Trump Unbound? Some Thoughts

HAS THERE BEEN A COUP IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION?
It’s been awhile since I’ve commented on the political situation. Lots of exciting things have taken place at stately Monomakhos Manor and I’m just now starting to get my bearings.

Truth be told, I wanted to see how things were playing out. After about five months of solid joy, things took an ominous turn (in my opinion) with the Tomahawk missile strike on Syria. There was a very real fear that the Neocons who destroyed the Bush 43 Administration had gotten their hooks into Trump. Rumors abounded that Steve Bannon was on his way out and that Jared Kushner was ascendant (as were other Goldman-Sachs personages like Gary Cohn and Dina Powell). The loss of KT McFarland was particularly hard for me to swallow.

To put not too fine a point on it, I was concerned. The very fact that Lt Gen H R McMaster was named Trump’s new National Security Advisor, replacing Lt Gen Michael Flynn, didn’t set well with me. Especially after I discovered a tweet from the ever-execrable Bill Kristol in which he sung McMaster’s praises. Kristol ranks high in my demonology in case you didn’t know. (Have you ever seen a more punchable face?)

Now, I’m no naif. Things aren’t always what they seem. And in the grand scheme of things, we can’t know all that’s going on behind the scenes. But the optics weren’t good; it looked like Trump had been hijacked and globalism would reassert itself. Trump’s own remarks, that he was “both a nationalist and a globalist” didn’t calm the waters.

Still, in my off-line conversations I counselled caution. Trump (I said) was playing a cautious game; he was employing a long-term strategy. His position wasn’t that secure, even after a masterful State of the Union Address. This was more than a little wishful thinking on my part. What did I base it on?

For that we have to go to the beginning.

NOV 8, 2016: ELECTION NIGHT
I’ll come right out and say it: Trump wasn’t supposed to win. Hillary had it in the bag. There’s no way that the Deep State was going to allow her to lose. But she lost –fair and square.

In an earlier post, I analyzed her defeat in stark detail, making mention of her manifold defects as a candidate and as a person. These are inarguable. Moreover, the economic situation for the majority of the people in the Red states and the Rust Belt was grim. Our Ruling Class could’t see it because they were untouched by it. They actually believe the nonsense that things have never been better. The fact that they are deracinated globalists who have no loyalty towards nation or region further alienated them from reality.

The rules don’t apply to them. Laws are for the little people: that’s the reason they could so nakedly deprive Bernie Sanders of the Democratic nomination and think that the could get away with it. They had a problem with the Republican nomination however. Jeb! was to be the anointed successor. FOX news, the Establishment-GOP-media complex moved heaven and earth to make that a reality. In this they failed. Trump was the ultimate wild card.

Now, not everyone played along. Sen Mitch McConnell performed a spinal transplant on the Senate Republicans and held the pass at Gorsuch Gate. If the GOP nominee lost (as was expected) then the game plan was to go ahead and confirm Merrick Garland, Obama’s nominee. By most accounts a centrist, this wasn’t a bad fall-back plan. There was the hope though that by keeping the seat vacant, the GOP base would come out in droves. It seemed to work.

And so, on Tuesday, Nov 8, 2016, Mr Donald J Trump, of Queens, New York, shocked the hell out of everybody (himself included) and won a decisive victory. He would now be the forty-fifth president of these United States of America.

The old order had been turned upside-down. Just by winning he had short-circuited the political system.

THE INTERREGNUM
Despite the exaltation felt by the masses who voted for him, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to believe it. Not a few of us kept pinching ourselves. Like many of our adversaries on the left, it all seemed like a dream (to them a nightmare). It just couldn’t be! Something didn’t seem right and we were worried that another shoe would drop.

And drop they did. First there was Dr Jill Stein’s lawsuit demanding a recount in the three Rust Belt states that gave the election to Trump. Oh no! not another replay of Florida 2000! That didn’t work. In fact, Trump actually got more votes in the recount! Then there was the asinine “Hamilton Elector” nonsense being put out by all those Hollywood jackasses begging Trump electors to vote for somebody —anybody!–else. At the end of the day, Trump lost two electors, while Hillary lost six! Can you imagine the irony?

Then there were ominous rumblings of Russia somehow “hacking” the election. Pure and utter nonsense then, pure and utter nonsense now. Still, there was an ominous pall between Nov 8 and Jan 20. Something was going to happen to derail the Inauguration, or so we believed.

Indeed, I’d say that Trump himself believed that there was an evil game afoot. Hence, his very careful, methodical statements and appearances. First, he invited Mitt Romney, Mr GOP Establishment himself to come to Trump Tower, not once but twice. The word on the street was that he was going to offer him the position of secretary of State. Speaking for myself, my heart sank as I’m sure it did for many others. Instead, Trump treated him to a nice supper and then sent him outside to tell everybody what a great guy he was. (It was actually kind of a torture if you ask me.) When I saw Romney being forced to bend the knee, not once but twice, something told me that Trump had a few trump cards of his own on the Deep State.

In due time, antagonists such as Leonardo diCaprio and Robert DeNiro made the pilgrimage to Manhattan, as did various captains of industry. This was all rather curious if you ask me. Significant announcements regarding jobs and factories were made in the wake of some of these meetings. Yet more evidence to me at least, that Trump was playing some of those aces up his sleeve. Still, I couldn’t help shake the feeling that Trump was playing for time.

Then there were his many appearances before massive crowds in those swing states that put him over the top. His appearance at the annual Army-Navy football game in Annapolis for example; in which he received a thunderous ovation from the creme de la creme of America’s military and naval elite. His nomination of Gen James Mattis (ret-USMC), perhaps America’s most beloved warrior as secretary of Defense. For good measure, Mattis joined him in some of these venues. It was as if Trump was saying to the Deep State: “Watch it! Be careful, you’re playing with fire.”

THE INAUGURATION
There was a surreal quality to the Inauguration. In the immediate prelude, the Deep State tipped its hand when it it “broke” the story of the “Russian Dossier”, in which we learned that Trump payed two Russian prostitutes to urinate on the bed which Obama had slept on when he was in Moscow.

Like a nemesis, Trump convened a press conference and called out CNN, terming them “Fake News”. Their stock prices continued to plummet. Word on the street is that wealthy Trump backers are looking to purchase CNN and Trump was working in collusion with them in order to make that a reality. I wouldn’t be surprised.

What was the Deep State going to accomplish with this brazen ploy? Did they honestly think that Trump would step aside “for the good of the nation”? If so, then they really are desperate. Oh, it may have worked for the typical Republicuck, the kind who accepts the definitions of what is “honorable” and “decent” as set by the political left. Trump instead came out swinging. Good on him! I said. These people have no moral standing.

Many worried that Obama would pull a fast one; perhaps declare a state of emergency, anything to keep Trump from being inaugurated. Now I realize that this sounds hokey but when certain celebrities and politicians openly called for Obama to do just that, well –you never know.

Trump’s speech itself was a stunning rebuke to the Wilsonian adventurism that marked the previous century. It was dark in the Hobbesian sense; in other words it reflected the reality of the world rather than the Trotskyite ideals that had been foisted upon our nation’s foreign policy. It was an encapsulation of Washington’s warnings, Monroe’s advice and Jackson’s populism. In other words, its vision was American in the original, best sense of the word. As happy as I was to hear them, the dread of knowing that the Deep State was going to marshal its forces could not abate in my heart.

Regardless, Trump kept on going forward. He signed one Executive Order after another, to much pomp and circumstance. Promise after promise was being kept. The economy, by all indicators was improving. Illegal aliens were leaving in significant numbers and illegal border crossing had slowed to a trickle. Trump had changed the landscape in ways that his detractors and not a few of his supporters couldn’t understand. By bold, executive leadership, Trump was making his own luck.

Tactical retreats were being made of course (as they always would). The firing of Gen Flynn was one such. Pulling out of Ryancare the day before the vote was another. But over all, significant ground was being taken. Gorsuch was appointed to the Supreme Court and ten more conservative judges have been nominated to the various Circuit courts. These actions alone will pay political dividends in the long term.

The Democrats for their part, who were now “The Resistance”, were hoping that hatred of Trump would turn into electoral victories in several by-elections. They came up short in all three instances. Here’s a thought: maybe Trump isn’t as widely hated by the American people as they have been screaming at the top of their lungs for six months now?

RUSSIA
The missile strike on Syria was astounding in this respect: the Establishment left folded like a cheap prom date within minutes of the Tomahawks hitting their targets. All of a sudden, Fareed Zakaria solemnly announced that Trump was now “President of all the people” or some such nonsense. From April 6th, the day of the missile strike, until last week, the entire Russian Hacking Narrative went nowhere.

The MOAB stike on Afghanistan was another shocking move, as was turning China away from North Korea. Things were very interesting if you ask me.

