Time for another Time-Out? Civil War Edition

As it seems to happen every so often on Monomakhos, tempers seem to flare. The latest brouhaha is about comments made by some (myself included) regarding the imminence of civil conflict.

Now, I want to make something perfectly clear: I am not advocating nor am I agitating for any type of civil conflict. Ever. Period. I can’t make it any more plain than that. Therefore, I reserve to ban anybody who advocates one or insinuates that I do.

That being said, what I wish to be –or not be–regarding the possibility of a fratricidal conflict is beside the point. It is simply beyond any single person’s capabilities to stop historical currents. Indeed, it is impossible if they are inevitable. That being said, I pray that they are not inevitable and that cooler heads will prevail.

Let me stress this: just because I don’t wish there to be civil strife doesn’t mean that there won’t be any. Sad to say, based on the level of mayhem that we saw in Berkeley and in other venues, and the level of hate being directed towards the President, the opposite is more probable than not. Not inevitable mind you, but certainly probable.

A caveat: you will notice that I use the words “civil conflict” and “fratricide”, not “civil war”. For a civil war to erupt, opposing factions in the various branches of the government would have to fight for control of the Federal apparatus. Think of the War of the Roses between the Houses of Lancaster and York. This did not happen during the War Between the States, which was a war for independence. Like the original Thirteen Colonies before them (which had no intention of conquering London and installing Washington as king), the Southern states wished for independence. It was a secession or a rebellion at worst –nothing more.

Nor is secession in the offing. The so-called Calexit movement will go nowhere. Only those snowflakes who live in the bluest counties of California are for it. And most of them have never heard a shot fired in anger. Nor do they know the first thing about agriculture. California imports all of their water from other states. They’d starve to death. And anyway, the wide swaths that make up the red counties of California wouldn’t stand for it. In case you didn’t know, they’ve been agitating for formal separation from Sacramento for many years now. I could easily see them pulling a West Virginia on the would-be secessionists.

But what about all the violent protests outside California? Or the town halls in which Republican Congressmen are feeling heat? The fact is that most of these gatherings have been infiltrated by outside agitators (who in turn are funded by George Soros). This is undeniable. It’s so obvious that even Robert Reich felt the need to go out on a limb and assert that it was secret Trump supporters who were infiltrating the various Antifa groups and causing all the violence. As for the spate of recent town halls, they’re too well-organized and the talking points that one hears are rather tidy if you ask me.

So what are we to expect? How will we know if a real bloodletting is on the horizon or if these are merely the outbursts of bought-and-paid-for malcontents?

I’d say first, look to where the violence is happening. If it stays in cobalt-blue states like California and Oregon, then chances are it’s self-contained and will stay there for the duration of the Trump administration. To be sure, protests will take place in swing states but if pro-Trump protests break out to counter them then they’ll be neutralized and will probably peter out in due time. They won’t break out in red states except for a few purple or blueish cities within them (think Austin, Texas or Birmingham, Alabama; etc.) That being said, violence within blue states may peter out as well. If nothing else, the rioters are merely fowling their own nests. Eventually, even a doofus like Jerry Brown will have to call in the National Guard if another UCBerkeley fracas breaks out.

Second, look to the 2018 elections. If the economy improves and Trump’s executive orders prove to be popular, and if it looks like the GOP is going to pick up another 4 or 5 seats, then the violence will escalate. If for no other reason than to scare Republican voters from showing up at the polls. Conversely, if it looks like the Democrats will pick up a few seats in the House (as is normal in a mid-term election), tempers will flare. I know this sounds counter-intuitive but the anger that feeds the genie of violence will be further inflamed. It’s a vicious cycle.

Third, if some in the GOP get weak in the knees (as I suspect), then this will embolden more violence. Look to the warmonger/cuck wing (e.g. McCain, Graham, Flake and Sasse) to pull the rug out from Trump when things get too hot and heavy. Most assuredly traps lurk everywhere: Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins care too much about their Establishment credentials than anything else. Whether this violence will spread outside of the blue and/or purple states I can’t say. If it does, then we will know that it is the result of outside agitation. Red states don’t do anti-Americanism and our contempt for the left and all its works runs very deep.

The Democrats you see, are in a pickle. The Establishment wing clearly regrets the Reid (“nuclear option”) rule and the Biden rule (which stated that no Supreme Court vacancy should be filled during an election year). The Democrats were too clever by half when they instituted these parlor tricks and now the GOP is using them with an adeptness that is making heads spin. Cooler heads on the left have admitted that there’s no way they can stop Trump’s appointments. More, they know that obstructionism on Trump’s cabinet appointments is not helping them politically.

