"I suppose we'll just have to abort Jason and Theresa, won't we?"

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The whitsun bride; a procession of children in a village street during Whitsun

Scene
Upscale house on Hamptons estate.
Players: Attractive middle-aged mother and father, parents of six children, having a glass of wine in the solarium.  She dressed in a gossamer silk dressing gown, he in casual dress, with cravat and smoking jacket.
About 8 PM, late spring with light, cool breeze ruffling the curtains.
Resuming an earlier conversation.

Why the Left Hates Trump: He's a MAN

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            Bête Noire

He is also a Christian white man.  But Donald Trump is not an ordinary man.  He's not a metrosexual coastie.  He's not neutered by sensitivity.  He thinks for himself, and if provoked, he's ready to do battle.  To fight.  He is fearless.  He's an individual who doesn't cave to the mob. He's a man of action.  He has not been feminized.  He sees the world as it is and deals with it.  Most unforgivably he is successful, creating a stunning contrast to the performance of his "betters".  He is a man's man; a deplorable's deplorable.  He articulates the thoughts, beliefs and emotions of America's functional and productive core.  He mentions God beyond what is required.

The F.B.I. Came by Corruption Honestly

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Deval Kulsrestha  Lady Liberty

When I use the word corruption, I am thinking primarily of three elements: dishonesty; incompetence; and perversion of mission.  Ruin and rot.  Not unique among bureaucracies of every kind, corruption in the F.B.I. has been more aggressively concealed than any other I can think of, so that in the minds of most Americans, never having dealt in conflict with the agency, the F.B.I. is thought to be pristine.

Corruption begins with leadership.  If leaders didn't assume their offices already corrupt, then it begins with an organizational shift from mission to survival, self promotion, aggrandizement and growth.  Bureaucracies become paranoid over time, and decay typically begins with leaders who come to reward loyalty over competence.  That paradigm for success inevitably filters downward throughout the organization, excluding (perhaps) only the perennially virtuous and (perhaps) idealistic new-hires who have not yet learned how the game is played.

OANN Revisited (and Often)

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* (rev. 2/28/18)

About two years ago I wrote a short essay about One America News Network.  It was generally complimentary, and I welcomed it as a much-needed (though small in the cable world) competitor to an increasingly milqutoast Fox News.  In my view, OAN has improved on all fronts, while FNN has made marginal gains.  Of course a lot has happened since my earlier comments.

Media Suicide by Trump

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Whio-TV News Set  Ed! at English Wikipedia

For decades legacy media have been a kind of symphony orchestra that performed hymns to the Left. They played well, forte and were consistently perfect in meter and pitch.  But there is a new conductor in town, and he has provided scores with unfamiliar notation they haven't learned how to read.  What were once melodic concerts have become a cacophony that their former audiences are, increasingly, no longer willing to hear.

Nationalism? Populism? Whoa, Nellie. Not So Damn Fast

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Those facile labels, in their generality -- their certitude -- smell of Leftist media, meme factories and think-tanks.  And they are unconsciously, yet eagerly embraced and repeated by fearful, ignorant, thoughtless and inarticulate eunoch Republicans.  "I don't know how to sort this stuff out on my own, so I appreciate the help.  Anyhow, if I had an original and contrary thought, I wouldn't think of arguing.  I don't want to look bad in front of my Democrat colleagues.  And how will I be seen in the media?"

To FBI Rank and File: Balls in Your Court?

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For a time the Bureau's politically tainted and cursory, pro-forma investigation of Clinton emails and the Clinton Foundation, was prominently in the news.  As the narrative goes, honest, dedicated, hard-working agents are hugely frustrated and angry on account of the fact that no one has been held accountable for what is manifestly criminal behavior.  Was Justice caught peeking?

Thank You, Donald Trump

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Mr. Obama, uncritically supported by the Democrat ship of fools who share his beliefs, regularly trots out some sanctimonious meme of Cultural Marxism, such as, "Americans are a [mindlessly, suicidally] tolerant people; it's WHO WE ARE!"  Despite his assertions, it is rapidly becoming apparent that opposing beliefs articulated by Donald Trump more accurately reflect WHO WE ARE.

Round 'em Up, Head 'em Out: The Great Pro-Trespasser Canard

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Perhaps 'straw man' is more to the point.  Let's examine the pro-illegal immigration themes and memes.

Donald Trump: More Balls Than Sense. And That Ain't All Bad

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Photo by Gage Skidmore

Trump's critics tell us a lot more about themselves than the man they criticize.  John McCain and his love child, Lindsay Graham head a long list of pussified Republicrats who see a threat in anyone who dares to commit the heresy of truth-telling in public.  Donald Trump has joined Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and (too few) others.  At least for the moment.