In my humble opinion, the Tomahawks were a “one-off”. I said it that night off-line to a couple of my disheartened friends and nothing in the interim has made me change my mind. If the Neocons were hoping that this marked a turnaround and that Trump would turn into George Walker Trump then they would be disappointed. It was not going to happen. Especially when Trump saw his support within the Alt-Right wither overnight. We can quibble with some of the more distasteful elements of the Alt-Right but there is no doubt where they stand on the National Question. And it was the National Question which got Trump elected. There’s an old saying in politics: “You dance with the one that brung ya”.

The Tomahawks were a tactical retreat for Trump assuredly in the sense that they did buy him more time. Further, it discombobulated his critics. But it did something more on the deeper level: it awoke the American people to what a war with Russia in Syria might look like. It brought back images of Iraq, sharpening our memories. Bush 43 has not grown in stature since then. The Neocons are bloodthirsty no doubt; they have no qualms about shedding the blood of Midwestern farmboys and they’ll fight to the last Southerner if that’s what it takes to make Netanyahu happy. But their Wilsonian blandishments have fallen on deaf ears. Iraq is just too close in our collective memory. There’s no way to whitewash it. And as for Russia, well, remind me again why we have to risk nuclear Armageddon because Assad is the Lincoln of Syria?

And so now we are back to Russia. The Tomahawks erased (for the time being) the perception that Trump was Putin’s cup-bearer. But nothing else has worked against Trump in that he keeps on winning. Worse, he seems to have taken back the Nationalist Narrative. His speech before the National Rifle Association was vintage Trump. His speech at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania the next day was even more Trumpian. The Wall has not been rhetorically sidelined, which for those of us beholden to the National Question, is all-important.

How is a Deep State to fight back? With the only thing they have in their arsenal: Russia.

The alleged ties between Russia and the Trump campaign have been put to rest more or less. There is no “there” there. Last night however, someone leaked to The Washington Post that Trump gave “classified” information to the Russians. Despite the screaming nature of the headlines, further examination within the story itself showed that there was less here than met the eye. If anything, it suggests that Trump is going to make a virtue out of necessity and force the Establishment to wear themselves out going down an illusionary rabbit-hole.

The question is why? Why now, when the admittedly nebulous ties between Russia and the Trump campaign have been debunked? The answer I believe lies in the firing of James Comey as Director of he FBI.

To make a long story sort, Trump’s abrupt firing of Comey, when he was away from his desk and in the middle of the news-cycle (as opposed to Fridays when bad news is traditionally dumped) meant that Trump means business. There is no doubt that Trump’s operatives sealed his office and confiscated important files. Files not related to Russia but files related to Hillary Clinton.

And so the Deep State is lashing out.

More to follow.

THIS JUST IN:
Drudge has just reported that Seth Rich, the murdered DNC staffer, was the leaker of the DNC emails to Wikileaks. This means that Trump has the necessary documents from Comey’s office to fight back against the Deep State.

Stay tuned, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

Comments

  1. Tim R. Mortiss says

    But should he tweet, George?

  2. Nate Trost says

    So, on his 5 step journey to the sad! realization that Glorious Leader is, in fact, fundamentally unfit for the office of the President of the United States of America, George Michalopulos is still firmly in the denial stage.

    For the moment, we regretfully must leave aside Mr. Michalopulos impressively earnest attempt to spin the Trump Administration’s first several months of continual incompetence, malice and stupidity into some kind of series of glorious triumphs, for his take on the past week of events is some grade-A delusioneering.

    George Michalopulos wrote
    The alleged ties between Russia and the Trump campaign have been put to rest more or less. There is no “there” there.

    Categorically untrue. Just because Glorious Leader says it, and George Michalopulos believes it, doesn’t make it reality. A certain former FBI director certainty seems to disagree with Mr. Michalopulos.

    And speaking of that FBI director!

    George Michalopulos wrote
    The answer I believe lies in the firing of James Comey as Director of he FBI. To make a long story sort, Trump’s abrupt firing of Comey, when he was away from his desk and in the middle of the news-cycle (as opposed to Fridays when bad news is traditionally dumped) meant that Trump means business. There is no doubt that Trump’s operatives sealed his office and confiscated important files. Files not related to Russia but files related to Hillary Clinton.

    What ridiculous nonsense! Leaving aside the fact that the FBI does not work that way, there are no bankers boxes labeled “Hillary Criminal Secrets” sitting in the FBI directors office, this is a ludicrous attempt at pretending we live in an alternate reality where Trump by virtue of who he is didn’t tip his hand on the Comey by not being able to keep his mouth shut, both in private and in public. And while Trump is in over his head with everyone, domestic and foreign, he clearly didn’t comprehend the consequences of trying to lean on Comey.

    George Michalopulos wrote
    Last night however, someone leaked to The Washington Post that Trump gave “classified” information to the Russians. Despite the screaming nature of the headlines, further examination within the story itself showed that there was less here than met the eye.

    You probably should have refrained from his hot take after Trump’s own tweet this morning, the Russian leaks/boasting today, the utter hash the White House has made of attempting to explain/justify, and the disclosure that it seems like Trump burned Israeli intelligence with his loose lips. This would have been embarrassing to have posted last night, at this point it is just pitiable. I don’t know if there will ever be a better example of engaging in willing partisan selective blindness, cognitive dissonance, and double standards than this episode, but I can’t put it past Trump to think of something even more outrageous!

    George Michalopulos wrote
    THIS JUST IN:
    Drudge has just reported that Seth Rich, the murdered DNC staffer, was the leaker of the DNC emails to Wikileaks. This means that Trump has the necessary documents from Comey’s office to fight back against the Deep State.

    And here we have the height of the delusion. At a moment when Glorious Leader has actually damaged the national security and relationships of both the United States and allied countries, let us invent murder fantasies about a political email dump so benign, people had to invent scandals in it from whole cloth.

    The family of Seth Rich and law enforcement are not amused by your shenanigans. I would almost think Mr. Michalopulos was joking, but then I remember he was literally stupid enough to think Pizzagate was a credible thing. And to get his news from sites that drive people like Mr. Michalopulos to harass the parents of slain children out of belief that they are actors paid by the government and their children weren’t real.

    It had been too long since one of these political posts, they are like a delicious chocolate cream pie served with two scoops of idiocy.

    • George Michalopulos says

      Glad to hear from you Nate! It’s been awhile. You’ve always been a reliable bell-weather on what not to believe. As usual, you don’t disappoint.

      Where to begin? Trump is “unfit” for office? As opposed to Obama who thought that there were 57 states or didn’t know whether he was a Moslem or a Christian? Who destroyed Libya and allowed thousands of refugees to rape and pillage Europe? That’s just a tip of the iceberg, I’d rather not bring up his incipient fascism. How many reporters did he prosecute? Eight? How many thousands of drone strikes has he perpetrated?

      Just because you don’t agree with his policies (and I don’t agree with all) doesn’t make him “unfit”.

      As for the alleged Russian collusion with Trump, by all means keep on going down that illusory rabbit-hole. None of Obama’s intel chiefs believed that there was any evidence of Russian collusion. Even Sen Feinstein said so, but be my guest, go on believing it.

      How do you “know” that the FBI doesn’t “work that way”? Under Comey’s maladministration, the FBI Director acted in unprecedented and unethical fashion, not once, but twice. First on July 5, when he had a press conference all but accusing Hillary Clinton of high crimes and misdemeanors and then again eleven days before the election when he released the infamous Weiner letter, which probably sealed her fate.

      I realize that these are unfortunate facts but they are facts nonetheless.

      Regarding Pedogate, it’s been dropped for the time being. I’m curious as to why this is but so be it. Regardless, there is a creepiness factor regarding that entire episode that will never quite go away.

      Regarding Seth Rich, do you really want to go there? Aren’t you just a little bit curious that this young man, who had a wonderful future, was shot in a “robbery” where nothing was taken from him? And that Julian Assange posted a $20,000 reward for any information regarding this tragedy? Or are you so McCarthyite in your inner being that you believe what nobody else believes –that Russia got a hold of the DNC emails by hacking the DNC servers?

      • The family of S. Rich says there is a special place in hell for right wing conspiracy theorists who will twist his death into a political turd.

        Got your asbestos suit ready?

        The debunking occured long ago, but if he leaked DNC emails to wikileaks; why didn’t wikileaks say he was the source? It is a simple question.

        Of course, we live in an era of alternative facts and a President who is struggling a bit with reality, so what the hell; make some more shit up.

        • George Michalopulos says

          Somebody has gotten to the Rich family. The PI they hired is not as sanguine as they appear to be.

  3. Anonymouse says

    The “muh Russia” thing is getting so terribly old.

  4. The thing to take into account here is how big a transition the Executive Branch and the other branches will have to make in order for Trumpism/Putinism to take power in America. I’ve always said it was 6-5 and you pick’em because it can’t be done within the framework of the current political system. It can theoretically be done within the current Constitutional system since a constitution is just words on paper to be interpreted by whomever can pack the high court.