Unfortunately, their base is rabid with rage and Chuck Schumer has no choice but to play to their fears. The Democrats in the Establishment have the wolf by the ears and dare not let go. Among the unhinged partisans on the street, the myth that the election was stolen from Clinton has now hardened into granite and it cannot be dislodged from their febrile minds. It’s a powerful hallucinogenic which justifies their rage and the violence that results from it.

In addition, Schumer has bigger fish to fry: if the American political system is too weakened by internal bloodletting, then America will be of no use to Israel. The Establishment knows this and Trump for his part has played the Middle East part of the card game smartly. In smacking down both Israel and Iran, he’s caught all players unaware.

Indeed, he’s played all his cards smartly. Pay no attention to the punditocracy as their credibility is worthless. All of his executive orders stand. Even the one that was stayed by the Ninth Circuit will be overturned. As to its particulars, a better executive order will be crafted and in the end, Trump will get all that he wants. It’s not for nothing that he hanged Andrew Jackson’s portrait in the Oval Office: we are watching a Jacksonian presidency in action. Regardless, word on the street is that Customs officials and Homeland Security are already unofficially enforcing most of Trump’s ban. Massive sweeps of criminal illegal aliens are taking place as we speak.

Of course there’s always events. Know one knows or can predict from whence the next black swan will swim. North Korea could launch a nuke (which will probably fall into the sea), China could stop buying our bonds, or the stock market could crash. Or something we can’t even imagine would happen. Anything’s possible. There are any number of things that could destabilize the Trump administration.

But here’s the thing: there are any number of things that could destabilize the left as well. The stock market can continue to rise. Illegals may continue their exodus from America. Employment in the energy (and other) sectors may rebound. The left has always been unable to comprehend the fact that there are two sides to every story. And they’re certainly incapable of understanding that their violence can turn ordinary people against them. There’s an old saying about actions and unintended consequences; someone needs to teach it to them pretty darn quick.

Consider: does anyone honestly think that there won’t be another terrorist attack on the Homeland? Or that it won’t be perpetrated by some “refugee” from one the seven Islamic states that were identified in the travel ban? What then? How will the Democrats in Congress explain that one? What will happen when the next “American” whose parents immigrated from Afghanistan shoots up a wedding reception or a gay bar? Or another Somali student on a green card drives a truck into a crowd of bystanders? I imagine that Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer will be nowhere to be found when the wolves of the press hound them for answers. All we’ll hear from that quarter will be the sound of crickets. And see the election of eight more GOP Senators and a dozen or more Republican Representatives.

In a diverse society, terrorism is inevitable. This is the one thing that the left will never understand: diversity is not our strength. It is the source of all conflict. Those who voted for Trump understand this on an intuitive level. I dare say that the majority of Americans are repulsed by the glorification of unattractive women wearing a hijab. And yet these are the new mascots of the Democrat Party, displayed prominently at every demonstration. In so doing, the only thing they accomplish is solidifying their anti-American male fides to the broader public. And then they wonder why their coalition of the fringes comes apart come election day.

The fact remains that the political ground shifted in a tectonic manner back in 2016. Both in Great Britain with the Brexit and in America with the election of Donald Trump. And not just in the Anglosphere. Right now it looks like Angela Merkel may lose to a non-entity in Germany and Marine Le Pen will win in France. Le Pen has promised a “Frexit” which if she pulls it off, will permanently destroy the European Union. Once a dam bursts, there is no way to control the damage.

Right wing populism is ascendant all over the globe. We saw intimations of this back in 2014 when Obama tried to derail Bibi Netanyahu’s reelection in Israel. The Israelis lifted a giant middle finger and stuck it in Obama’s face back then. The right/populist shift is not going to change back anytime soon. It’s here to stay. The dam has burst and ordinary people are no longer afraid to call bullshit on the left and its totalitarian pieties.

We must consider something else as well. The incipient rot that was demoralizing our Armed Forces and the thousands of police departments during the Obama regime has been stopped dead in its tracks by Trump’s election. Trump’s massive popularity among policemen and servicemen is palpable. You see, we in the patriotic opposition have a few trump cards of our own. This realizition should cause many opposition leaders to calculate very carefully how much they want to escalate the conflict.

If they’re smart, we may not have to fight after all. But if we have to, we will, if only to protect our lives and those who depend upon us.

There’s an old Roman saying: “Beware the fury of a patient man”. Now would be a good time for the left to learn it.

Comments

  1. Peter Millman says

    Hi George,
    First of all, my friend, there is the very real possibility that Netanyahu will soon be under indictment. Trump’s saber rattling against Iran is clearly counter productive. His approval rating is the lowest in history for an incoming President. Also, there is the very real possibility his Presidency will implode due to all the discord and infighting transpiring.
    My friend, shall we look at the stock market. As you know, the market rally has already factored in Trump’s economic stimulus which will send the federal budget deficit and overall federal debt into outer space. Let me repeat this: you cannot have massive tax cuts without corresponding massive decreases in government spending. Trump’s fiscal plans will send our economy into a death spiral. What is happening now with the “Trump rally” in the stock market is all smoke and mirrors. I shudder to think what his fiscal plans will do to the inflation rate. We may become like the Weimar Republic in Germany during the early 1920s. I’m glad that Trump beat Hillary, but I don’t think he has the faintest idea what he is doing or how to run a government.