Federal Government Lurches Toward End-State Dysfunction

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Bloat and Mission Creep

End-state bureaucracies eventually crumble when four conditions obtain: 1. confusion about or deliberate perversion of mission (purpose, policy); 2. alienation of markets or constituents; 3. ever-expanding maintenance costs; and 4. institutional arrogance that forecloses adaptive change from within.
But even in a clearly moribund and declining state, inertia of scale may prolong their existence for long periods. In these times they are deceptively fragile and unable to survive crises of their own making.  That would seem to be the condition of several agencies of the federal government -- State, EPA, Justice, BATFE, Agriculture, Education, DHS and, most recently brought to public attention, CDC.

Open Inquiry to Republican Leadership. And Their Response

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Neighbors

Honorable members of Congress and of the RNC.  I beg your indulgence to consider a scenario and solicit your reaction to it.  While, on its face, it may seem frivolous or even silly, it raises questions that I think have serious implications regarding our political precepts.

Defund Obamacare? Let's Begin by Defunding the RNC

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Tea Party in Boston Harbor

Those who are often called RINO's by conservatives and libertarians (and a few Libertarians) are, in fact, real Republicans.  They are the party, and not in name only.  Among the many things they have in common with Democrats (but for different reasons) is a visceral hatred of Tea Party conservatives and their allies. We are talking about 'establishment Republicans' -- who dance at the end of the RNC's [1] strings and those of the rent-seeking Chamber of Commerce and other business

Ted Cruz

lobbyists.  But there is another class of Republicans who are reliably conservative.  Besides establishment and conservative Republicans, there are the not-altogether-predictable "swingers" whose principles yield to the pressure of political winds.  How can we isolate these factions within the Party without being long-winded or circumspect?

There is no Serious Problem -- Social, Political or Economic -- that is not Either Caused by or Made Worse by Big Government

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The Course of Empire Destruction (Thos. Cole, 1836)

For a number of years now I have been posing the title statement as a question.  In print and in conversation.  Crickets and bullfrogs; the query might just as well have been rhetorical.  Few have responded, and no one has ever offered an apposite answer. Big-government types occasionally make an attempt, but only after they've changed the question to suit a prepared answer. The most common response, for example, is to reply that government does some things right, which I've never denied and which is entirely outside the scope of the question.

He's a Lying Son-of-a Bitch: Rotting the Soul of a Nation

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Pinocchio

The casual reader, seeing the title of this essay, will probably (and in short order) supply one or more names to fit the specification.  He may also expect the writer to name the best-known offender and his acolytes; he'd be wrong. In this essay I set out illustrate the general and alarming erosion of American civil society's moral and ethical standards.  Particularly in regard to the virtue of honesty in civil society, and by extension, government..

All Things Great and Small

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Beohner Balls

Open Thread

And Beohner's the stud.  For Cantor and McCain think mustard seeds and fly specks, respectively.

 Foremost among the Republican Party's "littluns" from The Lord of the Flies,

Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the Rule of Law (Part II)

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The Hydra Myth: a Fitting Metaphor for Comprehensive Reform

 A law that is not enforced is no law at all.

Immigration reform has become the enormous problem that it is today for a simple, obvious reason that generally escapes mention by media and lawmakers alike.  The failure of the rule of law.  If immigration laws had been rigorously enforced from, say, 1986, our current difficulties would not exist.  As in so many other areas (summarize the current government scandals as examples) enforcing existing law has become optional; the rule of law is largely subjected to the rule of men – the rule of power.  The inability of Republicans, in general, and conservatives in particular to understand this elemental fact goes a long way towards explaining the naivete of a Marco Rubio and his compatriots.  They understand the idea of conservatism, know the lyrics and the melody, and they consistently sing on key.  But it is one thing to understand an idea, and quite another to perceive the world as it is and apply conservative principles.  Consummate naivete presumes that progressives reciprocate in good faith.  A dangerous assumption.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the Rule of Law (Part I)

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Hydra

I begin with a brief reprise of a subject about which I have written at length [1] -- the pernicious consequences of any comprehensive reform. I have argued always for incremental reform. Comprehensive reform – by its nature – has two serious weaknesses. The first is hubris; the second, obfuscation and legal murkiness that creates the certainty of mischief.

Promising New Republican Senators. Open Thread

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I have updated this list -- as events unfolded -- since it was first published in April.
-- June 20.


Ted Cruz
Mike Lee
Rand Paul
Marco Rubio
Paul Ryan
Pat Toomey

Big Government's "Problem" Racket

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Understanding the Rackets

If government is the problem, why would government want to solve it?  Think about it.

Since Marxist-leaning John Dewey's educational reforms took hold in America, our citizens have been conditioned to turn to government when difficulties arise.  It was a long transition from the instinctive habit of individualism and self-reliance that held on stubbornly from pioneer times through the late 50's.  Vestiges of America's independent spirit remain (as seen in the Tea Party, Tenth Amendment initiatives and scattered patriot groups sandwiched between the coasts), but recent social, political and economic developments in America suggest that self-reliance is now more relic that viable force.  We turn to government.