    Note: I’ve never been particularly concerned with whether the whole Trump candidacy and election victory was an FSB operation or not. From the perspective of an Orthodox monarchist, it’s irrelevant. If it was, thank God they took the time and effort to do God’s work and try to set America right after what we have done in the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, not to mention our moral decadence which pollutes the entire globe. Whether it was an FSB operation or not, it certainly was divine intervention of one variety or another. The only thing is that even divinely ordained leaders retain free will (aka, they reserve the right to f things up in fits of faithless stupidity and lack of resolve).

    I mean, really, either the Russians hacked the actual voting machines to falsify the will of the people in the voting booth, or the Russian connection is much ado about nothing because anybody can and should try to affect an election by introducing the truth into the pool of ideas; regardless of their ethnicity or country of origin. If it was a Russian operation, it was only revenge for the Ukrainian coup d’etat.

    What is necessary and what will happen unless Trump is to go down as an inglorious failure is that he will have to concentrate autocratic power in the American executive as Putin has in the Russian executive. So when you speak of this or that little political battle or that little military incident, it is best not to get too excited.

    I repeat, if Trump is not staging a coup d’etat to replace the current American form of government with a dominant party/”sovereign democracy”/autocratic model of power, he is wasting his time and ours. That’s the only way you get the policies he promised in place to begin with, let alone to stay. Thus, as I have always said, the question is whether he is Saul or David. At this point, he seems to be veering hard into incoherent Saul territory (recall that Saul more or less went half crazed with faithlessness and even attempted to murder David).

    My sights have turned to Islam since I honestly don’t think anything can be accomplished in the political arena unless and until Trump starts acting like a king and succeeds in accumulating enough political power in the executive to be able to make it stick. Failing that, feminism and the perv culture remain dug in and Islam continues to slowly win a war of attrition against what was formerly Christendom.

    In the end, the pressures will collapse Western liberal democracy. It simply cannot withstand assault from the ummah (the Islamic community) and a concerted effort of Russia and its allies abroad in the United States and Western Europe. “Flyover country” is not going to give up on the new populism, whatever happens to Trump. Someone much more organized and dangerous (in a good way) will arise if he fails.

    • Misha, if you prefer the Russian system of government, and you really like what Putin is doing, etc etc, why don’t you just move there? People move between countries all the time now. Surely there’s a job for a Russophile like you somewhere between St. Petersburg and Vladivostok.

  5. Nate Trost says

    Your attempts to make potshots at Obama are belied at this point in time by the simple exercise of taking interview transcripts of President Obama and those of President Trump and comparing them. Nothing is a more damning condemnation of the deficiencies of Trump than his own words, verbatim.

    Although a close second would be the endless stream of stories out of the White House about how his own staff and cabinet treat him like a giant toddler.

    George Michalopulos wrote
    As for the alleged Russian collusion with Trump, by all means keep on going down that illusory rabbit-hole. None of Obama’s intel chiefs believed that there was any evidence of Russian collusion. Even Sen Feinstein said so, but be my guest, go on believing it.

    None of this is accurate. As usual, it is taking an element of nuance or distinction in statements and distorting it beyond any truthful interpretation. What a surprise. At best you are overreaching in summarizing the opinion of people not being willing to prejudge investigation until conclusion. Which is an impressive feat considering the endless billowing smoke. To say no details have so far been released proving direct collusion would be a perfectly fair statement. To say it has been ruled out entirely is not. And your track record in this arena is rather poor, in that you would take statements about a lack of evidence of Russia doing something like attempting to alter voting totals and attempt to use it to claim Russia didn’t engage in hacking and propaganda operations targeting the election process, which clearly did happen. You are far from an honest narrator in these matters, although I think less from malicious sophistry and more from lack of critical thinking capability.

    George Michalopulos wrote
    How do you “know” that the FBI doesn’t “work that way”?

    From absorbing material written by people who work for with with the relevant agency, the FBI in this case. As opposed to your methodology, which appears to involve getting your scoops from the equivalent of a bum in an alley taking a long pull from a brown paper bag. But he’s wearing a MAGA hat, so you trust him! And please, you aren’t nearly talented enough at concern trolling to work the Comey handling of the Clinton email saga.

    George Michalopulos wrote
    Regarding Pedogate, it’s been dropped for the time being. I’m curious as to why this is but so be it. Regardless, there is a creepiness factor regarding that entire episode that will never quite go away.

    It is, of course, totally unsurprising that it never even enters into George Michalopulos mind that the reason it’s been dropped was that it was never true in the first place. And that, by virtue of it being untrue, certain entities pushing it (whom also possess money from, say, peddling ‘supplements’ for ‘male vitality’) realized they were opening themselves up to significant legal liability. It will “never quite go away” because little-fish serial internet slanderers like George Michalopulos aren’t worth going after and face no consequences for their actions.

    George Michalopulos wrote
    Regarding Seth Rich, do you really want to go there?

    Why yes I do. Yes I want to go there. Not because I have any hope you’ll abandon clinging to unsupported conspiracy theories, but because it is always fun to watch you beclown yourself doing so.

    • George Michalopulos says

      As usual, you cannot justify Obama’s malfeasances so you choose to elide over them. Yes, Obama was a more careful rhetor, speaking in more measured tones. His pants were elegantly creased. So what? America went under a Minor Depression under him and our global standing under his stewardship is at Carteresque levels. Those are facts.

      Curiously, in your earlier answer in which you asserted the fundamental unfitness of Trump to be president you made absolutely no mention of his opponent. I don’t think that was an omission on your part. Because you know how that would have played out ad arguendo. In fact, I’m picking up much the same radio silence from the left regarding Felonia Milhouse von Pantsuit. My guess is that the left hopes that the drumbeat against Trump will drown out all the unpleasant memories of Mdme Clinton. That people will somehow forget all about her manifest defects and somehow reassociate the name Clinton with Bubba Bill. In much the same way that the Bush moniker was rehabilitated enough after eight years of Bubba Bill to elect George W to the presidency. (Let’s face it, he couldn’t have made it on his own merits.)

      If so, they may be gravely mistaken. Yesterday, Smoking Joe Biden gave a speech in Las Vegas in which he crapped all over the Missus. Indeed, things are so bad for the Democrats on the presidential front that they are now grooming Dwayne Johnson (“The Rock”) a former professional wrestler and sometime comedic movie actor to head up their ticket in 2020. (The Rock it should be noted was a Republican until fairly recently.)

      Regarding Pizzagate, I continue to hold my fire. It’s interesting that one of Megyn Kelly’s last news assignments at FOX was spent trying to discredit Pizzagate. It was all rather sudden and quite tidy if you ask me. It’s not a rabbit hole but it’s not nothing either. Others will take it up. As well as Jeffrey Epstein’s Pedophile Island in due time and in due season. And you will look like a fool.

      OK, Seth Rich. Well, well, well. Looks like Sweden’s rape charges against Julian Assange are being dropped and Ecuador is asking the UK for his safe passage out of their embassy. Let us see where this will take us regarding the late Mr Rich. Also, an email from Podesta which talks about “teaching people a lesson” was just released the other day as well. Some serious dots are getting ready to be connected. The possibility that you will have egg on your face on this one is quite great. Given that you are a political liberal, you might want to rethink your opposition to the Woodward-Bernstein style antics employed by Assange.

      Apropos nothing at all: how do you feel about the career of Julian Assange? Is he a gadfly-hero standing up for liberty against oppressive governments in your eyes? A simple yes or no would suffice.

      • Nate Trost says

        George Michalopulos wrote
        America went under a Minor Depression under him and our global standing under his stewardship is at Carteresque levels. Those are facts.

        No, they are not facts. Just because you do not actually remember the timeline of events of the Great Recession, doesn’t mean your addled view of history is factual.

        George Michalopulos wrote
        Curiously, in your earlier answer in which you asserted the fundamental unfitness of Trump to be president you made absolutely no mention of his opponent.

        Because she lost, and at this point is irrelevant, except in that all the real or perceived flaws and failings you believed she possessed, you are now doomed to watch Trump magnify ten or a hundred times over from the Oval Office.

        At this point, it is apparent why you want to keep flogging the Hillary horse: it’s just spin to try and deflect from the abject failings of your Glorious Leader, which were adequately foretold ahead of time. But you were lost to your delusion.

        I say again, you desperately want Hillary to be relevant, but unfortunately for you, she is not actually President, Trump is, and it is on that which we must focus.

        George Michalopulos wrote
        OK, Seth Rich. Well, well, well. Looks like Sweden’s rape charges against Julian Assange are being dropped and Ecuador is asking the UK for his safe passage out of their embassy.

        The reporting on this is sloppy. If Assange ever leaves the embassy, the investigation can still be reopened. He doesn’t run out the statute of limitations until 2020. That Ecuador would really, really like to see the last of him, and especially before 2020, I think can be taken as a given.