  2. I often find myself wondering why President Trump does not attempt to extradite George Soros and charge him with sedition. Most (if not all) of the violent protests can be traced back to Soros’ funding. Or perhaps President Trump is just biding his time?

    I would love to see Mr. Soros delivered to the doorstep of Mr. Putin.

    • George Michalopulos says

      Me too.

      • One of my favorite movies is The Patriot, with Mel Gibson, as Benjamin Martin. Mel’s character knew the true cost of war, and did all he could to keep his family out of the war waging around him, sadly his children would not obey their father and the war literally came to his doorstep, misery and death soon followed.

        George Soros profits from conflicts around the world. He then looks for what is left in the aftermath for pennies on the dollar, to later sell at large profits.

        The Puppet Masters, of this world, whomever they may be, want us on the left and right at each us throats, while they rob us blind, with smoke, and mirrors. Don’t fall for their trap George, and Misha. Trump understands this, and is exploiting, and exposing this for all to see. The Prince of lies laughs, and waits for his cue. Do not tempt, nor open the door when the devil is knocking.

        • George Michalopulos says

          Wise words Dino. Again, I’m not advocating internecine violence, rebellion, secession or revolution. I will however defend myself and those I love should I be forced to.

          • George,
            As a fellow Greek standing up for family and friends goes without saying. There will not be a civil war. All is playing out as I expected. The leftist progs will do all they can to delegitimize President Trump. A month has not yet come and we hear talk of impeachment and our President is mentally ill.

            The left only knows dirty tricks from within the air ways on liberal left news media to confuse the masses and liberal courts to get their way. They have no stomach for a real war. They’re like hyenas and vultures, feeding off the hard work of others. Look at the new faces of the left, Pocahontas, Shummer, and the joker of all jokers, the sweater boy looking in the mirror from SNL and now Senator of Minnesota. Sweater boy who surely knows a thing or two about crazy, now is on the airwaves calling our President mentally ill, and a pathological liar. Keep it up sweater boy, and next election we will get Minnesota under our belt as well. The left still doesn’t understand they are turning normal hardworking Democratic Americans to Trump with their lunacy.

            The war of words, have begun, but that is as far as the war will wage. Trump has come to D.C. to bring change and the left will scream the entire way. Trust me President Trump is not worried, and neither should we. Just another day in the office.

            • George Michalopulos says

              Dino, you’re probably wiser than me (if I was wise I wouldn’t step into the lion’s den daily as I do) so I hope you’re right.

              However, if I may point one and all to http://www.zerohedge.com , there’s a thought-provoking piece referencing Martin Anderson, an economist, who says that the left/Antifa won’t stop until there’s actual bloodletting.

              Now let me be clear: I live in a red state so things are very peaceable and there is little to no chance of leftist violence. I imagine that all who live in red states take the same optimistic view as yourself.

              Case in point: last October, a white female policeman accidentally killed an unarmed black man at a traffic stop here in Tulsa. This happened a week after a black policeman killed an armed black man in North Carolina. Riots erupted in NC, nothing of the sort happened in Tulsa. By all rights, riots and/or demonstrations should have erupted in Tulsa. The cop shot an unarmed black man.

              The question is why did’t violence ensue?

              Answer: because OK is a red state and NC was a swing state. There is no BLM chapter here in OK. Why? Because Soros isn’t going to sink his money into a state in which there will be no return on his investment.

              Anyway that’s a thought.

              • George Michalopulos wrote
                Answer: because OK is a red state and NC was a swing state.

                Oh balderdash, that is a ridiculously reductive assertion that completely ignores huge factors like the relative community relationships to police, how the police responded to the incident, whether the officer was charged, and how recent history of similar shooting were handled in both communities. This got no small amount of news coverage at the time:

                http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-tulsa-charlotte-response-20160925-snap-story.html

                It’s going to be hilarious when Soros finally dies and nothing at all changes and some other random name (probably Jewish) becomes his replacement as a boogeyman without anybody skipping a beat. And by hilarious I mean sad and pathetic.

                George Michalopulos wrote
                There is no BLM chapter here in OK

                Wrong.

                http://www.news9.com/story/33164513/black-lives-matter-march-planned-in-tulsa

                If there is a protest and some violence breaks out, Mr. Michalopulos can’t wait to mention BLM. If there are protests and nothing happens that’s useful for Mr. Michalopulos agenda, he pretends BLM doesn’t exist.

