and funding several "grassroots" organizations in the State. His team of election law attorneys were Johnny-on-the-spot at the NCBOE this election. It's almost like they expected events to turn out this way.

 
Let's cut to the chase, the Charlotte Ordinance which precipitated HB2 was a set up from the git-go. The Gay-Gestapo, Soros and the leftist establishment in general targeted NC because it's ripe for turning, as was Colorado a few short years ago. We have had a steady influx of (will I be kind, yes I think I will) Northerners coming from their fuqed-up, bluer than blue states trying to escape taxes and overcrowding, who are bound and determined to turn MY State into the shit-hole they just left. They can't see past the noses on their face.
So the fight continues, and it is FAR from over. Progressivism is like toe fungus, ignore it thinking you got it beat, next thing you know you ain't got a leg to stand on.

Update: http://www.americanlens.com/2016/12/07/new-hanover-voter-disenfranchisement/

Dispatch from Westlake Village, CA

It is nearly two in the afternoon, and I am sitting in the lobby of my hotel in Westlake Village, CA on the day before the Reagan National Defense Forum at the Reagan Library. I have come to this event each year since its inception a few years ago, a chance to get out of DC and hobnob with -- well -- mostly a bunch of people from DC. A smattering of folks from the provinces show up, but it really is an annual get together of a tightly knit groups of folks who work national security issues. It has always tried to be down the middle, but it has a bit of a right of center color to it.

Last year, I remember coming with such anticipation, such enthusiasm. My boy (Rubio) was on the campaign trail, doing just fine, with the whole campaign ahead of him. I beleived strongly that the Republican nominee would win the election--as I found Hillary to be a weak candidate--but I did not expect it to be the man who eventually won.

My ride

There is a great program on tap, and things get started a little later today with a cocktail reception. I started off my day with a couple of phone interviews, a nice massage, and lunch at a passable Chinese restaurant I have visited each time I've come here. My ride is a bitching Camaro convertible, and I drove left LAX with the top down last night, with the temperature a reasonable 63 degrees. As I headed north and East into the Santa Monica Mountains, the temperature dropped nearly twenty degrees in ten minutes, making for a frosty last few miles.

Tomorrow will be a long busy day, then up early for the flight back across the country. I won't get home until nearly midnight (after the two hour Dulles/Easton drive), and then it's up and out at 0600 Monday.  I'll write something quick tomorrow night if I have any brushes with fame.  Cheers!