        George Michalopulos wrote
        Given that you are a political liberal

        For the millionth time, you infer political leanings on me by basis of my criticism of you. Let me gently remind you that you simultaneously overestimate my liberality while underestimating to the degree I find you and your views despicable, pitiable and all around repugnant. Although I suppose “Given that you think I am an idiot” doesn’t give you the same rhetorical set up to your attempts at melee.

        George Michalopulos wrote
        The possibility that you will have egg on your face on this one is quite great.

        From a supporter and true believer in Glorious Leader on the day of Our Lord, May 20, 2017, this is truly delusional.

        George Michalopulos wrote
        Woodward-Bernstein style antics

        Based on your recent writings, transport you back in time to 1974 and you’d be ranting about Woodward and Bernstein, the fake news corporate media cucks.

        George Michalopulos wrote
        Apropos nothing at all: how do you feel about the career of Julian Assange? Is he a gadfly-hero standing up for liberty against oppressive governments in your eyes? A simple yes or no would suffice.

        A firm No. Although given that he’s an egomaniacal narcissist who is probably a rapist, given your enthusiasm for Trump, I can see why you’re fond of the guy, especially once he effectively turned into a Russian catspaw.

        • George Michalopulos says

          Nate, I stand by every word I wrote. The only reason that we haven’t called our economic malaise a “Depression” is because, unlike the previous Great Depression, the vast majority of are living on debt instruments. Things like credit cards, mortgages and refis.

          Again, in the question as to whether he is “fit” or unfit, you can’t answer the basic question, and that is: was Hillary fit? Wise of you to ignore that.

          Now, I’m gonna go a little further afield on the “fitness” question. Was the teetotaling, monogamous, devout George W Bush “fit”? How about the rapist Bill Clinton? I’ll elide over the Ford-Carter-Reagan-Bush 41 decades as these men appeared to be above reproach. (I’ll leave aside the question of the failed presidencies of all of them but Reagan.) How about Nixon? Fit if you ask me in that he was a superb grand strategist. Arguable though.

          How about LBJ? After the horrible years of his tenure, he crawled into a bottle and let his hair grow long. JFK? I like his vision, especially about secret societies and the Federal Reserve but let’s be honest, he had the greatest zipper problem in history.

          Yeah, you see; if being witty and urbane, if knowing which fork to use for which serving constitutes “fitness” give me a crude vulgarian who puts ketchup *blechhh* on his well-done steak *triple blechhh!* any day of the week.

          As for your touching faith in our Corporate Media and how it has curated the news of Seth Rich –well, I’d buckle up if I were you.

          • Michael Bauman says

            There have been very few “fit” Presidents in our history if any. There is not one who did not have signifificant problems of one kind or another: personally, ethically, morally, spiritually or politically.

            The fitness rant is just that, a rant used by unhinged loosers who can’t believe that people don’t agree with them. Ubermenschen in training and by vocation.

            Name one man in our history who has been “fit” to be President. Washington might be the only one. James Madison and James Monroe? The rest? Quite a list of venal or ineffective or alcohol addicted or power mad or sexual predators or all of the above.

            Many of them would not even get on a ballot anywhere in the US for any elective office these days. Most of them I would never want to meet. Some seriously creepy.

            So, it just does not matter. The only fitness standard is that the person be a natural born citizen of the US age 35 who has spent the last 14 years residing in the US. That is it.

            The rest is ideological bull crap. You don’t want someone as President, don’t vote for them and abide by the results. Shut up, in other words.

            Politics is a dirty game and no one comes out clean or fit. What is done or not done is the standard. How much money can you control?

          • Nate Trost says

            Simple.

            Presidential candidates (winning and losing) in the last 40 years who, despite assorted faults and failings, and political alignment, were nonetheless fundamentally fit to take the office of the President:

            Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Walter Mondale, George HW Bush, Michael Dukakis, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George W Bush, John Kerry, Barack Obama, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton

            Unfit:

            Donald Trump

            This was manifestly apparent before the election, and has been continually proven true since. C’est la vie.

            George Michalopulos wrote
            Nate, I stand by every word I wrote.

            George Michalopulos standing by incorrect statements based on false facts is nothing new. It’s kind of his thing. It’s just extraordinary when he bases them on misremembering a calendar of events involving major historical actions a mere decade ago that we all lived through. George Michalopulos misstatements are equivalent to as if he claimed the USSR was defeated and broke up under Bill Clinton.

            Saying Obama inherited the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression is an accurate statement. Saying America “went under it” is not. If you do not understand why, there is clearly no hope for you.

            As to your second “global standing” opinion, you once again treat opinion as fact, and for all the Obama Administrations foreign policy failings, have kind of a tough row to hoe when you look at the record of what preceded him, and what….is coming after. But really, when you can’t even get your facts right I have little interest in arguing with you in areas of opinion.

            • George Michalopulos says

              Thank you for walking into my trap: Bill Clinton, serial rapist, woman abuser and all-around misogynist is “fit”. Okaaaayyyyy.

              Then there’s Barack Obama, whom we are informed by his latest biographer that he “decided against homosexuality” when he was back in college. That he dumped his long-time Eurasian girlfriend because she wasn’t black (is he a racist?). Then there’s his heroic exploits in The Choom Gang.

              (Regarding his “decision” to not be homosexual, doesn’t this fly against the catechism of the All-holy Sodomite ReligionTM that homosexuals don’t (read: can’t) choose their sexual orientation? I get the distinct feeling that the entire sodomist enterprise is getting ready to collapse upon itself. But that’s a story for another day.)

              • Nate Trost says

                You are playing yourself. Everything that applies to Clinton applies to Trump, so if in your book they make Clinton ‘unfit’, well, I have bad news for you. Trump has a long list of failings on top of Clinton’s.

                I think it is also worth noting that Bill Clinton’s behavior would disqualify him from a nomination in the Democratic party in 2016, it isn’t 1992 anymore. Trump’s, however, was not only not an obstacle in the GOP of 2016, but just make chumps like George Michalopulos double down and continue to degrade what little scraps honor and integrity they had left defending him.

                George Michalopulos wrote
                Then there’s Barack Obama

                Which Obama, the actual Obama or the fever swamp George Michalopulos version of Obama?

                George Michalopulos wrote
                Regarding his “decision” to not be homosexual, doesn’t this fly against the catechism

                1) Bisexuals exist, thank you very much.
                2) Methinks conservative bloggerdom doth sensationalize perhaps a bit much.
                3) Given the verbal abuse and denigration George Michalopulos has directed at Michelle Obama, can one really rule out that he might have a secret crush on Barack? Is that what this is all about? Just asking questions!

                • George Michalopulos says

                  Wrong Nate: Trump has never sexually assaulted a woman. Nor for that matter has he made sexual favors the condition of employment in his various business dealings.

                  Is he a cad? Check. Is he a boor? Check. But so is Clinton. And yet Clinton actually committed felonies of a sexual nature (as mentioned above).

                  • Nate Trost says

                    George Michalopulos wrote
                    Wrong Nate: Trump has never sexually assaulted a woman.

                    Hahahaha, oh please. A lot of named women came forth to say otherwise. And unlike Clinton, Trump boasted about his ability to do so. The difference between Clinton and Trump, is that you like Trump and hate Clinton, so you accept the accounts of one set of women and demonize the other. Your inconsistency is laid bare for all the world to see. The difference between us is, I can hold both Clinton and Trump in contempt for their misdeeds towards women. You cannot, and will excuse one but not the other.

                    George Michalopulos wrote
                    Nor for that matter has he made sexual favors the condition of employment in his various business dealings.

                    I haven’t checked to see if any of the accusations against Trump include this caveat, although if they did, one can guarantee you’d call the women liars.

            • If Trump were not “fit” for office, he would certainly have been vetted out before the election; i.e., if “fit” means capable of discharging the duties of president, which he has done. You may not like the manner in which he has discharged his duties . . .

              And that’s sad.

              But that’s why God made future elections and antidepressants.

            • Michael Bauman says

              Nate, maybe two of that list were, by lowered standards we’re fit. Maybe.

              Certainly there are many who were substantially less fit than Trump on your list starting with Michael Dukakis and moving forward. Obama was a joke. You will just have to suffer through our clown as we did yours.

              Trump is a vulgar brash man. Unfit? Probably, but no more unfit than the pile of political caca that has been foisted on us by our nihilist overlords. Trump is probably beholden to them too but not as obviously.

              • Nate Trost says

                Michael Bauman wrote
                You will just have to suffer through our clown as we did yours.

                You mean Bush? I voted for him twice. Obama zero times. You’re falling into the trap of assuming my inclinations just because I’m hard on Michalopulos for being publically dumb on the Internet. But for all my criticisms of Obama, he was neither a clown or a joke. Trump is actually worse than a clown and worse than a joke.

                At any rate, your routine is tiresome, you are like a combination of Eeyore and John McCain, everyone is awful, everything is horrible, no one is fit, this is such a sinful wretched world, but then you’ll fall in line and punch a straight ticket despite your token criticism. I find it pretty pointless to engage with you, but I do make exceptions when directly engaged.