                For the millionth time, if I were me, before claiming BLM didn’t exist in my state I might actually, you know, fact check that. But nobody is paying Mr. Michalopulos and he isn’t a journalist, so he’s better off spending ten seconds writing an angry paragraph about Soros than making a simple Google search that would prevent him from looking disingenuous to make a point.

                • George Michalopulos says

                  Nate, as usual, you can’t see the forest for the trees. The shooting of the black man in Tulsa (on the surface at least) was unjustifiable. He was unarmed. And shot by a white officer. The shooting of the black man (who was armed) in NC by a black officer set off days of rioting.

                  Al Sharpton (the miscreant) came to Tulsa to try to stir up trouble but to no avail.

                  If you choose to not believe that Soros and others are sinking major coin into grievance groups then that’s your problem, not mine.

                  • The situation at hand: What appeared to have been a more obviously questionable police shooting elicited milder protests than one that appeared to have greater justification.

                    My take: A variety of local factors including X/Y/Z, all of which were explored and documented in media coverage.

                    Mr. Michalopulos take: It was due to targeted paid provocation, that he can provide no evidence for, because it doesn’t exist.

              • George. For sure not wiser than you, just not as paranoid. Your trips to the lion’s den and your great faith with be rewarded. There will never be a time, without violence, and strife in this fallen world. How we react, and respond, will define us.

  3. Between the ginned-up protests, Congressional slow-walking and grandstanding, entrenched Republican interests, and criminally-subversive federal employees left over from the Obama administration, I think the President is having a harder time than usual putting his government together. It’s outright sedition, and several of these people should be locked up for it.

    However, it won’t last forever, and it’s only a matter of time before he goes after Soros.

    • George Michalopulos says

      One, I’m noticing how things are subtly falling into place. Also, while I think that Trump is a “agent of chaos”, it’s clear that he’s carefully planning tactics that serve short-term as well as long-term goals.

      He’s also blessed by his enemies. Nordstrom’s, Sears, the Grammy’s, Meryl Streep, etc. The louder these enemies scream, the more the sympathy that is ginned up for him.

  4. Michael Bauman says

    The real civil war has been going on forever i.e. the world against God. We generally find ourselves in both camps. Thus our civil warfare.

    What may be happening, God knows, is that the delusion we can serve two masters is becoming less possible to maintain.

    Modern politicians are agents of fear and chaos.

    Trump is attractive because he seems to unleash chaos against those who have been most adept at pushing fear.

    The order we should seek is the order of God.

    Not more of the world.

    • Michael,

      I tend to look at it this way:

      God uses agents on earth. We know this from scripture. Nonetheless, there are events which are seemingly random and not part of anyone’s “script”, just the business of getting on with life; and there are instances where the evil one deludes/seduces/possesses, etc.

      So it could be good/neutral/or bad. When I look at Trump, given what is taking place in human history at this time with respect to the utter decadence of American society (a “bottoming out” if you will) and the rise of Islam, I see the hand of Providence. All the more so because, effectively, what he is doing is converting America into a sovereign democracy, much like Russia. Sovereign democracy is really a modern version of the monarchy with public input and restraint. Monarchy for monotheists, just as the Fathers counseled. That should be the way it develops if his economic policies are implemented. Ideally it can even be done within our present Constitutional order, albeit as a dominant party system – it will take an expanding of the mind, and I expect that to develop slowly. It will take time for the Democratic Party to recede to “third party” status, like the Green and Reform parties.

      The Left can’t outbid someone who is willing to spend money relatively freely. The centrists and even some from the center-left will join in on the spending and the far left will look like crazy spendthrift socialists with no sense of responsibility at all.

      That should wreck the good ship Progressive. What is being defeated is the secular humanist worldview in favor of the Judeo-Christian worldview. Keep your eye on the ball. None of this should be happening according to the “eschatology” of the secular humanists. Their world just keeps getting progressively more democratic-socialist and morphs into a messianic socialist age.

      That is what you see dying before your eyes – the Secular Humanist Religion.

      It’s not the Second Coming. That will happen in due time. Trump is not Orthodox. He is some sort of conservative Presbyterian with definite Pentecostalist-prosperity sympathies. That will do, I suppose. Hey, he’s not trying to create one world religion and he’s somewhere on the Judeo-Christian spectrum. That’s about all we can ask for. Orthodox Russia should be a stabilizing influence provided he is smart enough to work – quietly – with Putin.

      • Michael Bauman says

        God uses human agents or there would be no Incarnation. That being said, He does it in ways that are usually hidden to both the agent and to the larger human community.

        God does not obsfucate, we are just usually too dense. That is why giving glory to God for all things is so crucial to our salvation.