                • Michael Bauman says

                  There is no hope in politics so why should I pretend that there is? Obama was a malicious clown. Bush II a friendly clown, Clinton an evil clown, Bush I an entilted clown, etc.

                  The political game is played for nihilist reasons and solely about chaos, death and destruction.

                  Fortunately Christ is Risen. The Ressurection is real. The rest is a shadow play of buffoonery and evil all an attempt to deny the Cross.

                  If I must elect people to hold public office I’d just as soon have a buffoon than an ideolog. Buffoons only kill you by accident. Ideologs kill you on purpose thinking they are doing good.

                  The latter kind of folks are those that killed Christ and those that follow Him.

          • http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2017/05/24/manchester_political_upheaval_and_the_wipeout_of_the_global_left_112355.html

            This is an interesting analysis. It more or less goes down the same road that we’ve been discussing here. I call it “Rightism”. It is not American Conservatism. It is the Western equivalent of Russian sovereign democracy, which is very sovereign and only superficially democratic.

            And it’s about time.

            This is both scathing and excellent:

            http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447864/trump-critics-left-right-want-him-removed

            Meanwhile, slowly, the Brits may be awakening:

            https://www.city-journal.org/html/enabling-murder-15209.html

        • George Michalopulos says

          Oh no! It looks like St Obama actually did illegally spy on American citizens! What’s an honest liberal (*ahem*) to do?

          http://circa.com/politics/barack-obamas-team-secretly-disclosed-years-of-illegal-nsa-searches-spying-on-americans

        • Nate:

          In light of the hostility with which you express yourself, it’s hard to believe you suffer under the misaprehension that you are a Christian, much less an Orthodox Christian. Your writing and your bile are oppressive and depressing. I’d pity you if you weren’t such an arrogant jerk.

      • Assange is definitely on any good American’s shit list.

        That’s all folks.

  6. Being pro life and in total global warming denial is another mix of good and bad common to the best liars techniques. Shokova, Beckwith, Wadington, McPherson and Dane Wigington are experts in their filed research, who go into the physical fields and do research. Half the globes oxygen producers are dead already. Trees, and coral reef plankton. All life in the sea dies is an absolutely certain biblical prediction, the 2nd bowl of the Wrath of God. Infallible prophesy.from thee last chapter in the Book of Revelation. These scientists have arrived, quite unhappily with the exact same conclusions . The only good that can come out of this is, genuine repentance and the end of abortion. Enough is enough. Time to take a look at what time it is. Live the Vision, it’s the only Way to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. The exact timing on this is still unpredictable by men. The chemtrails are deadly to what is living and ineffective against global warming. There will come a time,when it is time to destroys those who destroyed the earth. Absolute Truth. You might even survive to see it.but only if the Holy God allows it.

  7. “The alleged ties between Russia and the Trump campaign have been put to rest more or less. There is no “there” there.”

    Why George, I thought a Putin fanboy like you would have thought having Russian assets in the White House like Trump and Flynn was actually a good thing!

    • George Michalopulos says

      I know. I was really looking forward to an open bromance between Vladimir and The Donald. I was especially looking forward to Russian NGOs forcing Millenials to attend Akathists and imposing rigorous fasting during the various Fasts.

      I guess we’ll never know what it was like to be controlled by the Kremlin now.

      *sigh*

  8. Michael Bauman says

    My perdiction is that he will be the first President impeached solely for political reasons with no high crimes. The only misdemenors being the sheer hatred the our nihilist overlords have for him. Obama got a pass on eveeything.

    Violence will increase. The country will not hold together. How long? No idea but that is the direction politics are going.

    I think I have recognized the difference between Dems and Repubs: Dems want power and wealth; Repubs want influence and wealth. How they are perceived matters greatly to them. The Dems don’t give a damn about anyone or anything as long as they have power. Least of all how they are perceived.

    • George Michalopulos says

      Michael, civil violence is coming. It may be an all-out civil war (a real one this time) but I’m thinking more along the lines of intra-regional violence. Those living in the Red states will be more insulated from this violence while those living in the Blue states will be more impacted.

      We must remember that outside of New England and the Pacific Northwest, there are no organic “Blue” states. If you look at Illinois for example, its a gigantic Blue island (Chicago) surrounded by Red counties. This was the demographic plan of the left and we could see it working in Texas (Houston, Dallas, Austin which are bluish), Atlanta, Birmingham, Omaha, Kansas City, etc. The idea was to accentuate the size of these Blue islands in comparison to the Red counties that ring them, thereby turning Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Nebraska and Missouri (for example) into Purple states.

      Julian Castro, the cultural Marxist who was head of HUD in the Obama Administration was implementing plans to do just that through Section 8 housing vouchers. As well as flood the zone with illegal aliens. I can’t stress this enough: say what you will about Trump, his policies and/or the execution thereof, he totally upset this apple-cart. Hence my belief that all we have gained at the end of the day is a respite, possibly a reprieve.

      So far, things seems to be working: illegal aliens are being deported in significant numbers and illegal immigration itself has slowed to a trickle. Curiously, I can’t help but think about Michigan, why it went Red. My guess is that Detroit, which is the Blue stronghold that makes Michigan Blue has been ethnically cleansed. I’m guessing that this is what is going to happen to Chicago in the near future.

      If this is true, then the “bluening” of Dallas, Houston, Birmingham, etc. has been stopped dead in its tracks. Baltimore (and hence, Maryland) has no hope. It will be a dystopic hellhole for several generation.

      What do you think?

      • Michael Bauman says

        What do I think? Satan is the instigator of such chaos. It really is nihilism in action-the active destruction of all morals and cultural values to pave the way for the Ubermensch.

        It has been going on for a long time here. Possibly since the founding of this country. Accelerated rapidly after WWII.

        The time for cultural conversion is past. There is nothing in the culture to convert.

        The Cross, the grave and the glorious third day ressurection is what remains.

        Let us be watching and praying.

      • Estonian Slovak says

        George, I presume you’re aware of the Republican candidate in Montana who allegedly pushed an aggresive reporter to the ground because the latter got in his face and wouldn’t leave him alone.

        Such are the tactics of the Leftists of today and the Nazis before them. Harass and shout down your opposition. Then when you finally provoke someone to react , you claim victim status. In 1938, when Hitler claimed parts of Czechoslovakia populated by ethnic Germans, he had his minions use just such tactics. Some Nazis were harassing Czech Border Guards until one Czech officer lost his temper and slapped his tormenter’s face. The Nazis finally had something; their headlines read, “Savage horsewhipping by Bestial Czech.” Old Hitler and Goebbels would no doubt have approved of the agressive reporter.

        • George Michalopulos says

          ES, I was so happy to hear the earliest reports of Gianforte’s shoving match. Alas, I had hoped that he put that Pajama-boy reporter in the hospital but it was not to be. Hopefully next time the conservative candidate will come out swinging and do some real damage.

          • Nate Trost says

            Oh George Michalopulos, you sweet summer child, you actually believe it was a ‘shoving match’ and not an unprovoked assault.

            George Michalopulos wrote
            Alas, I had hoped that he put that Pajama-boy reporter in the hospital but it was not to be.

            Haha, wow. And of course, that remark won’t even weigh on your conscience, such as it is.

            George Michalopulos wrote
            Hopefully next time the conservative candidate will come out swinging and do some real damage.

            But if a Democrat did it to a Breitbart reporter, George Michalopulos will happily call them a thug and demand their imprisonment!

            But if he’s a conservative, George Michalopulos demands felony assault from his lawmakers!

            • George Michalopulos says

              Nate, all the violence has been done by the left. And I mean all the violence.

              While I don’t advocate violence against the left, are you so naive to believe that you snowflakes on the left aren’t inviting an inevitable retribution? How stupid to believe such an idiotic thing! There’s an old saying: “it takes two to tango”.

              • Nate Trost says

                George Michalopulos wrote
                Nate, all the violence has been done by the left. And I mean all the violence.

                Gianforte is a leftist? News to all of us! Especially him!

                George Michalopulos wrote
                While I don’t advocate violence against the left

                1) If you don’t consider the Guardian reporter “liberal media” this might be a true statement
                2) If you do, you literally advocated violence ‘against the left’ a couple posts up. I even quoted it.

                • George Michalopulos says

                  I never said Gianforte’s a leftist. I merely said that since Trump’s election 99.9999999% of all violence is perpetrated by the Snowflakes and their various auxiliaries.

                  • Nate Trost says

                    Between Gianforte and the Portland attack just in the last few days, your claim of “all” (to me) or 99.9999999% (to somebody else) is laughably, pathetically false.

                    “It’s all the left!” proclaims the guy who expressed disappointment that a conservative politican physically injured a journalist but failed to do so badly enough to require hospitalization. And then in the next breath calls the supposed ‘snowflakes’ violent!

                    • George Michalopulos says

                      Gee Nate, there’s no one (1) supposedly right-winger who committed an act of violence. As opposed to (how many?) hundreds of acts of violence committed by the Snowflake Brigade?