        That does not call us to quietism, God forbid, but it does mean working in humility. Working to love those closest to us and allowing God to give the increase.

  5. Ezekiel 33:11:
    Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

    American Progressive Liberals are not revolutionaries. They might support revolutionaries with money and verbiage, but for the most part they don’t have the stomach for anything more than bitching.

    For this we should be grateful.

    George, I agree with you by and large with respect to the red state, blue state thing. The trouble will probably be mostly confined to blue states or areas and even then, I really do not see what they can actually do at the end of the day that could amount to much.

    I look at the whole thing strategically and tactically. The president has enough authority, Posse Comitatus notwithstanding, to put down insurrections. Federal troops were used during the LA riots, for example:

    http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2002/10/why_can_the_army_help_cops_catch_the_dc_sniper.html

    What irks the Left and has them acting out in all directions is that they can’t process this development as anything other than Fascism. Yet it is within Constitutional restraints and is not being done to elevate the state or leader to the level of God. The inauguration should be a clear indication of that.

    They don’t know what it is.

    What they can’t fathom is that if economic redistribution is removed as a wedge issue, their pet “crit” movements lose most of their support. By “crit” movements I mean race crits, gender crits and perv crits – “Critical Studies” theorists who use Marxian analysis to weaponize race, gender and perversion against normality. They all piggy back on class crits, the only crits that have a point.

    But class crits are only half right. It is true that there should be redistribution of wealth from the more affluent to the less well off. No doubt. As you have done to the least of these, so have you done to Me. However, this can be done within a governing hierarchy.

    Industry, ingenuity and talent are not allocated evenly or equally. Thus you have disparate results. This is normal. It is normal to have economic inequality based on these phenomena as well as inheritance. Nonetheless, we are our brothers’ keeper. There should be some minimum standard of living that is afforded to all, irrespective of their abilities. That is only decent.

    And there should, of course, be opportunity for all who wish to better themselves and their own.

    What is perplexing the Left is that it takes time for all of this to unfold. The things that Trump can do quickly, he does first. Implementing reciprocal trade and redirecting public assistance so that it strengthens rather than hampers a decent society will take time.

    So long as Trump does not turn against spending, he will be ok. If he allows spending to become an issue, he’s done. He knows this. So he will get as broad a base for his spending proposals as he can muster, leading from the center when it comes to redistribution. This will irk many “conservatives”. This is because they are not classical conservatives but have been overly influenced by libertarian ideals. Classical Conservatism is the policy of monarchs, which includes a healthy amount of largesse.

    The security of the upper classes is built on the sufficiency of the lower classes.

    If he does this right, he will neutralize the feminists, the LGBT crowd and the race baiters for decades to come.

    • He may be making peace with the CIA – that is a very wise move.

      • http://nypost.com/2017/02/14/why-you-should-fear-the-leaks-that-felled-mike-flynn/

        Yeah, definitely another inflection point. It’s dicey up there at the heights but if Flynn was the deal and it doesn’t go further then it was good business. He had to make peace with his own intelligence services. They’re not out to “get” anyone. They get a lot of their own intelligence from newspapers and the media.

        You simply can’t operate with them outside the tent. Besides, they’re benevolent for the most part and highly useful.

        • George Michalopulos says

          Misha, I disagree. While there are patriots in the IntelCom, there are enough globalist traitors as well. They are the engine of the permanent Deep State. If they succeed, then electoral democracy/representative republicanism is a sham.

          At that point, we should apologize to Hitler, Mao and Lenin for setting up their own police states.

          • I’m not sure what’s going on in there. Brennan was probably rogue. He likely left a legacy. But they are behaving irrationally at this point.

            Trump ran on a pro-Russia platform and captured the electoral college vote. He is legitimate as is the pro-Russia position. That does not mean America is part of the Russian Empire or the “evil KGB” won or any of that drivel. It just means that the Clinton era determination that Russia was an expansive power in need of containment is being challenged. Russia’s only expansion has been in reaction to a Western coup d’etat in it’s front yard.

            CIA, if they are doing this, are out of line and engaging in illegal and disloyal activities given our present constitutional arrangement and the results of the last election.

            So much for moral authority. That is on Trump’s side. Now, let’s talk about power.

            Trump cannot defeat the CIA if it is a contest between the two unless, for example, he has other intelligence and security services on his side and they remain steadfast. CIA is quite formidable.

            However, the Agency should think long and hard about what they are doing. They are going out of their way – far out of their way – to pick a fight with Russia. That means the FSB. That’s what this boils down to if you get past all the niceties.

            They cannot win that war.

            It should be obvious to the casual observer who is familiar with the recent course of world events and has some knowledge of the respective intelligence services that the Russians influenced our last election and the CIA was forced to watch in awe. I mean, staging a coup d’etat in the Ukraine, the birthplace of Kieven Rus’, was likely the last straw. What’s good for the goose . . .

            Now, to what extent the RF was involved or influenced is open to speculation. They did not tamper with voting devices, so it was a free and fair election. But they most certainly sought to influence public opinion through a variety of means to elect a candidate they thought would be more favorable to Russian interests than the candidate of the American Establishment.

            And they succeeded. No need to be coy about it. It is obvious.

            Thus, what also ought to be obvious then is that the FSB is playing at a higher level than the CIA and that should send a cold shiver down the spine of decision-makers at Foggy Bottom.

            They ought to call a truce. It’s in their self interest to do so. It may be a matter of self preservation at this point.

            FSB is very, very good at what they do. They are often underestimated, but wrongly so. At the end of the Cold War, the KGB had the West thoroughly penetrated and compromised. KGB records “inadvertently” released in the mid-1990’s testified to this. The Committee for State Security (Комитет Государственной Безопастности) was THE best intelligence service in the world. It’s just that their economic/political system was so f’d up that nothing could save it.

            That type of expertise doesn’t just “evaporate” or disappear. You are not dealing with people who are constrained by Western constitutional protections or notions of privacy or fairness. They are no longer constrained by Marxist-Leninist ideology either. To the extent that Orthodoxy has permeated, it only makes them more formidable – mission from God and all that.

            http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/319850-right-wing-media-rips-intelligence-agencies-over-flynn

            I mean, Flynn was opposed to the Iranian deal which the Russians support. Even if they think they are hurting Trump, they are playing into the hands of people who start chess at an early age.

            They oughta quit digging.

            http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/16/donald-trump-continues-roll-even-bumps-road/

            They should also bear in mind that God blesses those who speak favorably toward Jerusalem.

  6. Actually, a single person, strategically placed, CAN “stop historical currents.”

  7. Pat Reardon says

    Nor is secession in the offing. The so-called Calexit movement will go nowhere.

    Alas.

    • George Michalopulos says

      Agreed!

      • George Michalopulos says

        On the other hand, we could always give California back to Mexico!

        • Right George, Texas is number two in total Mexicans and Ca has more Asians. Asians are growing faster than Mexicans in Ca, sorry George. In fact in Orange County where I use to lived its the Asians and not the Latinos that vote more and shift it away from being so Republican. Middle Easterners are another problem.

    • Yes, George doesn’t want to admit that Travis County Texas home of Austin and Houston and Dallas are more democratic than Orange County and Riverside. In fact Texas can go from Abbott to a dem by 2022, but George doesn’t think that.Also, Houston is number three in the US for illegal immigrants behind LA and New York but George is the typical believer that Texas is always Republican.

      • George Michalopulos says

        Not at all, Cynthia! I freely admitted that there are blue counties/cities in red states. I even named Austin, Texas as one such.

        The point about demographics is that they can and do, change. It’s just that while Texas can (possibly) go blue, California will never go red.

        That being said, because California is permanently blue, it’s caught in a vicious death-spiral. Those Texans who are liberal understand at base what it is that makes Texas work. Californians have lost that knowledge. It’s unfortunate I’ll grant you that, in that California is not only the most beautiful state in the union but has the most resources. Unfortunately, it’s all been wasted. Even Hollywood is a wasting asset. I can’t see it coming back.

        I hope I’m wrong.

          • George Michalopulos says

            Great news indeed Nate! Maybe they can pay for the Oroville dam bursting and the subsequent deluge.

            Also, can I pass this news along to Mexico? That will make it easier during the Great Divorce when they reincorporate California.

            I can hardly wait!

            • Mexico all but owns California. California is America’s future, IF, we do not protect our language, culture, and borders, we are finished. Decades of turning a blind eye to open borders, by both parties, are destroying the American way of life. Dems love the votes, Repubs, loved the cheap labor, middle America has paid the price. ENOUGH! Trump is our last hope in this regard. Hopefully the system won’t eat him alive. Call or write your representatives and demand they support President Trump, tell them America comes first, before their cronyism, and personal acquirement of wealth through the system.

              Feeding, educating, medicating, and housing illegal, and their instant born in America citizen babies, has bankrupt California, lowered, and drained their infrastructure, and education standards for citizens, so that non-English speaking illegals, and their children will not fall behind. We have an agent of change in President Trump. We must support him, fervently, legally, and most importantly peacefully!

              • Between Mr. Michalopulos and “Dino” I see that the actual status of California is irrelevant compared to the perceived status of California as being in a “vicious death-spiral” or “bankrupt” by virtue of it being less white than it used to be. One has to decipher the code.

                • Typical leftist no argument to make so just call it racism

                  • One question (Nate). Will there ever be a limit to open borders for you? Or are all racist who see we have reached that limit?