                      I saw a meme several months ago about all the great assassins in American history. All were either Democrats, Anarchists or Communists. As David Letterman used to say: “kinda makes you go ‘hmmmm'”.

                    • George Michalopulos says
                    • George Michalopulos says
                    • Nate Trost says

                      Nice try. The dude was effusive of Trump, attended alt-right and white supremacist events, and ran in far right circles. The Sanders/Stein comes across as trolling, which is pretty much the official alt-right sport. It’s another attempt at grasping at something to avoid recognizing which corner the guy was from. Despite my long history of voting Republican or Libertarian you call me a prog-lib, leftist or liberal, so it’s not like I expect consistency from you on this matter.

                      But that wasn’t an isolated incident, just a few severe recent ones have been similar, like this guy:

                      http://www.talkmedianews.com/us-news/2017/05/22/fbi-probes-fatal-stabbing-army-officer-university-md-campus-possible-hate-crime/

                      Or these guys
                      http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article137067888.html

                      “Trump unbound” unbinds an escalating level of far right/white supremacist violence. And it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Especially if traditional federal law enforcement tasking against these groups gets redirected to other priorities.

                      George Michalopulos
                      there’s no one (1) supposedly right-winger who committed an act of violence. As opposed to (how many?) hundreds of acts of violence committed by the Snowflake Brigade?

                      Go ahead, try to document hundreds. Remember, for all your handwringing about protesters at Milo speeches, the couple that went looking to provoke violence and ended up shooting a guy were, yup, right-wing Milo supporters

                      Some choice quotes:

                      ““I can’t wait for tomorrow. I’m going to the milo event and if the snowflakes get out off hand I’m going to wade through their ranks and start cracking skulls.””

                      Or this guy, part of a group that allegedly yelled “race war” and “trump 2016” before opening fire:

                      http://www.cbsnews.com/news/minnesota-man-who-shot-5-black-lives-matter-protesters-found-guilty/

                      Choice quotes, oh, well, the exhibits of his text messages from the trial are revealing.

                    • George Michalopulos says

                      Criticize all you want, Nate. At the end of the day, political movements are impersonal. Because they are impersonal, they are subject to impersonal forces. Violence always begets violence. It’s not right but it’s unavoidable.

                      Think for a minute about other (impersonal) forces that take on lives of their own and destroy their creators. One such Frankenstein’s monster was the scandal of sexual harassment. It was created to take out a conservative black man but in the end it took down a liberal white president. Another one was the Fourteenth Amendment. This law, more than anything prevented Al Gore from selectively counting only those votes from three heavily-Democratic counties.

                      The left let the genie of brown-shirted violence out of the bottle. Think long and hard about the people you lionize. The people that the left is terrorizing through their BLM/Antifa tactics are heavily armed.

                • Look, Nate,

                  They’re all thugs at that level. And you should thank God for it. America has some heavy duty enemies and needs huskies and German Shepherds to guard the poodles from the wolves.

                  Thugs/Ganstas sometimes make good decisions, sometimes bad. But when Trump herded those women to one of the debates with Hillary – women who had accused Bill of all sorts of mischief – he was trying to send a signal. He’s actually been trying to be relatively civil about it up until the Comey thing.

                  His message is basically that we’re all ganstas and we just have different agendas. Don’t be holier than thou and continue to pretend before the public otherwise because you’re going to be called on it relentlessly. He’s speaking truth to power, in a way. His facts sometimes are f’d up. He’s bright, but he’s Archie Bunker on steroids. Actually, Archie Bunker on steroids with a bottomless bank account, lotsa connections, a modicum of common sense and self preservation regarding himself and his country – that’s exactly what we need right now.

                  He very well might fix trade to the betterment of the blue collar class that put him in office. When he gets around to infrastructure, that will help too. He shares the Democrats’ indifference to deficit spending, though he makes a bit of a show to the contrary.

                  I have no doubt that if some Dems crossed the aisle that he would work with them on redistribution so long as it was not attached to feminism or perversion – just straight class largesse.

                  The man isn’t stupid. Stupid people don’t attain the presidency.

          • Given the resistance that Trump is getting in the courts against his last travel ban order, and the stakes involved, I assume the gloves are going to come off in a variety of contexts, literally, and that the political situation will grow increasingly physical.

            So be it.

        • Wow, a reporter asks a question about health care and that counts as harassment. Somebody call the waaaambulance! Gianforte is a little snowflake who has to be protected from people who make him mad. He can’t help but lash out in violence, like an Islamist seeing the name Muhammad blasphemed. Waaaaaahhhhh!

          And you, George, advocating violence against reporters – calm down. This sort of brainless tribalism has to stop (on both sides of the aisle). I’m reminded of the Star Wars scene where Luke and Darth Vader are fighting and the Emperor tells Luke, “Good…use your aggressive feelings, boy…let the hate flow through you…”

          • George Michalopulos says

            Tell you what Matt, you condemn all the violence committed by the left since Trump’s election (99.99999% of all political violence) and then I’ll castigate Mr Gianforte.

            Fair enough?

            • Estonian Slovak says

              Yes, he can start by condemning the loser who attacked Michael Savage when the latter was at a restaurant having dinner!

              • George Michalopulos says

                I forgot about that. Or the Congressman in Tennessee who was almost run over by an angry constituent.

  9. We must remember, starting with the first Republican Debate, Trump declared war on the establishment running our nation’s capital, both Replublican and Democrat! If I remember correctly he called all the politicians at that first debate idiots, and they are ruining our nations with one bad deal after the next.

    Trump fired the first shot, and must expect, and fight the mother of all political wars. This is exactly what he is getting. Worse he has few allies. Most Republicans don’t like him, and all Democrats hate him. Say what you want about Democrats, when one of theirs is attacked they circle the wagons and protect their own. When a Republican is attacked, the Republicans circle the wagons, and shoot into the circle!

    For sure the dream of the establishment of D.C. is impeach or get Trump to resign, then go after and do the same to Pence. Then they get Paul Ryan, whom they can all live with, and control.

    • Archpriest Alexander F. C. Webster says

      RE: “Say what you want about Democrats, when one of theirs is attacked they circle the wagons and protect their own. When a Republican is attacked, the Republicans circle the wagons, and shoot into the circle!”

      Dino, that quip is almost as witty and perceptive as this classic contrast usually attributed to the conservative columnist Samuel T. Francis (who heard it in 1989 from an old friend of mine and fellow Orthodox Christian, James George Jatras, who was serving as a foreign policy staffer on the Republican Senate Policy Committee):

      “There is the stupid party. And there is the evil party. I am proud to be a member of the stupid party. Periodically, the two parties get together and do something that is both stupid and evil. This is called—’bipartisanship’.”

      • Fr. Alexander,

        Pre-Trump, the Republicans were the enabler party, which of course is stupidity in action. When the late William F. Buckley described his conservatism as standing on the tracks and telling the train of progress to stop, he was only half joking. When you conceive of your mission that way, you are doomed to fail. And the American Conservatives never really intended to succeed, not at the highest levels in numbers great enough to really make much difference. Thus, truthfully, “American Conservatism” is really just the guilty conscience of American Liberalism. When AL dies, AC dies with it.

        And then we can get down to cases.

        Because American Conservatism has always been too stingy with public funds (yes, confiscated by the state as taxes, all sovereign governments do that) and far too informed by economic and social Libertarianism in general. In this it differs greatly from Classical Conservatism or “Rightism” or the Politics of Kings.

        As secular/atheistic American Liberalism dies, American Conservatism will die with it in favor of something much more robust, but challenging. It will be challenging because modern Americans are not accustomed to thinking about politics in the stark terms which will unfold before their eyes. But it has been a long time in coming.

        Trump just needs to survive in office and institute reciprocal trade. If he sticks to his guns and acts a bit more regal and organized, his internal problems within the Republican Party should subside, at least until he prepares to do serious infrastructure spending. The NYT, WP and CBS are not as powerful as they believe themselves to be. Trump has a chorus of defensive players writing support for him out there and defending him, but he doesn’t make it too easy for them.

        Firing the Director of the FBI probably signals that he intends to play hardball with these people – finally. I mean, you know the power that J. Edgar Hoover accumulated. You know the potential for infiltration and control inherent in the institution of domestic intelligence. Firing the old junkyard dog and replacing him with his own junkyard dog is tantamount to a declaration of civil war with internal enemies. I could be wrong, but I think that that is what scares the hell out of the Left and why they are screaming for impeachment before it is too late.

        Once he appoints a new FBI director, it may be too late, from their perspective.

        http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/05/17/impeachment-proceedings-need-start-now/ZlymLL3b7wrjAKC2CpjOtN/story.html

        http://reason.com/blog/2017/05/17/all-this-impeachment-talk-is-pure-trump

        http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/05/the-law-cant-stop-trump-only-impeachment-can.html

      • Father Alexander,

        I think it’s time for me to leave the Stupid party, just as I left the evil party back in my late twenties. I remember that saying way back as well. The wagon quip I heard the night before on Fox News.