                    • George Michalopulos says

                      I imagine that in the eyes of our moral betters, we’re all “ray-sis”. Even the black folks and Hispanics who want the borders secured.

                    • George, truth is without cries of racism, the money dries up for the race baiters. Really an old and obsolete ploy. Americans are the most generous people in the world, but after being called racist for years, it just gets old, and sympathy fades. The race baiters have bitten the hand that feeds them one too many times. One of the handful of reasons Trump was elected. Enough was enough, with the BS we’ve been accused of for years.

                      Live and let live. The past is past. Get over it Leftist. The world will never be a fair, and loving utopia. This is as good as it gets.

        • http://freebeacon.com/columns/rules-united-states/

          This article captures the point pretty well. It’s the Prog/Lib bureaucracy fighting against a populist wave at this point. It goes deeper than that, but that is deep enough for prime time.

          Are these not the most gullible people on the face of the planet? They have elevated wishful thinking to a survival mechanism:

          https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/if-russia-tried-to-influence-the-us-election-things-arent-going-as-planned/2017/02/17/7ebb90a2-f519-11e6-9fb1-2d8f3fc9c0ed_story.html?utm_term=.6aabc55c1e84

          • Obviously there has to be an equilibrium established. Moscow doesn’t control Trump, nor he Moscow. It just so happens that on certain matters of importance they agree. But he and Putin will likely have to go through a lot of posturing to reassure the hand-wringing old women like McCain and Graham.

  8. Joseph Lipper says

    My guess is the next black swan will come with the EU trying to create a Federation of Greece and Turkey. This will seem to resolve all their problems. The Greece debt crisis will be resolved by Turkey. The Turkish migrant problem will be resolved by Greece. Cyprus will then be reunified. They might turn it all into its own mini Schengen zone. It will all sound wonderful to everyone in the EU, except for the Greeks. The EU will just wag it’s finger at Greece, and tell them that it’s their own fault for being in this mess, and will force their medicine on them. Greece will stay in the EU, but on the EU’s terms, it will be handed over to Turkey.

    Then suddenly Russia will step in and drop a nuclear bomb on Turkey. That will be the black swan. It’s coming soon.

    • George Michalopulos says

      Mr Lipper, that would be the blackest of swans.

      • Joseph Lipper says

        Now that Greece is getting the Rothschild’s involved as financiers of a desperate last ditch effort to resolve their debt crisis, I have to wonder if Rothschild will create private bonds for Greece, and then sell them all to a very willing buyer, Turkey.

        • George Michalopulos says

          Joseph, there’s another rumor going around about Greece: getting out of the Eurozone and going on the dollar. Interesting.

          • Joseph Lipper says

            That is interesting, but if the Rothschild’s aren’t behind that idea, it ain’t gonna happen.

    • Don’t see it happening. Turkey is NATO and Erdogan is looking for friends at this point. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

      Russia has no reason to use nukes now or in the near future. I doubt it ever will unless it is defensively; i.e., if someone were actually stupid enough to invade the RF.

      The US might very well consider resurrecting its tactical nukes. These were low yield nuclear “artillery” for use in a limited manner.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_artillery

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_nuclear_weapon

      Such weapons would be useful in a situation where you had two clearly separated forces, one of which was advancing, the other defending. The defenders could eradicate large numbers of aggressors with tactical nukes (barbarians at the gate scenario).

      The wild card is the fallout, but we are talking about low kiloton yields at most (they can be below 0.1 kiloton yields up to over 100 kilotons, if need be). Hiroshima was about 16 kilotons. You only get the nuclear winter scenario if you have many megatons detonating widely in a short period of time.

      • George Michalopulos says

        Misha, the question you raise is: which is the invading force (i.e. barbarians at the gates)? NATO/EU or Russia?

        I don’t see Russia invading anywhere east of the Dnieper. At most I imagine that they could (if pressed) consolidate the eastern Ukraine (Donbass, Novorossiya, etc.) Right now, they’re more than happy to let these regions “remain” part of Ukraine for two reasons:

        1. it keeps the fiction of Ukraine alive (i.e. that Russia is not expansionist and is committed to the Westphalian order of things), and

        2. these devastated regions are an economic albatross to the already weakened Kievan government. It’s the same reason why we don’t conquer Mexico: it’s not worth it.

        • I’m thinking about our friends in the third world, George. One cannot contain knowledge and at some point they will probably feel like they can take on the US or RF. At that point, options would be nice.

          I do not see a conflict between the US and Russia. I doubt there will be a conflict between the EU/NATO and Russia. HRC was willing to walk right into NATO-Russian altercation. I don’t think Trump is. He’s smarter than that and knows that the US has obvious predominance and that there is a deal to be made with the RF. It may be fluid and subject to reform as needed, but the two can avoid direct conflict and cooperate where it’s mutually beneficial.

          This is because both are confident. Why spoil a good thing?

          I’m thinking long term here. Not present circumstances. And not US v. Russia but either the US or Russia (or their vital interests) being assaulted from the southern regions. You might think of this as Srdja Trifkovic’s “Northern Alliance” coming to fruition.

    • Jerry Wilson says

      Sorry, but this is absurd. Do you have any facts to back up this “guess”?

      • Joseph Lipper says

        Jerry, the EU really is on the verge of collapse. Separatist sentiment is running high across the EU, and this year is an election year for France, Germany, and Holland. The elections could prove ultimately fatal for the EU. Brussels won’t let that happen without trying something politically drastic first though.

        Greece and Turkey are the two mortal wounds of the EU right now. If Greece and Turkey are not dealt with very quickly, the EU will collapse very soon. They can’t just keep putting bandaids on them. They will have to perform surgery.

        Greece has land that Turkey wants to solve their migrant problem. Turkey has access to money that Greece needs to solve their debt problem. Both of these problems threaten to destroy the EU. It’s really an absurd mess. The EU will fall apart anyway, but Brussels will try something stupid first.

  9. http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/02/13/flynn-resignation-raises-questions-fbi-intel-services/

    This is excellent. How did the FBI know what Flynn was discussing and how extensive was their surveillance of the incoming administration personnel – and why?

    Somebody just showed their hand.

    • If this keeps up, Trump needs to publicly (in front of the TV cameras) state that he is asking the FBI to investigate the illegal actions of the CIA pursuant to the Flynn resignation.

      Let them eat each other if they are going to try to take over the civilian government.

      From here on out it should be “no quarter”. Make peace with whom you can, destroy those whom you must. All of ’em.

      Nothing to lose. They’re openly challenging the fact that he’s president.

      • George Michalopulos says

        This actually is sedition. What the Deep State is doing is punishable by death. Or at least by lifelong imprisonment.

        It’s nothing short of espionage. The Rosenbergs fried for that.

        • Yeah, I thought he threw them a bone with Flynn since they were particularly irked about that particular person having authority over them. And that may have been the deal, hard to say. But the drum beat in the press is still sounding – the WP and the NYT. So it’s hard to say exactly what’s happening. These things don’t just turn on a dime.

          However, if CIA is really openly challenging him, he should order the FBI to investigate the leak and prosecute whoever did it. They put one of yours in the hospital (Flynn), you put one of theirs in the morgue. Inter-agency rivalry can be a good thing and he probably has some sympathizers in the Bureau

          You don’t want to go to war with the CIA or rogue elements of it unless you absolutely have to. I heard the other day the Brennan was a Muslim convert. That’s a smoking gun if ever there were one.

          https://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/10/john-brennan-is-completely-unqualified-to-be-director-of-central-intelligence

          There were others in the Agency.

          But if they are already at war with him, it’s kill or be killed, so to speak. He can’t be squeamish and needs to accept all the help he can get, bar none, on the qt, just do it.

          Better not to discuss how laws and sausages are made. The Russians are openly wondering who’s in charge over here. If the CIA is absolutely committed to a war with FSB, well, it will be absolutely merciless without any quarter or semblance of compassion on the Russian side. Take my word for it. They won’t hesitate to do anything and everything they need to in order to win including blow the whole world up so everybody loses, if need be.

          They are absolutely committed.

          Exciting time to be alive. Be interesting to see how it works out.

          http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/printindividualProfile.asp?indid=2577

        • Flynn deserves to be fired. One he lied to Pence, but more importantly he showed his incompetence by not realizing his conversation would be recorded by both U.S. and Russian intelligence.

          Trump needs better men than Flynn. Until all Obama and Clinton leftovers are gone, Trump’s team must understand those who are not his allies are his enemies, out to get him. He must surround himself with only the best.
          It goes without saying the Demoncrats, McCains flunkies, the liberal courts, and now our new fourth branch of government, the media, will also be out to get him. Trump must circle the wagons and expose the traitors who love party before country.

          The media no longer explains the news and tries to report on the news, now they are trying to become, create, shape and ignore the news and convert minds to their liking. Leftists progressive ideals that will change the world to their liking. The truth is gone forever. The majority now are leftist propaganda media machines.

  10. Personality, I think Ca should do less Agricultural. There is a lot of illegal immirgration with the Ca farm system. There is the rise of automation and greenhouses in farming which means you could grow things in LA and use less illegal immigration. Also, the farmers always threaten to leave to Mexico if illegal immigrants are not allow to do farm work. Let them do it. The Central Valley should sell off the farms to developers and go into factory and warehouse work like the Inland Empire in Riverside and San Bernadino. Also, red ca has lots of oil in places like Kern and the farmers were complaining about that.

  11. George Michalopulos says