        I’m beginning to feel that we are completely powerless and way beyond the point of returning to any semblance of our nation’s past traditional values, or any other changes in D.C. that will reverse course to financial disaster. The political establishment is too strong and deep for any man, group, or new party to make a difference. Between the political powers, our educational structures, media, and mega rich one percent, we are slaves to the systems in place. All we have left is The Holy Trinity to guide and save us.

        • George Michalopulos says

          Dino, the natural cuckoldry of the GOP is reasserting itself re Trump. Instead of thanking Heaven fasting for slaying the Hildebeast and short-circuiting the oligarchic hard-wiring that would have taken place under her, they are talking about “muh principuls”. Idiots.

          Thinking aloud here: how about creating a “Federalist Party”? I’m seriously thinking along these lines. The principles of this party would be Constitutional to the extreme with a heavy dollop of States’ Rights.

          • George,
            I appreciated your resilience, but I now see the writing on the wall, ever since Trump was elected. The fix has been in for decades and we have been played for fools. The two party monopoly, and Deep State hold all the cards, and will never allow true change. A little blue lipstick here, a little red lipstick there, but the pig is still a pig. Short of blood in the streets type revolution, nothing will really change, and then who knows if the change will be for the better of our nation. Unless one is part of the system, everyone else is chasing rainbows, only to find fools gold.

            We have seen new parties pop up here and there, to no avail. All they become are protest votes, that usually hurt the party that they are more in line with.

            • George Michalopulos says

              Dino, I have no essential quarrel with what you just wrote. As far as the Deep State’s control of our Constitutional Republic is concerned, I agree with you: “the fix [was always] in”. That’s why I came to believe that Trump was serious and and a serious existential threat to the Deep State.

              In other words, if I had any doubts about Trump’s seriousness or his commitment to his Nationalist program, they’ve been allayed time and time again by the ferocity of the blow-back from the Corporate Media. The example with the Comey firing is merely the latest example.

              I’ve always said that Trump should watch his back. If the cuckservatives back down and don’t do what they’re supposed to do (i.e. act “sober” and demand his resignation), or impeachment fail, or a false flag can’t be orchestrated which will get us involved in another Neocon war, then all bets are off. And by all bets I mean all bets. You can read between the lines.

              In short, I’m not naive. That being said, I’ve also written that the Deep State is not impervious to change or omnipotent. Recently I wrote that at one time, the American East Coast Establishment was very nationalistic, patriotic and imperialistic –think Teddy Roosevelt. They actually wanted what was best for the historic American population.

              In the last fifty or so years they became deracinated and globalist, not caring about the interests of the American ethnicity. Say what you will about the first Progressives (Woodrow Wilson, TR, William Jennings Bryan, etc.) they really cared for the American middle and working classes. My question: is Trump riding a wave of populism or is he representing a faction of the Deep State that recognizes changes, that the NWO needs to be revisited, need to be made? A little of both maybe?

              I’m betting on Trump succeeding. This may be a vain hope. The older version of the DS may win in the end. I can see a scenario in which he is driven from office –or worse. I can also see a scenario in which not a few oligarchs see the benefits of Trumpism. In fact, I can give you three trillion reasons why they’ve taken a shine to Trump. If anything, the recent on-going trip to Saudi Arabia has made not a few people stand up and take notice. There he was treated as a conquering hero and massive trade deals benefiting Big Business were executed on the spot.

              Is the paradigm shifting? Time will tell.

              • George Michalopulos says

                PS, regarding the Saudi trip: I was stunned at the difference in which they received Trump, especially in comparison to how they treated Obama. Not just in the big things bu in the little things. I’m having a hard time processing that, especially since Obama was Islamic in his cultural sensibilities. Is it a racial thing? Did they disdain Obama because of his mixed heritage? Or is it a physical thing? Trump is a hulking 6’2″ of Northern European ancestry and screams alpha-male as opposed to Obama who is lithe and not a little effete in manner.

                Or it is possible that the Saudis know something that the Corporate Media doesn’t?

                Just thinking.

                • Nate Trost says

                  Or, you know, Trump is an easy mark when you throw pomp and circumstance and flattery at him. Not that you don’t exaggerate the differences in reception. Speaking of the Saudis, they apparently decided to kick into an Ivanka initiative, quelle surprise!:

                  https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabia-u-a-e-pledge-100-million-to-world-banks-women-entrepreneurs-fund-1495339028

                  George Michalopulos wrote
                  and massive trade deals benefiting Big Business were executed on the spot

                  That…is not how it works. The only argument is that the deal got a little bit bigger because the Trump Administration greenlit some weapons the Saudis had asked for that the Obama Administration had reservations about.

                  George Michalopulos wrote
                  Trump is a hulking 6’2″ of Northern European ancestry and screams alpha-male as opposed to Obama who is lithe and not a little effete in manner.

                  Obama isn’t the one afraid to take off his shirt. And apparently 6’1″ is diminutive, in which case, someone else looks dainty.

                • Sorry I see the glass half empty. I hope you are 100 percent correct in Trump succeeding. Let’s give it another year, then we will know for sure, the direction of our nation.

                  By the the way, a belated XRONNIA POLLA to your dad, your a good, faithful, and hopeful soul George, which I’m sure your dad helped in creating. May God bless him and your family.

                • George,

                  The trip has probably helped him abroad and at home. He does look more presidential being treated like royalty by royalty.

                  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/21/opinion/this-wasnt-a-speech-about-islam.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&mtrref=www.nytim&_r=0&mtrref=www.realclearworld.com&gwh=9C81E0181781D631A78BD87A06245E70&gwt=pay&assetType=opinion

                  If this is the way that Trump and Putin want to play it, I can’t really criticize it too much. It seems as if the strategy is for Russia to support and fund Iran and Syria and for the United States to support and fund Saudia Arabia and the Sunnis. The support and funding is directed toward a sectarian war where they preoccupy themselves killing each other rather than killing Christians in Christendom.

                  As long as it does not take the focus of the rest of us off of the fact that Islam needs to be defeated as a presence in a re-Christianizing Christendom and driven back into its historic homelands (as a precursor for ultimate destruction).

                  It is rather a chess match against the devil, whether in the form of Progressive Liberalism (the Fem/Pervs) or Islam.

                • Jerry Wilson says

                  I think it has a lot more to do with money…. We can thank Trump for strengthening the Saud family’s Wahabist autocracy (110 billion in weapons will help their “economy” more than ours). As for Obama’s supposed “Islamic sensibilities” and ‘effete litheness’ — face it: you just like the big, fat white guy in the White House.

                  • George Michalopulos says

                    I do. But he’s not “fat”, just obverweight (by about 20 lbs according to Dr Oz). That puts him at “slightly overweight” given his size.

                    As for the triumphant trip to Araby, his speech minced no words. And while I did not like the bellicose statements made about Iran and Assad, I recently read a review of it which stated that it was “a repudiation of Neoconservatism”. That alone is music to my ears.

                    Plus the fact he is the only President –sitting or otherwise–to visit the Holy Sepulchre.

      • George Michalopulos says

        Fr, I used that quip about three years ago (GOP: 1854-2014?) I had picked it up from John Derbyshire. I am happy to be informed by you that Jim Jatras coined it. Axios!

  10. http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/05/18/erick-erickson-mueller-returns-and-republicans-should-rejoice.html

    I’d say this is accurate. The Mueller thing is a blessing. Justice wants someone whom the Democrats can’t criticize to tell them what they already know but can’t face: Trump didn’t conspire with those wascally Wussians to “steal the election”. In the meantime, neither Trump nor his people have to talk or answer any questions about “the Russia thing” so as not to interfere in Mueller’s investigation.

    Notice I didn’t say that the Russians didn’t try to influence the 2016 election. Just that Trump probably didn’t conspire with them.

    The Russians are not stupid. They can see what Trump is like. They probably had a file on him thicker than a judge’s bible before he even ran, given past contact. Once he declared his candidacy, I’m sure they looked at him in the utmost detail.

    So regardless of what the American people or Washington think they can tell about Trump’s character, personality, the way he operates under stress, his proclivities, eccentricities – I’m sure it was all common knowledge in FSB long ago, before anyone really got into any operations to influence the media environment in which the election was taking place.

    They would never have trusted him to be a collaborator or even cooperator. He’s an ego maniac and can’t stop himself from one-upping anyone and everyone around him. I.e., to say, he has no serious control over his tongue other than perhaps to avoid profanities in the wrong context.

    Thus we can say with some certainty that whatever benefits His Excellency reaped from Russian efforts, they were impersonal benefits of a cold blooded operational program in which he would never have been trusted to take part.

  11. Fr. David Hovik says

    I heard this analogy several years ago: Congress is like the Mafia. The Democrats are the Gambino Family and the Republicans are the Genovese Family. They battle each other until somebody attacks the MAFIA in particular. Then, they close ranks and destroy the common enemy. Trump is Elliott Ness or J Edgar Hoover or… He is out to upset the “Family” structure as a whole. The Republicans and Democrats have closed ranks to protect their turf. Make no mistake about it the Republicans hate Trump as much as the Democrats because it is not about what’s best for the people but, rather, do we preserve our power. TV coverage is not about TRUTH, it’s about RATINGS! It’s a sad state of affairs but all the more reason to put our hope in God and not man.

  12. The chemtrails are serving a duo purpose. One is to keep the atmosphere ionized because their state of the art (art?) super weapons require the ionization of the atmosphere for their weapons to work. Beryllium and nanized albumin are extremely toxic, which valid science has proven they are what the chemtrails are made of. To expect Trump to face down the deep state and order them to stop poisoning us, is not going to trump the national security requirement they require. If he really did try, they would eliminate him at any cost’, ala JFK.

  13. ReaderEmanuel says

    George, are you aware of the latest news about Flynn, that he was being paid by Erdogan as an agent of the Turkish government?

    • George Michalopulos says

      Yes, I am. It’s curious though, was this legal? As for myself, I can’t wrap my head around what is legal vis-a-vis Americans being foreign agents. It literally boggles the mind.

      The more I know, the more America-Firster I become.

      • Generally the agent/lobbying thing is not a problem prior to service. It’s during and after service where there is a prohibition. But full disclosure is obviously imperative so that everybody knows what you’ve been doing and, critically, when you ceased doing it.

      • Yes, it is fascinating that anytime a US government employee, retired or active, takes money from a foreign government; that he is considered compromised. Next thing you know; Trump himself will be considered compro, oh, wait, too late.

    • I think that the Obama Administration had suggested that Trump not hire Flynn. I don’t know what exactly they said, but seems like Trump ignored that advice. Seems like Trump needs to do a thorough “spring cleaning” of his Cabinet soon and get more team players with experience onboard if he wants even some of his agenda to be successful.

      • They told him he was compromised, but the jackass didn’t know what it meant. Recall the infamous Bannon shouting match? That was Bannon in Trump’s face telling him he told Trump it was a bad hire and that Trump need not blame anyone but himself.

        But Flynn is only a small piece of the puzzle. They are hiding the good stuff and the theft of DNC marketing lists that Trump purchased via third parties rewarded highly.

        When the FBI finally gets to the theft of the data and the use of it by Trump; the Republicans will throw out Trump and Pence and name Ryan the President since he didn’t collude to steal DNC data. Or Pence will not be tied to it.

        Look for resignations from Trump and DeVos in about 18 months.

  14. He may be Saul rather than David. The policy he announced in Saudi Arabia may be his undoing:

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/21/politics/trump-saudi-speech-transcript/

    He seems to be taking the side of the Sunnis against the Shiites. If so, and he does not simply plan on funding their mutual destruction, he is a fool.

    To be continued . . .

  15. http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/the-real-test-for-an-arab-nato-will-come-the-day-after-raqqa-falls#page2

    I’m getting more comfortable with this. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

    Stepping back, I take a few things for granted:

    Firstly, Muslims want to expand their power and rule the world, regardless of whether they are Sunni or Shiite.

    Secondly, the Sunnis, especially the Salafis and Wahhabis, are all together in the project to conquer and colonize Christendom. It’s in their religious DNA. They can’t help it. They are committed.

    Thirdly, however, they despise their own heretical cousins, the Shiites, and fear their influence and expansion, with some degree of justification given present realities.

    Fourthly, Iran has always wanted to rule the Muslim world. The official name of Iran is “The Islamic Republic”. There is no geographic or ethnic identifier.

    Fifthly, Iran/Shiisim too want to conquer and colonize Christendom, but they are less aggressive about it since they must first subdue and consolidate Sunnism in order to proceed.

    Sixthly, Muslims send waves of immigrants to the West in a war of demographic attrition to expand Islam and make it increasingly difficult for Christians to conceive of or rekindle Christendom. The Syrian refugees are just the latest wave. They’ve been doing it for over a generation. France is more than 10% Muslim. Kosovo is an Islamic terrorist state in the heart of Europe. There are more Muslims praying in mosques in the UK on Friday than Christians praying in churches on Sunday.

    And lastly, one way of combating this evil expansionist borg in its homeland is to get them to kill each other and keep them killing each other – which I take it was one of the objectives of our president’s efforts in Saudi.

  16. http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/05/23/529645904/manchester-bombing-is-europes-12th-terrorist-attack-since-2015

    Actually, it’s the 13th. They wrote the page identifier having initially forgotten one, apparently.

    The West does not want to face what the Serbs and some Russians have already come to understand – Islam is the enemy and every Muslim is a jihadist/mujahedin. The religion is the problem, not some subset thereof. Terrorism is merely a tactic, it is not an ideology. The ideology is Islam. They’re playing to win by demographic attrition, “terrorism” and conventional military operations. They tell each other one thing and us another. They invade Europe with “refugees” and migrant workers. Any way to infiltrate, set up shop and reproduce. They know exactly what they are doing.

    The reason it is so hard for the West to see is that many in the West have abandoned Christ and thus are willfully blind to the power of religion. As the bad guy said in the movie, The Siege, “You believe that money is power. Belief is power.”

  17. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-president-just-made-a-titanic-foreign-policy-shift-the-media-missed-it/2017/05/24/405dfdda-3fcf-11e7-adba-394ee67a7582_story.html?utm_term=.f26e9efac573

    Gingrich on the Saudi speech.

    I agree that Trump laid out an ultimatum to Islamic governments: Destroy the terrorists or be destroyed.

    I’m not sure Trump was being sincere in his words. I don’t want to give him too much credit, but the actual policy may be much darker: Kill the mujaheddin with the weapons we sell you or we will turn on you and hold you responsible for their actions.

    After all, we could bomb any of them into the stone age except Pakistan with no consequence besides higher oil prices (which would benefit American and Russian producers).

    http://thefederalist.com/2017/05/23/trump-tells-muslim-world-to-stop-enabling-terrorism/

    They’re getting closer but it will take them awhile to fathom the rock bottom truth of it all:

    Every single Muslim is a terrorist cell from the age he can understand the words, “Allah” and “jihad”. The religion itself it evil. It can’t help but be. It arose after Christ and presumes to correct Him.

    It is from the Devil.

    Perhaps Trump is refocused:

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/from-9-11-to-manchester-1495665007

    But it will take Europe and America more time to do so. Most of them have no faith in anything more powerful than government.

    That kind of “faith” is too weak to withstand the Islamic assault.

    When you are dealing with people who are sure they know what happens the moment after a man dies, you have to be sure yourself that you know what happens the moment after a man dies. If you’re not, the one who is sure can use that self-assurance as a weapon against the one who is not sure.

    I am a believer – full tilt boogie convinced beyond any doubt whatsoever. Being that sure is why I can write what I write.

    And the West will need to come much closer to that kind of certainty to defeat Islam.

    There are no terrorists. That is an illusion perpetrated by people who do not wish to face the truth, which is that Muslims are willing to use terrorism as a tactic of jihad, which is incumbent upon them. It is a “sixth pillar” of Islam, an intrinsic part of the religion. Islam has always spread by violent intimidation – conquest. It is doing what it does.

    “Terrorist” is just a euphemism for “Muslim” and we should be behaving accordingly.

  18. This article makes a point similar to the one I’ve been trying to make for awhile and to which I’m turning my online attention for the foreseeable future:

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/terror-and-the-teddy-bear-society-1496682229?mod=e2tw

    “My female Muslim patients who had grown up in Britain told me that the school inspectors had never intervened when their parents prevented them from attending school, often for years. On the other hand, white working-class parents were bullied by those inspectors when their refractory 15-year-old daughters refused to go. A few years ago it came to light that police in Rotherham had for decades systematically turned a blind eye to the mass sexual abuse of children—at least 1,400 victims—by Muslim men. This type of willful neglect by the authorities came as no surprise to me. On the contrary, it is precisely what I would have expected.

    From all this the terrorists surely draw a great deal of comfort. It gives them the impression of living in a weak society that will be easy to destroy, so that their acts are not in the least nihilistic or pointless, as is often claimed. They perceive ours as a candle-and-teddy-bear society (albeit mysteriously endowed with technological prowess): We kill, you light candles. The other day I passed a teddy-bear shop, that is to say a shop that sold nothing but teddy bears. I am sure that terrorism is good for business, but the teddy bears are more reassuring for the terrorists than for those who buy them to place on the site of the latest outrage.”

    The author’s point, and mine, is that we are painfully slow (to say the least) at switching ourselves from “hunted” mode to “hunter” mode. What I mean is that sooner preferably rather than later, we will need to start hunting Muslims to avoid being hunted by them.

    It is not far off. You can almost feel it. “The Religion of Peace” is demonizing itself in the eyes of a cross-section of people who are quite intolerant of demons and quite capable of slaying them.